Ecofair 2011 - summary

Here is my short summary of Ecofair 2011, i had to write for my internship :)






Internship Summary:

Description:

During the 2 weeks of the internship I focused on the organization of the event "EcoFair". My position as a head organizer included the following responsibilities:

- group Leadership

- marketing

- budget

- action planning

- volunteer organization

- speaker organization

- debrief and set up for next year

Organization for EcoFair started in September 2010 with an initial visioning process that resulted in the main theme, the vision, the group agreements and the formation of a 15 person core team. This core team continued meeting weekly since September until the event started.

My position of head organizer included the leadership during these meetings, writing and following the agenda, upholding group agreements and supporting the team leaders in their efforts.

Group leadership:

during the whole year, a big part of my position was leadership within the group Taking and sharing responsibility, holding members and myself accountable for agreements and sometimes taking a strong position with the group where the most challenging parts for me.

Marketing:

during the 2 weeks of my internship, one of the most important parts was the short term marketing for the event. Since it was 3 weeks before the event, we focused on easy accomplishable strategies. Our media mix included online media (facebook: http://www.facebook.com/mumecofair, website: http://mumecofair.org/), newspaper (inlay in "the Source", articles in the "Fairfield legder", "the review", and other neswpapers), Radio (KRUU spots + interviews, KHOE interview, KMCD interview, http://www.exploreseiowa.com/pages/7361464.php, and others), Newsletter (information got sent out through: Bob Fergusons newsletter, The Chamber of Commerce, MUM newsletter, IA newsletter, Bill Pollacks newsletter, CVB newsletter, ASHII newsletter, and many others) as well as poster presence (3 types of posters put up on MUM campus, in fairfield, Ottumwa, Iowa City, Des Moines, etc) as well as flyer's in the fairfield area)

My job here was the organization of these efforts and the distribution of advertisement material.

Another important aspect of marketing was the networking aspect, which means being present at various meetings, inviting leadership members of the community to cooperate with us (Francis Thicky, Stuart Valentine, Bob Ferguson, Troy van Beek, Amy Greenfield, and many others)

Budget:

one main part for me, was to create a budget, make sure that it people stick to it, and to keep an overview of our income and expenses. A short version of the budget is attached. 

The biggest challenge with the budget was the insecurity of incomes and expenses. Since i did not have any experiences with events like this, it was very challenging for me to come up with a realistic budget. I used last years budget and adopted it to our needs and it turned out to be pretty accurate, even though our expenses where increasing and increasing and finally we end up with a small loss.

Action planning:

during the 2 weeks of my internship i spend a good amount of time organizing the more then 30 volunteers, we had 3 volunteer meetings where people could sign up for volunteer positions and get more info about where they could plug in. My head organizer for volunteers, Minca Borg, did a great job, and i supported her with all volunteer efforts. Further action planning included the creation of the final schedule, the reservation of all rooms, the planning for speaker needs and requirements, the coordination with the university and concrete planning of all needs for every event.

Volunteer organization:

as explained earlier, a big portion of the work went into organizing volunteers, and coordinating the efforts of everybody willing to help. To incentivize volunteering we cooperated with the local initiative "Hometown Hero Rewards Program" to distribute rewards to our volunteers, as well as we gave out free tickets and T-Shirts for volunteers.

Speaker Organization:

for all the out of town speakers I organized the booking, the contracting, the payment, the travel arrangements (booking flights, hotel rooms, organizing drivers for the weekend), as well as the check in, the presentation requirements, etc. This was the most expensive part of the event, since we payed about 6500 dollars for speakers, transportation and accommodation.

Debrief and set up:

since the event is over, we had 2 debriefing sessions with the team, where we went through the event, and looked at what had worked and what did not work. These notes will be handed over to next years organizing team, as well as booklet with the most important information from every team leader.

Furthermore we started planning the initial visioning process for next years EcoFair, which will be held in about 4 weeks and we hope that students and comunity leaders will participate and share their ideas for next years EcoFair.

Here you can find pictures of this years ecofair:

http://www.facebook.com/mumecofair?sk=photos

Here is a rather funny news clip about ecofair:

http://www.heartlandconnection.com/news/story.aspx?id=606249

My Conclusion for my marketing paper

Conclusion

Based on these theories, there is only one logical order for successfull marketing to be set up. Taking in account the knowledge about how change gets created (see. Barrett), how modern marketing is defined in a holistic value based way (see Kotler), how specification leads to sustainable success,  and how integrity in a company is achieved (see Lederman) it is clear that every marketing strategy has to start with a personal assessment of values, believes and visions. After this is accomplished, the personal values get translated into the company’s vision, mission and core values. Based on this it is necessary to make a decision on what to focus on (product, service, or price) and implement this into the companies DNA, as well as the marketing messages that are sent out.

