CWC Reflection

I would say my CWC was largely successful because I was able to create an internship packet for Equality Utah. They were already planning on creating something like this but didn’t have the time or manpower, so not only do I think I created some useable documents, but I think they were vital to the success of the program and for Equality Utah itself.

I faced several challenges in the process of this project. First, the fact that I was creating documents for a program that hadn’t been developed yet required a lot of research on my part. After the first meeting they gave me a stack of at least 100 pages of reading to do so I could determine from the beginning the documents we even needed. We needed to identify which roles were necessary around the office, what requirements are typical of such internships, how to market the internship and who to, what design would work best for which internship, and more. I spent a lot of time before even starting the required part of the assignment in preliminary planning for them, in addition to contacting our Career Resource Center to find out what their requirements were. I overcame this simply by setting my mind to the task and realizing that it would benefit them a lot; because I chose a company that I care about, it wasn’t a difficult task to overcome, I just needed to find the time for it. Another challenge I faced was that they often wanted me to come to events to learn more about the company and the people they work with when I really didn’t have the time to go to the events. I have a problem saying no to people, so I ended up going and found them to be very engaging, even though they didn’t really end up helping me in the project.

I had to do an audience analysis for them and they regarded me as an expert for their intended audience. Because we would be marketing the newsletters to college students, they wanted me to understand what would catch a college student’s eye and what a student would be looking for in a good internship, and apply that knowledge to my documents. With this in mind, I tried to create designs that were fun and eye-catching, use character styles to set apart important information for students who were skimming the documents while walking between classes, and overall keep the information in them pertinent. I also needed to recognize the values of the students, understanding that they are looking not only for expertise in their fields but for income; because the internships are unpaid, I needed to market the skills they would gain from the internship well enough to make them seem worth their time.

If I could do it all over again, I wouldn’t do much differently.  I would try to get a hold of the letterhead format and the logo sooner, because in the last week my contact seems to have dropped off the face of the earth and wasn’t able to get that information from me. Otherwise I think this project went really well.

I would give myself an A on this project. I was able to meet all the goals my contact and I set before starting the project and was able to work within their branding guide (which dictated which fonts, colors, and in some cases verbiage I could use) to create quality, usable documents. I put a lot of time and effort into this project and will continue to work with them to make sure they get the internship program in place at Westminster because it is something that we are both very passionate about. 

The 6 Steps

I think that professional writing can absolutely be an art, especially taking into the account the ideas presented in the Understanding Comics article. Idea and purpose, form, idiom, structure, craft and surface are all principles that are also taken account by professional artists of various mediums, such as painters, sculptors and creative authors. I think that all writing, including professional writing, has the power to plant ideas in people’s heads and leave a lasting impression on them. As such, I do believe that it is an art form and a great way to communicate, and needs to be taken seriously.

I think that I need to work more with simplicity in my writing. I have the tendency to go overboard and use a lot of grandiose language, and that may alienate some of my audience even if it does still get the point across. I think that knowing your audience and the purpose you are trying to achieve is a very important part of professional writing and is definitely a contributing factor to what makes it an art. But at the same time, I think that if you consider professional writing an art it also brings with it the implication that it is a personal experience: that is, the writer (or artist) is trying to communicate something from within them and sometimes you can’t put a barrier on that without losing the artistic quality of it.

University Usability

I thought the website looked pretty well organized and easy to navigate, but it took Sammi longer than expected to find the information. She seemed confused and unsure where to look for the information I asked of her. When it was over she said that she thought the website was laid out well, but she just doesn't perform well under pressure. She said the website had nice pictures and was very visually appealing. It took her 47 seconds to find the tuition information and 53 seconds to find the name of the school's president.

I conclude that the website is laid out well, but that it isn't super self-explanatory for people who are unfamiliar with finding information on college websites and who don't have a general idea where to look in the first place.

