Week 2: Dirty Dozen Swag Bags

1. What is the project supposed to achieve?

The project's purpose is to provide our guests with memorable items of the festival and experience. Swag bags allow us to brand not only our festival, but Wilmington community as a whole.

2. Who is the customer?
The customers are the Filmmakers and Scholars, Dean, Film Department Chair, other faculty, and sponsors.

3. What are the deliverables of the project?

The deliverables will be getting the bags and all their content squared away in a timely manner. The bags will be filled with a Visions T-Shirt, sticker, space goodies, and other swag that will need to be bought, donated, or personally made.

4. What is the budget?
$250 for Swag Bags.

5. How long will it take?
I want the Swag Bags to be completed before the end of March so I am not scrambling to get done and they have time to be perfected.

6. What specific skills are needed?
People skills and the ability to talk to sponsors or businesses, time management, organization skills, imaginative, resourceful, and being able to budget/ handle money.

7. What special resources are needed?
Special resources would be the sponsorship package and what all that entails as well as any suggestions on who to contact, or any local Wilmington businesses that could donate!

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

I am! My job entails, brainstorming, budgeting, contacting businesses, buying items, assembling swag bags, and then giving out the bags. I will have to work with the art department with getting logos and designs completed and other people within the hospitality department.

9. What is the schedule?
Early January: Swag Bag brainstorming

-January 26^th: Share pitch, budget, and ideas to the class

-January 27- February 1: Finalize pitch to class to get approval
-Feb 2 - Swag Bag Follow Up
-Feb 3^rd – Feb 15^th: Work on finalizing budget with estimates and donations… ending with a detailed budget to get approved
-End of February: Start buying items for the bags after everything is approved

-Beginning of March: Get all the items organized ready to go into bags, screen printing totes
-March 15: Begin filling swag bags and labeling them

-March 31^st: Have all the bags ready for the day of the event.

-Day of Guest Arrival: Take bags to hotel to be put in rooms for guests.

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

·       Large Impact (likely): Something gets messed up with the shipping, the order is wrong, or we don't have enough swag bags.

·       Large Impact (Somewhat Unlikely): A donor like Freaker or Astronaut IceCream won't happen and a Plan B would have to be made.

·       Large Impact (Unlikely): No items come in and we have nothing

·       Small Impact (Likely): We have to sacrifice things in order to meet the budget.

·       Small Impact (Unlikely): The DIY could be a "Pinterest fail", but we can always come up with a creative solution.

11. How will you communicate with your team?
I will communicate with the Art Department for logos and designs and I can do that by filling out a form through the Google Drive. If I need to set up a face to face meeting with them I can talk to them or class, or Facebook them to set up a time. I will see Simone at weekly meetings and I have her number if I have any hospitality related questions or concerns.

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

The project will be successful if the filmmakers and scholars enjoy the bags and see the work put into them. My goal is to make the undergrad filmmakers and scholars to feel important, and I hope the swag bag gives off that mojo!

Week 1: "Festivals of Their Own" Response

After reading “Festivals of Their Own”, one of the main points that stuck out to me was the concept of each festival having their own mission, goal, and style depending on what films they end up screening. Also, festivals change and morph overtime, like we saw in Sundance as it grew and became widely popular. You don’t need popularity, famous directors, A-Class stars, or a lot of money to run a successful festival. Many underground festivals were showcased in restaurants, bars, or any venue they could afford in able to screen unrecognized filmmakers’ works. From the list of underground film festivals, each festival had their own individual motive from recognizing local filmmakers to showcasing low budget films. Each festival has its own personality and its own purpose within the film industry. Even though many underground festivals don’t attract money or stardom, they are providing an experience and a place for filmmakers to communicate and express their works visually.

Josh Koury’s interview in the latter part of the article provided me with a lot of information on festivals from not only submitting my work, but advice on actually running a festival. He provided a good point in that when submitting to festivals it’s important to pay attention to which festivals you are submitting your work to, and to not get too discouraged if you are rejected. However, he highlights one of the main points in which festivals are so important to me as a filmmaker. Festivals allow filmmakers to converse while celebrating exhibition of peers’ works. More importantly, underground festivals make it so you don’t have to have a ton of money or stars within your film to have your work showcased or to bask in the experience.

Week 1: Job Description, Manual, and Personal Goals

The manual and job description answered a lot of my questions as far as what my department is responsible in doing to make this festival happen. Even though the bulk of Hospitality is in the Spring, I was able to catch up on what Simone has already completed and put together from the Fall semester, making it easier for me to jump on her bandwagon. Pertaining to my job in particularly, I was able to jot notes down as I was reading the manual from past suggestions and recommendations. I gained a lot of ideas for the Swag Bags and suggested companies and contacts to get items from. After reading the manual and gaining more knowledge on what exactly I will be doing I am even more excited of what this semester has to offer.
Currently I think of myself as a really organized person. However, one of my goals this semester is to incorporate new organizational methods in my everyday life and not just for class, such as Trello and online calendars. From this semester I will be able to see what all goes into making a festival happen, allowing me to gear up for Visions7 and other future projects. Another goal I have for this semester is I want to make connections with not only filmmakers, but local businesses I will be reaching out to. These connections that I make will help me later on with future projects and jobs. What I really want out of this class is to make connections and take the skills I will gain throughout this experience and innovate them into the real world after graduation. I want to be able to graduate with organization and leadership skills already in hand, making job searching an exciting time and not stressful.