Week Thirteen

PLEASE DEPART AT SHELBYVILLE WITH PITCHING THE NEXT STOP

Week Thirteen was the first week since Shelby was voted out of the group as we continued to build up steam ahead of our second pitch to Marketing.

Michael however was now struggling more than ever as he hadn't begun filming for the movie mash up for the Showcase which Marketing were set to see at the next pitch! This would run into the next few weeks.

Laura was now filming her 'Voxpop' with numerous students from all over college taking part in filming. However, when it came to editing she was having real problems as it would either crash or lose footage when rendered.

I was still in talks with businesses for raffle prizes whilst tweeting, however this was proving a waste of time as no companies were interested in assisting us. Allikah tried to help with some early photography snaps but this also proved futile.

Sam was now starting work on his e-book but was suffering complications of his own as when he tried to do test runs the programme and/or e-book continued to crash or run at an extremely slow speed which was causing him frustration.

Rob had finished the poster designs and they were ready to go but to his annoyance, Laura interfered again and began to edit and mess around with an already perfect design. Jonny had completed his character profiles and was doing work not associated with the Showcase project.

Week Eleven

SPONORSHIP OBTAINED.

My efforts finally paid off with Keighley Cougars agreeing to sponsor the Digital Showcase and obtaining a Shimla Spice voucher as a raffle prize along with a signed Cougars shirt.

Allikah was continuing in her stride as she was constantly out and about round college and Saltaire taking photos which were to be displayed at the Showcase event but still wasn't showing up for team meetings!

Jonny was contiuing designing the Character profiles as he now had all the forms completed and a set design to work with.

Laura was still flourishing in her role as the Project Manager but her continuing interference pushed by her 'perfectionist' attitude was starting to push Rob and Sam to the limit as they seemed to be one more interference away from snapping at Laura.

Shelby's absence was starting  to take real hold on Michael as he still had very little ideas to go on ahead of making his movie mash up video to help advertise the College at the Showcase he was turning to everyone for help and ideas.

Rob and Sam were continuing with the production of postcards, e-book and posters. They were keeping themselves to themselves and were meeting all their deadlines with high quality products. The two were seeming to get slightly annoyed with Laura's interference and the pair of them were starting to lose their rage with her.

The group as a whole were annoyed once again by the continued absence of Shelby and had decided to vote on removing her the following week.

Week Ten

CONTINUED PROGRESS

Following the group's decision to vote Chantelle out the previous week, progress was starting to be made in the group.

I was beginning to contact businesses in order to obtain sponsorship and raffle prizes but this was taking effect on my Tweeting.

Allikah had taken on the solo photography role in her stride as she was constantly out and about round college and Saltaire taking photos which were to be displayed at the Showcase event, the only downside was she was never around long enough to show us or be involved in team meetings!

Jonny continued designing the Character profiles by messing with different ideas and designs, he was just waiting on the completed forms from his fellow group members.

Laura was flourishing in her role as the Project Manager, especially with the opportunity to take control and attempt to lead by example. Her continuing interference pushed by her 'perfectionist' attitude was starting to irritate some in the group but not to an extent that it could split the group as previously thought.

Michael was feeling the effects of the continued absence of Shelby. With very little ideas to go on ahead of making his movie mash up video to help advertise the College at the Showcase he was turning to everyone for help and ideas.

Rob and Sam were continuing in their stride when it came to the production of postcards, e-book and posters. They were keeping themselves to themselves and were meeting all their deadlines with high quality products. However, the two were seeming to get slightly annoyed with Laura's interference and Rob at times was showing the strain by leaving Laura to do the work.

The group as a whole were annoyed by the continued absence of Shelby.

Week Seven and Eight

EASTER HOLIDAYS

Weeks Seven and Eight of the Showcase project saw the Easter Holidays occur. During this time I tweeted and publicised less frequently in order to enjoy the holidays but made up for this upon my return from the Holidays.

Week Twelve

SHELBY LEAVES THE GROUP

In similar fashion to Chantelle, Shelby's continued absence was starting to take effect on the group especially on her fellow videographer Michael who was left to fend for himself on one of the toughest roles within the group. Therefore the group was unanimous in it's 7-0 vote in favour to remove her from the group and from the project.

Even though Shelby had been with us up to and including the first pitch to our clients in Marketing, she then continued to be absent which added more workload in the toughest role to Michael who had already been upset with Shelby after her copying off him during the pitch.

Week Three

TEAM MEETING

Week Three saw us hold another team meeting to discuss our roles as well as the theme we would be running with throughout the process leading up to the Digital Showcase. The following things were agreed by the group:

• The group decided that it would continue to run with the 'MARVELlous' superhero theme for the Showcase process.

