Week 12: Almost Down to the Single Digits

Visions6 is almost upon us! I am starting to get excited to see the success of the festival but I'm also very nervous. There is no telling how I am going to feel the day of, and even more so when the festival is actually over. It is going to feel weird after having worked for the past almost 8 months to make this a success. But I am positive that everything will work out. We have been working super hard and thats what matters. Personally, I am glad that I have the presentation behind me and can focus on making sure the bake sale happens and is a success. I am still waiting on confirmation for one of the locations as well as a return email from Aramark. There is no telling when it will come in but we will see once it happens. The festival is getting close and I can't wait to see how the festival ends up working out.

Week 11: Things are looming closer

This week was mostly spent preparing my presentation for class. I have lined up where I want the Spring bake sale to happen as well as the times. Most of the information is the same aside from the fact that I have finally been able to reserve Cameron Hall. That should help with both advertising for Visions as well as just making sure that we have a good venue this time around. I know that it has been a struggle most times when we were at the Fisher Commons so this should make our jobs a lot easier. Otherwise, I have just been preparing the schedule for what we will be doing during the final sale and making sure that everything will be ready for me to present. I can only hope that it will go well though I am relatively confident in myself and the sales that I have put on so far. It has been a long struggle to get to this point but I can't wait to see the outcome of this sale, though considering that there is less of a focus on selling and more on advertising I am a bit nervous. We will see what happens considering the event is looming ever closer.

Week 10: Tougher Than I Thought

Most of the week has been spent dealing with personal issues because of a death of one of my close friends. I wasn't able to make it to class but tried to keep up with what happened in class. Outside of class there wasn't much that I was able to do but despite that there really wasn't much that I was able to do anyway. I have been trying to keep up and make up for any work I have missed for the past week. I tried to do what my department was assigned with the assignment dealing with the Manual quiz as well as anything Adrienne has needed for the week with Indiegogo. I went to my department meeting to figure out where we stood. I also met with Adrienne earlier in the week with a breakdown of what I needed to do to help with the perks for Indiegogo. That has been the vast majority of what my load week has been mostly pertaining to that otherwise. There isn't anything else that I need to do up to now.

Week 8: The Halfway Mark?

Another week of Visions has come to pass and I can officially say that the semester is halfway over. It is hard to believe but again, graduation is coming that much closer. Personally it has been honestly hard to believe but for the most part I have just continued to help in my department. I have been a bit light in what to do personally so I have been keeping myself busy helping Adrienne or prepping to help with whatever she needs for Indiegogo. For the most part, I continue to feel as though my job has been to help where needed and that there is still just about a month until my job really begins to take off. I don't feel as though I have too little to do definitely because I know the work-load will only get more intense as the weeks get closer. The bake sale is still on schedule and most of my work comes down to making sure that I have the locations reserved at an early enough time. I don't want to be limited this time around so hopefully I can guarantee the right places to make this sale as successful as possible. The spring fling/advertisement for Visions will be the theme for sure this go around but everything else will be simple, adapting to the season and taking advantage of people who want baked goods!

Week 7: Another week, Another week of Visions!

This week has been a bit light on my plate. I have done mostly what my department needs me to do to help. I had started to figure out what I wanted to do for the next bake sale but I knew that it was mostly planned out due to the fact that it is going to function as advertising for the club overall. I know that most of my job is done for me and it does make it a bit easier to plan for. I know that I have finalized the date to the 11th of April and the locations are definitely going to have to be Cameron Hall and in front of Randall. Aside from that, there isn't much that I can do to schedule for the sale before it gets closer to the event. Again, the rest of my work comes from helping with the department I'm in and just doing whatever course load I have for Visions overall. The semester is coming to the halfway point much sooner than I thought. I wasn't sure that it was going to happen this fast but I know that the event is looming ever closer still. Only time will tell.

