Be Prepared

In doing a lot of cross work with the development team, it might seem like I'm a fixed member of that department. However I know I have quite a bit of work to do next semester, and it's time to start the early work that goes into my department before we start receiving guests. I took my time to re-read my manual and schedule the next important things I have to do such as figuring out if we'll receive the 500 dollar donation from catering to cover our breakfast. As well as securing the coveted Clocktower Lounge to serve for our filmmakers lounge and a spot for our Galaxy Gala. Also It's time to start talks to arrange everything for next years Cinemixer, formally known as the Film Kid Mixer. It'll probably be difficult to arrange a meeting right now with the heads of each club or group to discuss things, but sending out an email to everyone of them to get them thinking about it wont hurt at this point. I've enjoyed watching my classmates present but I'm also excited for them to hate seeing my face so frequently.

Not Very Swaggy

I'm quoting young upstart, Justin Bieber with his former use of the phase "swaggy", deviating from swagger and just plain swag. Getting to the point, this past weekend was the celebration of Cucalorus finally becoming legal, aka they celebrated their 21st year as a festival. Rather than wasting time by talking about all the amazing films (and not so amazing films) I saw this weekend, I'll be turning my focus towards again swag bags and a little bit about the parties. Again returning to the title of my post, first impression upon receiving my beautiful pegasaurus pass was the slight disappointment in the lack of swag altogether. The only thing received was the very lovely tote bag, rumor has it that others received t-shirts and posters in their bags but it differentiated across the board. The Lounge was really cool, except it's placement wasn't too great on the first day because it was the backstage area of Thalian Main, which wasn't helpful for performers during dancealorus, they probably could have closed the lounge for the duration of dancealorus. I'm still a little confused as to why they didn't exactly do that. But it was a nice space until it filled up and you're squeezing past the bar line to find your friends so it's not the best place to network unless you go in during it's down times. Back to swag, the best place to get swag had to be at "That 21-minute party", which was so interesting because it was just that, held at Planet Logo, they had snacks and beverages and a ton of freakers laying around for anyone (I'm assuming) to take. They also had small devices provided by the venue to open beers (that again I'm assuming) were to take. I thought it'd be cool for either the lounge or the after party to have little things like that (if we have the money or surplus to spare) for guests to take beyond what they're given in their initial bags to take home with them. A little bonus on top of the bonus to make them feel like we really wanted them to get the most out of our festival like I did with Cucalorus.

A Dreamlike Experience

Over the weekend, myself and a handful of other Visions members and directors had the chance to go to the Virginia Film Festival in Charlottesville, VA. Located adjacent to the University of Virginia, most of the venues are located along their Downtown Mall which is a long strip of stores, restaurants and theaters. Now coming from a hospitality spectrum it was pretty great, the swag bag came with a tote with the festival's name on it, a complementary tee, water bottle, a wine cork and a few magnets, mostly advertising the support the festival has from the state. The other in-kind sponsorships were shown at their lounges and after parties  with the sponsored wines/ciders/liquors were listed on a menu card for guests to look at. The Filmmaker's lounge was a good place for filmmakers to relax between screenings but also help them save money on food because the venue, The Whiskey Jar also provided guests with food from the beginning of registration to the end of registration. To leave having been very satisfied with the festival from beginning to end (from them trying to help us with our timing issues) is an experience I want to make sure our guests have at the end of their time with us.

Keep All Dogs on Leashes

Last week marked the beginning official sponsorship groundwork, as in going out to meet with people who we decided would possibly be very interested in donating money to our lovely cause. Adrienne and I started out by taking a list of names compiled from class suggestions, past visions sponsors and a few from the city board that seem like businesses that would fit our festival and we would fit them. When provided with an email and name to contact we send out well structured emails to them, for those with addresses and names we went out with copies of our sponsor packet and met with them in person to talk about Visions with them and explain anything that they didn't understand or wanted to know more about. A key thing is understanding the language of what you're selling and so its less like you're trying to sell them something and more like they're making a well advised financial decision. At the end of the day after what was a very thrilling experience where the owner of one of the venues we spoke with watched his dog get hit by a car made the day one that will go down in infamy.

Late Log # 4

It's getting closer to Call for Entries and our events! And a lovely brain child created by the Art/Marketing/Hospitality/Development team has been born in the name of a sponsorship packet. All that was left is to get it approved and read over by the class and then finally we could start showing it off to people and start seeing some results from weeks of research of the area. Of course for some where the information is available we'll be sending out preliminary emails with the packet attached to get them to start thinking about it/save us gas so we don't go out there and they were never interested to begin with. However with areas that don't have that information available we'll have to meet with them personally to explain who we are and how we'll be beneficial for them by becoming a sponsor. Which could be because of tax write offs or just plain ol'publicity to a young crowd. I hope for a bit of success this time around compared to last where it did not go well at all. I believe in myself and Adrienne to do well no matter what comes a long the way.

