This week was spent working on a number of different marketing initiatives. One of the major jobs I have been tasked with is handling mailings which means putting together corporate packages and letters for individuals. The mailings have information regarding our 'Walk and Roll' event happening on June 5th at Castle Island. We are appealing for people to give donations or register to walk for the event. Putting mailings together is a laborious yet extremely important task. You have to put specific letters or pamphlets in designated places (this is especially the case for the corporate packages which have to be put together in a specific way). The letters to individuals are a little easier to put together as they usually only involve two to three letters or pamphlets. The pamphlets are placed at the back of the envelope with the letter to the individual towards the front of the letter. After I have stamped and labeled all of the letters I bring them to the post office. With corporate packages, I have been busy speaking to representatives from organizations such as Armstrong Ambulance Service and Cambridge Savings Bank about sponsorship and donations. I had a special case to work on this week with Armstrong Ambulance Service. Beyond sending a corporate package to Armstrong, I was also in negotiations with Boston EMS in order to allow an Armstrong ambulance to be present at our Walk event as an activity for kids to learn about what an ambulance is all about. In order to get this to work, I had to make a deal with Boston EMS that Armstrong would not be providing 911 service to the event and that only one ambulance would be present. Then I had to get Armstrong interested in donating an ambulance with my commitment to donate my time. All of this finally came together this week after about a month of negotiations and waiting.
This week I was tasked with creating a PSA for television and the UCP website. While much of the PSA is now polished down to an exact 15 second piece for the 'Walk and Roll' event, there was some difficulty that arose in how to integrate information for the walk with the UCP logo and walk logo. In order to do this, I am working with a graphic designer (also an intern at UCP) to create a new logo for the walk that combines the UCP of MetroBoston logo with the 'Walk and Roll' logo and incorporates the date of the event with contact information.
Going along with the PSA idea, there was an idea floated around about putting the Walk up on Facebook in order to attract more people and get a more accurate listing of potential walkers and donors. I was tasked with creating the Facebook page and event for UCP of MetroBoston.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Public Service Announcements
This week I took pictures from the Dayhab program run by United Cerebral Palsy in Watertown and worked on Public Service Announcements (PSA). The pictures will be part of the photo-documentary that will be used at events as a background display or for presentations.
Radio and Television PSA
Writing a PSA is a big challenge and I found myself largely unprepared for the amount of work that goes into them. I have written up six different PSAs. The first three are for radio and television and range from :10, :15, and :30 seconds. Each PSA written for television needs to be transcribed for being aired on the radio. The transcribing involves placing emphasis on certain words, separating abbreviations with dashes, and placing commas and periods in order to create places for the commentator to take a breath. For example:
For television
Join United Cerebral Palsy of MetroBoston, Sunday June 5th, for its annual ‘Walk and Roll’ at DCR’s Castle Island. To learn more, log on to www.ucpboston.org.
Transcribed For Radio
Join UNITED CEREBRAL PALSY OF METROBOSTON, Sunday June fifth, for its annual WALK AND ROLL at D-C-Rs CASTLE ISLAND. To learn more, log on to w-w-w dot U-C-P-BOSTON dot org.
After writing both, I then have to go through the process of finding out how many characters with spaces exist and recording the number under the PSA. The next part of the process is timing how long it takes to read the PSA so that it fits the required amount of time. This is a challenge because it must be read clearly and properly so that a listener can clearly hear the most important information.
The next challenge is figuring out how to put in order the most important information. What I worked on in this specific PSA, which was the shortest at :10 seconds, ordering the information by placing the name of the organization first followed by the date of the event and the event name. This is followed by the location and where more information can be found.
The listener has now heard the most essential information for the event: Who is putting it on, When it is, What it is, Where it is, and How to learn more information.
The whole process requires several re-writes. I spent the whole day Thursday and most of the day Friday re-organizing these PSAs in terms of order, grammar, and content.
Newspaper PSA
Writing a newspaper PSA is another challenge in itself. In this case I am writing three more PSAs of varying length that follow the same formula as the TV and Radio PSAs. In this case, however, I am not transcribing each PSA I write, I just have to write one for each length. Like the other PSAs, I have to be very careful with grammar, wording, and content. In both forms of PSAs, I had to take the Walk pamphlets and look at the UCP website in order to get the most important information. I highlighted the name of the walk, the date of the walk, and other important information following the Who, When, What, Where, and How formula. Reading each PSA for these five components is essential. If I can read each one and know the answers to these five questions then I know I have accomplished my goals for the PSA.
The Photo-Documentary
The Photo-documentary is going to be used as a tool for marketing at events or exhibits for UCP of MetroBoston. This week I took pictures at the Dayhab facility in Watertown. This was an exciting opportunity to get to meet the consumers, as well as capture some of the great activities the consumers can take advantage of. The Dayhab consists of two buildings: one building is for consumers who have more functional abilities. They are very independent, but require assistance in some areas such as writing or using communication skills. The other building hosts consumers who are less functional and require more hands-on activities and support.
It was very hard taking photos in both buildings because you have to capture the consumers in a specific way. You have to be careful to not include photos of consumers with their eyes closed, mouths open, bibs on, "scary" smiles or scowls, drool, or looking as if in pain. I hope to be able to post examples of a good and bad photo.
Radio and Television PSA
Writing a PSA is a big challenge and I found myself largely unprepared for the amount of work that goes into them. I have written up six different PSAs. The first three are for radio and television and range from :10, :15, and :30 seconds. Each PSA written for television needs to be transcribed for being aired on the radio. The transcribing involves placing emphasis on certain words, separating abbreviations with dashes, and placing commas and periods in order to create places for the commentator to take a breath. For example:
For television
Join United Cerebral Palsy of MetroBoston, Sunday June 5th, for its annual ‘Walk and Roll’ at DCR’s Castle Island. To learn more, log on to www.ucpboston.org.
