Dear Miss Reese:
Here are my recommendations and feedback on your problem-solving report.
Letter of Transmittal
Consider designing a letterhead for yourself, especially since you’re assuming that you are doing the report as a consultant.
Assumptions
Remember that assumptions cannot be proved. But if they are wrong, your report’s recommendation may no longer be valid. Limit claims that you cannot prove with certainty.
Writing Style in General
Try and begin most paragraphs with topic sentences. Always summarize the point of the quote before you give the quote. Remember that headings must cover everything under that heading until the next head or subhead.
Background or History
Formal reports usually have a section that gives the background of the situation or the history of the problem. Even though the current audience for the report probably knows the situation, reports are filed and consulted years later. These later audiences will probably not know the background, although it may be crucial for understanding the options that are possible.
Survey
Include a copy of your survey with the raw data. It’s OK to change the format a bit to make room for the data. Tell how you chose whom to study, what kind of a sample you used, and on what dates you collected the information.
Figure 2
Reorder bars in order of length—don’t simply repeat the order from the survey.
Thank you for the opportunity to review your document. I’ve enjoyed learning more about the basketball team, the workings of the Athletic Department, and sports marketing strategies. If you have any questions about my recommendations, please call me.
Sincerely,
Sharon Reese
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Editing: A Lengthy Process
What are the different types of Editors and what are their responsibilities?
Editors, in general, check for the following:
-facts
-grammar
-suitable purpose
-visual considerations
-style
-critical look
-flow
-cohesion
Editor in Chief
-signs off on article
Desk Editor
-reads mainly for content
-goes to the copy editor
-returns to the desk editor
-goes to the Editor in Chief
Copy Editor
-focuses specifically on grammatical elements of paper
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Expert Document Draft
Here is a link to the draft for my problem-solving recommendation report, called Tip-Off . Check it out and leave feedback!!!
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Progress Report 11/8-11/15
Expert Document
Overview
Clemson University’s (CU) football team is a crowd pleaser, selling out most if not all home games at Death Valley. The men’s basketball team suffers from less loyal student fans, having only sold out one game, in 1980, at Littlejohn Coliseum. The Clemson University Athletic Department would like to find ways to increase loyalty amongst the men’s basketball team’s student fans and consequently increase attendance at home games. For my expert document I will survey students, interview numerous members of the Athletic department, interview members of the basketball team, and reference both online and print sources to find solutions to the problem. I will, then, compile these solutions into a problem-solving report recommending (expert document) ways for the athletic department to reach its goals.
Work Completed
I’ve continued to amend the working draft for my expert document. I’ve also spent this week working on making my document more aesthetically pleasing. I’ve accomplished this task primarily through use of color and the overall layout.
Next Steps
Next on my to do list is to finalize what I want to do as far as visual aids for my presentation go. Second on my to do list is to continue revising my document draft and visuals for my project.
Brief Conclusion
I’m really excited to get feedback on my document draft and look forward to implementing whatever suggestions are made.
Lay Document
Overview
Clemson University’s (CU) football team is a crowd pleaser, selling out most if not all home games at Death Valley. The men’s basketball team suffers from less loyal student fans, having only sold out one game, in 1980, at Littlejohn Coliseum. The Clemson University Athletic Department would like to find ways to increase loyalty amongst the men’s basketball team’s student fans and consequently increase attendance at home games. Employing information gathered from my expert document, I will create a lay document, a blog, for the men’s basketball team. This blog will foster an increased awareness of the players on campus, a relationship between the players and their fans and indubitably an increased sense of loyalty towards the team.
Work Completed
I haven’t spent much time on my lay document this week. I did, however, request that the players send me some fun candid shots but have yet to receive any. They’ve been really busy with their season opener and all.
Next Step
Next, I need to set up a time that I can meet with the players and have them approve the information that will be in their profiles. I want to make sure that I have a thumbs up from every player prior to posting the information on the web. Hopefully I can get those candid photos I mentioned at our meeting.
Brief Conclusion
Now that I’m pretty much finished with my expert document, I look forward to spending a lot more time on my lay document.
Overview
Clemson University’s (CU) football team is a crowd pleaser, selling out most if not all home games at Death Valley. The men’s basketball team suffers from less loyal student fans, having only sold out one game, in 1980, at Littlejohn Coliseum. The Clemson University Athletic Department would like to find ways to increase loyalty amongst the men’s basketball team’s student fans and consequently increase attendance at home games. For my expert document I will survey students, interview numerous members of the Athletic department, interview members of the basketball team, and reference both online and print sources to find solutions to the problem. I will, then, compile these solutions into a problem-solving report recommending (expert document) ways for the athletic department to reach its goals.
