Weekly Update Week 15

    Visions6 is wrapping up, but this last week has been busy nonetheless. We have all been hard at work with the DVD preparation and thank-you notes to send out, and time seems to be slipping by even faster than it did counting down to April 15.
    The last few days have include long hours in the editing lab fixing up the Scholarship winner's presentation, and I certainly wouldn't have been able to do it if it weren't for my Editing class I had been taking this semester.  There were so many "umm's" and stutters to take out, and matching the footage to the sound was extremely difficult since only one camera had any audio. Some "um's" had to be left in to avoid awkward jump cuts, but I think the overall picture is pretty nice. The slides fit in well with the presentation and gave it a professional look. Although my partner and I could not get our schedules to match up with each other's or the edit lab's ridiculous hours, we were able to communicate through the drive and I got great critiques from fresh pairs of eyes. As far as updating the manual, I had been critiquing my section throughout the semester in bold font and marking anything I felt was false or confusing in red, so I just needed my director's approval to solidify the changes. I think having my own separate copy I kept on my laptop and critiqued throughout the process really helped me make the manual the best it could be, and it saved me from trying to remember things and piling it together in a week. My final act as Awards Coordinator for V6 is filing out the tax forms, which are as confusing as the manual warned me they would be. Luckily I have my awesome director to help me through it! Once those are signed on Tuesday they will be sent out by a separate person from UNCW, and then I guess I hang up my hat as Awards Coordinator.
    Visions has been a crazy, stressful ride but I think everything turned out as best as it could, and I hope all the lessons I've learned transfer over to the next generation of staff members through the Almighty Manual.

Weekly Update Week 14

It is done. I write this post from the Other Side of Visions6. After running around for nearly 24 hours and falling into a small coma over the weekend, I am prepared to reflect on the day. 

What I did at V6: Since I did not have a job to do until the afterparty, I spent most of my day helping out wherever I could. Like everyone else, I picked up and drove some guests to UNCW at 7:30, but then I also returned to pick up another guest who had slept in past their alarm. Unfortunately, we missed the first 30 minutes of Block 1 and the breakfast, but all three of us were able to watch the remaining films in the morning. Exhausted from a poor night's sleep, I tried to stay out of the theater as much as I could and on my feet so I would not doze off. I was able to help Jessica and Devon with the final touches on their video race, and I have to admit as skeptical as I was about leading the group, the Video Race was the highlight of my day. The rest of the day passed by in a blur of "go here" and "help them" until it was time for me to leave UNCW (and the dinner :( ) and pick up After Party things for Kebba. Luckily, my boyfriend was able to help me be in two places at once, or I would never have made it to Hell's Kitchen on time. Blowing up balloons takes FOREVER, and I had  to run downtown to pick up the cupcakes, which involved having Matthew teach me how to parallel park over the phone while I am racing against the cupcake's closing time. Tears were shed. Curses were screamed. All in all, I ended up driving to and from Downtown 4 times that night, and that was without having to pick up guests. After getting a big fat X written on my hand before entering Hell's Kitchen, I was pleasantly surprised to see all my gift bags neatly displayed by the stage thanks to Kebba and Matt. The awards ceremony went well, although I do wish I had taken the frames out of the bags and had the filmmakers take pictures holding them. After the ceremony, one of the winners went up to me to thank me, which was really sweet. One of the awards they received was something they had wanted for a very long time and they were super excited to receive it.

What still to do: Adrienne and I still need to do the Tax forms, which we have a due date of April 26th. The manual needs to be adjusted, and I need to email the sponsors one more time and thank them for their contribution, send the tax forms, and make sure everyone got what they were given.

All in all, I'd say Visions6 was a success.