Steps	Goal	Questions	Exercise
1.    Personal values, believes, vision	Personal values, beliefs and visions direct the energy and attention an individual puts into his surroundings. It colors the perception and is the basis of every decision making process.	What are my personal goals in life? What do I stand for? What is important for me? What are my personal strength and weaknesses?	Imagine it´s your 100st birthday. What 3 things do you want the speaker to talk about?
2.    Companies vision, mission, values	Translate the personal believes into the Vision of the company. Only if these two are in line, the company can be successful, and the individuals working for it will be satisfied and motivated. This is the DNA of the company, guiding every decision.	What is our core business? What do we want to create in this world? What do we want to be known for? What are our vision, mission, values, and goals? What is our mantra?	1.       If your company never existed, the world would be worse off because…? 2.       In 1 short sentence, write the companies mantra. (Kawasaki, p. 8)
3.    Company and Customer segmentation	The companies DNA is now used for decisions regarding the market segmentation, the discipline of leadership aspired   (Operation, Product, Customer)	What do Customers think about our Company? What are the values that our customers care about? Which competitors provide the best value in each of these value dimensions? How do we measure up against our customers on each dimension of value? Why do we fall short of the value leaders in each dimension of value?	Ask a customer: ·         Tell me 3 reasons you like to do business with us. ·         What is the one thing we do that our competition doesn´t? ·         If our company closed tomorrow. What would you miss most? (Ledermann, p45)
4.    Company Branding	Aligning the internal processes with the marketing messages sent out.	Are the Vision, Mission and Goals communicated to all stakeholders (Employees, Customers, Shareholders, etc)? Do employees understand specific goals and objectives? Are they held accountable for achieving them?	Step 1: Write a one-paragraph description of your customers experience when using your product or service. Step2: Call up a customer and have him write a one-paragraph description of using your product or service. Step 3: Compare the two descriptions. (Kawasaki, p. 42)

The first step is of special importance for small companies, start-ups and entrepreneurs, since in many cases the business owner equals the company. Therefore it is especially important that his or her personal values are in line with companies values. The other steps have to be based on individual values in order to have a stable foundation. Companies that are in line with the personal values of their leaders and employees will on the long run be more successful.

4 Quadrants of Change

Based on Ken Wilbers “Four Quadrant Model” (from: Building a values-driven organization – Richard Barret, 2006) , you can see, how every change has to start from the internal change of individuals. (Based on Ken Wilbur. A Brief History of Everything. New York: Shambala, 1996; p. 71.)




The four Quadrants show the 4 different persepectives that one can have on a system:

• Internal, individual—personal values and beliefs (top left quadrant)
• External , individual—personal actions and behaviours (top right quadrant)
• Internal, collective—cultural values and beliefs (the bottom left)
• External, collective—social structures, systems, processes, actions and behaviours (bottom right quadrant). (barret, p 3)

In an organizational setting, the values, beliefs (top left quadrant), and behaviors (top right quadrant) of the leader and the leadership group significantly influence the values and beliefs of the collective (bottom left quadrant), and the behaviors of the collective (bottom right quadrant). In other words, the leaders’ values, beliefs and behaviors significantly influence the culture of the organization. To be even more precise, the culture of an organization is a reflection of the values and beliefs of the present leaders and the institutionalized legacy of the values and beliefs of past leaders as reflected in the structures, systems, processes, policies and procedures of the organization.




Four Conditions must be met, for a whole system to change successfully. These four conditions are:

• Personal alignment: There must be an alignment between the values and beliefs of individuals, and their words, actions and behaviors. This is particularly important for the leadership group. It is important that leaders are authentic and walk their talk.
• Structural alignment: There must be an alignment between the stated values of the organization, and the behaviors of the organization as they are reflected in the structures, systems, processes, policies, incentives and procedures of the organization. It is important that the values are institutionalized.
• Values alignment: There must be an alignment between the personal values of employees and the stated values of the organization. It is important that all employees feel at home in the organization and can bring their whole selves to work.
• Mission alignment: There must be an alignment between sense of motivation and purpose of all employees, and the mission and vision of the organization. It is important that every employee, manager and leader has a clear line of sight between the work they do each day and the mission or vision of the organization, so they know how they make a difference. (Barret, p 105 – 115).

So, Go Out and Change Everything!!!
 

Value Driven Marketing - A Mind Game

A big amount of Start Ups do not make it passed the first four years of their life. Research by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that nearly six in ten businesses shut down within the first four years of operation. http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2005/05/ressum.pdf

Why is that?

Researchers give many reasons for that. Every reasearcher has its own take on it, every business paper its “Top Reasons Why Start Ups Fail”, every author its take on it. One thing is for sure: Business fail. All the time, and it’s always bad when they do.  And most of the explanations focus on the business or the market. Poor Execution,  no viable market, too much leverage, the wrong place, the wrong idea, the wrong staff.

