Live Well Colorado: Last Friday we kicked off project 4, where we will be working with Live Well Westwood and Kaiser to promote Walking Wednesdays at three elementary schools in Westwood.
The Reason: Did you know by 2017 that 2 out of 3 Coloradoans will be obese.
Teach them when they are Young: Our project will entail working with 3 elementary schools in Westwood promoting Live Well Westwood or Viva Bien Westwood's Walking Wednesdays!
Stopping Obesity: Starting with kids, we are promoting health living choices while keeping them active. That's why we will be pushing kids to put on their kicks (shoes) and walk to school.
But... There is a big parental concern for safe neighborhoods. So our task is much more than kids walking to school. How do we mobilize parents and the community to make their community safe for kids and families?
Up Next... This is our mission. Even though this is our last, this is our task at hand. We are eager to make a lasting impression and promote Living Well in Westwood.
Join Live Well Colorado: Join www.livewellcolorado.com and learn about what healthy activities are going on in your community.
Stay tuned... and learn about our Hussle (Our Strategy)... Signing Off Folks!
Thanks for reading! J. Martinez
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Our Strategy!
Flooding the Market: Our strategy:
1.) Blanket Marketing: Create a new message that would be tailored to this population through postcards mailings that would marketing tools that would drive consumers to different communication outlets like text message "myhome" and your zip code to 313131 to find your local housing counseling agency and online chats, where consumers could log on to an online chat to have a confidential outlet to communicate and ask questions about foreclosure.
The new message: You are the Key
2.) Partner Advertising: Partner with businesses and organizations that are also being affected by foreclosure. For instance, partner with insurance companies, utility companies (water, cable, electricity) to include the marketing material in billing or add the Colorado Foreclosure Hotline to their billing statements.
3.) Segmentation Marketing: Because there are companies wanting to make profit from people who are in foreclosure. Some for-profit businesses are pulling credit report mailing lists for every one who has missed one mortagage payment or more... 6 to 8 months before any NED is being filed.
Due to this, we thought it would be wise to compete right along these companies to push our message of "You are the Key" and Free housing counseling services. We have heard stories of lawyers and foreclosure businesses making consumers pay them $900 tbho $3000 to help them get out of foreclosure.
That is why would would like to do the same and pull credit report mailing lists for missed mortgage payments to educate consumers about Free Foreclosure assistance rather than paying $3000 or more for foreclosure help!
Campaign or Targeted: Our marketing strategy can be used a both a monthly campaign or a targeted strategy for marketing specific populations.
As a campaign you can market using partner businesses to advertise and create a foreclosure month that would educate the community and bring awareness to the community. We called it Foreclosure February.
Spring Break: And then there was spring break. We all did take a break from the project, but we were losing time so we planned to meet on Thursday after we had met that prior tuesday with the Colorado Foreclosure Hotline.
But... it snowed like crazy with wind blowing...Blizzard 2009 or it felt like it. So we ended up meeting the next day. Cleaning our cars off toppled with snow.
Meetings, meetings, meetings: Even though this was our plan. It took us till the next meeting to finalize our marketing strategy.
Staying up late: Just 2 days later... we were finalizing our powerpoint presentation and refining everyones tasks for the presentation. We ended up staying up till 12:30am to get things finished.
Wakey, Wakey Eggs and Bacy: I went to bed at 1:30am and decided to meet up with Felipe at 7:00am to print off the powerpoint presentation. I woke up at 6:45am and ended up arrriving at the school by 7:30.
Printing: Felipe has told me since project 2 that we can use his printing account through MSCD to print off anything we needed. Well thinking he still had money in his account I awaited to make a few copies of our powerpoint. But, he said he was out of money because he was printing off his marketing plan that was going to be included in the judge's packets.
Oh No!: Luckily, I have an emergency stash of coinage in my backpack for worst case senarios. From parking cash to the purchase of scantrons. Although, the machine that replenishes your printing account only takes dollar bills. Felipe asked people in the computer lab if they had dollars for exchange. They did and we hussled to print off the powerpoint presentation.