NaNoWriMo

Genre: Young adult lit

Audience: Young adults

Plot/Concept: An idealistic girl attempts to make a big change in the world but through some turmoil realizes that she may not have the power as an individual to create the magnitude of change she was hoping to.

First line: There was a time in my life when I wasn’t really living.

What do you need?

Our team project is going well and we have finished all the research necessary to complete the report, we just need to meet up and actually write it which we will do tomorrow or Wednesday. I haven’t started my resume and cover letter yet, but plan on using a resume I created last year to apply for a job and editing it with updated work experience, so it shouldn’t be too difficult. For my CWC documents, I have a whole pile of reading to do about branding and internship programs so that I can create my marketing campaign for Equality Utah’s internship program they want to create at Westminster. I will need to complete all this reading (about 100 pages) before I can start thinking through the content and design of my publications, which I expect to be very time consuming. I’m glad that I don’t have to have all the drafts done by that 9^th as I thought before, because that would be a very difficult deadline to make.

I feel like I’m pretty well prepared to complete my assignments, all I need is more time. If anything it would be helpful to have lab time at the end of classes so that we can work on it and get advice from you, because if I need help I honestly don’t have any time that I would be able to meet with you to get it. As it is I’m already having to leave class early some days to get all my work done for this class and others. I was a little frustrated that we are also expected to do the design side ourselves, but I have a design class this semester and feel like I have the skills to complete at least satisfactory designs (especially with the help of the branding guide they gave me), if I have the time to do so.

Resume quiz

I got a 67% on the resume quiz.

Job Ad

The job I chose was the Communications Intern position at Invisible Children. IC is an organization that uses creative storytelling techniques to raise awareness about and help bring an end to the longest-running war in Africa, which has been going on for 25 years. The position calls for two people who are passionate and knowledgeable about the organization to create original content and get information out to the public about IC’s efforts. The position is interesting to me because IC is an organization I am passionate about and fights for a goal that I find very honorable.

In the description for the position, they state that the ideal candidate would be a self-starter with a lot of initiative and someone who can handle a lot of writing and responsibilities for research, reporting, and strategizing. They also require candidates to be strong communicators, both written and verbally. These are qualities that I obtain and in fact enjoy in a working environment. Responsibilities include creating content daily and weekly for their blog, writing website content, emails and grant proposals, editing print and web copy, and creating a strategy for a communications campaign for IC – all of which I have experience in.

I have been following this company for four years now and know a lot about their history, programs, mission, and ethos. At any given time, they have many projects running aiming to end the reign of the Lord’s Resistance Army in Africa, protect the people in local African communities, rehabilitate returned child soldiers, and educate the rest of the world about the atrocities perpetuated by the war. Humanitarian aid and social justice are two issues I am very passionate about and want to work with in the future, making IC a perfect place to intern to gain experience for my future. 

Finding Your Voice

I am in love with people, and think that human connection is the basis for our entire lives. I don’t value possessions, I value people and the experiences we have with them. I have a soft spot for genuineness and adventurousness in people. The people whose lives are so adventurous they seem fictional, the people who inspire the stories that hundreds and thousands of books have been written about – those are the people who make me feel alive, who make me laugh and cry and open my heart to them, and ultimately the kind of person who I hope to be.

Despite the fact that people enthrall me, I have a hard time communicating my feelings and expressing my love and appreciation for those around me. If I had to choose something that I repeatedly tell those I love, it wouldn’t be any sort of heartfelt appreciation for them or telling them I love them. I frequently use phrases like “you’re crazy” or “you’re great,” but one of the things I tell my family frequently is that they can’t take me too seriously. Ever.

As a recovering insomniac, it doesn’t take a lot to keep me up at night. Late-night discussions with my long-distance friends fill the hours when sleep escapes me, and the afterthoughts related to those discussions haunt my mind throughout my waking hours. Questions about the meaning of life, the inevitability and beauty of the death, the insignificance and indecency of the human species, and the ability of man to be unkind to another man are frequent, but are only a few in a sea of thoughts that keep me awake daily. A soothing song, whether from my stereo or in the voice of my friends, helps me fall asleep during these tumultuous times: songs of hope and love and freedom and questioning, always questioning.