Work Completed
I’ve continued to amend the working draft for my expert document. I’ve also spent this week working on making my document more aesthetically pleasing. I’ve accomplished this task primarily through use of color and the overall layout.
Next Steps
Next on my to do list is to finalize what I want to do as far as visual aids for my presentation go. Second on my to do list is to continue revising my document draft and visuals for my project.
Brief Conclusion
I’m really excited to get feedback on my document draft and look forward to implementing whatever suggestions are made.
Lay Document
Overview
Clemson University’s (CU) football team is a crowd pleaser, selling out most if not all home games at Death Valley. The men’s basketball team suffers from less loyal student fans, having only sold out one game, in 1980, at Littlejohn Coliseum. The Clemson University Athletic Department would like to find ways to increase loyalty amongst the men’s basketball team’s student fans and consequently increase attendance at home games. Employing information gathered from my expert document, I will create a lay document, a blog, for the men’s basketball team. This blog will foster an increased awareness of the players on campus, a relationship between the players and their fans and indubitably an increased sense of loyalty towards the team.
Work Completed
I haven’t spent much time on my lay document this week. I did, however, request that the players send me some fun candid shots but have yet to receive any. They’ve been really busy with their season opener and all.
Next Step
Next, I need to set up a time that I can meet with the players and have them approve the information that will be in their profiles. I want to make sure that I have a thumbs up from every player prior to posting the information on the web. Hopefully I can get those candid photos I mentioned at our meeting.
Brief Conclusion
Now that I’m pretty much finished with my expert document, I look forward to spending a lot more time on my lay document.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Our Wikipedia Article
So this is what I have so far...
When asked to name the most important skill new employees should possess to ensure their success, business leaders invariably say "communication skills" (I'm still trying to find the source I read this in or a source for this). In fact, communication skills, by far, is the one skill mentioned most often by employers. So, why is professional communications the most important of the employability skills that employers look for in future job candidates? The answer is simple. Successful communication skills are critical to business because all businesses, though to varying degrees, involve the following: writing, reading, editing, speaking, listening, software applications, computer graphics, and internet research. Most important, job candidates with professional communication backgrounds are more likely to bring to the organization sophisticated perspectives on society, culture, science, and technology.
When asked to name the most important skill new employees should possess to ensure their success, business leaders invariably say "communication skills" (I'm still trying to find the source I read this in or a source for this). In fact, communication skills, by far, is the one skill mentioned most often by employers. So, why is professional communications the most important of the employability skills that employers look for in future job candidates? The answer is simple. Successful communication skills are critical to business because all businesses, though to varying degrees, involve the following: writing, reading, editing, speaking, listening, software applications, computer graphics, and internet research. Most important, job candidates with professional communication backgrounds are more likely to bring to the organization sophisticated perspectives on society, culture, science, and technology.
Wikipedia
The concept behind Wikipedia is that ANYONE can contribute to the content of the site.
What does the term open source means? What does it have to do with Wikipedia?
Relates to Wikipedia on two levels: 1.) the technical level and 2.) how it came about.
Open source is within the realm of computer science. It's a type of computer software. It can be modified to suit you own needs. Open source, then, is free but not always free as in beer. One of the main people behind the concept of open source doesn't like the name open source. He prefers the name free software over open source. He ran into trouble there because the term free use to mean nothing in our culture. For instance, Professor Holmevik said, if you go and look at an operating system like Linus you have to buy that or you can dl it for free but if you want the full software you have to pay to dl it. The concept of open source was introduced to get away from the concept of free meaning nothing. In this case, Wikipedia is free in both sense fo the word. You don't pay anything to use it and you also have the capability to dl the software, use it, and modify it.
Wiki technology came along as a host of open source technology. People were fed up with not being able to modify their software. They want to be able to make modifications to their software rather than waiting for people to make the modifications they want.
Look at Encyclopedias...
Encyclopedias contain our collective knowledge. It doesn't always go very deep but it does go very broad. Encyclopedias, however, are not very accessible. We tend to move around a lot and work in a lot of different spaces so these volumes don't really serve us well. Additionally, encyclopedias aren't cheap purchases. On britannica.com encyclopedias cost an average of 1400 dollars.
