Finito

We've finished! We have gone through drastic changes that differ from what we originally planned for our project, but never the less we have finished.

We created a forum from scratch, but we chose to use Ning instead. We were going to have a website created, but we did not have the time or resources to do so by today. So with the compliance of YouthworX, we put all our energy and resources into creating the networking forum on Ning.

This morning the networking meeting was held at Unitec, Takapuna where Tim, Amanda and I explained who we are, what we do and gave a tutorial on using the fully functional YouthworX Forum where all youth organisations can interact.

Cameron Calkoen from non-profit organisation YES Ability Achievement Centre and Carabiner Youth Mentoring was the first to sign up and created his own discussion on how the youth sector can be better promoted to the youth.



Prior to today's meeting, Tim and I had the new forum tested for "user friendliness" by our parents and friends. All of whom had no struggle with this simple and easy to use tool. Cameron and Amanda were no different as they navigated the forum like pros!

The end result is fantastic, and YouthworX are happy and honored to have this tool at their advantage. With Amanda now working on contacting other North Shore non profit organisations to inform them of this forum and excite them about it, it's only a small matter of time before all of them come out of hiding and join in on the adventure of information sharing and see the growing benefits for the youth of the North Shore!


Thanks to all our friends who have supported us through the yMedia Challenge.

And of course, a big THANK YOU to yMedia and YouthworX. Whom without we would not have been provided with such a humbling opportunity.

We have both learned so much from this experience. We have been given the golden chance to put our skills to work that will in the end help so many people. And with that alone we cannot ask for more.

And on that note we bid you adieu.


One love.

- Kenneth and Tim: TEAM HAMBURGER!!!

It's the final count dooown!

Tim has already discussed the changes with the forum, so I'll leave that out of this update.

Instead, I'll let you guys know a little bit more of what we've been doing beyond the construction of that

On the 06/08, I missed a day of university (i'm a baaad boy) so I could go into YouthworX to help out Amanda before our planned meeting in the afternoon where Tim and Rebecca would be joining us.

Amanda and I discussed "beyond friday" when the competition would be over. I wanted to set them up with a solid plan for when we leave, to ensure that this new networking system we have implented still thrives beyond Tim and I's absence!

Amanda has planned a large networking meeting in September that will be housed at Unitec, where over 100 youth organisations will attend for the purpose of being introduced to YouthworX and the networking masterpiece that is the forum!

Amanda and I sat down and together we divised a three-step action plan to advertise before this networking meeting.

The first step: sending off an introductory group e-mail to all youth organisations and contacts within those. Amanda will introduce herself and YouthworX in this e-mail.

The second step: another e-mail a couple of weeks later sent to the same e-mailing list. This e-mail will advertise the network meeting, and invite them to come along. There will also be a short survey attached to this e-mail, encouraging them to discuss what they would like to see in the meeting. This is a meeting of minds where they can all get together and put forward all ideas forward in what will be an open, creative environment.

The third step: A reminder about the meeting that will be e-mailed one or two days before. The e-mail will also make mention about morning tea that will be provided, an delicious incentive that will surely gain attendance! Unitec provides huge computer labs capable of housing many people. Tim and I have agreed that we will come back for this meeting and regularly check in on Amanda to see that things are going fine.

We advised her that keeping up with this networking system is a good thing, and for her not to think of it as something that is a "task". That in order for it to work, she must adopt it into her daily routine - like brushing teeth! She completely agreed and is excited by this.

For tomorrow's meeting, I arranged for Amanda to call people from different youth organisations to come into the hired computer lab in Unitec where we will introduce them to YouthworX and the forum.

We will have them all interact with the forum here and provide a simple tutorial that will explain what it is, how it can benefit them, and how they can use it. By doing this, they will hopefully be creating a buzzing discussion and many others will join in on! If we do that, then we have achieved our target for the day.

Here is the plan for tomorrow that I had Amanda write up, to make our meeting tomorrow more organised:

YouthworX On-line: Let’s make it GO bro!

Sector Contribution Meeting
Where the goal is to activate the forum component of the new YouthworX website through organized contribution from the Youth Sector.

