Thursday, March 26, 2009

Project Two: The Moral of the Story

Remember How I told you to remind me about being Optimistic? Well, here it goes... What I learned from this project was having a clear vision of our plan. By having a clear plan, everybody...meaning Felipe and I ... had a clear idea of how things were going to play out.

Learning from Eachother: Felipe and I worked together every step of the way. Sometimes interrupting to spit my idea out, I learned I have to listen before I speak... one idea write my thought down before I interrupt.

Ok, to the Moral: In such cases you can always be prepared, you can always have a plan. Yes, Plan A, Plan B and Plan C. But, in the end you have to remain positive and optimistic. At the Rally on March 7th as Felipe describes in his blog I was in a little panic.... Yes, I would say just a little...Don't ask Felipe though :)

But, overall Felipe was like "Come on dude, It's going to be alright. Don't worry! It's going to work." With just a little time, we refocused our plan and organized ourselves back at square one. We were back in business and the plan didn't flop. It was these words of encouragement that I often heed that were spoken to me in a time of anxious panic.

In my bio, you can read about my thoughts on how we precieve barriers. In one more moment, I had the chance to offer the same optimism in return. As Felipe worked on the Powerpoint all night and we were still up at 2am. Felipe worried we wouldn't be done in time for our presentation. Another worry, we wouldn't have time to practice. With encouragement, I said "Felipe, Don't worry we'll get it done and You'll do fine on the presentation" To much awe, we did finish our powerpoint in time and he rocked the presentation.

Overall, the moral is: Stay optimistic! In times of doubt, we can't consume ourselves in what if's and fears. We need to believe we can see over this horizon and remain positive. Many times we can’t see beyond our own clouded perception, a barrier that blocks our sight. But, as time passes, we begin to see our obstacles through a different lens, one that allows us to see optimism in the face of unknown fear. A time when we allow ourselves to percieve a different outcome.

A thought came to me... while reflecting on doubt and how to walk away from it. A reflection of something that was once good and now no longer exist. I sketched this quote on a napkin... it resolved a moment of perception I had... It may not make sense and have no cadence, but it made me think about where I stood.
"Never to be disappointed, we will always forgive good fortune"

In Closing:
Forever giving and Good will

The Presentation

As the Team Lead... this story never seems to end. After tackling this project and competing with Team Tripple Threat, we still had one more objective...The Presentation.

Till the Very End: Felipe and I worked hard on Project 2. With no lifeline (community volunteer who would assist us) we grappled with this challenge to showcase our resliency. Till the very end, we were compelled to work hard and win! Working on our powerpoint we highlighted main points that would zinger our success...

Such Zinger topics included, but not limited to:
Text 'Ewaste' to 313131 ... Auraria Campus E-Cycle Rally... Featured E-Cycle story in The Metropolitian ... Volunteers ... 15 Day Countdown ... Post-Rally Education ... Survey... Demanufacturing Slideshow... Update Voicemail!

Not done, yet: Felipe worked on the powerpoint for the evening while I put together the last touches of our post-educational prospects and last minute voicemail. Through our text messaging service, I recorded a message that would be sent to all our phone numbers that were collected through the rallies informing them about our success. Scheduling the phone call to be sent at 9am the next day while our presentation began--I thought what a strategic move!

"Jesse, the Powerpoint "says Felipe: Felipe was already over the powerpoint and wanted some help. After setting all our slides on a table we deleted some and refined our presentation. Still at school till 10pm we closed the West Classroom (Rm 244) Computer Lab. We ended up stayed up until 1 or 2 am to finalize our discussions on our Powerpoint. After a couple practices, we decided to cut a few pages to decrease the amount of time we spoke. The goal... have our presentation be under 20 minutes. We were already over by 6 minutes, so we got to cutting.

Worried Once More: Will we have time to update our powerpoint? That was certainly a question that we running through Felipe's mind...Taking the optimistic approach at 2am I was like sure no worries...we'll just get up at 6am and be at the school computer lab by 7am.

~Remind me to discuss why being optimistic is important!

@ 7am: Dunn, dunn, dunnnnnn.... (This is my musical score of detriment!...oh no!) So were at the computer lab (West classroom 244) at 7am putting our final touches on the powerpoint.

What were the final touches you ask... Well inserting live action photos of us working away, deleting slides and making our packets for the judges.

We only have 10 minutes, What?: Such suspense...right. With only 10 minutes to spare we printed off our powerpoint in color and inserted them into our presentation folders. We had to be there by 8:30am to ensure that nobody would be late to the presentations that started at 9am. Briskly walking to the Administration Building, we made it right at 8:30am. Already prepared we sat drinking our coffee, organizing our thoughts and ready to present our side of the challenge.

A Flip of the Coin... Heads or Tails? As heads was called team Tripple Threat chose to have us go first. We were ready, but after being heavily involved in every aspect of the project (the both of us) we knew we couldn't talk too much and had to stick to our points.