Transcribed For Radio
Join UNITED CEREBRAL PALSY OF METROBOSTON, Sunday June fifth, for its annual WALK AND ROLL at D-C-Rs CASTLE ISLAND. To learn more, log on to w-w-w dot U-C-P-BOSTON dot org.
After writing both, I then have to go through the process of finding out how many characters with spaces exist and recording the number under the PSA. The next part of the process is timing how long it takes to read the PSA so that it fits the required amount of time. This is a challenge because it must be read clearly and properly so that a listener can clearly hear the most important information.
The next challenge is figuring out how to put in order the most important information. What I worked on in this specific PSA, which was the shortest at :10 seconds, ordering the information by placing the name of the organization first followed by the date of the event and the event name. This is followed by the location and where more information can be found.
The listener has now heard the most essential information for the event: Who is putting it on, When it is, What it is, Where it is, and How to learn more information.
The whole process requires several re-writes. I spent the whole day Thursday and most of the day Friday re-organizing these PSAs in terms of order, grammar, and content.
Newspaper PSA
Writing a newspaper PSA is another challenge in itself. In this case I am writing three more PSAs of varying length that follow the same formula as the TV and Radio PSAs. In this case, however, I am not transcribing each PSA I write, I just have to write one for each length. Like the other PSAs, I have to be very careful with grammar, wording, and content. In both forms of PSAs, I had to take the Walk pamphlets and look at the UCP website in order to get the most important information. I highlighted the name of the walk, the date of the walk, and other important information following the Who, When, What, Where, and How formula. Reading each PSA for these five components is essential. If I can read each one and know the answers to these five questions then I know I have accomplished my goals for the PSA.
The Photo-Documentary
The Photo-documentary is going to be used as a tool for marketing at events or exhibits for UCP of MetroBoston. This week I took pictures at the Dayhab facility in Watertown. This was an exciting opportunity to get to meet the consumers, as well as capture some of the great activities the consumers can take advantage of. The Dayhab consists of two buildings: one building is for consumers who have more functional abilities. They are very independent, but require assistance in some areas such as writing or using communication skills. The other building hosts consumers who are less functional and require more hands-on activities and support.
It was very hard taking photos in both buildings because you have to capture the consumers in a specific way. You have to be careful to not include photos of consumers with their eyes closed, mouths open, bibs on, "scary" smiles or scowls, drool, or looking as if in pain. I hope to be able to post examples of a good and bad photo.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
60 minutes to 15
January 27th and 28th have been dedicated to re-editing a 60 minute film into a 15 minute "trailer" of sorts to be used at events to promote UCP's activities. The first challenge was figuring out how to get the film onto my editing software on my computer. This was made more challenging by the fact that I do not have the original files for the film in order to edit it from scratch as they were unavailable at the office. To solve this predicament, I found a way to transfer the DVD files onto my editing software which allowed me to edit the film; however, the audio and soundtrack of the film are unable to be edited due to the process of my transferring straight from the DVD. This I completed on January 26th. The 27th was dedicated to eliminating unneeded footage and putting together shots that I though should be used in the film. This process took several hours as it involved me watching the film fully then going back to the editing software where I watched the film again, this time cutting out the big chunks of unneeded shots. Next I took what was left of the trimmed down version of the film (which was approximately 30 minutes in length) and cut it down even further eliminating as much excess film as possible. This third round eliminated even more and allowed me to start the process of putting together a jigsaw puzzle of a film. I had to grab scenes from several different parts of the film and recombine them into a logical sequence of events telling the story of the film, while keeping the message quick and to the point, emphasizing the achievements of the UCP consumers who were filmed. Once a rough draft was created, it was then reviewed again by myself and the VP of Marketing and Communications and the film was re-edited with certain parts added and other removed as needed. The final product is still having the kinks worked out of it, but it is now about 15-16 minutes long with a logical sequence and somewhat smooth transitions considering the difficulties.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
First Days
I started my internship at United Cerebral Palsy of MetroBoston last Wednesday working in the Development, Marketing, and Communications office. The first day I met with my internship supervisor to go over what my objectives for the next several weeks will be.
1. Condense a 1 hour film into a 15 minute "trailer" for marketing at events to show how UCP's consumers were portrayed in a feature length film
2. Work on creating the new website. I am working on this project with another intern. We are taking the old website and transferring most of the text over to the new site. We are also putting new photos on the website and video.
3. I will be starting a photo-documentary project for UCP of MetroBoston that will be highlighting the programs that organization offers including Dayhab and residential living through UCP.
4. I was given a side project to re-edit the orientation video for new employees.
The first day I dedicated most of my time to working on the website and in a meeting regarding how to re-edit the orientation film into a cleaner and more informational video.
1. Condense a 1 hour film into a 15 minute "trailer" for marketing at events to show how UCP's consumers were portrayed in a feature length film
2. Work on creating the new website. I am working on this project with another intern. We are taking the old website and transferring most of the text over to the new site. We are also putting new photos on the website and video.
3. I will be starting a photo-documentary project for UCP of MetroBoston that will be highlighting the programs that organization offers including Dayhab and residential living through UCP.
4. I was given a side project to re-edit the orientation video for new employees.
The first day I dedicated most of my time to working on the website and in a meeting regarding how to re-edit the orientation film into a cleaner and more informational video.
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