Date: Friday 8 August 2008

Time: 8:45am ~ Meet at Unitec
9:30am ~ Meeting starts

Hosted by: YouthworX + Team Hamburger of the yMedia Challenge

Venue: Room 2014, Unitec, 132 Hurstmere Road, Takapuna, North Shore City
(09) 815 4321 x. 5601

Attending: Cam Calkoen YES Ability Achievement Centre
Shannon Mawdsley Sport North Harbour
Jon Shepherd in2it
TBC Youthline
TBC Safer Families

Format: Meet and greet, Seated discussion style;
Introduction to YouthworX
Introduction to yMedia, our project and the benefits of use;
Briefed for today’s contribution;
Seated on Computers and GO;
Morning tea, discussion and feedback.


An e-mail was also sent today to remind people about the meeting.

Stay tuned for more as we enter the last day of the yMedia Challenge. :)

- Kenneth

UPDATE!! CHANGES!!!...late in the game is still in the game...

Hey y'all...wow....its thursday! And unfortunately we have had to make some changes to the initial plan...but after all "changes are ok"!!

These changes were always anticipated with such a trial and error process...especially seeing as neither of us had ANY experience in digital space development!




The initial design of a forum on the YouthworX website was a bit impossible with our talents (or lack thereof in this department). So that was sidelined in favour of putting the forum on an external site and linking to it from the homepage. The first forum I set up was on a free forum page. This space was ideal! And through some programming i altered the look to suit my wants :D i added buttons and graphics and colour and everything! Only invited members could join, so the privacy problem was countered.It was set to be perfect....UNTIL! I sent the link to Amanda at YouthworX and she made the valid point that it was still rather confusing..even after i simplified it all...and seeing as our main idea was to make this as easy and user friendly as possible something needed to change.


Amanda told us of the social networking site called Ning. This is a marvelous site where you can set up your own private social network. You create a main site which can have a blog and forum included. The layout is as easy as bebo to use (if not easier) and no one i showed it to had trouble using it first time, including my mum!! which is a minor miracle XD. Also, this site means that the organisations can create their own profile and add contact information, events, mission statement and any other information they want. This means that the database of information idea that was proposed at the beginning but had to be sidelined due to time can come into effect anyway! So all in all this is the BEST, EASIEST and SUPERLATIVE site to use to achieve the goals we set out to achieve....

wow...and JUST in time ;D

away i go to alter, prettify and finish off what i started!

TIM

Just an update

Wow, Wednesday already! and only a couple of days to go until it's all over.

We're working extremely hard to get things done.

On Monday, Tim and I met with YouthworX at their office to give them a progress update. Part of our plan to keep them informed every step of the way so they can see how close we all are to reaching our goal in helping them.

As we are creating and designing a forum for YouthworX, I went online to show Amanda exactly what she can expect from our forum by showing her examples of other forums.

Tim updated her on the progress of the website and forum. He said that he had arranged to meet with his brother (who is making the website) that night to further oversee details on the full construction of the website.

Tim has also been working tirelessly to design and create graphics and buttons for the website and forum.

A main concern raised at this meeting was the issue of people from other youth organisations using the forum.

To prevent the forum from going "stagnant" by not being used, I provided a solution that may encourage youth organisations to use the website and forum for their own advantage.

And this is by inviting representatives from other youth organisations to a meeting and presentation on friday morning at YouthworX.

There, we will show them our fully functioning website and forum, it's features, and we will explain to them all the reasons how this networking system and improved communication tool can benefit all youth organisations, and ultimately the youth themselves.

These are all very busy people. So they need to know how taking time out of their schedules to post on this forum will benefit them. They need an incentive to use it, and to keep using it.

So by kick starting the website and having them interact with the forum, we will hopefully witness the beginning of a buzzing online conversation in this forum as many people log on to willingly share information and resources with others.

Until then, I plan to help Amanda by ringing as many people from Youth Organisations as I can. To get them excited about this brand new service and encourage them that this tool is there for their benefit and use. This is something everyone should be excited about! And they all deserve to know how much help this will be to everyone in the youth sector.

This afternoon, Tim and I will be meeting with Amanda at 3PM. This time she will be coming to the city to meet with us after university. Amanda is going to provide contact information for these youth organisations for me to call, and Tim is going to give us another update on the website and forum construction.

So expect another update soon.