Week 6: The Aftermath

Most of this week was spent reflecting on how well the bake sale and party did the previous week. It is also the week in which we try to relax a bit knowing that we did a good job. I was thoroughly glad to see just how well we all did within the department and was astonished by how well we killed it in relation to the goals that we had set. Most of the week was just helping with figuring out programming in class and outside of class most of my work was continuing in figuring out things needed to be done for the department. I again have been trying to do what I can to help no matter what for my department when reflecting on whether or not I have enough to do. In reality, I am not sure whether my load may be a bit too light but if it ever does feel that way I know I can turn to my department here in development to find a way to help. Outside of that it is just one more week closer to the event and I can only imagine how much harder it is going to get.

Week 5: Valentine's Week is Upon Us

This week was the week for development. Not only was it the end to the Indiegogo (which was successful) but it was also time for the bake sale as well as the party. This week was mostly spent working on baking for the Valentine's bake sale which was a big success. The day of the event was spent in front of Randall and walking over to the Fisher Commons to keep track of attendance. Everyone in the class did well selling and everything that was meant to be brought was. I was astonished to see some of the salesmanship that I saw come out of people (Anthony) and how helpful they were at bringing people in. I was even surprised to see that Tyler showed up and brought baked goods (ironically he made brownies). It was great to see that the total came out to $422 which helped to get even past our extended goal that I was hoping to hit. Outside of that I helped with the party which was a success as well considering that we went over double the intended goal for the party as well. So overall the goal now is to help within the department considering the next bake sale isn't until April. That is pretty much where I stand for this part of the semester where it tends to be 5 weeks in. Visions is looming ever closer....

Week 4: The Sale is Upon Us!

This is the week of hell for development. Everything is down to the wire for making sure that everything comes together for not only my bake sale but the Valentine's Party as well. This week most of my time was spent planning on what I was going to bake for the sale. I was more preoccupied with what everyone else was doing that I forgot what I was going to do for myself. So I finalized my own list and went through to ensure that I had everything I needed for baking as well as my own decorations. I spent time going through my sign up sheets trying to make sure that I also had everything needed for scheduling people so that there weren't any lapses at either table. For the most part everything has been running smoothly this time around and I have also come up with the date for the next sale as well. Aside from that I spent time trying to help within the department and keep up with everything that I could considering the week ahead of me.

Week 3: The Fun Has Begun

This week has mostly been spent working on trying to finalize everything for the bake sale. I mostly intended to spend the week trying to relay information to Campus Life in order to make sure that our reservations were guaranteed because I didn't want to have a lapse in anything or get in trouble this time around. I have been constantly looking at the weather to ensure that our final date for the sale was going to be on a sunny day this time around considering all the anxiety that I had with it the last time around that was one of my biggest surprises. Outside of that I attended the weekly meeting for the Development Department and made sure to update the rest of my group on what my progress was with the bake sale as well. Everything is essentially coming down to the wire so I want to ensure that I stayed on top of everything. I also sent out the email for Aramark to ensure that we got our approval through there for the bake sale as well. Aside from that I just helped out within my department with anything that I could to make sure that I didn't have too few things to do.

The Dirty Bake Sale Dozen

1. What is the project supposed to achieve?
The project is meant to achieve a successful increase in revenue for Visions Film Festival & Conference. We are meant to market ourselves to the campus through selling baked goods. It not only gives us the opportunity to make money but also gives us the chance to advertise and get our name out there early for the festival in general.

2. Who is this supposed to reach?
Our target would have to be anyone traveling on the UNCW campus. Specifically it would be UNCW students, faculty, as well as Wilmington residents who walk by our tables. We are attempting to reach people interested in donating to the festival as well as people interested in attending.

3. What are the deliverables of the project?
Most specifically it would be the baked goods at the sale itself. We would also have sign up sheets for volunteers possibly as well as information about the festival itself. So things that aren't physical products would be our knowledge of the festival and simply delivering an image of what the festival will be by interacting with people who stop at the tables.

4. The budget?
There is no budget. All goods will be donated by members of the class as well as the donation of time to help man the tables. So the profit really comes out of what we sell and goes directly to Visions6 as a whole.

