TO: FROM: DATE: RE: Introduction

Professor Michael Salvo Elizabeth Hudson 25 April 2013 Spring Writing Showcase Reflection Portfolio

During this portion of the semester, I have worked on a variety of documents and projects with the ultimate goal of ensuring that our end product addressed the items in the original needs analysis report. While I believe that the class was able to follow through and meet some of the goals set in the needs analysis, there were still several areas that could still use improvement. This document will describe the responsibilities I had throughout the project as well as the effectiveness of the needs analysis report and meeting these needs. Showcase Responsibilities The role I took for the Spring Writing Showcase was as content managera position that created a variety of written documents for distribution to stakeholders and publics. As a content manager, I created or was a contributor to the following documents: Needs Analysis Report for Tammy Conard-Salvo (contributor with Courtney Ginder) Needs Analysis Final Evaluation and task list (Group leader and contributor with Ben Wachtel, Ashley Robbins, and Peter Davis) "Summary" section of Request for Papers including targeted audience evaluation (contributor with Ben Wachtel, Ashely Robbins, and Peter Davis) Letter to local English Educators (writer) Call for Proposals to Professional Writing students (writer) Spring Writing Showcase Final Analysis, Needs Analysis Section (writer)

In addition to my role as content manager, I was also an editor for the completed Request for Papers with Sarah Nixon. After the class submitted their sections to the Google Document, Sarah and I each proofread the document for consistency and worked together in class to prepare the final document for the English 309 class. I then sent the final document to Alex Layne. Another role I had for the Spring Writing Showcase preparation was as the mentor for English 309 student Kira Cazenave. Kira and I communicated back and forth a few times as she asked questions for clarification and submitted her poster. Ultimately, Kira submitted two versions of her poster before the original draft was due. I was able to provide feedback to Kira for her design, but after providing that feedback, I did not receive any further communication or a final poster draft from Kira. Throughout the Spring Writing Showcase preparation, I assisted in other tasks such as developing the poster for the Showcase sponsors and compiling the list of teachers and their contact information for community outreach.

Reflection as Content Manager Needs Analysis Final Evaluation I took on the role of Content Manager for the class when the class recognized the need for an allencompassing final evaluation of the needs analysis reports. The group of Ben, Ashley, Peter, and I revisited each needs analysis report and then used the OPW site to post the tasks we recognized that the stakeholders identified for the English 515 class. This group compiled an informal report to present to the class that identified the publicity and the space design as the two areas to be addressed. As the group leader for this task, I was one of the first in this group to provide my contribution in this evaluation, and this stood as the base for the rest of the group and their contributions. When we prepared the information for that class, many of the ideas and concerns that I expressed in my initial review were consulted and eventually integrated to our class task list. Request for Papers "Summary" and Audience Descriptions The group from the needs analysis evaluation continued working together in developing the summary section of the Request for Papers for the English 309 class. We felt that it was important for the English 309 class to have a description of the target audiences when developing their marketing materials. In class, our group identified five different audience groups that would benefit from slightly different marketing approaches. Upon further discussion and integration into the request for papers, our group was able to combine some of the groups and put forward four target audiences: Purdue English students, general student body (Purdue and Ivy Tech campuses), Greater Lafayette community members, and high school/middle school students. We defined which areas posters would be used for each group to provide the English 309 designers with a sense of the demographic that would be viewing each genre of the poster. Our motive for dividing audiences and identifying attributes to target for each group was to ensure that all of the marketing materials were effective. We hoped that a common theme could run through each genre, but that the presentation of information would reflect the demographic. The summary of the Spring Writing Showcase was simply a brief description of the event to inform the student designers of the overall intent of this project. There were elements of this group's summary draft used throughout the request for proposals. As the Showcase date grew closer, it became clear that developing a full marketing campaign was a lofty goal. Unfortunately, four different genres of the poster were unable to be completed because of these time constraints. This led to the goals of the needs analysis evaluation team, and ultimately the stakeholders, to go unmet. Tammy Conard-Salvo expressed great interest in reaching out to the public more through the Journal and Courier as well as The Exponent to explain to them why they should care about a writing event on Purdue's campus. However, this was a goal that was never achieved. I believe that with a different structure for the request for papers and the expectations for the English 309 designers, the English 515 class could have utilized all students' time better to create a full marketing campaign that included different poster layouts for the target audiences. As the group leader for the needs analysis evaluation and a content manager for these tasks, I know that there were steps I could have taken to encourage both classes to be mindful of the stakeholders' requests, needs, and concerns. Had I taken the initiative to be the bug in my colleagues' ears throughout the design process and remind them of the purpose of creating these documents, I believe that we could have had a much more successful campaign in the Greater Lafayette area.

