This Week In Visions 11/19-11/25

Weekly Tasks:
11/19: Cucalorus response paper (1 hour)
11/19: Finalizing spreadsheet (1.5 hours)
11/19: Dividing up sponsors for first contact (30 minutes)
11/20-11/22: Personalizing letters and e-mails (2 hours)
11/22: Printing posters (1 hour)
11/23: Hanging mural for indiegogo annoucement in King Hall (2 hours)
11/25: Development/Hospitality Meeting (1.5 hours)
11/25: AD Meeting (1 hour)

This week I spent most of my time executing the research that I have been doing for the past couple of weeks. I am excited to finally have things coming together and hope that along the way local businesses and corporate organizations become passionate about Visions. I also feel that a lot of us are becoming burnt out and this Thanksgiving break will be a good time for the staff to re-coup and get excited for the end of the semester, including the final days of Indiegogo and our end of the semester party. I really enjoyed my time at Cucalorus and learned a lot. As far as finishing up the spreadsheet and dividing the contacts, this was relatively simple since all of the data was laid out in the excel document. Personalizing emails and mailouts also did not take very long at all. I am glad my team contributed to personalizing the emails. It will also get easier for them to contact their businesses directly if they go in person as a follow-up. In the Development and Hospitality meeting we organized the letters to make it easier to send out. We also discussed the Indiegogo party on December 4th. In the AD meeting we discussed our departmental work and what we need done from each department. Currently I am trying to figure out which email I will be sending out sponsorship packets from.

Keynote Speaker

I believe our keynote speaker should be Sami El-Hadi. I like that he is an international filmmaker and screenwriter and he can bring a different perspective to Visions than previous years. He seems to be very well-spoken and is passionate about his career and success in the film industry. He is currently working on projects so he can address this in his keynote. I think that because Sami El-Hadi is from London, that he will attract audiences to attend his keynote presentation. I would definitely be interested in what he has to say about the film industry in London and if he has had experience in other international film industries. He is also had film festival experience which I would want to know more about.

I look forward to the discussion in class today about the other potential keynote speakers because they are all great candidates.

Cucalorus Response

This weekend I attended the Cucalorus Film Festival. I had bought the lowest-level pass back in September and while at the time I could not afford to get a larger pass, I regret that I didn't. I had such a great time at the festival that I wish it was over a longer period of time. There were so many great films that screened but unfortunately due to time conflicts I couldn't attend them all. One thing I will say is that I probably only had time to see 5 films this weekend. If it was a less hectic weekend I would have gladly purchased a higher-level pass. The 5 films that I saw were The Bounceback, The Sacrament, Bound By Sea, The Act of Killing, and Short Term 12. All of these films were phenomenal!

While I was at the festival I took notes on how the festival seemed to be running. This was Cucalorus' 19th year running and from what I saw, the event went very smoothly. I obviously was not there 24/7 so there could very well have been some issues with tech or some other variable that I did not experience. One thing that I didn't think worked or annoyed me was that I never actually received my pass. There was not clear instruction on where to pick it up and I believe there was only one place to pick them up and at a specific time of the day that did not work with my schedule. If I was volunteering, I would love to work in the filmmaker's lounge. I would pick their brains about stylistic choices they made and how they funded their film. If I had a larger role in the festival I would want to probably have a job doing something similar to what I am doing with Visions. The more experience I have with contacting sponsors, the more comfortable I am with raising support. I am glad that I do not have the job of Operations because of the numerous locations and venues that needed to be booked and scheduled. This would be very extensive and seems like a big headache!

If I were running this festival, I would run it very similarly to Cucalorus. It is a non-competitve film festival which I think is great because the festival should be about the art and the medium of film, it shouldn't be competitive especially when submissions vary in experience, age of the filmmaker, and access to professional equipment. This is the first larger scale film festival I have been to besides Visions and I really enjoyed the experience. I think that something that I would do differently is having reserved parking for attendees. It was hard at times to park in downtown Wilmington and often had to walk a few blocks to get to the venue. For people not accustomed to downtown Wilmington, Cucalorus should've thought about having signs directing attendees to the venue from various different street corners.