I don’t know anything to be true. I think of life and everything in it as constantly fluctuating, and one thing we think might be true now won’t necessarily be in the future. I have many things I believe in, and many causes I would die for, but do I think they are true? I think they are true for me, but are they true universally? Perhaps not. Do I consider things that go against my “personal truths,” for lack of a better word, to be evil? Once again, not necessarily. I think there isn’t a lot of true evil in the world. There are things that have evil qualities, but little or nothing is completely, in its entirety, one hundred percent evil.

In others, I respect a certain sense of self-awareness and at the same time the ability to lose themselves to the moment. I respect a good sense of humor and the ability to take a joke without getting offended by it. People need to take themselves and those around them less seriously. People need to be more adventurous and open to new things; the unknown absolutely excites my curiosity and urges me to delve into its depths, to lose myself to an adventure and find myself more in the process.

If I were the ruler of the world, I would find a way to lessen the suffering of the millions of people around the world living through poverty, hunger, and disease. I would promote changes that would promote equality — on of the few things I believe in wholeheartedly and believe in as a personal truth, that everyone deserves equal rights — and better the lives of people around the world. Before I die, I hope to make a difference in as many people’s lives as possible — to allow them to grow as people and make changes for the better, no matter what kind of personal sacrifice it takes to get there.

Status Report #1

What did you, personally, accomplish on you team project this week?
This week I edited the entire Topic Proposal for the team and got it turned in for the group.

What are you planning to accomplish next week?
Next week I am hoping to coordinate the research team to get the research done and coordinate a group meeting that we are ALL able to attend in which we can discuss the research and plan on times that would work for the interview team to administer the surveys to Westminster students. I also hope to create a final copy of the survey questions we will be asking and run the questions by my team, because they haven’t seen then since I created them for the topic proposal final copy.

What challenges are you facing individually and as a team?
As a team we have some coordination issues and haven’t yet been able to find a time that works for everyone to meet for our group work. We will need to find a better system for this.

How can I help?
I think we have it handled at this point, and hopefully the rest of my team will realize how important it is and be more willing to come to the group meetings. If it continues to be a problem we will obviously need to work something out.

Team Proposal Reflection

Overall I would say that my group was moderately successful. While we did complete the project to a satisfactory level, there were a lot of things that could have been improved on and that could have gone better. One of the greatest challenges we faced as a group was trying to find time that would work for all of us to meet: as five people with extremely hectic schedules, there wasn’t a single time when we were all able to meet as a group in its entirety. We tried to overcome this by setting dates ahead of time to meet so people could get the time free as necessary and by choosing times that worked for the greatest number of people. This was sometimes successful, but other times some members of the group would forget that we had a meeting or would get tied up in something and would not show up to the meeting. In one particular case, we had scheduled to meet Sunday at 6 p.m. and only two of the five members of the group showed up and we weren’t able to get anything done because we didn’t have the materials we needed to complete the assignment.

I contributed a lot to the project and was able to attend every meeting. I made it a priority to make free time to attend the meetings and contributed to the best of my ability, trying to keep the group on task and productive. During most meetings I would type while we brainstormed out loud what to say. For the final editing of the paper, we were supposed to meet on Sunday but most of the group members didn’t show up. I was busy for the rest of the week and let my group know that I wouldn’t be able to meet again at all, but could help edit it via email after they worked on it a bit and added in all the information from our peer reviews. I checked in twice throughout the week making sure that things were getting done and got the impression that they were, but Friday night an hour before the assignment was due I checked my email and had received an email saying that nothing had been done yet. I tried to get in touch with some of the members of my team but it ultimately fell on my shoulders to complete the editing, even though I didn’t have the peer review sheets nor had I even seen them. I edited the document taking into account your notes, but I think the overall quality of the assignment suffered because of our lack of coordination.