The Presentation: Awaiting our time to speak, we forgot to hand out the judges packets until the time I spoke. Which was 5 slides into the presentation. It was kinda of funny but embarassing. I started with "Well, now that you have your packets, were on slide 6" everyone laughed, but it still seemed a little awkward. :)
The Finish: As Chantay spoke on the last slide, we were in relief that we had finished.
The Judging: The deliberation. We wait and the judges come back to ask us a number of questions. This had to be one of the longest Q & A session we have had in any of our project presentations. They were good questions but some of them were hard to answer. But, we gave a go and hoped we made a good argument.
The Results: We had a lot of great feedback. Even though this was by far the largest judging panel we had. They gave us some really good feedback that helped us in future projects and presentations. You'll have to see at our Boardroom!
The Reward: A One-night stay at the Curtis Hotel with Dinner at The Office and theater tickets to watch " A prayer by Owen"
What a Great Reward!: Everyone was able to attend from the team and enjoyed a relaxing and fun reward. We checked in by 5:30 at the Curtis Hotel and headed to dinner. Getting our food we enjoyed eachothers company. Walking to the theater, I was excited to see my first play in Denver.
The play was long... But amazing. If you have time to kill and want to go to a great play. Go watch a "Prayer for Owen." It's just great to see people act right in front of you with a setting of improvization.
The Comfy Bed: Wrapping up the rainy cold night, I headed to my room to jump into my PJs and sleep in my comfy bed! What a awesome day. From presenation to my one night stay in the Curtis Hotel!
Up Next: Project 4 Revealed...
1.) Blanket Marketing: Create a new message that would be tailored to this population through postcards mailings that would marketing tools that would drive consumers to different communication outlets like text message "myhome" and your zip code to 313131 to find your local housing counseling agency and online chats, where consumers could log on to an online chat to have a confidential outlet to communicate and ask questions about foreclosure.
The new message: You are the Key
2.) Partner Advertising: Partner with businesses and organizations that are also being affected by foreclosure. For instance, partner with insurance companies, utility companies (water, cable, electricity) to include the marketing material in billing or add the Colorado Foreclosure Hotline to their billing statements.
3.) Segmentation Marketing: Because there are companies wanting to make profit from people who are in foreclosure. Some for-profit businesses are pulling credit report mailing lists for every one who has missed one mortagage payment or more... 6 to 8 months before any NED is being filed.
Due to this, we thought it would be wise to compete right along these companies to push our message of "You are the Key" and Free housing counseling services. We have heard stories of lawyers and foreclosure businesses making consumers pay them $900 tbho $3000 to help them get out of foreclosure.
That is why would would like to do the same and pull credit report mailing lists for missed mortgage payments to educate consumers about Free Foreclosure assistance rather than paying $3000 or more for foreclosure help!
Campaign or Targeted: Our marketing strategy can be used a both a monthly campaign or a targeted strategy for marketing specific populations.
As a campaign you can market using partner businesses to advertise and create a foreclosure month that would educate the community and bring awareness to the community. We called it Foreclosure February.
Spring Break: And then there was spring break. We all did take a break from the project, but we were losing time so we planned to meet on Thursday after we had met that prior tuesday with the Colorado Foreclosure Hotline.
But... it snowed like crazy with wind blowing...Blizzard 2009 or it felt like it. So we ended up meeting the next day. Cleaning our cars off toppled with snow.
Meetings, meetings, meetings: Even though this was our plan. It took us till the next meeting to finalize our marketing strategy.
Staying up late: Just 2 days later... we were finalizing our powerpoint presentation and refining everyones tasks for the presentation. We ended up staying up till 12:30am to get things finished.