At Visions, I think I would like to implement ways to accommodate "walk-ins" who want to come to a particular shorts-block or a conference block that did not purchase a pass. I went with several people this weekend who had not purchased a pass and were paying $10 per screening. I am not saying that we charge $10 per block but maybe brainstorm ideas on ways to accommodate these students or community members. Something that Cucalorus does that would not work for the scale of our festival and conference is having multiple venues not on the campus of UNCW. It would be hard to reserve spaces that are close enough to campus that have enough space to attract audiences or attendees.

This week in Visions 11/12-11/18

Weekly Logs:

-11/12: Assisted Audra in editing the sponsor packet (1 hour)

-11/12-11/18: Researching for sponsor contacts and media contacts (5 hours)

-11/12-11/18: Put together a new spreadsheet for sponsors (3 hours)

-11/15-11/17: Cucalorus (10 hours) Saw 5 films and gathered ideas for sponsors

-11/18: Hospitality/Development Meeting (1 hour)

-11/18: Director's meeting (1 hour)

-11/18: Meeting with Maddie to discuss promoting Indiegogo (45 min)

-11/18: Reformatting the sponsor letters (1.5 hours)

This week was a lot of research for local businesses and contacts for sponsorship. I have been trying to stay organized and on top of my work so that I can meet deadlines and stay up to date with the calendar that I created. I have been trying to get work done for Visions whenever I am not in class and have some free time. I hope that this is reflected in my work.

Visions DVDs

From watching the Visions DVDs I learned more about our event and how Visions as a festival and conference is constantly evolving. In 2012 there were some really incredible films that showcased the incredible talent of undergraduate students from around the world. I was really impressed with Dissonance, an animated short that involved a robot and multiple ticking clocks. I found it humorous because it had extreme qualities of obsessive-compulsion and order. When one clock started ticking out of sync with the other clocks, there was this sense of panic. I thought that the sound design was also well-executed. There were also some great narratives on the Visions2 DVD including The Birds Upstairs, which actually won the Visionary Award that year. One of the documentaries that screened at Visions that I enjoyed was The Elect. The film allowed me to enter into the world of the Westboro Baptist  Church and experience their extremist views. It was also kind of heart breaking to see these young impressionable children growing up in environments that encourage protesting against homosexuality and equality.

From watching the Visions3 DVD I saw a change in aesthetic from the previous year. It wasn't a bad change though because Visions, each year is a different brand, run by different students with a unique perspective. Change is inevitable but that is what makes this festival and conference so different from others in its class. From this DVD I thoroughly enjoyed the narratives How's Everything and Got You. These two films really resonated with me for different reasons. I believe that there was a lot more variety in films from 2013 and there was a lot more innovation. I would love to see this innovation continue for Visions4. I would want to showcase films that were shot with cameras of different mediums like 16mm for example. I think that this upcoming year will be filled with submissions of so many different perspectives and I am excited to see what is in store once programming begins.

This Week in Visions 11/5-11/11

Weekly Tasks:
Updated Indiegogo (incentives, and dates): 1 hour
Blog about managing Individual tasks: 1 hour
Blog about reading response: 30 minutes
Start personalizing email and in-person delivery letters 11/11:
AD meeting (Hospitality/Development) 11/11: 1 hour
All AD Meeting: 1.5 hours
Meeting with Shannon to discuss sponsorship: 1.5 hours
Development research: 2 hours

This week I focused on breaking down a lot of the jobs that I need to get done for the rest of the semester. I am also working on a new development plan aimed specifically for local businesses. While I still plan to contact larger corporate sponsors, the main focus should not be on these companies because odds are they might not give as much as I planned/hoped for. It is important for next semester to have a development calendar and plan of approach on which businesses to contact. I will be able to start this sooner next semester as well. I will also be looking into which companies could potentially contribute to the swag bags or awards for the festival and conference.

Procrastination and Time Management

So before I even read this article I knew it was going to speak truth to me because procrastination can be my best friend sometimes. However, I think that I have gotten a lot better with time management since I have been a part of the Visions staff. In the past a reason that I might have procrastinated would probably be to avoid a negative experience. If I procrastinate now it might be because I am so overextended and don't have time to get everything done in a timely matter. I have been really good about monitoring my workload and preparing in advance for stressful weeks like this one. Between two papers, a presentation, two tests and a rough cut of a found footage project due this week I barely have time to breathe. It was pretty necessary that I be proactive in preparation for this week. It is also a priority for me to finish up everything that needs to be done in order for sponsorship packets to start being sent to donors this week.