Late Log # 3

Bringing up again that I'm a bit of a free agent, it's nice to do this sort of work because you get to understand a little more about each department as you help them out. It also helps build as a team, but this time around I helped the Marketing Team try and find the best photos that would be put on the filmfreeway page. So then you have to think of who's seeing these pictures, and what kind of photos would be the most appealing to them. Also Call for Entries were coming up soon, so I also devised a plan on which classes here would be best to talk to talk those and our upcoming events and again you have to think of the same things. Who's our best audience and who'll be the most responsive to these things? New ideas to think about and further understanding of a department that's not my own.

Late Log #2

My job at the moment is essentially floating to where i'm needed, but when my time comes next year I'll have quite a bit to do. So the departmental research is needed to keep me refreshed and on my toes plus I have new ideas to possibly use or keep in mind for any fires that might arise in the future. http://festivalsandevents.com/festival-planning/Backstage_Hospitality.shtml A sort of blog post, deals more with concert like events, but there's something in here that I think fits this department very well. "The first important step is to try to get a diverse group of people who are energetic, sociable, and extremely dependable" which sounds like a no-brainer but having a team with these qualities is honestly so important when dealing with guests because then you have a group of people who are understanding and if there's something you feel as a team member you might not be strong at you'll know that possibly there's someone else on your team who can do what you cant. Though not faced with any challenges quite yet reading about what makes a good hospitality manager makes me calm because this is just a different field of customer service and i'm confident in this field. 

Late Log #1

The Readings for this week helped me quite a bit in my department because I've started crossover work with the Development team. In which the two heads will use their wiles and charms to persuade many possible investors to maybe drop some of the spare cash they have our way. However our start begins at budgeting and knowing how to read and build a budget can help one know where to go from there. Reviewing this years budget with last years budget also helps figure out what worked and what didn't work with sponsorships and where we need to go from now on. After meeting with Adrienne her and I set our sights on growing our sponsorship circle because of Visions new idea to go broader than we are now and why leave out the possibility of giving someone within our extended net to gain exposure through us. There's a lot more that needed to go into the plan then, but with a bit more research things will come together.

Dirrrrty Dozen

Quoting Ms. Aguilera here when I mention the word "Dirrrty", but on a more serious note this post will be a case study on Dirty Dozens or 12 project management questions to ask me, myself and I.

Dirty Dozen Case Study: In Kind Sponsorship

1. What is the project supposed to achieve?

This project will not only spread information about Visions with the local community, but it will also hopefully build new relationships with them or further build on previously developed relationships.

2. Who is the customer?

This will cater to both Visions and Donators as this works to gain things from them that can help visions either monetary wise or through donations for like swag bags and prizes and exposure for smaller businesses.

3. How does this help my department?

As I'm heading the hospitality department, later i'll need to work on creating swag bags and so this helps me to start creating relationships i'll need to call upon later without having to go through the development department for introductions. 

4. How far are we going?

Looking at past Visions data shows that we've had better success at looking at more local and regional business instead of going much bigger. We could try and attempt that again if we want to be ambitious however I think it's best to stay with what works.

5. How long will it take?

Give Two weeks to start off before we throw our party and bake sale and could be picked up again afterwards.

6. What specific skills are needed?

Definitely communication skill, as well as the power of persuasion. We'll be trying to sell Visions to these people as a product that's something they feel no problem and excited about donating or sponsoring.  

7. What special resources are needed?

Maybe a collection of past visions trailers for newer companies to show what kind of films Visions puts on, as a means to show another element of our professionalism. 

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

Of course this is a collaborative work of Adrienne because this is a job that her department specializes in. However having prior history in having done visions before. She could focus on finding potential new business while I work with past donors to keep up the relationship. 

9. What is the schedule?

1st Meeting w/Adrienne - September 23nd 

Pitch Potential Donors - October 5th

Start Canvassing- October 6th-17th

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

11. How will you communicate with your team?

The best option would be through Facebook and texts and last resort would be using gmail. 

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

When we get a good pool of donors that will finance quite a bit for us and that the sponsors are completely satisfied about what they get out of this arrangement. 

