Initial Planning for Presentation

Results of today's session...

We have finally decided on a name : Platform. It got to the point where there wasn't really a preference between Platform and Springboard but we took a vote and Platform won almost unanimously. I am happy with this decision because I think the word conveys the ethos of our business which is to support aspiring artists. We are providing a service/platform to raise their profile and successes. 

Ideas raised when discussing what to include in out presentation...

• Handmade elements to be viewed on screen to get across the idea of supporting artistic talent and craft. 
• Georgie had a great idea of having caricatures of ourselves to make things more personal and match a name to a face. All done individually to get across a range of styles which fits in with the concept of our business which is accepting of all styles of artwork.  
• Using the business as a way to fund our own individual practice through wages. 
• Consultation period - Duke Street Studios? 1st year free?
• Initial funding - arts council, lottery, local trusts and funds, personal sponsorship. 
• Continuative funding - more long term options. 
• Not for profit organisation - nor for guarantee. (As long as there is no money left in the business after expensive and all profits are fed back into business in some way. No shareholders.)

I didn't really know a lot about non-profit organisations but Patrick explained today that the business can still make profit after expenses as long as this money is put back into the business. I think this would work well for our business because being 'not for profit' fits in with the fact we are there to help people and not just in it for the money. 

The idea of finding funding as well is something that will probably have to be ongoing and not just a preliminary thing. This is something I hadn't actually thought of but I suppose it would make sense for us because it would mean that we are not totally reliant on the sale of prints. 

After discussing some issues for a while we came up with a more structured plan for our presentation which we could then start to split up into separate tasks which we could distribute out. 

1. Name (logo) and tagline. (ALL CONTRIBUTE)

2. Introducing us - names and caricatures. (ALL CONTRIBUTE)

3. What we do - include a venn diagram showing where we fit. (ALICE)

4. Manifesto (simplified version, consider five key statements). (ALL)

5. Target audience. (ALL)

6. Visuals - website. (GEORGIE)

7. Process - a flowchart showing the process from submission to purchase. (TYLER)

8. Visuals - branded packaging design. (REBECCA)

9. Promotion - social media presence, blogging, direct contact, networking. (TBC)

10. Individual roles within the business - business structure. (promotion, blog, financing, search for funding, shipping, website updating, liaison...) (ALL)

11. Location - office space. (ALICE)

12. Costings. (NAOMI)

13. Future projections. (NAOMI AND ALICE)

14. Exit strategy (links to terms of non-profit organisation). (NAOMI)

15. Contact. (ALL)

16. Goodbye and thanks. (ALL)

Overall piecing together of presentation (ALL)

The tasks have been split up amongst us so we can go away and complete these before our next meeting. Some of the things we all need to contribute to like the idea for logo design and the distribution of roles within the company so these will have to be done while we are all together. A lot of the other things that are labelled that we all are to contribute are actually already sorted. For example we already have a manifesto and a target audience, we just need to simplify the wording of these to make them work in the presentation. 

We briefly discussed script writing and said it should be done altogether as nobody really thought writing was their strength. I don't think we would be able to write a script before the presentation is put together anyway because we need to know how the order is going to flow yet. The list above shows a general order but I think this will end up being shifted around once we start putting this together. 

I have realised since the session that we haven't covered all aspects of our SWOT analysis in the presentation which is something we might want to include. Threats to the business might be something we want to address but then again we don't want to bring negative aspects of our business to the forefront of our presentation. It might be wiser to have some strong answers prepared in case these issues become raised as questions at the end. 

I think the presentation needs to be kept simple and to the point - our process of out business is quite difficult to explain briefly so I am very wary of overcomplicating this. I feel that it could put people off if it comes across as more elaborate than it needs to be. When we have decided on a logo for our business, the theme of the presentation should probably be based around this to show consistency and professionalism. 

Without sounding overly optimistic, I am quite happy to be working with the numbers for this business. I personally thought the teaching for this brief would involve more knowledge about costings so this way I will get to learn about this myself. I think it really important to understand the money aspect of a business - it is an essential skill for the future, especially if the end goal is being self employed. 

I think it is important to keep in contact with my group over Facebook this week so we can all keep working along the same wavelength. My individual tasks for this week are...

• Design some ideas for the logo. 
• Produce a small caricature of myself for the 'introducing us' slide. 
• Try simplifying the manifesto into a few concise statements. 
• Make a list of all the things that need to be considered for costings. 
• Do some research to find out some numbers to put against these different things. 
• Look into funding opportunities. 
• Work with Alice to think of the future opportunities for the business. 
• Think about how this would affect our costings. 
• Research the legislation of a not for profit business and find out the exit strategy.