Reflection 12 - Wrap Up

It has been about a weeks time since I handed in the project I completed for my clients. I have not heard anything back from them, neither good or bad, so I am still assuming that everything was to their liking. I hope to grab a copy of the final annual report that they produce for resume and portfolio purposes. I have a great deal of confidence in their in-house designer who will be actually creating the report. I found this project to be very helpful in learning how to manage a project successfully even if the project group is just one person, and that person being myself. I have had experience project managing before, however both of these other times were in actual groups of people, not just myself. I found it to be a little bit more difficult at times to keep myself on track and working in a group by yourself means that you need to have a lot more self motivation opposed to having others helping the project to be pushed along. I definitely think I did a good job completely the project in a timely manner, simply because I turned it in by the date in which it was due, but according to the schedule we were on to meet, I turned in the project a week early. In the future I will probably want to work with one other individual or at least have a better idea of who the individual that will be designing the annual report is, or at least their level of skills and actual skill-sets. By knowing this I will be able to do even a better job at designing the annual report outline, but all in all I did a fantastic job. So long..

Reflection 11

After I completed the final touches on the annual report outline, I sent the word file to both of my clients. I got immediate feedback and both of them seemed more than pleased with the work I had done for them. I totaled about 26.5 hours of total work time for them so I was very close the the 30 hour mark. Both of my clients said that the final outline of the annual report looked very good and that their in-house designer would easily be able to implement the material into some type of Adobe program and make the Annual Report. The annual report ended up being about eight pages in length which was right around as many pages as my client wanted. Upon turning it in, there was only one section that was not complete (the letters at the beginning) because it was material that the JMU-RMH Collaborative needed to gather themselves. I told both of my clients that I would be more than happy to make any final touches on the annual report so long as it was not a monumental change. I left my contact information with them and told them to call me or email me if they have any questions or comments. All I have left to do, in terms of class work, is to put together my portfolio of some of the work I did, present to the class next week and complete my final paper.

Reflection 10

Today is the day that my client wants to gather up all of the materials I have completed for the project. I believe that my project is about ninety nine percent complete; I'm leaving a small room for error so that they can make any last minute adjustments as necessary. Since I am still waiting to send my final product to my client, I have begun constructing my final report an portfolio which is due on April 28. I am not yet entirely sure what materials I am going to include in the portfolio; however, I do have one major document that my clients edited last week which will most likely be used as the bulk of the portfolio. I am anticipating that my client will be more than satisfied with the work I have done thus far; although, I am anticipating some feedback even on the final product. I would'nt mind pulling together a few more pieces for them if it is absolutley necessary. The most difficult task so far has been creating the actual pieces because I am still relatively unfamiliar with what the organization has done over he past five years. In the future, this job would be best done internally from a technical writer who would be a seasoned employee for the organization. A seasoned employee would know a little bit more about the background of the organization and how that pertains to the projects they have done, are doing and will be doing. I plan on either submitting the final project today electronically, or possibly meeting with my client tomorrow and turning it in hardcopy; I'm assuming they will want electronic. Talk to you later.

Reflection 9

Today I put the finishing touches on the last two and half pieces I was working on. I had to contact ISAT professor Wayne Teel about a specific question regarding some information I put into one of the pieces. He responded in a timely manner and I was able to correctly address the issue in the piece. Also, I needed a bit more information on the Integrative Medicine piece so I contact Emily Akerson; she was able to point me in the right direction to find the information. She also sent me the updated sheet of all of the JMU-RMH Collaborative WINS; I obviously incorporated them into the annual report. I am not responsible for taking care of the structure of the annual report so now all I have to do is hand off my Word document to the designer. I am going to make a few minor adjustments to the report in the next few days depending upon the information I get back from my clients. As of now, the current condition of the annual report is mostly done on my end. The only aspect that needs to be addressed is the overall design. I would be willing to work with the designer if need be. Talk to you soon.

Reflection 8

This past Friday I spent more time then I had originally planned on working to remove the uneccessary material from the annual report. The overall structure of the annual report is finished; however, the final call on how the report will look will not be left up to me, it will be left up to their in-house designer. This is very beneficial because in the amount of time I was given to complete this project, there was no way I could have designed the entire report AND written up all of the material by myself. I have until this coming Wednesday to have my entire portion of the annual report completed. They decided on this date because it leaves two weeks for the annual report to be designed and published. Personally, I think two weeks is more than enough time for the annual reports design to be completed and that time would be better spent given to me to complete more pieces. All I have left to do is complete the last two and a half remaingin pieces. Talk to you soon.