Weekly Update Week 13

SEVEN DAYS PEOPLE !!!! Woo! Alright, time crunch has begun. This past week, Adrienne and I wrapped up our awards search with super successful results. We heard back from most of the people we were trying to get, but not as many film festivals. Luckily, all awards have been gathered this past week, including a beautiful camera from South Eastern Camera and many books and DVDs. This week coming up, I will put together the baskets for Friday night, filling them up with the framed laurels, gift certificates, books, and any other awards that we have decided on. Grace was nice enough to print out the certificates, as well s drink menus for the after party I designed. It's been a great experience to be able to design more than half the gift certificates we are giving out AND get them form companies. To prepare for the event, I need to go and clean my car before picking up the filmmakers and figure out outfits for the day of and after party (it is awards season, after all). All in all, awards are under control and wrapped up (no pun intended). For next week, I am also focused on James' bake sale and what I am bringing to the table, as well as if there is anything else I can do to help anyone with a  heavier load. This week I will send out another round of thank you's to the sponsors and update them on our festival, and will begin researching the price of all the awards donated to compare with the sponsor's statement for the tax forms. Can't believe it's almost time!

Weekly Update Week 12

 

ONLY TWO MORE WEEKS TIL VISIONS 

Alright people, count down has begun! With only 12 days left until the event, the development department is...completely under control. James' bake sale is all set to go for the 11th, and the flyers I made for it are being printed this week, along with some cupcake name cards and drink menus I made up for Rebecca. Adrienne and I have finally heard back from the elusive companies, and awards are practically perfect! We actually have more than we need, I think! This past week, Adrienne and I had another one on one meeting and figured out the last of the awards we need, as well as what we will still need to purchase. This week, Adrienne will get the money from Zoe and purchase the bags on Amazon, and I will buy the frames at the dollar store because Amazon is crazy expensive when it comes to frames. The rest of the sent-in awards should arrive by this coming Friday (8th), and all the certificates are gathered and ready to print. I am still waiting to hear back from one company, but otherwise we have heard back from almost everyone we wanted to, except some film festivals. This coming week will have me preparing for the day, including purchasing little things, like a table cover for the after party, and preparing my dessert idea for James' bake sale. Adrienne and I will probably have another meeting together to make sure we are on the same page, but so far we've been on target and on time with everything. It feels great to be at the other end of award gathering, and seeing a successful pool. Who knew you could gain so much when you just ask? In other news, Adrienne and I present this week, and we have a very special throwback theme for everyone to enjoy.  

Weekly Update Week 11

18 more days 'til Visions6!
     Wow, time is flying by. Seems like just a week ago it was January and we had all the time in the world. This past week, I presented an Awards Update that detailed our new sponsor, Digieffects,  as well as my ideas for the use of the "awards budget." Unfortunately, my manual did not actually explain how the budget works, and we had quite a few kinks to work out before Adrienne and I got any money to play with. This set us back  quite a bit, and I will be sure to be very clear in my manual update that the next awards coordinator should ask for at least $50 cash to make up the award baskets so they are not paying it out of pocket. Although no one remembers what the past award baskets look like, I am confident that the silver bags and tissue paper will be sufficient as well as harmonious to the space theme. Everything is currently sitting in my room waiting to be presented, and all the award certificates have been collected and are ready to print on nice paper. I have even finished making up 3 award certificates for two companies that were unable to present one of their own. All sponsors have confirmed their donation as well as how to redeem the offer if not obvious, and are happy with the updates I send once a week.
     Although all award categories have items, Adrienne and I are still hard at work and continuously email, call and visit potential sponsors. At this time I am still awaiting responses from 4 companies, and will be sending out another wave of follow ups on Wednesday. This week Adrienne and I will have another 1 on 1 meeting to keep up with where we are at as well as go out together to visit some more companies. Once the 4 companies answer me by the end of the week, Adrienne and I will go ahead and purchase whatever we need, from frames to smaller awards for Audience Choice, so they arrive in time.
    I have also recently updated the contact list for next year's coordinator, making sure all the contact info is there as well as color coordinating it, so I'm not rushing to fix it at the end of the semester.

     In the art department world, I have been assigned the Spring Bake Sale flyers and have already come up with my first draft, which is currently in my folder awaiting inspection. The poster follows Michelle's color palette and art deco theme, but I still incorporated my signature stary night sky.

Everything is going fine and I am happy with where everyone in my department is at with their responsibilities. Visions6 is going to be great!

