Saturday, May 21, 2016

Weekly Reflection #3

Weekly Reflection

     As senior project came to a close I had many different feelings running through my mind, mostly being worried about the work I was doing and a lot of relief when I managed to finish it. My senior project went a lot different then I initially expected it to go, I planned on being a typical intern where I would work with some different people within the company with whatever they needed, however it turned out I would be mostly independent with my work which greatly changed my goals. 
     The past week was perhaps my most difficult, the work I am doing is very vague and to determine whether or not I was very productive each day is sometimes challenging. Throughout the week I tried to develop an idea of what I wanted to come out of from this internship and it is going to very challenging to take and show anything tangible during this review period. My mind was set on creating a website for Franklin Falls Fitness Meetup but after designing a preliminary one through Wordpress I found out a lot of my work had to be altered due to a different direction that Todd wanted to go with the website. The website will now be through Meetup and my job for that is really minimal in the actually production but I will assist in the plan which is what I have been creating for the past week. 
     I have learned some about non-profit organizations and the struggles that they face through Todd but my other goals changed greatly. I would say my goals would have been altered to learning the foundation of what a transition town really is, which I would say I achieved through my readings and the Environmental Literature class I took this spring. The third goal changed to cooperatively working within a company, which I think I achieved in some aspects, but I also think that due to Todd's busy schedule I lost some opportunities to help.

Friday, May 20, 2016

May 20th

May 20th

     Today, the last day of senior project, I finalized all of my outlines and created a outline for the transformation of Franklin. There was definitely a lot of challenges creating this outline because applying everything I learned is a lot harder than I expected it to be. I plan on taking the rest of my weekend to touch up the outline for both the website and the city of Franklin. I know this was the last day but there will still be a little work to do this weekend.
Total Hours Worked Today: 8-2
Total Hours Worked: 94 1/2

Thursday, May 19, 2016

May 19th

May 19th

     The hardest part about everyday is deciding what I will start working on, due to that all my research is all correlated with each other it makes it difficult to decide what to do each day. I decided today that I would finalize all of my outlines and start putting together a plan/outline on how Franklin could become a transition town. This is a very difficult process because I have to take into account what the books are telling me to do but also the current situation of Franklin. Throughout the course of the day I struggled to put together and outline but I am hopeful I will be completed with a rough one tomorrow to present to Todd on Monday at our final meeting.
Total Hours Worked Today: 8-2
Total Hours Worked: 88 1/2

Wednesday, May 18, 2016

May 18th

May 18th

     Today was a very productive day, I woke up and began planning on creating a website but I quickly learned all the steps needed in order to create a website. I spent the morning hours conducting research on other fitness meetup websites and how to go about creating your own website. I found a lot of useful websites with strategies towards making a website and after looking into those websites I began making a plan for this website. I then spent the rest of the afternoon finishing Voluntary Simplicity by Duane Elgin and started to create an outline from the reading. Tomorrow I hope to finish the outline for both the book and the website for I can find a time to show Todd what I have done.
Total Hours Worked Today: 9-3
Total Hours: 82 1/2

Tuesday, May 17, 2016

May 17th

May 17th

     Today I began the process of outlining the Franklin Falls Fitness Meetup website. I began the day by looking at other fitness groups around the area and what their websites looked like, I began creating an overview of the sites and what it would entail. Todd made it clear that the initial use of the website will be for kayaking, bicycling, running, mountain biking, snow shoeing and cross country skiing. I then finished the day by looking at the list of trails he gave me on google maps, I am working on creating interactive maps that show each trail.
Here is a list of trails he gave me
Winnipesaukee River Trail
Franklin Falls Dam Site
Northern Rail Trail
VMRA 
Page Hill Trails
NH Heritage Trail
WOW Trail
Highland Mountain Bike Park
Spaulding Woods
Ahern Park (Laconia)
Ramblin Vewe

Hours Worked Today: 8-2
Total Hours Worked: 76 1/2

May 16th

May 16th

     Today proved to be a very productive day, I began the day with finalizing all of my outlines for I could present them to Todd at our meeting today. Todd moved our meeting from 2 to 4 which gave me more time to prepare questions and get my work more organized. During the meeting we spoke about what the website would entail. The website would be through Meetup which is website that allows events to be made and seen by the public. The meeting gave me the insight I needed to finish the website and be able to leave a beneficial program for the city of Franklin.
Hours Worked Today: 9-2 then 330-430 (6)
Total Hours Worked: 70 1/2

Saturday, May 14, 2016

Weekly Reflection #2

Weekly Reflection #2

     Throughout the course of the week I spent the majority of my time diving into independent research. The past week and a half I have been learning about how a small close knit community is going to an inevitable outcome due to our current economical development. Through reading books like The Transition Handbook, Small is Beautiful and parts of The Creature from Jekyll Island and Voluntary Simplicity. The readings have all had very similar ideas which has made for a very repetitive week for myself, however I am learning concepts throughout each book that are applicable to the city of Franklin and the hopeful transition to become a transition town. As I am suppose to meet with Todd this Monday to discuss what I have worked on and how to develop a website for PermaCity Life. 
      The website I will designing will be called Franklin Falls Fitness Meet-up, however I am encountering problems with finding actual activities that occur within the city. Below is a list of possible acitivities that I found to participate in, however many of them do not have a formal group that meets.

Franklin Activities and Their Locations
Zumba @ Bessie Rowell Community Center - Tuesdays 5:15-6 Thursdays 4:15-5:00 and Saturday 8:30-9:15
Martial Arts @ Bessie Rowell Community Center - Tuesdays and Thursdays 
Kids (8-12) @ 6:15-7:00 
Adults (13+) @ 7:00-8:00
Open Gym and Game Room @ Bessie Rowell Community Center - 5th-12th grade Monday thru Friday 2:30-3:30 (Game room stays open until 3:45)

Recreation and Activities
Municipal Parks:  Odell Park

Golf Courses:  Mojolaki Country Club

Swimming: Webster Lake Beaches

Tennis Courts:  Odell Park

Ice Skating Rink:  Area Ponds

Performing Arts Facilities:  Franklin Opera House

Tourist Attractions:  Daniel Webster Birthplace;  Winnipesaukee River Trail

Youth Organizations:  Scouts;  Recreation Center

Youth Sports: Hockey;  Baseball;  Soccer;  Football;  Basketball

Outdoor Activities:  Camping; Boating; Canoeing; Hunting; Biking; Snowmobiling; Skiing

Ski Area:  Veteran's Memorial Ski Area


Through talking with Todd I hope to shed more light on what this website will entail. I spoke with Jennifer White at a meeting this week about possible website ideas, which we spoke of sites like Wordpress, Meetup and Square Space. This week has had challenges with creating a visible piece of work that I can take away from this project but at the same time I have learned a lot about the company and the operations needed to approach the revitalization of Franklin.