The Eye of the Storm

So first off, I know I originally wrote that i'd be speaking to someone from the atlanta film fest and after being in a internet hole for a week there was no way to update that that was no longer happening. HOWEVER, that didn't mean I was without someone to turn to for guidance and advice. Enter Dan Partridge, the Production Co-Director of Full Frame. A festival most of us should be familiar because it's located in NC's very own Bull City. Dan was honestly so welcoming and got back to me very promptly. Many of the things Dan said kind of went together, so I think it's best to get the technical stuff out of the gate first. Dan got drawn to Full Frame because he himself is a former doc student who had always been around the festival before finally taking a job there. Full Frame got over 1200 submissions last festival but they usually only program 40-50. They work in teams similar to ours and they assign volunteers (they get about 350-375)  to each team about a month before the festival so everyone can get used to the venues and he noted that "the more you know ahead of time the more composed you can be in case of an emergency". I kind of liked the idea of meeting with the volunteers a month ahead of the festival because they'll be more comfortable and less like wandering babies later on. He mentioned that really the lack of technology was one of the biggest things that he felt they lacked early on because with updated tech they can prevent people from lining up for sold out films and blocks and even give them recommendations for similar programs. He talked a great length about dealing with sponsorship and donations and how that relationship works out in many different ways. Advising that we don't, in dealing with local business especially, don't ask for more than they can give and figure out what they want in the process.
And maybe with more high bar donors have films from past programs to kind of start the conversation. When it came to filmmakers attending, Dan really does his job for them, to make sure that they're having a good time meeting others, and seeing their films being shown. As well as to see and hear people discussing the films after they leave the showing. His final pieces of advice was to have excellent communication between your teams and to assure filmmakers that people are going to show up to their film and when they do show up it's going to look amazing for the both of them. I gained quite a bit from our conversation and I'm glad I now I have someone else to reach out to for guidance (he told me his email is always open to me now!).

Truly a Struggle..

So in our recent assignment to go forth and meet with experienced individuals in the fields of Festivals. I was already set up with a challenge, because the person assigned to me was dodging Shannon on all forms of communication, hoping I could be a little more successful, I found that I too was to be ignored. So saddened that I wouldnt be able to talk to this person, I've put my hope for now in to the Marketing Director of the Atlanta Film Festival. 
So! Lets dig into the research I found after looking into them a little deeper. The Atlanta Film Festival, started in 1976 (so celebrating their 40th year next year!), is held at Atlanta's Plaza Theater with a secondary stage at the 7 stages and will be held again April 1st to the 10th. Their missions is as follows: 
"The mission of the Atlanta Film Festival is to lead the community in creative and cultural discovery through the moving image. It works to bring filmmakers and audiences together through year-round screenings, events, and networking opportunities."
Which is a pretty broad statement honestly, however check under their history page and you'll find the following statement which might show a clearer view on what they look for. 
"We actively seek films that reflect and feature LGBTQ (Pink Peach), female (New Mavericks), ethnically diverse, or experimental themes" 
In this statement they even give titles of past films screened there that fit the description of what they look for specifically. When you then look at the page of past films they've screened they mean what they say, as the page is just a splash of subjects of different races and gender litter across the page. Now on to some nitty gritty details, they take submissions through Withoutabox and Film Freeway. Their deadlines are as follows: the early bird is June 20th (prices are 35 for feature, 25 for short, 15 for show pilot/experimental short/pupperty short/music video), regular deadline is Sept 18th (prices are 45 for features, 35 for short and 15 again for the remaining categories), their late deadline is Oct 23 (prices are 55 for feature, 45 for short and still 15 for the others), and their Withoutabox extended deadline is Nov 6 (prices are 90, 80 and still 15). There is no student category and for submissions they take either two dvds or a private vimeo link with a password. At their last festival they screened about 92 films with shorts blocks than ran from an hour and 145 minutes to two hours, with about 8 to 6 films per block. Guest passes are purchased through eventbrite with discounts available for students/seniors and military patrons. Their sponsorship varies from big industry and local art/cultural staples, but a lot of them are local staples that promote the city as a whole. With their puppetry section they definitely stand out by having an entire section dedicated to puppetry focused shorts and features. Also with it's second location this film festival promotes a bit of a walking tour of local atlanta watering holes for first time visitors of the city.
Now when looking at the page at self it's pretty bland and could use a more eye catching visual when one visits their page. It's however very easy to navigate and find what I need to find, I like how for their films page the image on its individual bio page fits behind the festival's logo. So I would take that idea and turn into an animated gif  of past films screened for the main page. And with that wraps up my research on the Atlanta Film Festival. 

Organizing an Intro

Greetings and salutations! My name is Shannon, and I'm this years Hospitality Director for visions. A little background on me, is that I think I don't talk very much but I'll probably do the opposite of that in class. I did use my talking skills last semester to try and pitch with the best in Winston Salem. Hopefully I can learn to use those persuasive skills and the dead but cheery attitude I perfected in retail to the best use in dealing with guests and filmmakers. I also would like to get a little bit of a grasp on how to work best in a team in an long term project like this one. So with that in mind I think the videos and reading are excellent new knowledge to have starting out. I was already familiar with the way Google Drive worked but it was cool to get a more in depth look at it. The google calendar as well, kind of an app that normally didn't get much use on my phone but now i know how to use it properly from my desktop and easily sync all the information to my phone! So I feel like an old lady discovering new technology. The former two having mentioned prior knowledge of were just a refresher on old information, however the quadrant grid was definitely a new sort of way to organize the formerly few happenings I had in my life. It doesn't seem very useful to me at the moment because there's not much for me going on at the moment, nevertheless it seems like it'll be something that'll help me breathe a little when plans and tasks start to pile on. So that way I can decide what I really need to do right now and what can actually be done a little later, or what doesn't need to be done by me at all. A refreshing thought going into this semester and I going to push myself to keep up with everything.