If I could do the assignment over again, I would make sure the assignments got done ahead of time and tried to find a time that worked better for everyone to meet. I would text/call/email everyone in the group as necessary to remind them about the meeting beforehand to make sure that they didn’t miss it — especially if they said they would be there and didn’t have any scheduling conflicts. I think overall as a team we worked really well together, but needed to be better about our group meetings and actually getting the work completed.

Gallup research

The reports on Gallup.com use charts and graphs sparingly to emphasize their points and reiterate percentages and facts given in the text. This gives them an easy way to communicate ideas to the readers quickly if the readers don’t have the time or patience to read through the entire article. The graphs generally aren’t text-wrapped, so they cut off the text in the middle of the article and you are forced to look at them, which may have been intentional on Gallup’s part. However, the graphs never cut off a paragraph in the middle and are instead between relevant paragraphs or sections.

In general numbers are included in the normal paragraph form. I don’t find this to be the most effective method of relating the information because there are so many numbers all at once that it gets overwhelming and I end up remembering nothing about them. For example, in one article about rate of suffering in Iran, it said:

The percentage of people suffering in Iran is in the higher range of what Gallup found worldwide in 2010, and on par with levels seen last year in Haiti (27%), Central African Republic (26%), and Cambodia (23%) and this year in Greece (25%). Additionally, 55% of Iranians are struggling, while 20% are thriving. When Gallup first measured wellbeing globally in 2005, 12% in Iran were suffering, while 64% were struggling and 24% were thriving.

In this paragraph specifically, so many numbers are presented that it is nearly impossible to remember them well. It may have been a better idea to present the information, or just to reinforce it, using a graph, because it is clearly an important point for the article to make.

They report the methods for gathering information in its own section at the end of the article. In one article about the rate of uninsured youth in America, the information was in a gray box with faded text at the end of the article. It appeared as though this was a ploy to get readers to skip the information, and possibly goes to show that they felt their own report methods were sketchy or inconsistent. However, their reporting of their methods was thorough and from what I could tell included all possible margins of error and any questions that someone may have had about their research methods.

CWC Interview

I had my interview with Alejandro Mora from Equality Utah for the Community Writing Campaign on Friday, September 23. Overall I think the interview went very well and I left the interview even more excited to start the project than I was beforehand. I called on Thursday to set up a time to talk with him and he asked for me to come into the office the following day because he was excited and wanted to get to work on the project. To prepare for the interview, I read over my questions I created for the CWC brainstorming and fine-tuned them. I also read through their website another time to familiarize myself more with the content and see if there were any other questions I wasn’t sure about.

Most of the meeting went very well, and a few things stood out that went exceptionally. First, the timing of the CWC project seemed perfect because Alejandro expressed that they had been talking about the need for a communications campaign for several months but did not have the manpower to make it possible. They had a lot of ideas for specific projects I could work on and he was very receptive to my ideas as well. Overall I think I presented myself well and the questions I asked were well-received and was well-versed enough in their work that we were able to have a very effective meeting. One thing I think could have gone better is that he asked me what things could have been improved on their website, which wasn’t something I had been looking for when I surveyed it the first time. In addition, I had never been to their office before and as such didn’t know what their dress was. I wore a dress and blazer and was a bit overdressed compared to everyone else.

I think the best questions were “What are three main points you would like to see in this communications campaign?” and “What is the process for approving each communication?” They gave me a lot of good information that was probably the most useful for how I should structure the content I create and how I have to go about getting it produced and sent out to their community contacts. The two least useful questions were “How can we unite the organizations under the Equality Utah brand?” and “How would you like to see all the issues EU tackles united in a single campaign?” because it turned out they were both irrelevant. We aren’t able to market the three EU organizations in the same communication because they are required by law to stay separate, and we created a more specific communications campaign for me to work on than just promoting their issues to the greater community.