People from the open source movement said, "wouldn't it be nice if we could have this information online so that you can get ahold of the information regardless of where you are." The material is more readily available.
Encyclopedia Britannica is so successful because it has been around a while, they have fact checkers, and writers. They have put a lot of effort making sure whatever content is in the books is correct. There's a contract validating the credibility of the encyclopedia's content.
Benefits of open source
Have thousands of people from all over the world whom can work on the program with you. Take Linux for instace, you can create a team of volunteers who donate their time by writing a piece of the code here and there. Why not do the same with encyclopedia's online? Can become a resource where you can have an unlimited number of writers who will work for free. In short amount of time we can expand this to cover even more information than found in the encyclopedia Britannicas.
What's the main disadvantage of Wikipedia? We don't know who the writers are, they aren't accountable to anyone but themselves, and in theory they can get on there and write anything they want. That's why critical thinking is important. You should read with a critical eye. Don't take what you read as the absolute truth.
The model that has been in operation for centuries in the print media is below
Writer ---> Editor ---> Reader
When the world wide web came along this model changed. There is no longer an editor--you are the editor. So the model looks like this
Writer ---> Reader (Editor)
There is a circle in the above model, where you're both the writer and reader and this changes the whole time. This is a much more complex model than the print model utilized before.
What does the term open source means? What does it have to do with Wikipedia?
Relates to Wikipedia on two levels: 1.) the technical level and 2.) how it came about.
Open source is within the realm of computer science. It's a type of computer software. It can be modified to suit you own needs. Open source, then, is free but not always free as in beer. One of the main people behind the concept of open source doesn't like the name open source. He prefers the name free software over open source. He ran into trouble there because the term free use to mean nothing in our culture. For instance, Professor Holmevik said, if you go and look at an operating system like Linus you have to buy that or you can dl it for free but if you want the full software you have to pay to dl it. The concept of open source was introduced to get away from the concept of free meaning nothing. In this case, Wikipedia is free in both sense fo the word. You don't pay anything to use it and you also have the capability to dl the software, use it, and modify it.
Wiki technology came along as a host of open source technology. People were fed up with not being able to modify their software. They want to be able to make modifications to their software rather than waiting for people to make the modifications they want.
Look at Encyclopedias...
Encyclopedias contain our collective knowledge. It doesn't always go very deep but it does go very broad. Encyclopedias, however, are not very accessible. We tend to move around a lot and work in a lot of different spaces so these volumes don't really serve us well. Additionally, encyclopedias aren't cheap purchases. On britannica.com encyclopedias cost an average of 1400 dollars.
People from the open source movement said, "wouldn't it be nice if we could have this information online so that you can get ahold of the information regardless of where you are." The material is more readily available.
Encyclopedia Britannica is so successful because it has been around a while, they have fact checkers, and writers. They have put a lot of effort making sure whatever content is in the books is correct. There's a contract validating the credibility of the encyclopedia's content.
Benefits of open source
Have thousands of people from all over the world whom can work on the program with you. Take Linux for instace, you can create a team of volunteers who donate their time by writing a piece of the code here and there. Why not do the same with encyclopedia's online? Can become a resource where you can have an unlimited number of writers who will work for free. In short amount of time we can expand this to cover even more information than found in the encyclopedia Britannicas.
What's the main disadvantage of Wikipedia? We don't know who the writers are, they aren't accountable to anyone but themselves, and in theory they can get on there and write anything they want. That's why critical thinking is important. You should read with a critical eye. Don't take what you read as the absolute truth.
The model that has been in operation for centuries in the print media is below
Writer ---> Editor ---> Reader
When the world wide web came along this model changed. There is no longer an editor--you are the editor. So the model looks like this
Writer ---> Reader (Editor)
There is a circle in the above model, where you're both the writer and reader and this changes the whole time. This is a much more complex model than the print model utilized before.
11/1-11/8 Progress Report
Expert Document
Overview
Clemson University’s (CU) football team is a crowd pleaser, selling out most if not all home games at Death Valley. The men’s basketball team suffers from less loyal student fans, having only sold out one game, in 1980, at Littlejohn Coliseum. The Clemson University Athletic Department would like to find ways to increase loyalty amongst the men’s basketball team’s student fans and consequently increase attendance at home games. For my expert document I will survey students, interview numerous members of the Athletic department, interview members of the basketball team, and reference both online and print sources to find solutions to the problem. I will, then, compile these solutions into a problem-solving report recommending (expert document) ways for the athletic department to reach its goals.
