#ryersonproject

[kellytranportfolio]

REDUX fashion

In winter of 2018, I enrolled in the course FSN 706 Event Planning facilitated by Ryerson’s School of Fashion, which introduces students to the principles and practices of planning and organizing events, coordinating with sponsors and industry clients, managing public relations, and most importantly, to work collaboratively as a team. Furthermore, the course was created to prepare students for potential employment opportunities within the industry of event planning, consulting, and other trade and professional associations. (photo below - credit belongs to Hallie Tut). 

Students in this course were required to create, plan, and execute a full fledged fashion event within (less than) twelve weeks. The class was split up into 4 committees: Collections & Styling, Venue & Staging, and Promotions. Each committee had a team lead and was assigned with their own tasks and responsibilities in which contribute to achieving the vision/goal of what the event was supposed to be. The concept of REDUX came to life. REDUX represented what we considered as “a revival of an era.” The event was created with retro inspiration and the element of nostalgia but, with a modern twist. The breakdown of the event included two live fashion performances throughout the night. In between these shows, guests were also able to shop at our pop-up booths featuring clothes and merchandise from our vendors (special s/o’s to Parker Hue and Common Sort!).

I was a part of the Promotions committee where we were responsible for developing the brand image (event concept, colour schemes, mood boards, etc.) of REDUX, planning and monitoring social media content, and of course, promoting the event on all social media platforms. I was mainly responsible for running REDUX’s Instagram account where I posted engaging content before, during and after the event. During the event, myself and two other members were assigned to post Instagram stories of the fashion performances which took place that night. Despite all the challenges we faced, we managed to put aside our differences and work together to execute a successful event. This experience allowed myself and my colleagues to gain so many useful skills that can be applicable to any field or industry. The course did its job to demonstrate the importance of collaborative work and how working as a team allowed us to effectively achieve a common goal.

[kellytranportfolio]

Virtual Business Project - IBM Collaborative Project

In winter of 2018, I enrolled in the course CMN 325 Communication and the Digital Enterprise, facilitated by the School of Professional Communications. This course was for created for students to explore the shifts occurring within business communication by examining how new media is used as a tool for organizational and social change.

In this class, we had to complete a Virtual Business Project where students were randomly assigned and put into groups with other students from different universities around the world. For this particular project, there was no assigned leaders however, I had to step outside of my comfort zone and take initiative in order to get the ball rolling. I organized the team meetings, maintained open communication, contributed ideas, and lastly, kept the team up to date of the weekly assignments and ensuring they were done accurately and in a timely manner. Some of the challenging aspects of this project was facilitating team meetings with students who lived in different time zones. As a result of that, it was especially difficult to ensure that all group members equally contributed to the group meetings and projects. Despite the time zone differences, we as a group had to go on with these meetings and work together in order to successfully complete the assigned tasks. Although this experience came with plenty of challenges, I gained great insights and new skills for the future. 

I not only learned how to stay organized and properly manage my time but, I also learned how to work collaboratively with a different individuals whom I would have never spoken to, let alone worked with, prior to this project. The main lesson learned here is that collaborative/group work is always challenging but it’s always you (yes, you) who determines what the outcomes should be.

[kellytranportfolio]

Tørke - Norway project

In winter of 2017, I enrolled in the course FSN 400 Fashion in International Markets which focuses on the practices of trade in textiles and the behind-the-scenes of international marketing within the fashion and apparel sector. Furthermore, the course explores economical, political, cultural and business trends in which fashion marketers face on a day-to-day basis. Students were to learn how to identify these economic opportunities within different international markets as well as developing an export business plan. 

For the cumulative project, students were assigned into different groups and were given a different country in which they were to develop a business plan for a fashion product or service. For my group, we were assigned the country, Norway. We wanted to create a product that catered to their demographic and would withstand the climate in the Nordic countries. As a result, we created “Tørke” which translates to “dry” in Norwegian. Tørke is described as a cold-wear apparel brand that myself and 5 other group members developed. For this project, I was responsible for researching Norway’s demographic, creating the mood board of Tørke’s branding/colour scheme, as well as determining an effective long-term brand strategy. 

The best part about this collaborative project was the level of diversity in terms of knowledge and expertise amongst my group members. Some students demonstrated skills in illustration, sketching, and graphic design. Some had better understandings of textiles trading and the fashion industry, while others demonstrated knowledge in business trends, entrepreneurship and marketing. The combination of these skills allowed us to leverage each other’s knowledge and expertise, and to collaborate as a team to develop a business plan that was not only theoretically appropriate but highly applicable in real life as well.