Week 14

Last class, James and I presented on what we have so far for the scavenger hunt (appropriately named Galaxy Quest) and everyone seemed to love it. We decided to go ahead with having everyone in class be the leaders of their own teams so that we will have many people involved for optimum marketing exposure. I intend to to make sure that we have a nice bundle of prizes for everyone. I am really excited for this event! While I will still help out with Galaxy Quest, my focus will be shifted to the parties I will be throwing next semester. I plan on completing almost all plans for the Valentine's Day party over Winter Break. The location, catering, decorations, and all other details should be completely secured. I also am looking into confirming the location for the After Party. I have been recommended to look into the Ironclad Brewery, which looks like it will be a great location. I will also begin my research on different catering options and fun activities for the night of. Having Winter Break to focus on these upcoming events is a really nice thing to have. I would recommend making sure to take advantage of the time and to not push everything to the beginning of the semester.

Week 13

Though we are coming to an end of this semester, there are still many tasks to do before the end of 2015. After last week's class, Zoe, Jack, James, and I had an in person meeting about the Scavenger Hunt and decided on many things. We came to the decision to have the Scavenger Hunt last for an entire week (five days) upon returning to classes in January. People can sign up for the Hunt in teams, which would help create bonds between the group. We also want to make sure that it's not too easy or difficult, so we want to make questions related to film and pop culture but not from a strictly "film major" perspective. We decided to keep the hunt down on busier end of campus, the side with the Fishers. We thought that a total of 25 clues would be a sufficient amount, place in 5 buildings on this side of campus. This breakdown would leave for teams to essentially find 5 clues per day, which we believed to be a fair amount.

With that being said, our plan of action has been to split up the five building among the four of us and determine where we can hide clues within those buildings. This task must be completed before Monday, November 23rd, when we will meet at 8 p.m. to discuss with each other the places we picked. We will then work lastly on the Fisher Student Center together and collectively find places where we can hide clues. Our next step from there is to create a logical progression for the Hunt while keeping it challenging but fun. I am really excited for this project and hope that it will turn out amazingly!

Cucalorus Film Festival Response Assignment

Cucalorus, how I am finally glad that I went to you! It couldn't be any truer what the Film Department says about its students: it's unbelievable that so few go each year. Not only did I have an amazing time, but I learned so much of what it's like to run a film festival other than the amazing Visions. Seeing it from the view of a guest truly did give me a different perspective.

I began my Cucalorus journey at the opening night party, which was held at Ziggy's By the Sea. I had never been to Ziggy's before but was excited to see how they would decorate the location and how they would entertain the guests the entire night. When I walked into Ziggy's, my ticket was taken from me at the front, then I walked down the hall to see their "step and repeat," and went around the photographer to get into the main location. Taking note, I wasn't so keen as a guest to have the step and repeat so closed to the door and all of the foot traffic. If it would have been in more of a corner of the space, then it wouldn't have taken up so much of the hall space and cause any foot traffic issues. After a few minutes waiting in the main area, the hosts of the night went onto the stage opposite of the entrance and began entertaining the guests. It was a little noticeable that they were up there to distract us from technical difficulties and I learned that it's always good to have something prepared in case of such a situation. When the show finally began, I loved the fact that they had several screens set up all over the room so that it wasn't a struggle to see. I got a little bored after ten minutes of the video and was glad that there was a secondary party location option on the second floor. I thought it was the perfect space to have the food set up and allow those wanting to socialize a more quiet place. I did meet one of the directors of a music video that was playing there, and it was really nice to talk to one of the filmmakers!

On top of the opening party, which cost me one of my tickets in my Jibasorus pass, I saw two shorts blocks, a narrative feature, and a documentary feature. The first shorts block included narrative shorts, most which were really well filmed! The second shorts block began with a couple of experimentals, which I know made Kevin really happy. Most of Visions staff watched a few films together, which was really nice. I also saw the documentary Mom and Me and the narrative feature Princess. I am pleased to say that I liked all of the films that I saw, save maybe a few of the shorts.