One time management that I found useful was to break larger projects into smaller tasks. This is a sly way of making progress on projects while not overwhelming yourself and saying "screw it, it can wait!" Also one factor that I never really considered was determining the time of the day where I am most productive. This would actually be really significant and more proactive instead of waking up at 7am, doing work and being exhausted for the entire day. I am also bad with scheduling breaks into my work. This is something I need to work on so I don't get burned out too fast.

If I have concluded anything from this article it was that I am not as good with managing my time as I could be. Like all things in my life, it is a work in progress.

Managing Individual Tasks

Development and Fundraising

Identify the "what".

1.  What is the project supposed to achieve?

The Indiegogo account that I am managing is responsible for raising $2,950 in order for Visions to be able to fly in as many Undergraduate filmmakers as we can. The project of contacting sponsors is meant to receive sizable donations from corporate, local and private donors. The goal for this semester is to raise $500 for corporate donors.

2.  Who is the customer?

The particular customer that Visions is looking for to donate to our festival and conference would be people of all ages looking to support the arts (particularly film) at an Undergraduate level. The Indiegogo customers might be a more tech-savy, younger audience while the donor customers that we will be sending sponsorship packets to might be anywhere from grandparents who do philanthropy to large corporations to local businesses.

3.  What are the deliverables of the project?  (These are tangible and intangible.)

Tangible deliverables will be in the form of donations; whether that be cash donations, in-kind donations, or awards donations. Most of these sponsor donations will be coming via mail. The deliverables for the indiegogo will also be cash but sent electronically through PayPal. The customers who donate to Visions will also receive deliverables. Depending on the amount of money they donate on Indiegogo, they will receive certain perks as a Thank You for their support.

Identify the "how".

4.  What is the budget?

The budget for mailing out sponsorship packet for the fall semester will cost approximately $25.76. So for next semester, if we send out the same number of sponsorship packets as the fall then the expense will be $51.52 for the year. 

5.  How long will it take?

Once the process starts which should be this upcoming week, initial email contacts will be first. We have set aside one week to get personalized emails organized and sent out by each development/hospitality team member. Then we will move onto contacting local donors and small businesses in the Wilmington area the following week. Once mail-outs start, the sponsorship packets will take approximately 3-5 days to arrive. We plan on sending follow up emails and phone calls at a week's interval for each means of communication.

6.  What specific skills are needed?

Organizational skills are strongly needed. An excel spreadsheet was made with sponsor contact information, how we will contact them initial and follow up contact as well as who from the team is contacting that particular sponsor. It is a good way to keep track of how each person is contributing to the group and if they are keeping up with their work. There is also a calendar to remind everyone what work they will need to do for that week. 

7.  What special resources are needed?

Special resources that are needed for this project include Indiegogo and time. It is important to not fall behind on the schedule and become too overwhelmed to perform what needs to be done in a timely manner. The entire film festival and conference reflects on how much money, we as a staff, are able to raise. It is important to think about the big picture constantly when dealing with development.

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

Zoe, Audra, Ally and I will be working this particular project for development which includes contacting various sponsors and following up with those sponsors. We don't just want their support, we want them to donate to Visions.

Me: managing and updating the indiegogo account, dividing work amongst the group, staying organized and making sure the group is following the calendar. I will also be in charge of mailing out the sponsorship packets and getting quotes for shipment.

Zoe, Audra and Ally: They will contact various donors with the hopes of them donating to the Visions Film Festival and Conference. They will follow up with each donor and be responsible for filling out the excel sheet for who they have contacted, how they have contacted, and how many times they have contacted. 

Ally and Zoe: will be organizing and planning the ending party for the Indiegogo campaign

Audra: she will be wrapping up any last Funday Mondays that we have planned for the semester.

9.  What is the schedule?

Below is a tentative schedule for the rest of the development schedule:

• Week of 11/11: Indiegogo goes live (updates daily/weekly), group personalizes e-mail letters and in-person delivery letters for their assigned donors. 
• E-mails will go out on Thursday (11/14)
• Contacting businesses in person will begin over the weekend (11/15-11/18)
• Week of 11/18: Group will personalized letters for mail-out (mainly corporate sponsors)
• Also 2nd contact for emails/in-person deliveries will go out later during the week to follow up with initial e-mail/contact (11/21 or 11/22)
• Week of 11/25: Group will do third contacts for initial e-mail and delivery customers and second contact for the mail-out contacts. 
• Week of 12/2: Final follow-ups will be made
• 12/4: Indiegogo party 
• Week of 12/9: at this point I hope we were super successful in receiving donations from corporate, local and private donors. Everyone put in a lot of effort to raise funds for the Visions Film Festival and Conference!
• 12/10: Myself, along with the rest of the development and hospitality team, will update the rest of the Visions staff on how we did with raising money from donors and sponsors.