The points we sometimes forgot: In the end, we sold our case on project 2 but we did leave out some of the fun details.

The Judges: They deliberate... we wait.

The Q & A: I love the Q & A session because it allows room for us to discuss sections of our presentation that we might have missed through the questions.

The Results: We Won! & I was so happy!

The Reward: Going to the Nuggets game with a tour of the facilities along with watching the team practice courtside. I was awarded two additional tickets that would allow me to invite whoever I wish.

The Reward Night... To be continued....

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

What a WiLd RiDe!

Where do I start?: There is not one single event that I can solely write about in project 2 that would describe everything that Felipe and I have experienced. It was like a roller coaster! All I have to say is I am proud of my team and the work we put into it.

The Contenders: That's our team name. Our team consisted of just Felipe and I. Erik decided to leave the program because of personal matters so it was Felipe and I verses Team Triple Threat or Rachel, Jeanine and Chantay. As a result, we kept with our vision throughout the project and held one another accountable each step of the way.

The Countdown: After researching what our options were, we realized that although our mission at hand was to utlize online social media to drive people to the rally and educate them, we still needed to use "old school media" tactics to bring awareness to our cause. So we kicked off our project plan with a "15 day Countdown to Recycling 40 Tons of E-Waste" sending press releases every which way to get people to understand our cause and drive traffic to our online blog.

Our Plan: Countdown each day highlighting facts, making announcements and talking about the location. We also formulated a campus rally to educate students at Auraria about recycling electronics and inform them about our I-25 and Dry Creek rally using text messaging. If students texted "ewaste" to 313131 the automatically recieved a reply message stating to recycle their electronics and help the environment while giving our recycling address and location. They would then have to forward the message to five friends in order to receive a slice of free pizza.

Our list: At the campus rally we collected phone numbers and commitment cards that listed people's email addresses and cell phone numbers if they wanted to volunteer for our Recycling rally at 1-25 and Dry Creek. We recieved over 70 phone numbers and 20 potential volunteers.

Educate: To further educate students about recycling we text messaged them the next day educating them about why they should recycle.

6ft Green Balloon: Leading the way, was our 6ft Green Balloon. Staying up till 2am making Saturday rally signs I awoke at 6am to load the car with signage and a heavy tent that took both doors open in my Honda to stick in my car (It was very fun...not)

Cars Zipping By... As cars zipped by us before the rally was even setup, I thought our idea had flopped. How were we going to get people to fill out these thank you cards and text message so that we can educate them after the rally? As fear set in... We regrouped and strategized our plan. As the DJ played music in the background we began collecting the information that would further sustain our efforts of educating participants involved after the event.

Was it Cold? Yes, it was!

How long were we out there? 4 Hours!

The Numbers: 4,908 Cars attended, 14 Trailers of E-Waste was collected
(equating to approximately 238,000 pounds) Overall, we exceeded the goals we set out and walked away feeling a sense of accomplishment.

No, no, no... not done with this story... just wait till I start giving you the details of our presentation!

Sunday, March 1, 2009

2 Events, One Mission... & Your It!

The Mission: Working with Comcast, we will be assisting the cable company to educate and engage local residents about the opportunity to properly recycle old or unwanted electronics (TVs, Computers, Cell phones) for FREE on March 7th from 7am-Noon at the "Recycling E-Waste Rally."

Educate: In the last 20 years, advanced technology has made a breakthrough in the lives of everyday Americans spawning a whole new way of life. But, as consumers when new advanced technology is born, what do we do with the old? It is estimated that billions of old computers and TVs remain closeted and stockpiled in homes across the U.S. So what do we do with these old and less advanced electronics?Approxmiately 10% of electronics are recycled, while the remaining find their way into our City landfills.

Electronics are Toxic: No, not like Britney Spears "Toxic", but detrimental to our health and environment. Did you know a single TV contains 8 lbs of lead, mercury, cadmium and other harmful elements? It is said that exposure to even the smallest amounts of these elements, if mishandled can cause real health problems.

Reasoning: It is for this reason we are holding on to our mission to educate and expose the enigma behind disposing our old electronics. As stated in fun-filled conversation about disposing, "People think our allys are magical, if you put it out there it magically disappears!" I though it was funny!

2 Events, One Mission: Well we want to inform you in any way possible and give you the opportunity to properly recycle your electronics in a non-magical but responsible way!

1st Event: On Wed, March 4th, Team Contenders is having a Rally on Auraria Campus from 12-2pm where we'll be having live music and free pizza! Don't know where on campus...follow the music! The goal is to educate and inform students about the importance of recycling electronics.

2nd Event: On Sat, March 7th, We'll be kicking off the "Recycle E-Waste Rally" from 7am to Noon, bring your old electronics to be recycled for FREE (normally costing you $30-50 to recycle). Please join us at: 183 Inverness Drive West on March 7th for our Rally! It will be fun and environmentally wise!

Stay tuned... to see what else we have up our sleeve!