5. How long will the project take?
The planning stages have already begun. The event itself is happening on February the 10th from 10am to 4pm.

6. What skills are needed?
The primary skill needed is good baking! We want good product as well as creative product. Good people skills would be another skill necessary to a successful bake sale, and just good salesmanship. We want to sell the baked goods as well as Visions6 itself. Taking advantage of the holiday is a strong thing as well as consistency in helping make the event a success.

7. What resources are needed?
We need food! We specifically will need deserts and other baked goods that we can use for sale at the event itself. We will need people as well! The mandatory volunteers as who will man the tables and make the event happen. There will be various Valentine's decorations as well as just items that will adorn the tables to make the theme fit as well as make it all look good.

8. Who is working on the job?
James is spearheading the event overall. He will primarily plan, follow-through, as well as execute the event on the day it happens. He will secure the locations, work through all the red tape, as well as make sure the scheduling all comes together. In the end, it is his project though he will need the help of his department and class when necessary.

9. What is the schedule?
The planning stages for the schedule are the beginning of the semester. Each week I have planned to get closer to the event through reserving tables, notifiing Aramark, and then actually scheduling people to man tables and bring decorations/baked goods. The event is planned to happen on the week of Valentine's Day. The date is February 10th and there are two locations for the event. The first is in front of Randall Library and the second is in front of Cameron Hall. The times will be from 10am to 4pm which includes time to set up as well as clean up after.

10. What are the risks?
One of the primary risks of the event starts with the food that we cook. Aramark has strict standards for what we are meant to bake and we have to ensure that we cater to all sorts of eating habits be it nut or gluten free diets. Also there is the risk of rain on the day of the event which could lower the success of the event considering less people will naturally walk by. There is the chance we may not be successful in making the amount of money we are meant to make. We may lose our reservations for the tables that we have set for the day of the event. It just means to stay on top of the schedule set forth for the event overall.

11. How will I communicate with my team?
The primary way to communicate is through the weekly meetings we hold. That is the point where we can work through the weekly progress of the event as well as giving time to work through any challenges that have come up. Outside of that, there is social media primarily through Facebook. We also have class time to communicate before and after which ensures we have plenty of chances to keep up with everything up to the day of the event.

12. How will I determine if the project is successful?
The main way to determine success is through the money we make. Through past years, there has been an established average of what the bake sales have brought in so it helps us gauge how well we might have done. We can also see the success long term by people coming back to our other events. The word of mouth of the things we bake and the compliments we may get. Also we can determine success through seeing the same faces at the festival itself.

Week 2: The Fun Has Begun

This week things have picked up quite a bit. Galaxy Quest was in full effect this week and it seemed to be running smoothly. We as a group realized that the timing was honestly against us considering the fact that we had a holiday on Monday. It just meant that they had a lot less time and that there were few places that they could actually go in order to find the clues that they needed. After talking about it from what I saw were were planning on starting the event at the Cinemixer instead of having the end of it correspond to the Cinemixer. I felt as though the event was effective either way and that it honestly can be something to help break the ice of the crowd that comes into Visions in the spring. Either way, it gives us another possible event to use each year. Within the department I continued working on planning for the Valentine's Bake Sale. I did a presentation on Tuesday and clued everyone into the date as well as the sign up sheets that go with the event. Now it just means that I need to get in touch with reservations so that I can ensure that we get the locations that we want.

Week 1: It Begins Anew

After a short break away, Visions6 has returned again and it is time to get back to business. This week was more or less a chance to get reacclimated to being in the Visions atmosphere. After class, most of the week had been spent preparing for Galaxy Quest. I found time to go through and laminate the clues for the event and made sure that we had the order right. Friday we got the clues together and wanted to put them out but sadly enough we put them in the wrong order and had to go back and order them correctly. I also met with Development and we went over the introductory things for the semester and tried to pinpoint what we were going to do for the semester. Aside from that I started planning things for the bake sale and primarily made sure that I had the date correct as well as making sure that it fit into the schedule for the Valentine's party as well.