Overall, my interview went very well. At the end he invited me to an event they were hosting this past week, which I attended and was able to talk to them a bit more about the project and become more familiar with their work. I have another appointment to meet with him and the Executive Director this Friday and we are all excited to start working on the project.

Revision

When I think of revision, I think of changes to your writing that generally result in improvements. Revisions are something very important to good writing, but are also greatly overlooked when presented with time constraints. When I am writing, revising is low on my priority list — rather, I focus on just getting it done and getting it turned in because I often have several essays due at the same time and don’t have time to worry about revising.

When I do revise, I usually will read the essay aloud and see where I stumble. I review the notes I took about the outline of the writing and make sure I hit all the necessary points and gave them the amount of attention and detail they deserve. I will often have a friend listen to it and have them give me any feedback about anything that is confusing or that they found interesting but I didn’t explain enough. Also, this allows me to find any words or phrases that I overuse but wouldn’t have noticed just reading it on paper. Afterwards, I will print out the paper because it is always easier for me to find errors in print as opposed to on the computer. I will sometimes map out the main points of each paragraph and make sure they are in a logical order and see if any could be moved around to more effectively prove my point.

Overall, I think my style of editing is fairly effective. I usually do notice improvements in my writing if I make time to revise, although that doesn’t always happen. 

Peer Review

I have never done a peer review before, but would speculate that a good peer review would be thorough while still offering constructive criticism. It would do a good job pointing out any blatant errors as well as grammar mistakes but wouldn’t tear down the person’s work. It is important in a peer review to offer examples of how to improve the piece of work rather than just point out what is wrong with it. It will present the corrections that need to be made concisely and clearly so there is no confusion for the writer.

A bad peer review wouldn’t put a lot of thought into the editing of it. It would point of blatant mistakes and may skim over other mistakes such as grammar or any logical fallacies. It would not offer areas of improvement and may make the writer feel incompetent or confused. If the corrections are not clear and concise, it may be more work for the author than it is a help. 

Changing the World

I do believe that writing has the power to change the world. I do believe that a simple idea can bring about radical change, and that the way you express that idea is the key to success. We as humans are transitory, we are born and die every single day, but the words and ideas that we leave behind will outlive us by centuries. Words have both the power to incite a revolution and to end one, but most of all, I believe that words have the power to unite us to a common purpose and a common decency.

If I were to share one idea with the world, it would be that society has its priorities all wrong and that this needs to be changed. We value money and things over mankind and human connections; we’d rather have a dollar in our pocket than a smile from a friend. And in this prioritization we will find our downfall. We will kill in the name of money and power without blinking an eye — without considering that the people we are killing are just trying to live, as we are. We forget that we are all connected, that experiences and compassion matter more than wealth and abundance. I grew up in an environment where possessions mattered more than our ties to our family and friends; I have experienced rejection because of things that shouldn’t even matter. And from experience I can say that this is wrong, that this is corrupt, and that indeed things are meaningless.

I have felt the power of connection, the thread that ties us all together and makes us all one. I have found a state of peace where I can forget the outside world and its atrocities in a moment of a gratification so profound that nothing can match it — all through human connection. The inverse will likely never be true for me: I will never forget myself in riches; I will never lose myself in power. Those things cannot make me feel complete. One of the best moments of my life was when, after sleeping just an hour the night before, one of my best friends and I hiked for 10 hours straight and at the end of the day, all we could say was this: “I feel alive.” No money could have bought that moment. Nothing could have replicated its simple beauty and perfection.

This idea is an important one, and one that needs to be more widely understood by the masses. People, not power. Experiences, not wealth. However, it is also one that cannot be transmitted easily because the belief in our society that wealth and possessions are everything is so deeply rooted that it would take a lot of effort to change. These ideas are not easily communicated through a newspaper article with lackluster language and a straightforward approach. It is more easily communicated through analogies, experiences, and memories.