Letter to Local English Educators One step that I did take for community outreach was in contacting local English teachers in the Greater Lafayette area high schools. I compiled a list of the English teachers, librarians, and principals in the six local high schools (West Lafayette, Lafayette Jefferson, Oakland, McCutcheon, Harrison, and Central Catholic High Schools). I spoke with Tammy Conard-Salvo to determine the ways that she recommend contacting these individuals. Tammy referred me to Professor Janet Alsup who usually contacted a network of local teachers about campus events. I communicated with Professor Alsup to ask if it was appropriate for me to email the list of teachers I had developed with the flier for the event and a short message. She encouraged me to do so and also suggested that I forward her the information so she could also send it out to her smaller network. With this encouragement, I created a short, yet formal written invitation for the local educators inviting them to attend this year's Showcase. I mentioned in the letter that we were aware that it was likely too late for classes to plan field trips to the 2013 Showcase, but to consider planning a class trip to the 2014 Showcase when the date was finalized. The full effects of this letter will hopefully be seen for the 2014 Showcase. However, the Showcase Committee or the students developing the marketing campaign will need to be intentional about contacting this group early in the semester. Without advanced notice, this audience will not have much of a chance to attend the Showcase. Especially if the "job fair" aspect is put into place, this event could serve as a great recruiting tool for the professional writing and English programs as high school students learn about the opportunities available to college students in these disciplines. The letter that was sent to the instructors was simple in nature, but also included the event flier. If this group is contacted for the 2014 Showcase, I believe that the flier will need to be very engaging and provide more information about the event as a whole and the opportunities it will provide to students. For teachers, learning outcomes are crucial in planning field trips and receiving funding for these trips, so providing that information in the invitation letter early in the semester could greatly increase attendance for this demographic. Call for Proposals for Professional Writing Students As the Showcase grew nearer, it became imperative for a call for proposals to be created to received submissions from professional writing students. I took on this task and created an email to post to the PWTalk listserv. This document included the criteria for the professional writing submissions and also described the very few expectations for those students who submit materials. It was important to express to these students that we understand the time constraints for presenting materials at events, but with these submissions, there was no required attendance at the event. I believe that this document was successful in recruiting some great projects, but as discussed in class, many of the professional writing submissions were from members of our English 515 class. Preparing this documentation earlier and sending it to the professional writing students early in the semester would be beneficial. Additionally, raising awareness for the event within the program is needed so students can get in the habit of submitting their materials to their instructor or to a common place at the end of each semester. This could help capture more work from throughout the year from all students in professional writing rather than the few documents received from the current classes and a handful of others.

Showcase Analysis Report: Needs Analysis As the writer for the Needs Analysis section of the final Showcase Analysis Report, I was able to reflect on what worked well and what could be improved in our processes for developing support for the Spring Writing Showcase. Writing this section was very insightful, because understanding the concerns of stakeholders and learning how to meet those needs is a crucial part in achieving a good user experience in a design. By comprehending the concerns of stakeholders, our class was able to develop a plan that would work best to meet the stakeholder goals of achieving good user experience design. However, as a content manager and someone who is mindful of observing how the parts come together as one, I know that our class could have done more to develop a strategy to ensure success in the marketing campaign. I believe that having a declared project manager who oversaw the entire process and kept the class aware of the results from our needs analysis reports would have led to a more productive use of time. There were some groups that lost sight of the overall goaladdressing stakeholder concerns of publicity and spacein order to simply complete tasks and prepare documents. Personally, I lost sight of the intent for creating these documents for publicity, and I was the leader of the needs analysis team. I think that if one person was more intentional about keeping the big picture view at the forefront, we all would have been able to make more use of the little time we had and we could have been more successful in reaching the diverse groups of people off Purdues immediate campus. Conclusion As content manager, one important aspect is to analyze the audience receiving the message and information. I believe that I was able to effectively recognize the needs and communication styles of the different audiences I was addressing with the materials I created; however, with working on such a short timeline, simply getting the word out took precedence over doing so in the most effective manner. From this project, I am taking away a lot about project management and working within deadlines, especially within a large group. Portfolio Contents I have provided the following materials in my portfolio to demonstrate my work as a content manager for the 2013 Spring Writing Showcase. Needs Analysis Report for Tammy Conard-Salvo OPW Forum posts for Needs Analysis Final Evaluation Task list developed from Needs Analysis Final Evaluation Letter to local English educators Contact list for local English educators Call for Papers to professional writing students