The roles were decided as following:
Laura - Project Manager

Sam - Graphic Designer

Robert - Graphic Designer

Jonny - Artist

Josh - Publicity and Media Co-ordinator

Michael - Videographer

Shelby - Videogarpher

Allikah - Photographer

Chantelle - Photographer

• A date was set for the first pitch with Marketing. It would either take place in Week Five or Week Six. 
• The groups regulations were to be drawn up by Laura.
• There would be a vote whether to keep on Shelby and Chantelle should their absences from the group continue. 

Week Nine

CHANTELLE LEAVES THE GROUP

Due to her continued absence from the group throughout the process to date, we as a group decided to take a vote on removing Chantelle from the group with a majority 6-2 vote.

Those who voted to remove Chantelle were: Jonny, Josh, Laura, Michael, Rob & Sam.

Those who voted to save Chantelle were: Allikah and Shelby.

Chantelle's absence had affected the group as she missed the pitch to marketing in which it was vital that all members of the group were present and especially on Allikah. Allikah had chosen to save Chantelle in the vote but Allikah's increased workload on Photography which was starting to take effect as her own involvement as a member of the group as she was constantly out with a camera taking photographs.

Week Sixteen

Week sixteen passed with very little to note for myself.

I assisted Michael in the making off his video for his role within the group ahead off the Showcase. I was the actor and voiceover in his filming and we went through the following:

• We filmed the Taken Scene in Salt Rock Cafe as well as the Forrest Gump scene down in Roberts Park which is located near to the College.
• We recorded the voiceover from Chris Dewey for the Taken scene and recorded some footage for the exorcist scene.
• I recorded a Geordie voiceover in the style of popular reality show Big Brother to be played throughout Dalton's video.

Dalton was still having problems with rendering the video and this was causing him great frustration ahead of the pitch to marketing next week. Dalton who is already shy enough when it comes to presenting will not be helped by the fact that his video will not render meaning it may be unavailable to pitch to the client next week. 

Week Six

FIRST PITCH TO MARKETING

Week Six presented us with our first of two pitches to marketing in the lead up to the Showcase. This pitch was to present our initial ideas and also meant we were all suited and booted ahead of this very important step into the showcase.

Here is my individual review of each individual's pitch:

Allikah - Hindered by the continued absence of Chantelle and had Laura come in across last minute. She showed her photography prototypes very well to the client and showed what she planned on doing in regards to displaying her photography. 

Jonny - Jonny's product for the client was the student profiles of us in the group. These were warmly received by the clients as it showed us off as those who have put in a hell of alot of effort into the showcase to get it running.

Josh (Me) - I sold my product well. The client was fully briefed on the way we were promoting the Showcase through Twitter and how this would help us and the client. I was slightly annoyed at Laura's editing which saw some of my pitch disappear. 

Laura - She had her moments in a very hectic presentation as she also had to present on Chantelle's behalf as she continued with her absence in the project. She was clear in what her ideas for the Showcase was in her role as project manager and making a voxpop video which would see students talk about the College in a positive light.

Michael - Very shy and does not enjoy presenting but came through strong. You could tell the nerves were there as he rushed through his part of the presentation but presented his idea well to the client.

Robert - They were very impressed how Rob had used previously edited movie posters and the fact he had incorporated the fact we are based in Saltaire, which is in a World Heritage Site, well in his poster design.

Sam -  Sam was very positive whilst promoting his ideas. The examples went down well with the client and they responding with some very positive comments towards Sam. He didn't really have that much to talk about in his actual pitch.

Shelby - She more or less copied Michael word for word and only came across better to the client as she did not come across shy and/or nervous to the client. This caused problems within the group.

Unfortunately for Allikah, there was still no sign of Chantelle and this meant Laura had to fill in and help present alongside her.

Week Four

TEAM MEETING

Week Four saw the group hold a team meeting. Josh was late, whilst Shelby and Chantelle were absent yet again.

The meeting meant the following points were decided:

Team Decisions - The team decided to reject the idea of the superhero theme and use a movie mash theme instead we will still be including character profile cards as part of the ideas. The team need to think of some ideas regarding their own profile and what it will include also. 

Laura would upload a list of films to which we were going to parody as well as making a mock up off the promotional poster. She would also work alongside graphic designers, Sam and Robert, on the photoshop artwork.

Michael would make a list of movies and quotes for the group to parody during filming. Allikah's task discussed would be that of taking photo's of the group for Jonny's profiles.

Josh would continue to publicise the Showcase through social media website Twitter and would place movie mash clues on throughout the build up to the Showcase as well as organising raffle prizes for HALE with the principal and Laura.

Jonny would now develop the character ideas and profiles of us for his role within the group for his part of the showcase.

As well as working alongside Laura, Sam would create postcards advertising different units on the course and would create an e-book to show the whole media department off, including Music and Games Development. Rob would work on promotional badges for the showcase.