Reflection 7

This past Thursday, I met with my client for the second to last time to discuss some of the final adjustments that need to be made to the annual report. I turns our that much of the annual reports materials will actually be removed from the report itself. This will help to shorten the otherwise, lengthy report to an even 8 pages. Now, the major component to the report will be the four separate pieces written to highlight some of the most influential "wins" the Collaborative has had in the past 4 years. I will now be focusing all of my attention on knocking out these last three short pieces on the wins because that is basically all I have left to do. A lot of the other material I have in the report will remain as-is because it was taken verbatim off of their website. On Friday, I will work on removing some of the irrelevant material from the annual report and also on the last remaining pieces that need to be finished up.

Reflection 6

Yesterday I worked a small amount on the project but because of other papers and assignments due in my other classes I was unable to get a significant amount of work done for my client. As I mentioned in the last reflection, we were unable to meet this past Thursday due to complications from both of my clients. We are still scheduled to meet next Thursday. Emily Akerson sent me a file earlier in the week with pictures that might be helpful to put into the annual report. I will spend the next few days trying to put together so more of the structural material for the annual report. Also, I will keep working on the most important part, the specific pieces that will be put into the report. Talk to you later.

Reflection 5

So we did not have another meeting today because Ms. Akerson had a family emergency to attend to in Michigan; I hope everything works out OK for her and her family. Ms. Thompson must have forgot to put the meeting time in her calendar again or something because she had scheduled another meeting during the time in which we were supposed to meet. I am still just plugging away at trying to creatively write these pieces that will go into the annual report. Its actually a bit hard to stay on track when we are not having meetings because I don't have a "due date" as to when I need to show them material. We are set to meet sometime next week (I'm assuming Thursday) and I am supposed to be finished by April 14. I am falling behind a little bit on the work because a lot of it involves things I am not entirely sure about and do not want to misspeak on certain topics. I will continue my work tomorrow. Talk to you later.

Reflection 4

Today I thought I had a meeting scheduled with my clients, apparently this was not the case. I went to the old RMH to find no one there. Anyways, I dumped all of the work I have down so far on the specific pieces for the annual report into the outline. I then emailed the outline to both of my clients and will be waiting to hear back from them on what they think about it. In the mean time, I will assume that we will have our usual meeting next Thursday unless I hear otherwise.

Reflection 3

Today I began preparing the second article for the Collaboration In Action section of the annual report. I have the weekly meeting with my clients tomorrow and I will be presenting them with what I have completed thus far. I put the piece I did on Professor Minbiole into the outline of the annual report just so I can get an idea of about how long each of the pieces are going to be that will be put into the annual report. Tomorrow I will be meeting with my clients and I will present to them the annual report with the work I have done so far. Talk to you soon.

Reflection 2

Today I met with my clients and presented the work i have completed so far. They seemed to be very pleased with the style of writing I used in the Minbiole piece. Also, I need to email the outline of the the annual report to my clients because I forgot to bring a copy of it to today's meeting (my bad).

Now I will be finishing the Minbiole piece and will be starting on another piece having to do with "Collaboration In Action." Along with constructing a new piece, I will be continuing to perfect the overall format of the annual report's outline. So far I have clocked 7.75 hours of work for my client. Talk to you later.

Reflection 1

So far I have met with my clients twice to discuss some of the logistics of the project and to collect some of their overall ideas of what they would like the finished product to be. My client is the JMU-RHM Collaborative with the JMU representative being Ms. Emily Akerson ad the RMH representative being Debra Thompson.

So far I have worked 6.75 total hours on the project. Over these hours I have held two meetings with the clients, sat in and took notes on a lecture given by ISAT professor Kevin Minbiole for Research Rounds, created a rough outline of the structure of the annual report document and composed a draft of the piece on Dr. Minbiole.

I will be meeting with my clients tomorrow at 2pm to present to them the rough outline and draft that I have completed. I will based my next steps on the reaction I get from the clients and will be keeping you, the reader, informed regularly.

This Blog's Purpose

The purpose of this blog is to document the collaborative efforts between myself and the JMU-RMH Collaborative. As I begin to work with this organization, I will be frequently updating this blog to inform readers about what I am doing with the Collaborative.

I am designing and writing the first annual report that the Collaborative has ever had. I am working closely with Emily Akerson (JMU affiliate) and Debra Thompson (RMH affiliate). I hope you will find an interest in reading about the work that I will be doing over the course of this project. Talk to you soon.