Wakey, Wakey Eggs and Bacy: I went to bed at 1:30am and decided to meet up with Felipe at 7:00am to print off the powerpoint presentation. I woke up at 6:45am and ended up arrriving at the school by 7:30.
Printing: Felipe has told me since project 2 that we can use his printing account through MSCD to print off anything we needed. Well thinking he still had money in his account I awaited to make a few copies of our powerpoint. But, he said he was out of money because he was printing off his marketing plan that was going to be included in the judge's packets.
Oh No!: Luckily, I have an emergency stash of coinage in my backpack for worst case senarios. From parking cash to the purchase of scantrons. Although, the machine that replenishes your printing account only takes dollar bills. Felipe asked people in the computer lab if they had dollars for exchange. They did and we hussled to print off the powerpoint presentation.
The Presentation: Awaiting our time to speak, we forgot to hand out the judges packets until the time I spoke. Which was 5 slides into the presentation. It was kinda of funny but embarassing. I started with "Well, now that you have your packets, were on slide 6" everyone laughed, but it still seemed a little awkward. :)
The Finish: As Chantay spoke on the last slide, we were in relief that we had finished.
The Judging: The deliberation. We wait and the judges come back to ask us a number of questions. This had to be one of the longest Q & A session we have had in any of our project presentations. They were good questions but some of them were hard to answer. But, we gave a go and hoped we made a good argument.
The Results: We had a lot of great feedback. Even though this was by far the largest judging panel we had. They gave us some really good feedback that helped us in future projects and presentations. You'll have to see at our Boardroom!
The Reward: A One-night stay at the Curtis Hotel with Dinner at The Office and theater tickets to watch " A prayer by Owen"
What a Great Reward!: Everyone was able to attend from the team and enjoyed a relaxing and fun reward. We checked in by 5:30 at the Curtis Hotel and headed to dinner. Getting our food we enjoyed eachothers company. Walking to the theater, I was excited to see my first play in Denver.
The play was long... But amazing. If you have time to kill and want to go to a great play. Go watch a "Prayer for Owen." It's just great to see people act right in front of you with a setting of improvization.
The Comfy Bed: Wrapping up the rainy cold night, I headed to my room to jump into my PJs and sleep in my comfy bed! What a awesome day. From presenation to my one night stay in the Curtis Hotel!
Up Next: Project 4 Revealed...
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Project Three: Foreclosure
What is project 3: Working with the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority (CHFA) we were set out to create a marketing strategy that would target two zip codes (80134 & 80138) in Parker.
The Reason: Foreclosure. CHFA identified these two zip codes as areas with low call volume to the Colorado Foreclosure Hotline and an area with high NED homes.
Terms of Foreclosure: (NED) is "Notice of Election and Demand." The notice that is filed with the public trustee placing a home into foreclosure.
Time Frame: It can take up to 6-8 months for a homeowner to be placed into foreclosure or for a Notice of Election and Demand to be placed on a home.
Loss Mitigation Counseling: Because of this time frame, it is encouraged that homeowners speak with a housing counselor to prevent foreclosure.
Foreclosure Assistance Fair: We started our project by attending a foreclosure fair in Arvada. Special Agent Banks aka Chantay was our Team Lead. After taking a detour because of the wrong address. We (Chantay, Rachel , Felipe and I ) finally arrived at the forclosure fair.
Reality: The reality of foreclosure set in as individuals and famlies attended workshops, spoke with housing counselors and picked up brochures linking services that they might potentially need in the near future.
Finding Resolve: After sitting down to speak with Brothers Redevelopment, a non-profit that assists people with housing counseling to prevent foreclosure. A woman interrupted to ask a question on the topic of foreclosure. Having a arm full of papers in her hands, she sought advice about her home. Having not missed a payment, she said its just about getting there and is there anything I can do?
Reflecting: The woman had brought all her paperwork as to seek a result or resolution of her situation. Even though events like the fair are not meant and fit to hold a actual housing counseling session, the conversation lasted about an hour and a half. Thinking about all that was said, I examined what could be done differently?