It would be nearly impossible to sum up this idea in a single work. It would have to be transmitted through a variety of works, and possibly through a variety of different methods so that it is easily absorbed by a variety of different cultures. To accept this idea almost certainly also requires an inherent sense on the reader’s part that something is wrong. As such, avenues where specialized groups of people are exposed to writing would be acceptable: books, poetry, and blog posts among others. It would require a great amount of wordsmithing to express the beauty in human connections, but it is an important duty as human beings for us to understand this. And if we do, we can all feel complete — we can all feel alive.

CWC Ideas

Equality Utah

1. Alejandro Mora is the Associate of Development and Communications and as such would be my contact to start a communications campaign with them.

2. There are several audiences for the Equality Utah campaign, including the LGBT community, local legislators, and the community at large. 

3. The goal of the documents I create for them would be to raise awareness of LGBT issues in Utah and lobby for law changes supporting LGBT rights to create a more equal community. The ideal response from these documents would be a greater awareness of the issues and a greater willingness to do something about them.

4. I have thoroughly read their website and understand the challenges facing the organization, their guiding principles, audience, and goals. I understand that this is a tricky topic and that creating a communications campaign for them will be an interesting task in which I will need to consider the conflicting values of the different audiences for the documents.

5. I really want to work with a nonprofit that will make a direct impact on people’s lives and I think LGBT issues are very important in our community. One of my constant frustrations since moving to Utah is the inability for many people to accept and embrace the LGBT community, and I think this would be a great way to spread the message of love and equality.

6. Questions I would ask my potential contact are:

• What has your communications strategy been in the past? (Emails, mailers, social networking, etc.)

• How has the response been from this strategy? Would you say it was effective?

• How much time per week does your company already spend on communications?

• What would you like to see in an improved communications campaign?

• What are three main points you would like to get across through this campaign?

• What audience would you most like to target with this campaign? 

• How can we unite the three organizations under the Equality Utah brand? Would this even be worth pursuing?

• How would you like to see all the issues Equality Utah tackles united in a single campaign? (Should they all be included in every communication? Spotlight certain issues? Etc.)

• What is the process for approving each communication? Who all needs to approve it?

• Is there a specific look you would prefer for these communications? Will there be any branding issues?

International Rescue Committee

1. There is no staff list on the IRC website, however one potential contact would be Patrick Poulin, the executive director of the Salt Lake City office.

2. The audience for these communications would be the Salt Lake City community who are interested in the rescue of refugees and their placement in our community.

3. The ideal response would be a greater awareness for rescue efforts in our community and to have a community more open to accepting refugees in the future.

4. I have read through their website and have familiarized myself with the programs offered in the Salt Lake City area.

5. I would love to work with the IRC because human rights and humanitarian work are very important to me and something I would like to pursue after graduation.

6. Questions I would ask my potential contact are:

• What has your communications strategy been in the past? (Emails, mailers, social networking, etc.)

• How has the response been from this strategy? Would you say it was effective?

• How much time per week does your company already spend on communications?

• What would you like to see in an improved communications campaign?

• What are three main points you would like to get across through this campaign?

• What audience would you most like to target with this campaign? 

• Is there a specific aesthetic you would prefer for these communications? Will there be any branding issues?

• Will any legal issues come into play with these communications? (Including the need for confidentiality if we choose to do a “success stories”/”spotlight” section?)

• How will we unite the Salt Lake City IRC goals with the goals of the national organization? How will we differentiate?

• How important is it for us to market this as an important community effort rather than just a national organization?

CHOICE Humanitarian

1. Keith Ellis, the field communication specialist for CHOICE, would be my contact.

2. The audience for these communications would be socially-conscious community members who already have some background knowledge of the CHOICE Humanitarian organization.

3. The ideal response would be an impulse to create change through the CHOICE organization and to support them through donations or volunteerism.

4. I have read most of their website and understand their business model and target audience.

5. This would be a great opportunity for me because I ideally want to work with humanitarian aid / social justice nonprofits as a career. 

