Okay so we are into week 5 of these blog updates about my 20% Time Project...So here is everything that has happened in the last two weeks:
My partner and I finally decided on the name of our project: Project Sharing Smiles. It is simply, but I think that it fits the motivation. We have also designed a logo for our brand.
We have decided to create a website as well. Google Sites as of now is going to be our method. That is an extreme work in progress though because website can take a long time to get together plus we haven't had the time to devote to the project, but that is a goal for the next two weeks. We have also starting shouting out our Instagram page to try to get more followers and to spread our mission. If you are interested in following, it is @projectsharingsmiles! I think it also might be good to do a twitter as well that posts inspiration pictures and quotes. I might be getting a little too ambitious for this early on in the project though. There are posts on our Instagram to start with after we agree to have a posting schedule of a like one picture from us everyday and one quote about happiness that we like. A lot of people have been coming up to us in this past week telling us that they think our idea is really cute and creative so I would say that that is a good sign.
Speaking of communicating with people, this week was Project Pitches. We had to create a little presentation about our proposed project and present it to our peers and some teachers as well. I was very nervous at first, but I think it went well. It is always hard to try to convince other people that an idea you work hard at and that you are passionate about is a good one. I think I got a lot of good feedback though. We started off not having a measurable way to see our progress, but it was suggested to me to use a hashtag to see how many people are willing to contribute to the social media lifestyle change that we are trying to start. I also got a lot of suggestions from one teacher about how to further the brand that is Project Sharing Smiles. There is a website called Shirt Citizens that will donate shirts to an organization who is a "Do Gooder" with a customized logo. If we could get people in the community to start wearing the shirts to advertise the message, that would be amazing! She also suggested starting random acts of kindness on the account as well.
I am really glad I got the opportunity to meet with some new people to get some new ideas and I am excited to see where this project can go with a little time and dedication.
Here is what I hope the schedule looks like for the next couple of months:
March 21 Deliverables
Project underway, Research is underway; or revision of project; Blog post #5. Mentor search is going on now. 10 Posts to the Instagram, Research on Positive Psychology
April 4 Deliverables
Video Blog pitch (AMP handout), Research and Contact Shirt Citizens, Mentor Found, Completed Website, Continue Instagram Posts
April 18 Deliverables
Blog #6--progress, research, images of progress, Reaching out to other Instagrams, Brands, and Companies to endorse our brand, Continued use of hashtag to measure contributions
May 2 Deliverables
Blog #8, 40 Instagram Posts, 15 Website Stories, Maybe stickers or other brand items
May 16 Deliverables
Blog #10, 60 Instagram Posts, 20 Website Stories, 5 Outside Curators of Posts
May 30 Deliverables
Projects due...or next week. 80 Instagram Posts, 25 Website Stories, Merchandise to Advertise Brand, Measured Contributions
The biggest challenge that I feel that we face is trying to get people to be involved in our project and then measuring the contributions to our work. I hope that we can find success in our project.