Going to Cucalorus was an amazing experience! I am so sad that I had never gone before but they have made a repeat customer out of me! The people were nice and I had a great time! I will definitely be back next year!

Week 12

It's Cucalorus Week! It has been a fun one! But despite our adventures at one of Wilmington's international film festivals, we had to keep up our departmental work. In preparation for the scavenger hunt next semester, I have inquired all information from Zoe about how her high school professor used to run his intricate hunts. I think that my team will most likely go with his method, seeing that it matches an academic setting like what we have here in UNCW. Nonetheless, I have been doing research about different scavenger hunts geared towards adults to help us better understand how to make this kid game work for our age group.

The first website I went to, via the wonderful Pinterest, had an article called "How to plan a scavenger hunt for grownups." Not only did it have some unique clue ideas, it also stressed to choose a theme for your hunt. If needed for further explanation, it is the following: http://www.outdoorbookclub.org/blog/how-to-plan-a-scavenger-hunt-for-grownups

"Scavenger, Adult Style" went into great detail of all of the possibilities you can do for a new adult party. It also included a section dedicated to prizes and winners, and what a scavenger hunt would look like as a group activity. The website: http://www.lifescript.com/well-being/articles/s/scavenger_hunt_adult_style.aspx

I also found a website that gave specific scavenger hunt missions and its details so you can take all of the stress out of hoping to make an awesome theme. The website can be found here: http://blog.goosechase.com/post/18112981699/the-20-best-scavenger-hunt-missions

Week 11

After the success of the Bake Sale and the Halloween Party, the Department of Development and Fundraising are on to our next assignment!

 In class last Tuesday, I held a small presentation, recapping the party and bake sale to the class and asking for their feedback. For the bake sale, we discussed how we should keep the speakers the same for our next bake sale. Some other suggestions for our Valentine's Day fundraising sale was to use tents, have a cooler, label all of the treats, and make them more decorative. We need to try for a Wednesday and should explore having sweet and savory food options. It was also mentioned that we should include both nut-free and nut options at the same table for easier accessibility for our customers.  For the Halloween Party, there was a lot of feedback as well. We as a staff agreed that it was a really good time of year to have a party, which should definitely be noted for next year! Catering options for our Valentine's Day party include Wake and Bake Doughnut and V-Day candy, like Hershey's Kisses.

We also need to be wary of staff winning contests and we had a lot of requests to add a few more games. We now have our next project to complete under marketing: a scavenger hunt! I am excited to explore this further with my team!

Weeky Update: After the Halloween Party!

The party finally happened! After weeks of planning and collaborating and a bit of stress, our Visions6 Launch Party Fundraiser came and was a success. Not only did our guests seem to enjoy themselves, but we ended up exceeding our goal of $300! Through the raffle basket ticket sales and the cover charge, we ended up making $447! I was so proud of the staff and my department, but I was really proud in my own ability to be able to make such an amazing event from essentially nothing and turn it into a fun party that people wanted to come to. 

The evening started with Adrienne and I picking up the chips and salsa donated to us from Chili's. We then made our way to The Calico Room and touched bases with the two employees on shift tonight. I introduced myself and we talked about the night. They were wonderful, answering all of my questions and providing help whenever I needed it. The location was already so amazingly decorated for Halloween that we only added a few of our own items here and there. I had a team of 5 people help with set up, putting together the game room as well as the tables for raffle information and for food. The DJ arrived at 8 p.m.  and he began to set up all of his equipment. His name was The DJ Evan. When all of the Visions6 staff showed up, we had a little pow wow to talk about all of the different positions of the night and what they entailed. We then got into position as the party started around 9 p.m.

We all mingled with guests and let them know about the raffle. A few hours later, we promptly started our Lip Sync Battle. We had about 6 people participate, including a few group performances. After, we had our costume contests, gave our guests one last call for the raffle, and then we drew the winner for the raffle. By the end of the night, we were all exhausted, but we all carried on with smiles on our faces. Everyone on staff stayed after the party to help with clean up, making the place look as if we had never been there. I will be emailing all involved parties tomorrow thanking them for everything that they did.