Work Completed
I’ve analyzed and interpreted the data from my survey, finalized my works cited bibliography, completed the drafts for all sections of my document, and commenced the brainstorming process for possible visual aids. More importantly, I’ve settled on both long-term and short-term recommendations for improving men’s basketball game attendance.
Next Steps
Next on my to do list is preparing drafts and visuals to bring to class on November 15 and to continue revising drafts and visuals for my project.
Brief Conclusion
Finished with all drafts for my project…WOOHOO!!! Now I get to start working on what I really love to do—the actual presentation!
Lay Document
Overview
Clemson University’s (CU) football team is a crowd pleaser, selling out most if not all home games at Death Valley. The men’s basketball team suffers from less loyal student fans, having only sold out one game, in 1980, at Littlejohn Coliseum. The Clemson University Athletic Department would like to find ways to increase loyalty amongst the men’s basketball team’s student fans and consequently increase attendance at home games. Employing information gathered from my expert document, I will create a lay document, a blog, for the men’s basketball team. This blog will foster an increased awareness of the players on campus, a relationship between the players and their fans and indubitably an increased sense of loyalty towards the team.
Work Completed
I almost have completed “About Me Surveys” from all of the men’s basketball players. Additionally, I have pictures of every player!
Next Step
I’m thinking I may want the men’s basketball team to submit some fun candid shots (not in uniform). I didn’t get a chance to start putting this information into a blog. I want to collect all of the information that I was in the blog first, that way I can consider that when deciding on layout, etc. Starting the blog is again on my to do list since I didn’t have a chance to start working on it last week.
Brief Conclusion
Making progress! Slowly but surely!
Overview
Clemson University’s (CU) football team is a crowd pleaser, selling out most if not all home games at Death Valley. The men’s basketball team suffers from less loyal student fans, having only sold out one game, in 1980, at Littlejohn Coliseum. The Clemson University Athletic Department would like to find ways to increase loyalty amongst the men’s basketball team’s student fans and consequently increase attendance at home games. For my expert document I will survey students, interview numerous members of the Athletic department, interview members of the basketball team, and reference both online and print sources to find solutions to the problem. I will, then, compile these solutions into a problem-solving report recommending (expert document) ways for the athletic department to reach its goals.
Work Completed
I’ve analyzed and interpreted the data from my survey, finalized my works cited bibliography, completed the drafts for all sections of my document, and commenced the brainstorming process for possible visual aids. More importantly, I’ve settled on both long-term and short-term recommendations for improving men’s basketball game attendance.
Next Steps
Next on my to do list is preparing drafts and visuals to bring to class on November 15 and to continue revising drafts and visuals for my project.
Brief Conclusion
Finished with all drafts for my project…WOOHOO!!! Now I get to start working on what I really love to do—the actual presentation!
Lay Document
Overview
Clemson University’s (CU) football team is a crowd pleaser, selling out most if not all home games at Death Valley. The men’s basketball team suffers from less loyal student fans, having only sold out one game, in 1980, at Littlejohn Coliseum. The Clemson University Athletic Department would like to find ways to increase loyalty amongst the men’s basketball team’s student fans and consequently increase attendance at home games. Employing information gathered from my expert document, I will create a lay document, a blog, for the men’s basketball team. This blog will foster an increased awareness of the players on campus, a relationship between the players and their fans and indubitably an increased sense of loyalty towards the team.
Work Completed
I almost have completed “About Me Surveys” from all of the men’s basketball players. Additionally, I have pictures of every player!
Next Step
I’m thinking I may want the men’s basketball team to submit some fun candid shots (not in uniform). I didn’t get a chance to start putting this information into a blog. I want to collect all of the information that I was in the blog first, that way I can consider that when deciding on layout, etc. Starting the blog is again on my to do list since I didn’t have a chance to start working on it last week.
Brief Conclusion
Making progress! Slowly but surely!
Saturday, November 3, 2007
10/25-11/1 Progress Report
Expert Document
Overview
Clemson University’s (CU) football team is a crowd pleaser, selling out most if not all home games at Death Valley. The men’s basketball team suffers from less loyal student fans, having only sold out one game, in 1980, at Littlejohn Coliseum. The Clemson University Athletic Department would like to find ways to increase loyalty amongst the men’s basketball team’s student fans and consequently increase attendance at home games. For my expert document I will survey students, interview numerous members of the Athletic department, interview members of the basketball team, and reference both online and print sources to find solutions to the problem. I will, then, compile these solutions into a problem-solving report recommending (expert document) ways for the athletic department to reach its goals.