Other considerations.

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

The largest risk with the greatest impact would be that the development team does not raise enough money to fly in filmmakers and scholars. I would hope that is unlikely because I have not had any experience with raising large sums of money from corporate donors before. However, it is a risk that needs to be acknowledged. A specific example of an unlikely risk with a large impact is that a donor makes the check out to the wrong organization or that a sponsorship check gets lost in the mail. A large risk that is likely for this project might be that there is a delay in the mail-outs. This could be detrimental and push us behind schedule. A small impact that is likely to happen with this project would be if someone spilled coffee on one of the packets. We could easily reprint paper and get a new envelope if this were to happen. A small impact that is unlikely to happen would be if there was a typo in an email. This would be unlikely because the entire team will be proof reading sponsorship letters and emails. 

11.  How will you communicate with your team?

We all have each others phone numbers, e-mails, we can contact each other on facebook. If there is something that is not 100% we will utilize the to-do table requesting a specific duty that we need done from that person.

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

We will know if the project is successful if we reach our goal of raising $500 for the semester and approximately $2750 on Indiegogo after taxes are taken out.

This Week in Visions 10/29-11/4

Weekly Tasks:
-10/29: Created a powerpoint for Development (1 hour)
10/29: Created an agenda for remaining tasks for the fall semester (30 minutes)
-10/29: Researching other Development strategies (1.5 hours)
-10/29: Started work on Indiegogo (1 hour)
-10/29: Final edit of Indiegogo video was due
-10/30-11/4: Daily updates to Indiegogo (3 hours)
-10/30-11/1: Daily updates to sponsorship excel sheet ( 4 hours)
-11/1: Meeting with Zoe to create sponsorship calendar (1.5 hours)
-11/1: Went to see Evonne to discuss problems with the hard copy proof (20 minutes)
-11/1-11/3: Research on Sponsorship letters/templates (2 hours)
-11/2: Narrowed down excel spreadsheet for contacts
-11/1-11/2: Watched Visions 2 and 3 DVD (approx. 3 hours)
-11/4: Created a breakdown for who from the Hospitality/Development Team contacts who via mail/email/in-person deliveries (2 hours)
-11/4: Hospitality/Development Meeting (approx. 1 hour)
-11/4: Received Sponsorship packet and got mail-out quote (15 minutes)
-11/4: AD Meeting (1.5 hours)
-11/4: Create a hard copy example for a sponsor letter and email body (1.5 hours)
-11/4: Picked up Call for Entry Posters
-11/4: Jason's Deli Fundraiser (1 hour) brought 8 people

This Week In Visions 10/22-10/28

Weekly Tasks:
-Set up/had a meeting with Stephen and Maddie to create Kickstarter Bio and incentives (1 hour)
-Sh*tty Party: I took pictures for PR and website 10/24 (5 hours)
-First AD Meeting to Discuss change in structure for ADs 10/25 (1 hour)
-Follow-up meeting with Shannon to discuss roles of AD of Development and Fundraising 10/25 (1hour)
-Meeting with Shannon to discuss sponsorships and creating an agenda for next class 10/28 (1 hour)
-Meeting with Channing to take over for Development 10/28 (1 hour)
-Filming for now Indiegogo: Zoolander 10/28 (3.5 hours)
-Panera Fundraiser (1 hour) and brought 4 people

This Week in Visions 10/15-10/21

Weekly Tasks:
-Remained in contact with Evonne and received quotes for Call for Entry Posters
-Kickstarter script was due on 10/15
-Kickstarter Interview filming 10/16 (5 hours)
-Kickstarter Filming with Channing and Stephen 10/18 (4 hours)

Weekly Tasks 10/8-10/14

This week for Visions:
- I counted the lanyards and badge holders (1hour)
-Meeting with Shannon about quotes (1 hour) 10/10
-Contacted Evonne to get quotes for the Call for Entry Posters
-Meeting with Kickstarter video team (3.5 hours) 10/13
-Worked on Kickstarter: setting up bank account and content (2 hours)