Introduction
In this introduction, we as a group will define who we are,
in addition to who our community partner is, Big Hollow Food Co-Op. The main
goals of both groups with be explained in brief, overlapping with each
description. Within the overview is information about the project and the tasks
that our group aspired to complete in regard to Big Hollow, as well as why
exactly we chose those specific goals. Also included will be a concise outline
of everything that this portfolio will contain.
Who
the partner is:
Big Hollow Food Co-op is a cooperative that provides locally
produced foods and goods in Laramie, WY. Their goals are to increase their
membership and client base, to educate the community of what a Cooperative is,
and to continuously provide products to better serve the community and
individual choices that adhere to a healthier, natural lifestyle. As a cooperative,
the Big Hollow Food Co-op aims to serve the community, local farmers,
charities, citizens, and other locally owned businesses in downtown Laramie,
WY. Because Big Hollow Food Co-op is owned by its members, it gives the
customers exactly what they want. Overall they want to support local
agriculture, provide healthy food and empower the community.
Who we are:
Our group is composed of five individuals with
varying majors and diverse backgrounds. We are all currently in the course
English 2035, Writing for Public Forums, and our ultimate goal is to assist Big
Hollow with their advertising needs. Additionally, as college students, we have
been able to experience Big Hollow’s marketing tactics directed towards the
University of Wyoming population. Our group serves to assist Big Hollow with
advertising and educating the community about cooperatives.
Description of Project Undertaken:
Our group’s top concern was notifying the
Laramie community about the fact that Big Hollow is a cooperative and what all
that entails. To do this, we collectively decided that a video would be the
most effective way to spread the word due to how quickly things spread on
social media. We also thought that a good idea would be for the cooperative to
have an intern position who could help with advertising around campus and the
rest of town. This way Big Hollow could focus more on things involving the
store and spend less time trying to inform people about themselves.
Outline of Documents within Portfolio:
Throughout this portfolio, is the basis of how our client
project came about. To begin with, we have our first interaction with Big
Hollow via e-mail. Following that is our group proposal about what exactly we found
to be problems with Big Hollow, and how we would go about solving them. Also
included is the PowerPoint presentation that we gave in front of all of the
community partners. Lastly, we have a copy of our follow-up email with Big
Hollow that we sent them after they attended our presentation.
The Assignments that Framed the Client Project
The following assignments set up the stage for our client
project. Because of these activities, we were able to know what was expected of
us throughout the course, as well as from the cooperative. This section is essential
in the explanation of how our progress began and how exactly we went about it.
Initial Correspondence with Community
Partner:
Here we have the first time that we contacted Big Hollow via
email, which allowed us to get a feel for how the rest of the semester was
going to play out.
Preliminary
Proposal:
In this document is a proposal explaining what our group was
planning to focus on this semester involving Big Hollow and how we exactly we
would reach all of those goals.
PowerPoint
“Pitch” Presentation:
Here is a copy of the presentation we gave in class. In
summary, it is just an overview of what Big Hollow is and focuses on their
current goals.
Follow-Up
Correspondence with Community Partner:
This is the follow-up email sent to Big Hollow immediately
after the presentation. In general, it was a recap of what the cooperative was
wanting us to for them with the time given.
Client Project
Throughout this project, we identified some areas Big Hollow
could focus on to increase the awareness of their Co-op. Some of the areas we
identified are as follows: clarifying sections on the social media websites,
increasing the size of their logo on advertisements, creating an internship
packet for selecting an intern for the store, and making a video to advertise
for the store.
Clarifying
Social Media:
After searching through Big Hollow’s Facebook page and their
website, we found minor issues that needed to be fixed. One of the problems we
identified on their website was their News and Events section. We noticed there
were no events posted in this section. As a group, we felt that if there is a
section for News and Events, there should be events in there. Another problem
we identified, was on the bottom of their main page when they state that they
list the vendors for their store, but they actually do not have any posted.
Since we brought this problem to Jeff’s attention, they have updated the website
to include the list of vendors for the audience.
Increasing
Logo Size:
Our group noticed the logo size on all of Big Hollow’s
advertising was fairly small. We suggested enlarging the size of the logo to
draw attention to the store. We informed Jeff that it is important to let
customers know who is advertising in order to bring more people into the store.
Creating
Internship Packet:
After speaking with Jeff, we found out they were interested
in recruiting an intern to help out around the Co-op. We have compiled an internship
packet to provide Big Hollow so they can work on getting an intern
in the near future.
Making
a Video Advertisement:
One of our main goals for this project was to increase the
awareness of the Co-op by increasing their advertising methods. Our focus
audience for the advertising was college students because Laramie is heavily
populated by college students. Being students ourselves, we felt that visual
media is a great way to get information to younger individuals. This is what
led us to create a short video about Big Hollow and why people should shop
there. This video was created in the Co-op and we used real customers to share
their experiences with the store.
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