CPW Blog: Posters, Presentations & Music Videos

Trafton B.

May 20, 2011 - 12:18 PM

Week eight has come to a close and as the end of the term draws near, Team Solid and the Community Planning Workshop (CPW) are heating up. After a few weeks of having a moderate workload (with a touch of senioritis) it's time to turn on the jets one last time and finish strong. Today we got two hefty assignments out of the way, those being our poster (pictured above) and our music video.

 

Yes, that's right, one of our assignments was to make a music video about our project and present it to the class. Not exactly your average college-level assignment. I had a difficult time this week trying to explain to my roommates that I had to leave for a team meeting to brainstorm lyrics for a rap song about construction and demolition waste recycling. It's even more ridiculous because this is for the only graduate-level course that I'm taking. You have to admit, though, it's pretty sweet.

 

Throughout the week Joanna and I have been writing lyrics for our song, "Teach Me to Recycle," which we wrote using the hip hop beat from "Teach Me How to Dougie" by the Cali Swag Group. After a few semi-productive brainstorming sessions, I was a little worried that we weren't going to be able to pull it off, but the whole song came together on Thursday night. Joanna had a stroke of lyrical genius on Thursday afternoon and Monique showed us the video/slideshow she'd put together. All we needed to do was add a few dance moves and a strategically placed photo of our professors at the end of the video and it was perfect!

 

Earlier this morning we performed our hit single in front of the class dressed in bright orange construction vests, and it was a hit. We walked off the stage to a thundering applause and couldn't help but laugh throughout the rest of the morning. Team Solid, as we call ourselves, is a pretty awesome group to be a part of and I think our music video was a great demonstration of that. As Joanna put it after class ended today, "our team transcended to a whole new level over the past forty-eight hours." At the beginning of the term I mentioned that I was excited to see what our team was capable of doing, and I have yet to be disappointed.

 

The other project we've been working on this week has been our team poster (pictured above). I stepped in as the primary designer, but I can't take all the credit for this assignment. Just like the music video, this was a real team effort. I think we're all pleased with the final product. It will come in very handy over the next couple weeks as we finish up with several important presentations.

 

Next Thursday marks the beginning of our presentation phase with a presentation to the rest of our CPW class on the work we've completed throughout the course. The following Friday we will show our poster at the Planning, Public Policy & Management (PPPM) department's end-of-the-year awards ceremony. And after that we have two final presentations for our clients with the City of Eugene on the Monday and Tuesday of finals week. Oh, and somewhere between those two presentations we're also going to manage having a team oral final and CPW kickball game. Work hard. Play hard. Right?

 

I can't believe this term and our CPW experience is almost over. I can still remember the first time our team met nearly five months ago. I know we still have a few weeks left, but I feel the need to issue a public thank you to my team members and project manager on Team Solid. I have never worked with a more impressive and intelligent group of individuals. It's been an absolute privilege working with all of you, and I look forward to making the most of our remaining time together.

 

With that said, I guess I might as well start this now.....

 

Countdown to Graduation Day (June 13^th): 22 DAYS!