6. Questions I would ask my potential contact are:

• What has your communications strategy been in the past? (Emails, mailers, social networking, etc.)

• How has the response been from this strategy? Would you say it was effective?

• How much time per week does your company already spend on communications?

• What would you like to see in an improved communications campaign?

• What are three main points you would like to get across through this campaign?

• What audience would you most like to target with this campaign? 

• What aspect of CHOICE would you most like to highlight through these communications? (Donations, need for volunteers, community news, etc.)

• What role would you like your community partners to play in the communications?

• Ideally, how will you reconcile the news between the five countries you support in a single communication?

• Is there a specific aesthetic you would prefer for these communications? Will there be any branding issues?

Proposal Analysis

President Obama’s speech was a solid example of a topic prosposal because he provided adequate detail, engaged the audience and understood his purpose. He described the problem and gave background in the opening of his speech, talking about the struggle of the American family and expressing the need for immediate action. He gave a clear purpose with a clear method for achieving it, urging Congress the pass the bill that would create thousands of jobs around the nation. By outlining the benefits of the passing the bill, Obama expressed how the American people want and need for the bill to be passed, lending to the immediacy of the issue in the eyes of his audience.

It was obvious that Obama understood the precarious state of his audience from the onset. Through his language you can see that he had considered their values and predispositions toward the topic. He walked the thin line between urging his supporters to stand up for his beliefs and anyone who opposed the bill to change their views because it is what is best for the nation. He urged that creating American jobs is an integral part of their job, the job they were elected for, and that they need to meet their responsibilities.

Two things he could have improved on in his speech were addressing the schedule for the project and the costs associated with the project. It is great to say that he wants to cut taxes for the middle class, but where is that money going to come from? In order for one person’s taxes to decrease, does this mean someone else’s need to increase? In addition, there was no timeline provided for when the jobs would be created, leaving us unsure whether the benefits will go into place in one month or one year.

Research Methods

In our argument for an alternative study area for students, we will use internet research to create a basis for our argument. We will use information from other colleges and universities around the country that have alternative study areas to see how they are organized, staffed, and maintained. We will ensure that our sources are reputable and that the information is accurate and timely. This information will help us to create a foundation of knowledge about the topic and have support to back up our argument about how other schools utilize alternative study areas.We will keep detailed notes about the information we find, which we can then use to create the survey for interviews with students. 

Business Letter Final

Lexie 
1840 South 1300 East
Salt Lake City, UT 84105


Darla
1840 South 1300 East
Salt Lake City, UT 84105


August 31, 2011

Dear Darla,

First I would like to express how excited I am for the direction the Community Relations office is going this year and the amount of work we have been able to accomplish. It has been a very rewarding year for us and our events for the most part have been pulled off effortlessly. Now that First Year Student Orientation has concluded, the office’s student workers, including myself, have a few concerns about how the event was handled.

As you know, another work study student and I were asked to work during the scavenger hunt at freshman orientation. Things were awry from the beginning, when an official list of businesses that were supposed to be involved was not made available to us by the FYSO staff. We were forced to use an incomplete, obsolete list that we had received two weeks prior. Once out in the community, we realized that very few of the businesses had been informed of the event. By the second half, most business owners had pieced together what was happening in the event but still expressed that they would have appreciate prior knowledge. Throughout the day, only two businesses had been previously informed and had prepared handouts for the students.

Next year, I would recommend the community relations department have a greater involvement in the organization of the scavenger hunt from the beginning. We should notify businesses of the event at least a month and obtain a finalized list of business several days beforehand. We should  also have greater follow-up with the businesses after the event to ensure their satisfaction with their student-community interactions.

I believe if we take these considerations into account next year, we would have a much more successful and fulfilling event for both students and the community.

