OneAthens client presentation

My campaigns class experiment -- 20 people on a single major project, teams that regrouped midsemester, work coordinated on a wiki (thanks to Robert French!) -- culminated today in a fantastic presentation for the client.

I know most people aren't familiar with OneAthens; it's a local nonprofit coalition that combines local government, the university, nonprofits and churches, business leaders, individual citizens and almost anyone else you can imagine to focus on the same issue. You see, we have a great little college town with a great big problem: poverty. If you want to understand the two Athens, and OneAthens, just watch this promotional video prepared by one of the student teams:

Other students created a new logo and slogan -- "One Community. One Vision. OneAthens" -- made fliers and brochures, and pitched the local news media, and they all worked together on an awareness weekend that informed thousands of citizens about the poverty problem and the solutions OneAthens has recommended.

They had no budget, but they secured donations and discounts, and Grady College paid out a couple hundred dollars to cover some expenses. And more than one student just paid for small items out of pocket. They collected more than 400 signatures on "the big One," and more than 400 people came to the big meeting on March 31. 

What do you say to a group like this? Of course there are things they (and I) could've done better. We had an entire section of the campaign planned but the client didn't approve it, so midsemester the plan had to be reworked. They didn't complain... much. They just redoubled their efforts on the parts of the plan that were approved. I think we all tried to keep focus on the larger goal: working to solve the poverty problem.

So, what do you say? I told them the truth: They are so ready to graduate and start working in real jobs.

And I'm so proud of every ONE of them. (Oh, come on, we all get a bit sappy at graduation time.)

Comments

[Tiffany Derville]

Karen,

Congratulations to you and your students for producing this inspirational campaign! The video interviews are excellent.

Tiffany

[Robert French]

Fantastic! That's likely the only way to describe it. Well, actually ... I could go on. :o) Karen, you have every right to be proud.

The final product is wonderful. I know this may sound weird to some, but the wiki your students have created is a model, Karen. Seriously.

Please tell me you're submitting this whole project for awards. If every other school can see this *very* detailed work your students have accomplished, it will serve them well. Did I mention it being a model? :o) Really, I haven't seen anything like this before. It may be out there (behind a firewall) as a student project, but I kinda doubt it.

So happy for all of you and pleased to have been a tiny part of it. Very fun to watch! Thank you.

[Karen Russell]

Tiffany and Robert, thanks so much for your supportive remarks. Especially you, Robert, because you've been watching behind the scenes. ;) The students really cared about the client and they found a way to make things work. Did I mention the DVD team didn't have any training? I just got a couple cameras and tapes and told them to figure it out. They got some help from a grad student in telecomm with the editing, but did the rest themselves. And all the teams were like that.

I know people must get tired of my bragging, but I'm telling you, there's not one in the bunch that I wouldn't hire!