Week Five

TEAM MEETING

In Week five, we held a team meeting which did not feature either Chantelle who was absent and Shelby who was ill. These two's continued absences were beginning to effect the team.

It was a follow on from the previous week's meeting meaning the same things were discussed.

The meeting meant the following points were decided:

Team Decisions - The team decided to reject the idea of the superhero theme and use a movie mash theme instead we will still be including character profile cards as part of the ideas. The team need to think of some ideas regarding their own profile and what it will include also. 

Laura would upload a list of films to which we were going to parody as well as making a mock up off the promotional poster. She would also work alongside graphic designers, Sam and Robert, on the photoshop artwork.

Michael would make a list of movies and quotes for the group to parody during filming. Allikah's task discussed would be that of taking photo's of the group for Jonny's profiles.

Josh would continue to publicise the Showcase through social media website Twitter and would place movie mash clues on throughout the build up to the Showcase as well as organising raffle prizes for HALE with the principal and Laura.

Jonny would now develop the character ideas and profiles of us for his role within the group for his part of the showcase.

As well as working alongside Laura, Sam would create postcards advertising different units on the course and would create an e-book to show the whole media department off, including Music and Games Development. Rob would work on promotional badges for the showcase.

Week Fifteen

GUMPTION:

Heather arranged for a gentleman who went by the name to David to come do a speech to our group in order to motivate us and help push us those final weeks towards the Digital Showcase in a months time.

We did an impromptu pitch to David in order for him to see our work and understand what we will be doing on the day and throughout the entire production process leading up to the Digital Showcase. He suggested the following:

- Change our Name and Logo to something people would remember.

- Tweet more and publicise more. 

- Keep in touch with him for more information and help.

As already mentioned, David was in charge of a Bradford based organization called Gumption. Gumption is working with Bradford Council to develop smarter businesses in the city centre, boost local trade and drive the economy forward. They're’re helping new & existing business owners to access the Business Rate Relief Scheme which can repay up to £16k for every new job they create (for a whole 3 years!), or at least up to the maximum amount they’re already paying per year in business rates.

http://gumptioncentres.co.uk/

Week Fourteen

SECOND PITCH TO MARKETING:

This week saw our second and final pitch to marketing, my mind was elsewhere with it being the College Football Play Off Semi Finals but I stuck with it. Here is my individual review of each individual's presentations:

Allikah - Allikah had a technical fault as the slideshow of her photography wouldn't work. However, the client was very impressed with the photography she had taken and seemed to like the idea of the tower she had created but they wanted it to be branded to go with the College.

Jonny - Jonny's product for the client was the student profiles of us in the group. These were warmly received by the clients as it showed us off as those who have put in a hell of alot of effort into the showcase to get it running.

Josh (Myself) - I thought that despite my mind being elsewhere, I sold my product well. The client was fully briefed on the way we were promoting the Showcase through Twitter and were very impressed with the Keighley Cougars Teamsheet Sponsorship as this allowed publicity to around 1k a game and also allowed the College to go on after the Showcase.

Laura - If one product went down like a house on fire, it was definitely Laura's voxpop. It was absolutely awesome. The client thought it was fantastic how Laura had used other students to help promote the college from various courses and said they would use it in years to come to promote the College.

Michael - Michael has a severe lack of confidence in these sort of situations what could have proved a severe hindrance to the rest of the group if he bottled it but he came out strong much to the surprise but thankfulness of the rest of the group. I personally though Michael gave a strong presentation in which he covered all bases even if his video had not rendered due to some technical difficulties.

Robert - They were very impressed how Rob had used the College Colours and the fact he had incorporated the fact we are based in Saltaire, which is in a World Heritage Site, well in his poster design. Like Sam he didn't really had that much to talk about and the only negative was his use of the old College logo.

Sam - Sam was very positive whilst promoting his postcards. The prototypes went down well with the client and they responding with some very positive comments towards Sam. He didn't really have that much to talk about in his actual pitch, the only negative being he'd used the old College logo.

Digital Showcase Evaluation

Leading up to the showcase I was prepared as I'd had my boards finished months ago and had contacted businesses and arranged the raffle and prizes with weeks left in advance so when the day of the Showcase came all I had to do was meet and greet and do a radio interview at BCB.

My products were ready in advance and continued to be ongoing as I was in charge of the Shipley Media official Twitter account and also had guests, raffle, prizes ect. organised weeks in advance of the Showcase and ready to go so when we got to the day off the showcase I wasn't panicking or stressing.

Next time, the only thing I would do differently would be to tweet more than I actually did as due to ongoing work elsewhere it skipped my mind to tweet as much as I should have done in order to publicise the Showcase and the events surrounding it.

