#amst 422

[baltimorebay]

Historical Topographic map of Hawkins Point. Picture obtained from TopoQuest. 

[aamrita1]

The Creative Vision

This past week, we talked a lot about how creativity and the arts intertwine with our social mission. This excites me -- I started at UMBC as a graphic design major, and I've been doing various forms of art since I was very young. I think this is a great way to accentuate our project, and it gives us leverage to market with.

I think the IRC fellows are going to be amazing resources for us. To start, I really enjoyed meeting everyone. It seems like a very relaxed group with a lot of talent. Certain skills that stood out to me were painting, graphic design, photography and cinematic arts.

With the graphic designers, we could focus on making invitations, brochures, posters, and maybe a bit of branding for the garden itself. Bringing artistic attention to the garden through the internet / outbound marketing may help with donations in the future and create a bigger name for this little plot of heaven.

Photography is my favorite; it's got a special place in my heart. My thoughts for this stem between the graphic designers AND the photographers in the group. I was thinking along the lines of photographing the plots for auctioning off to the community, and maybe also taking the photos to tie into the branding. From a social entrepreneurial point of view, attaching personal photos makes me more attracted and drawn to helping this cause.

As for the videos, I think that could tie into branding as well. I really think that a sum-up or wrap-up video of the clean up of the garden would be really cool, as well as tying in the community. Video-wise, I could picture a short interview about the open position, a time-lapse type video of the clean up and any painting being done, followed by video of the kids pedaling around the community on their bike? That would be attractive for donations, and could be an essential marketing tool.

The video leads me into another idea that would be really exciting for this project -- crowd funding! I'm a huge fan of the concept and I've donated to multiple crowdfunding campaigns for projects I'm passionate about. What if we, as a class, alongside the IRC fellows, created a crowdfunding campaign to donate money through? Alongside tickets, this would give people from outside of the Baltimore community the chance to donate, and may gain us a bit of press. Sites like Indiegogo still allow campaigns that don't meet goals gain money (although they take a little more of a service fee), but every bit helps, right?! I'd be happy to organize a project like this for prior to the event. $10,000 is a lot of money...

Fingers crossed.

[aamrita1]

Growing Knowledge & A Garden

This semester, through UMBC's very own AMST 422, my classmates and I will be helping the Living Classrooms organization in Baltimore. 

Our social mission this semester is to encourage the growth of knowledge for both the world outside of Baltimore, as well as the students of the Baybrook garden. Not only is fresh produce scarce in Baltimore city, the knowledge of fresh foods and nutrition is too. Helping to keep a program like this alive is an incredible experience.

Our goal this semester is to raise $10,000. Daunting, yeah? I'm worried. That's a lot of money, and we don't have a lot of money in the first place to plan with, comparatively. We've discussed hosting an event, and I can't wait to see what it turns out to be.

Since our last class, I've been thinking of money making opportunities that would showcase Baltimore. In my head, I am envisioning the event to be a cocktail hour type, with a Maryland focused menu (food is my passion!), and featuring a lot of Maryland famous booze. Because this is raising money for a non-profit, it would be ideal to contact lots of restaurants and ask them what they can help us out with. Speaking to local breweries and wineries can't hurt either! Flying Dog has sponsored Living Classroom events before, so who knows, someone else may be interested! Another attraction may be something along the lines of a silent auction. Local artists can showcase their talents and give a portion of the proceeds (or all of them!) back to the garden, and the cause. Being a social entrepreneurship leads me to believe that no matter how selfish the population may be, there are still enough people to give back that we can make this a success!

[aamrita1]

From here on out:

This blog is going to be for AMST 422. We are so excited to work on this project, and I can't wait for you guys to read about our progress.

It's all too perfect that I started this blog in Greg's class, and get to use it again for another entrepreneurial venture. And the title, 'Delivering Essentials,' seems perfect for the food desert that is Baltimore, and the fact that we're helping to fix it. Here we go, one step at a time.