But I think the most impotant component lies outside of the Company. The question is: Is this the right thing to do for me now?

http://www.paulgraham.com/startupmistakes.html

http://www.squidoo.com/starup_failures

A mind game:

Its clear, that most of the businesses go out of business, because they do not have enough money.  It would be safe to say, that they do not have enough money, because they do not have enough sales. Most of them do not have enough sales, because they do not have enough customers. They have to few customers because they are not good on selling their product. Mostly because they cannot communicate what makes the product special. This is often because the company does not know what makes it special, what is its USP? And my assumption is that this is because the leader, the boss, the entrepreneur is not clear on who he or she is.

Therefore I think successful marketing starts with the entrepreneur knowing who he is, what his or her values are, and where he wants to go with his life. After that, he needs to find out how the company reflects his own values, which values the company needs to have, how it helps him to accomplish what is most important in his own life. After that, the entrepreneur can start thinking about the customers. Which customers think like him, have similar values, and understand what the company stands for.

1. Who am I as a person?
   What are my values, what is my vision, my goals in life?
2. Who are we as a Company?
   What are the companies values? How does it contribute to a better world, what is our vision, mission and goals?
3. Who is our customer?
   What do they value? How do we contribute to their goals?
4. What is our product/service?
   How does our product/service help the customer? How does it make the world a better place

The Egg Laying Wool Milk Pig

The Egg Laying Wool Milk Pig

There is this word in German that literally translates as Egg-laying wool milk pig.
What is it?
The egg laying wool milk pig is an animal that lays eggs, produces wool and milk and has meat to eat.
But it does not exist.
Why?
Because it is not specialized in anything.
It does everything, but nothing really good.

Everybody in Marketing knows that. Marketing 101, Lesson one: define yourself, your product and your customer group. And still, if you walk around and ask small business owners and entrepreneurs what their product is, who their customer is, they say "Everybody". They cannot say "NO", they cannot say "this is not my business", because they are afraid to loose a customer, to loose money, to loose their reputition.

Know who you are
People "know" that you cannot be everything to everybody, and if you try, you will be nothing to nobody. But still. Its the fear of missing out on something, the fear of loosing your customer that drives many companies to do stuff that is not actually their business, and weakens their strategy. Most important for every business is to know who you are, and who you are not. Be honest to yourself and your customers. Be transparent. Let them know what you can do for them, and what you cannot. Your customers will value that and reward it with more trust in you.

Focus
In "The Disciplin of Market Leaders", Treacy and Wiersema define 3 strategies to focus your company on:

• Operational Excellence
• Product Leadership
• Customer Intimacy

None of them is superior to the other, and deciding for one will always make you loose customers in another area. BUT, and thats the big one, by focusing on one of these areas you can become a leader in it and your customers will value you for that, will come back to you for that, and stick with you. Leaders choose one of them - best total cost, best product, best total solution - and build there organization around it. Keep that in mind when you think of your own company

Have Integrity
You are a great webdesigner. Great. Stick with it, if it makes you happy. But don´t start designing posters, just because this one company needs a poster, and you need money.
Be honest to yourself. Is that what you want to do? Is it representing your values, goals, highest exitments in your life. If  the answer is "YES" -do it! If it is "NO" - don´t do it.
It sounds simple, but often these are the hardest choices for a company to make, especially when you want to grow and need money (like we all do)

In the end it all comes down to one single thing:
Know what you want and do it!
in your private life - in your workplace - in your company.

MUM Marketing

Just started my new class "Marketing Management" and it already started off with two interesting projects.

For the first one we had one afternoon to create a video that is explaining what "Millennials" are. The assignment was to put it on Youtube and get as many Clicks as possible within two weeks. Therefore we chose a short clip format, with a lot of information, that is presented as engaging as possible. We also got some help from Leon, a Communications and Media student.
I have to say, that I am very proud about the outcome of this very short project!

As for now (after 1 day) we have 107 views, while our concurring group has 19 :D yey :)

Also we created a presentation on Porters 5 Forces of Competition
for those who are interested, here is the link

The 5 Forces of Competition (its a really bad presentation though)

The interesting part for me, in both of the projects was, that it took a very strong leader to get the groups going. Since both projects where very short (1-2 hours class time, ready by next morning) there was quite a bit of time-pressure.
It is interesting how you can influence the group by just stepping up as a strong leader. Even though i still feel that this kind of working has a very unclean energy, cause it tends to alienate group members, it is often important to do it.
It was a great learning process for me, once again, you challenged me MUM. Even though, as most of the time, not with the obvious (the stuff we learn is just very low level, but manipulating group dynamics is fascinating)

Love to all,
click and share the Video, after all, I still want to win :)