Weekly update Week 10

    This past week and seeking coming has/is extremely busy for me in the Development department. The Art Department has asked that awards be "done" by the end of the week, or at least next Tuesday, so that all the logo integrated stuff can be finalized, and I couldn't be more grateful for Adrienne's support right now. She and I have been pulling out all the stops trying to secure the last 3 award categories, Scholarship and Audience choices, and we have had so many 1-1 meetings it's practically become a normal part of life. Unfortunately, we are both hitting dead ends and have had a hard time getting answers from the countless emails and phone calls we have sent out. I have even faced my fear of approaching strangers and have asked shops in person for donations, but I'm still waiting on their responses. We have about 5 -10 more places to ask before Friday, and she has told me to send out follow up emails everyday until the last 3 online contacts answer. If all else fails, I have created a budget proposal to purchase the remaining awards and will be presenting it on Tuesday.

    Although the rest of the awards have be found, I still have work to do with them. Tonight, I am sending each sponsor an email to thank them again for their support, confirm how the certificates can be redeemed, and send them links to our updated sponsors page. For some companies, they were unable to send me certificates and asked if I would create them, and have been working on that on the side. I still have every confidence that awards will be on point and we can pull it together in the time we have left, but April 15 is getting soo close! I am super excited to be putting the bags together though - finally, a tangible job! I have been to the dollar store and taken pictures of bag options and frames, so I'm all set to get the show on the road! 

Weekly Update Week 9

This first part isn't a true update, but I needed to say something somewhere and I figured this would be a nice place to do it.

My mom just reminded me (and I COMPLETELY did not remember this), but I got into UNCW despite missing the deadline (and being out of state). What does this have to do with anything? Because, precious readers (or just Beth - hi Beth!) when you ask for something, you shall receive. As  an awards coordinator, something I've been having to do is literally ask people for things. Actually, that's about all I do. At first, it was uncomfortable. How could I ask strangers to give me free stuff? What if they said no? What if they said no and held secret meetings about how stupid they think I am? What if they said no and held secret meetings about how stupid they think I am AND sent me a scathing message that scarred me for life? The fear was stifling.

But the point is, good things come out of asking, even if the answer isn't the one you were hoping for. I sent out more emails this past week, and one so far came back with honestly just the words "yes of course!" Does it get much better than that?

I have always been a scaredy cat, too afraid of the word 'no' to ask for toys, my turn, or a raise, but working for Visions has helped that a lot. Who knows - maybe I'll be able to answer a phone call or talk to strangers without a weird high pitch child's voice by the end of the semester.

Weekly Check In 8

Time is counting down until April 15th! This past week I presented an update about Awards. The (Futurama - inspired) presentation detailed all of our current sponsors and their donation amount, and has links to all my spreadsheets with all the nitty gritty facts. The presentation also included the award winners' names and what they may be receiving, but it will be a work in progress up until the final night. This week, also a super busy Spring Break, will include more emails, submitting an art request, scouting out places to ask in Wilmington. My development department has been a great help with figuring out who to go visit, and I plan to hit 5 places in the next two weeks. Although I have not had luck inn the last two weeks with receiving new awards, the sponsors we have enjoy receiving updates on the festival so I send them that once a week.

In the art department world, I have submitted my design for the bookmarks and am now onto making a flyer for Visions volunteers. The flyer is going to colorful and "exciting," and I think I want to incorporate Gizmo or an Astronaut into it.

That's all for now - may the countdown continue!

Weekly Check in Week 7

This past week was our programing night, which went rather smoothly, compared to all the scary rumors about The Long Night...

...but then again, Jon Snow knows nothing. 

I'm really happy programming is out of the way, because now I can search for awards that better suit the winners. As of today, I have a plethora of stuff for an animation winner (as in wayyyyy too much stuff) but not quite enough for the live-action crew. I am gearing up to present this Tuesday, so I can explain to the class all the companies I have reached out to, who has answered, and who hasn't as well as ask for their ideas on other places to try. March will really be my "crunch time" work, and I just hope more people will answer my pleas, but I am pretty proud of myself considering I have almost $4,000 in awards secured. 

In the art department side of life, I have been commissioned to create the Visions bookmarks, and I am really happy with the design. When I look in my art folder and see all my creations for Visions, I realize that they all have a certain look. I hope everyone likes my design; I tried to follow Michelle's color scheme but I couldn't really grasp the art deco look and stuck to my cartoonish, really space-influenced style. 

