Progress Report

   When I submitted my Capstone project form in October my plan was to create a rebranding campaign for a non-profit Hamilton County Autism group. The timeline reflected the scope of the project from initial meetings with my client, to the creative research and development, all the way to Capstone presentations. Earlier in the semester I locked in a client that expressed a need for an entire revamp of their marketing and branding strategy however early in November they decided they only wanted to improve their logo at this time. Obviously, redesigning a logo isn’t a Capstone so I committed to the redesign as volunteer work on my own time and went back to the drawing board. I got back into contact with a few of the other Executive Directors I previously reached out to to find an alternative. Autism Society of Indiana in Carmel expressed a need for an entire social media strategy. They have facebook and twitter accounts however, there is no rhyme or reason behind any of the posts and they want me to develop and implement a social media strategy that appeals to their three audiences: volunteers, donors, and families or people with Autism. Skip and I discussed because there are not many tangible aspects to this project, it would be more like a thesis that will need to be very well documented to show growth in all three areas of ASI’s target audiences. My Capstone advisor, Skip Comer, has approved this new project. Right now I am working with ASI’s current marketing “guru” that does pro-bono work for them every month. He and I have met twice to determine the scope of the project. We are meeting with the board of ASI on Friday to be officially approved to begin the project.  

   Because of the stress of losing my client and having to find a more appropriate project scope I have been in good contact with my advisor. I have looked to him for advice on client communication in addition to asking for advice on Capstone development.

   The timeline I laid out in October is no longer relevant to my project. I plan to redesign my timeline after my board meeting on Friday that will give me additional insight to their needs and wants. 

   Right now I understand my goals are to increase the number of volunteers, increase the amount of donations, and create and support a community of people living with Autism and their family all through social media. I will meet with ASI’s board members as well as Skip to determine all of the deliverables and progress reports.

   As I described in my first paragraph, I have had a very significant change to my project since I turned in my proposal. Unfortunately the non-profit group that was originally interested in an entire rebranding campaign changed their mind and considerably reduced the scope of the project and they were no longer eligible for being a Capstone. While this created a lot of stress in the planning phase, I believe I am back on track with a new client that is eager to be a part of my Capstone.