Work Completed
I reached my goal of collecting 50 surveys and I’ve begun analyzing the information I’ve gathered both from my survey and other sources. I’ve begun the process of deciding which means of displaying the information gathered is most commonly used and interpreted by my audience (i.e. bar graph vs. pie graphs). I’ve also completed drafts of my title page, transmittal letter, and executive summary. Additionally, I’ve added more resources to my working bibliography.
Next Steps
Next I plan to complete the other drafts for the other sections of my document. Additionally, I plan to begin brainstorming visuals that can be utilized for the presentation of my document.
Brief Conclusion
I’m making great progress and may actually finish my project ahead of time!!! Yay me!
Lay Document
Overview
Clemson University’s (CU) football team is a crowd pleaser, selling out most if not all home games at Death Valley. The men’s basketball team suffers from less loyal student fans, having only sold out one game, in 1980, at Littlejohn Coliseum. The Clemson University Athletic Department would like to find ways to increase loyalty amongst the men’s basketball team’s student fans and consequently increase attendance at home games. Employing information gathered from my expert document, I will create a lay document, a blog, for the men’s basketball team. This blog will foster an increased awareness of the players on campus, a relationship between the players and their fans and indubitably an increased sense of loyalty towards the team.
Work Completed
I settled on the “About Me Survey” for the basketball player’s profiles on the blog. These questions were distributed on Monday and will be collected at the beginning of next week. I made a folder in word for each member of the men’s basketball team. I’ve collected general information about each team member that I will display in the blogs along with their pictures.
Next Step
Next I will being to put together the blog. I would like to have each player profile completed with pictures and their answers to the “About Me Survey” by the end of next week.
Brief Conclusion
Things are going well and next week I’ll have something tangible to show for it!!!
Overview
Clemson University’s (CU) football team is a crowd pleaser, selling out most if not all home games at Death Valley. The men’s basketball team suffers from less loyal student fans, having only sold out one game, in 1980, at Littlejohn Coliseum. The Clemson University Athletic Department would like to find ways to increase loyalty amongst the men’s basketball team’s student fans and consequently increase attendance at home games. For my expert document I will survey students, interview numerous members of the Athletic department, interview members of the basketball team, and reference both online and print sources to find solutions to the problem. I will, then, compile these solutions into a problem-solving report recommending (expert document) ways for the athletic department to reach its goals.
Work Completed
I reached my goal of collecting 50 surveys and I’ve begun analyzing the information I’ve gathered both from my survey and other sources. I’ve begun the process of deciding which means of displaying the information gathered is most commonly used and interpreted by my audience (i.e. bar graph vs. pie graphs). I’ve also completed drafts of my title page, transmittal letter, and executive summary. Additionally, I’ve added more resources to my working bibliography.
Next Steps
Next I plan to complete the other drafts for the other sections of my document. Additionally, I plan to begin brainstorming visuals that can be utilized for the presentation of my document.
Brief Conclusion
I’m making great progress and may actually finish my project ahead of time!!! Yay me!
Lay Document
Overview
Clemson University’s (CU) football team is a crowd pleaser, selling out most if not all home games at Death Valley. The men’s basketball team suffers from less loyal student fans, having only sold out one game, in 1980, at Littlejohn Coliseum. The Clemson University Athletic Department would like to find ways to increase loyalty amongst the men’s basketball team’s student fans and consequently increase attendance at home games. Employing information gathered from my expert document, I will create a lay document, a blog, for the men’s basketball team. This blog will foster an increased awareness of the players on campus, a relationship between the players and their fans and indubitably an increased sense of loyalty towards the team.
Work Completed
I settled on the “About Me Survey” for the basketball player’s profiles on the blog. These questions were distributed on Monday and will be collected at the beginning of next week. I made a folder in word for each member of the men’s basketball team. I’ve collected general information about each team member that I will display in the blogs along with their pictures.
Next Step
Next I will being to put together the blog. I would like to have each player profile completed with pictures and their answers to the “About Me Survey” by the end of next week.
Brief Conclusion
Things are going well and next week I’ll have something tangible to show for it!!!
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