I am a functionalist: Before the Apprentice Challenge, I used to work for Foothills United Way as a program manager for the PIE program. PIE is a matched-savings program designed to match participant savings at a 4:1 ratio in order to purchase their first time home, attend college or start a small business. The goal is to help people save their way out of poverty.
One of my jobs was to write grants. Upon reviewing the data, I noticed numerous individuals joining the program but exiting the program within a few months or upon reaching theirs savings goal of $750 dollars. Why?
A further examination: New to the program I began reviewing the process of how we qualified participants from start to finish and investigating the why? After much review, I concluded that many participants joined the program especially the first time homeowner track without knowing whether they were ready to buy a home.
The Idea: Creating a readiness assessment. A readiness assessment would be combined with our application, but it would ask further questions allowing us to have snapshot of a participants lifestyle. Such questions like: Do you have transportation? Do you currenty have a monthly budget? Do you save? How long have you been at your current employement? Do you know your credit score?
Above all the goal of the readiness assessment was to gauge how ready a participant was to save each month and successfully graduate from our program. By scoring these different questions, it allowed us to determine what areas of support a participant may need to successfully complete our program and purchase a high cost asset.
Bleeding into Project 3: Using the same concept of the readiness assessment, I reflected at the Arvada fair that this system needs to be more efficent. Even though the woman who came in sought advice and the fair wasn't the right forum for a housing session. I could only imagine what a real housing counseling session maybe like, and how much time is spent in a session.
If our mission was to develop a marketing strategy, what happens then to the housing counselor... I thought? If this much time is spent in a session and we flood the two zip codes with marketing material that would make homeowners begin to start calling the hotline and the housing counselors then what happens next?
Understanding foreclosure from a Housing Counselor perspective: Learning that if our marketing strategy were to come into play and an increase call volume to the Housing Counselor would exist...how would the agency cope with this? The Douglas County Housing Partnership (DCHP) handles all of Douglas County and Parker exists in Douglas County. As of now, there is only one part-time housing counselor that handels foreclosure assistance counseling.
The Plan: Develop a uniform application that people can access via internet to register and apply for foreclosure assistance. Once a participant fills out the application and it is submitted, it will be sent via email to the housing counselor and already scored. Giving a priority listing, that would allow the housing counselor to manage their case load by already having a priority score on the application ( [1] Pre-Foreclosure counseling to [5] Immediate Foreclosure Assistance)
Our Theme: "Keep it simple for the Homeowner and the Housing Counselor." By having people fill out the application online, individuals will be able to be referred to their housing counseling agency with a full profile. Making homeowners feel that they are taking their first step in resolving their situation with a click of their mouse.
By submitting an application online, housing counselors will reduce the amount of time spent on reviewing paperwork during a session and more time finding a solution to prevent foreclosure. By receiving the application with a priority score, it will allow housing counselors to regulate its caseload and become a better advocate for the consumer in neogiating a deal with the lender. Freeing up time and ensuring a efficent process that keeps it simple for the homeowner and the housing counselor.
Up next... Our strategy for flooding the market, Meetings and our Presentation!
The Reason: Foreclosure. CHFA identified these two zip codes as areas with low call volume to the Colorado Foreclosure Hotline and an area with high NED homes.
Terms of Foreclosure: (NED) is "Notice of Election and Demand." The notice that is filed with the public trustee placing a home into foreclosure.
Time Frame: It can take up to 6-8 months for a homeowner to be placed into foreclosure or for a Notice of Election and Demand to be placed on a home.
Loss Mitigation Counseling: Because of this time frame, it is encouraged that homeowners speak with a housing counselor to prevent foreclosure.
Foreclosure Assistance Fair: We started our project by attending a foreclosure fair in Arvada. Special Agent Banks aka Chantay was our Team Lead. After taking a detour because of the wrong address. We (Chantay, Rachel , Felipe and I ) finally arrived at the forclosure fair.