This coming week will involve presenting, emailing more companies and finding better contacts, as well as keeping up with the sponsors I do have. I need to create certificates for the Jungle Software awards, but other than that my Art duties are done for now. 

Weekly Check in Week 6

Awards contacting has been going smoothly. ToonBoom has gotten back to me and agreed to sponsor,  but about 3 other companies, including the film festivals for the scholarship winner, have declined. For the companies that haven't answered, I will be following up and calling into next week. Jungle Software has agreed to sponsor all the awards (over $1,000 worth), so at least everyone has something at this point. I plan to present in two weeks, once we have decided on the winners.

On another note, I have been working on the Video Race logo for Aedan and Devon. The three of us have been in contact all week and they've been including with the design ideas and look, and so far they love it. It's going to be a rocket with the fire behind it spelling out VIDEO RACE with the words 1 Hour 1 Film in a cool race font underneath.

Also, it turns out that my Trello doesn't work at all, and that I've been adding stuff to my personal page and not the Visions page because, when I go on the Visions page, it doesn't let me add anything, or check anything off. Adrianne has been trying to fix it all day but it won't work, so I will have to ask Carson or Simone on Tuesday. :(

Weekly Check In Week 5

    The Development Department is on their game as usual, with Indiegogo, the Valentine's day bake sale and party all wrapped up. Awards, of course, is still a work in progress. We are up to 5 companies that have responded, but silence so far from the rest of the companies (about 25). The follow up emails are going to be sent out on Sunday night, so they are the first thing to be seen Monday morning, just as the initial emails were. If there is still no response, phone calls begin next week. Since last week I have contacted 5 more companies, and I will add 5 more this weekend as well. There should be some awards on their way to school though, so that's exciting.

     On another note, I have been assigned the Video Race Logo to design, and will be throwing around ideas with Devon and Aiden later this week. Nothing else too big to report, just more emails and positive thoughts that more companies will answer me this week. 

Weekly Check In Week 4

So much to do this week! Where to begin? Although we did not have a Development Meeting this week, since our fearless leader was away, I think we all in the Dev. Dept. have been flooded with stuff to do, with the Valentine's day Bake Sale and Party being this week coming up. This past week I have sent out 22 emails/forms and heard back from FOUR companies so far, and have been in correspondence with them all week. I am still searching for more potential sponsors and spend a lot of time updating my excel sheet with every bit of information I can on the Awards.  I have also made up the 4 Ups for the party, which is something I had never done before. Adding to that has been grading the films and papers, as well as trying to get together Beth's resume project stuff, and of course, all the other homework for my other classes. Busy, busy, busy! 

Weekly Check in 3

Business as usual in the Development department. As the Valentine's day bake sale and party loom closer,  I am still awaiting a response from the UR about flyer approval. My first message to them received a response within a day with corrections (delete the word "come" and double check the UNCW logo specs) and the revised edits were sent back Monday. This past week I made up a Facebook banner to advertise the Valentine's day festivities, which should be going live sometime next week. As for awards, the final email format has been approved and will be sent out to prospective sponsors tonight so it's the first thing in their mailbox Monday morning. Some companies have sponsorship forms to fill out online instead, which I am in the process of completing (for example, GoPro). I am hoping to have responses within two weeks and have at least 5/8 of the awards settled by week 7, with all awards finalized and arrived by March 15th. I'm still really nervous about getting responses/not getting "cool" awards, but I've added about 5 new companies thanks to the classes' input (the planners, some other film software, Adobe keyboards).
On a slightly unrelated note, my costume for the space-themed Valentine's day party, Adventure Time's Lumpy Space Princess, is coming along nicely.