Thank you for your time,

-Lexie Banks

Working in Teams

Working on a team can be both a rewarding and challenging task. Among its many advantages, one advantage that has proved true for me has been that many minds working together produce a greater number of possibilities for writing and produce a greater quality of work all together. In a group essay I was required to write for a class, I was paired with a classmate who had many different useful skills than I had. However, writing collaboratively also requires more time throughout the process, as two people with conflicting ideas and opinions collaborate to create the end result. While writing the 8-page paper would have normally only taken a few hours, it took nearly twice as long to reconcile our opposing ideas and consolidate the mass of ideas into a single, cohesive paper.

Business Letter Draft

Lexie 

1840 South 1300 East

Salt Lake City, UT 84105

Darla

1840 South 1300 East

Salt Lake City, UT 84105

August 31, 2011

Dear Darla,

I hope that you are doing well. Now that this year’s First Year Student Orientation has concluded, the Community Relations student workers, including myself, have a few concerns about how the event was handled, specifically about the involvement of the Community Relations office in the scavenger hunt activities, what our duties were, and the organization of the entire event.

As you know, another work study student and myself were asked to work during the scavenger hunt at freshman orientation. We were expected to contact businesses included in the scavenger hunt, make sure that the event was running smoothly for them and answer any questions they may have had. Things were awry from the beginning, when an official list of businesses that were supposed to be involved was not made available to us by the FYSO staff. We were forced to use an incomplete, unofficial list that we had received two weeks prior.

Once out in the community, we realized that very few of the businesses had even been informed of the event happening that day. For the entire first half of the day, business owners were extremely confused as to why hundreds of Westminster freshmen were coming into their business. By the second half, most businesses had figured out what the event was, but still expressed that they would have liked to have prior knowledge. Throughout the day, only two businesses had been previously informed of the event. Many of the businesses we went to were not included on the final list, resulted in a lot of inefficient, wasted time on our parts.

Overall, the event could have planned been much better. Next year, I would recommend the community relations department have a greater involvement in the organization of the scavenger hunt from the beginning. We need to notify businesses of the event at least a month prior and begin lobbying for businesses to have some sort of handout for the students – even if it is something as simple as a flyer. We need to have a finalized list of businesses available for anyone who needs it prior to the beginning of the event, and need to have greater follow-up with the businesses after the event to ensure their satisfaction with their student-community interactions.

I believe if we take these considerations into account next year, we would have a much more successful and fulfilling event for both students and the community.

Thank you for your time,

-Lexie

Audience Analysis

My primary audience is my boss, who is the director of several departments on the Westminster campus. The majority of her day is filled with meetings and attending events, and she generally works at least a 10-hour work day. She will be reading my report between meetings and will likely be in a rush, which will provide many distractions. However, she already has a bias in favor of the change I am promoting in my letter and if I present it in a clear and concise manner, she will be likely to approve it. She wants to promote a positive image for our department, which the implementation my proposal will achieve.

How to E-mail a Professor - Response

Hello Dr. Leddy,

You brought up several good points in your article "How to E-mail a Professor." I thought this was a very important topic and you presented it well by highlighting the importance of students' thoroughness and courteousness in writing an e-mail to a professor. I agree with you that it is very important for students to appear professional in writing.

However, one point I was concerned with was the suggestion to e-mail a thank you to the professor upon receiving a reply. Professors may have over one hundred students in a single semester, and assuming many of them will be needing help at one point or another, hundreds of messages regurgitating "Thank you, I got your email" would seem to me repetitive and bothersome. Rather than sending a thank-you message, the professor could instate a policy in which a student should resend their email if they haven't heard back from the professor within two days, and the student can thank the professor for his or her help in person the next time class meets.

While your article was very insightful, I think this one correction could alleviate some frustrations for professors.

Thank you for your time,

-Lexie

Book Biography

Lexie has been enthralled with fantasy from a young age. In fact, when her parents asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up, she said a unicorn. Lexie began writing short stories when she was only nine years old, often featuring mythical creatures with curly hair and a sarcastic demeanor. Today, she is getting the imagination beaten out of her by corporations hoping to steal her soul.