Reality: The reality of foreclosure set in as individuals and famlies attended workshops, spoke with housing counselors and picked up brochures linking services that they might potentially need in the near future.
Finding Resolve: After sitting down to speak with Brothers Redevelopment, a non-profit that assists people with housing counseling to prevent foreclosure. A woman interrupted to ask a question on the topic of foreclosure. Having a arm full of papers in her hands, she sought advice about her home. Having not missed a payment, she said its just about getting there and is there anything I can do?
Reflecting: The woman had brought all her paperwork as to seek a result or resolution of her situation. Even though events like the fair are not meant and fit to hold a actual housing counseling session, the conversation lasted about an hour and a half. Thinking about all that was said, I examined what could be done differently?
I am a functionalist: Before the Apprentice Challenge, I used to work for Foothills United Way as a program manager for the PIE program. PIE is a matched-savings program designed to match participant savings at a 4:1 ratio in order to purchase their first time home, attend college or start a small business. The goal is to help people save their way out of poverty.
One of my jobs was to write grants. Upon reviewing the data, I noticed numerous individuals joining the program but exiting the program within a few months or upon reaching theirs savings goal of $750 dollars. Why?
A further examination: New to the program I began reviewing the process of how we qualified participants from start to finish and investigating the why? After much review, I concluded that many participants joined the program especially the first time homeowner track without knowing whether they were ready to buy a home.
The Idea: Creating a readiness assessment. A readiness assessment would be combined with our application, but it would ask further questions allowing us to have snapshot of a participants lifestyle. Such questions like: Do you have transportation? Do you currenty have a monthly budget? Do you save? How long have you been at your current employement? Do you know your credit score?
Above all the goal of the readiness assessment was to gauge how ready a participant was to save each month and successfully graduate from our program. By scoring these different questions, it allowed us to determine what areas of support a participant may need to successfully complete our program and purchase a high cost asset.
Bleeding into Project 3: Using the same concept of the readiness assessment, I reflected at the Arvada fair that this system needs to be more efficent. Even though the woman who came in sought advice and the fair wasn't the right forum for a housing session. I could only imagine what a real housing counseling session maybe like, and how much time is spent in a session.
If our mission was to develop a marketing strategy, what happens then to the housing counselor... I thought? If this much time is spent in a session and we flood the two zip codes with marketing material that would make homeowners begin to start calling the hotline and the housing counselors then what happens next?
Understanding foreclosure from a Housing Counselor perspective: Learning that if our marketing strategy were to come into play and an increase call volume to the Housing Counselor would exist...how would the agency cope with this? The Douglas County Housing Partnership (DCHP) handles all of Douglas County and Parker exists in Douglas County. As of now, there is only one part-time housing counselor that handels foreclosure assistance counseling.
The Plan: Develop a uniform application that people can access via internet to register and apply for foreclosure assistance. Once a participant fills out the application and it is submitted, it will be sent via email to the housing counselor and already scored. Giving a priority listing, that would allow the housing counselor to manage their case load by already having a priority score on the application ( [1] Pre-Foreclosure counseling to [5] Immediate Foreclosure Assistance)
Our Theme: "Keep it simple for the Homeowner and the Housing Counselor." By having people fill out the application online, individuals will be able to be referred to their housing counseling agency with a full profile. Making homeowners feel that they are taking their first step in resolving their situation with a click of their mouse.
By submitting an application online, housing counselors will reduce the amount of time spent on reviewing paperwork during a session and more time finding a solution to prevent foreclosure. By receiving the application with a priority score, it will allow housing counselors to regulate its caseload and become a better advocate for the consumer in neogiating a deal with the lender. Freeing up time and ensuring a efficent process that keeps it simple for the homeowner and the housing counselor.
Up next... Our strategy for flooding the market, Meetings and our Presentation!
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.
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.
@ 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....
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!
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!
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!
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