Helvetica

“At least I'm not a font nerd."
"A what?"
Matt smiled. "You know. People who love fonts. There are people who go to a movie and get agitated because, while the movie is supposed to be set in 1962, the restaurant awning shown in the background of some scene is printed in Arras Bold, which wasn't invented until 1991, so clearly the producers of the movie are insane and should be beheaded.” 
― Jessica Park, Flat-Out Love

     About two weeks ago, I read the novel quoted above and thought, what a weird thing to bring up. I bet Park just made up font nerd. 
     And yet, I have just concluded watching an entire documentary on these mythical nerds. When I first put this documentary on, I had 5 other things going on at once, but within 6 minutes I was captivated. I have never given much thought about the font companies use, and it never crossed my mind that state highways, service vehicles, post offices and the like all had to decide on a typeface. I also had no idea Helvetica was the most neutral font, nor that it's so popular! I feel like it's one of those things I never noticed, but now I won't be able to un-see it.
     There are truly some moments of genius within this eccentric documentary. Towards the end, the man speaking about "don't confuse legibility with communication" definitely resonated with me. Working as a graphic designer for the last few weeks has opened my eyes to a lot of details that I would normally overlook, and I have so much more respect for professional artists who deal with creating logos and advertisements for huge companies. Another interviewee stated how font can have personality, just as a drawing or painting could. As someone with extremely horrific handwriting, I only ever saw my sketches as art, never anything involving text, but the interviewees argue against that notion. I agree with one of the interviewees, "if you don't have the eye, no program will help." Hopefully I got it!

Dirty Dozen: Awards

1. What is the project supposed to achieve?

            I am in charge of locating prizes and awards for the 9 categories in the V6 Film Festival and Conference. My awards should also serve as a good connection between Visions and popular, or at least successful, companies that can last for the foreseeable future.

2. Who is the customer?

          The costumer, I suppose, would be the winners of the awards.

3. What are the deliverables of the project?

          The physical awards donated by the companies contacted

4. What is the budget?

            There is no budget. The awards are strictly donations.

5. How long will it take?

            As long as it takes for companies to break their wills and answer my persistent emails. Should be a work in progress up until April.

6. What specific skills are needed?

            A confidence in emailing and possibly conversation, and a well stocked vocabulary.

7. What special resources are needed?

            A working email, well researched contacts as well as a way to receive the donations.

8. Who is working the project? What is each person's job?

            Awards are handled solely by myself, but will be shipped to UNCW and then handled by Shannon. My job is to research potential companies and ideal items, locate email addresses and send out requests for award donations.   

9. What is the schedule?

            By the end of January, I would like to have an idea of what awards I would like to receive as well as have a working list of contacts. Within the first two weeks of February I believe emails should be sent out to all contacts, with more emails being sent out through the month in case of new companies/contacts. February and March should involve conversations between myself and companies, with awards hopefully arriving by Mid-to-Late March and early April.

10. What are the risks? (Small vs. large impact, likely vs. unlikely)

            The biggest risks are that 1) there is not enough time for companies to answer their emails, or send out their donations before April 15^th 2) no companies that I contact wish to donate, or the contacts that do answer are considered “lowly” and ruin Visions’ reputation. It is very likely that many companies do not wish to give away hundreds of dollars of supplies and I am extremely concerned over that. I suppose it is unlikely that any companies would be “bad press” for our festival. Another risk is that we lose connection between Visions and previous donors due to annoyance at being asked to donate every year.

11. How will you communicate with your team?

           My Development team and I typically communicate through weekly meetings and emails. Since I do not have an assistant or teammate per say, there is not much of an issue of communication.

12. How will you determine if the project is successful?

                  I feel as though I judge my success in this area through my classmates’ approval, over whether or not they agree the donations are satisfactory or not. As long as every victor has some award, and are happy with their award, I will feel as though my project was successful.

Weekly Check in 2

This week past I met with my Development department. All the members are super helpful and eager to get me on my feet. I am glad I got to do my presentation of the flyers on time, and am happy with everyone’s responses and comments, even though I have some big changes to make. Moving on,  I had an issue with grading the papers, as I graded all of them on Thursday night before week 2 of class, but then when looking to grade the extra ones on Monday, I stumbled upon the grade sheet/response list and noticed none of my responses were listed, as if I had never turned them in. It turns out I was using the link for V5 to grade the papers, although I was reading the correct papers, and it wasn’t syncing up with the spreadsheet. Thoroughly panicked, I had to re-grade all the papers Monday night, as the Tech people couldn’t figure out where my grades went. I am currently swamped with the research for the Awards, and I feel the time crunch settling in around me - only 2 and 1/2 more months to go!