The showcase itself when far better than I or anyone else actually expected. The only glitch was that some of the technology didn't work but we got around that and made it bigger than we thought. The food selled well as did the raffle tickets. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and it was great to be there.

The effective things to come out of the Showcase was the resolve to get up stronger every time we got knocked down, even on the day when the technical glitch happened during the event itself and all the last minute rushing around and panicking. 

There is not a lot I would change to be honest. As I've already stated earlier, the only thing I would do differently would be to tweet more than I actually did as due to ongoing work elsewhere it skipped my mind to tweet as much as I should have done in order to publicise the Showcase and the events surrounding it.

I was happy with my final product as from my aspect not much went wrong. The Keighley Cougars sponsorship was fantastic and saw Scott Leatherbarrow attend the Showcase pre-show.  The Twitter was slow but worked and the Radio was a great experience.

I thought that despite at times there was signs the team could fall apart and things got a bit chaotic towards the end of the project that it was a relative success. This was because despite myself being slated throughout I pulled through and the publicising of the Showcase worked and got people through the doors. 

Shut myself out and not listen to anyone else, that would be my way of self improvement because at times I liked to do things my way and not the same way as everybody else and why this might have annoyed certain members of the group I thought it was the best solution to problems,

I think personally, the client would hire us again if required. They were always there to help when we wanted an opinion on a certain product. They also were very warm and welcoming to all new ideas throughout the process and had a great relationship with the members of the team.

As a team, we could prove our communication as when it did break down everything fell apart. This was best displayed when the little arguments and idle gossip began within certain little sections of the group. Individually, my contribution as I thought it was poor as at times I couldn't be bothered whatsoever. 

We did not follow the working practices accurately as they weren't really clear enough in order to help us understand the way we were suppose to work under the stewardship of Laura and this proved a hindrance throughout the process

The production process was a long and tiring affair but I think we pulled it off well when it came to the end. We had our moments, even on the day of the Showcase it was left til' the very last minute and this showed as there were some stressed out individuals but it came out as a success and that's all we could of hoped for.

Week Eighteen

DIGITAL SHOWCASE BUILD UP & PRE-SHOW:

Well, it was the day. It was time for the Digital Showcase and as I'd finished my boards weeks ago to be displayed at the event and all the food and drink had been delivered and were ready to be sold to raise money for HALE, I found myself thrusted into the eye of the storm.

As they all remained at College fretting like my Mum does when we run out of Milk, I was relaxed and ready to go as I found myself at BCB Radio at the request of Stephen from Marketing to promote the Showcase to the Bradford District. (Well, I am made for this aren't I?)

So, whilst I stole the show at BCB answering questions even I was unprepared for with ease, I returned to College to find out that HALE aren't just a 'sexual health bus' as I and to be fair, most people did but this didn't bother me as I went to meet Scott Leatherbarrow from the Keighley Cougars and gave him the grand tour of the College with pictures being taken left, right and centre by Stephen from Marketing as well as the College's own photographer.

DIGITAL SHOWCASE:

The actual showcase itself when better than expected despite the chaotic build up and chopping and changing throughout. I think the bigger venue, better timing and more publicity of the event helped it massively in regards to that aspect.

Mark, Nick and the Music students stole the show outside with their simply awesome music performances whilst inside everything was going okay despite Heather stressing some of us even during the event itself. I found myself spending most of the afternoon running the food stall with Allikah and Tweeting away, even if Heather did want me to do it on my personal account and not the actual Shipley Media account.

Whilst the babies in attendance stole hearts, I went on to do the raffle. I raised a few laughs on the mic, and nearly brought the house down when it was revealed Heather Savage had won the spray tan. My Grandma won the Shimla Spice voucher, Alison in Marketing won the signed Cougars shirt with Saahib taking home the Spa Day for Two.

At the end of the event, we took £50 out of the budget for Pizzas. The pizzas were #Lush it's safe to say! So, the Showcase was over and that was all she wrote.

Week Seventeen

KEIGHLEY COUGARS STALL:

Debbie, Laura and Michael came to see me at work as we had a stall at the Keighley Cougars. (Not much to see, I sit in a box and play on my laptop!)

Anyways, the HALE Charity (Not my choice I'd like to reiterate!) was also in attendance and they went round with a stuffed teddy getting people to pose for pictures with it. Myself & Sean Kelly is understandable but I was slightly baffled by the decision to make a group of loudmouth drunk Workington fans pose with it was baffling.

Anyways, after a debacle with the tables we found some and they set up whilst I continued to work and they seemed proud by the fact the matchday programme had a full page advertisement whilst the teamsheet carried the name and logo of the College.

The attendance was poorer than hoped, the plan to get at least 1k through the gates proved pointless as only 723 came through the gates for the game as Cougars defeated Workington 28-20. Unfortunately, this didn't stop me getting some grief off the team.