- Kenneth and Tim

Mid Challenge Review

Hey ya’ll! Time for a mid-challenge review!... Scary as that may seem :S

So this past week has included numerous hours spent planning out the layout and graphics for the proposed website. So far all of the pre-construction goals have been met, including the designing of buttons, shooting photos for the site and finalising a colour scheme. Its been quite a learning curve collaborating with someone versed in the intricacies of web design, having never even known what ‘web safe colours’ were!

The whole project is going to plan so far in terms of the final product. The only main change has been the scraping of the database of names and numbers of all the community organisations involved. At the meeting on Wednesday we all decided that due to the time constraints we would leave out that section of the website for now. Possibly at a later date we could add onto the website for them, but the forum space is what we’re aiming for :D


So yeah! This next week is going to contain long nights constructing this website…and loads of lemon ‘v’. It’s going to prove to be a great experience in time management ;D

Tim and Kenneth

P.S. The pics are of the drawings that I did to show the lovely ladies of YouthworX the design and structure of the website.

P.S.S. Oh and we're now up to 103 members of the Support Kenneth and Tim Group on Facebook XD go us...I mean we're practically royalty!

Our Project Brief Video Update!

haha so here's the little video we whipped up to show you guys what we're up to...its all from what written in the previous blog post...but totally cooler because you get to see our ugly mugs XD buon apettito

Our Project Brief!

Team Name: Team Hamburger

The Organisation: YouthworX

Mission/ Vision: Through connecting, empowering and promoting, YouthworX will collaboratively strengthen and support the North Shore Youth Sector.

Identified Goal (of yMedia): Creating an easier way for these groups to converse, discuss and collaborate.

Current barriers: The lack of necessary skill to create a digital space in which these community groups to converse and discuss.

Client/ Target Audience: Community organisations that specifically work with North Shore youth.

Possible/ Discussed Digital Solutions: A networking space where these organisations can collaborate, network, engage and discuss anything. Blogging could be used or Facebook social networking group could be used to connect these organisations. Also, a type of emailing system to facilitate face-to-face conversations and meetings would be very beneficial for the organisation.

Evaluation of Solutions: Facebook doesn’t tap into the identifiable need of YouthworX. This type of communication is also rather inaccessible for some groups that don’t have a profile on Facebook. The networking space is probably the best solution, with a possible blogging/emailing aspect to it.

Proposed Solution: A space on the web containing a forum where community groups can discuss their needs. An area for contact information of YouthworX and other organisations would be a great idea. Fortnightly email update to all members about hot topics on the forum.

Focus of Solution: The focus is on YouthworX’s main goal of making an arena of collaboration. This has been slightly sidelined in past years.

Design Approach:
Required elements: Tabs; webcasts; easy to use forums; space for contact information; and a message board.

Look and Feel: Easy to use tabs and simple graphics. YouthworX colours (red, orange, black) present but not overpowering. Clean lines, logical layout and movement through the website sectors.

Scope of Work: The organisation is going to need to gather all contact information that they have. And all other information and data that they want to be on the website. The ‘students’ will need to provide YouthworX with a site that fulfils their needs of collaboration. Also, a structure of sustainability would have to be constructed for future use by the organisation.

Outside Scope: At this stage it will be a basic website that can be added onto by the organisation at a later date. Also, the idea of creating a means of resource sharing would have to be looked at by YouthworX at a later date.

Technology to be used: all work will mainly be done on the computer. Design software and all that shebang will be used in the process. :D

Proposed Structure: The main structure that will be used will revolve around the idea of a communication tool for the involved community organisations. Once the members enter into the website they will be greeted with tabs linking them to forums that focus on various areas of youth organisations. They can then follow these to the forum and read up on what people are posting and add their two cents as well. The fronts page of the website will also contain a message board where people can write up events that are happening in their sector, inviting other organisations to help or participate. There will also be an integrated help system. This will be videos (web casts) and written help items telling the users how to get the most out of the website.

Project Briefing Forseeable!

Hey y'all!!

Sorry bout the tardiness of this update post! :S But just to let you know, we've sent off our project brief post haste to out mentor (who is out there somewhere!) to be approved and what not :D so hopefully (defiantly) there will soon be a video overview of what we plan to achieve for YouthworX

We Hate Spam!

And facebook for not being very nice to us and telling us it hasn't sent a group message when it has.

Lame, facebook. Very lame.

Taking Care of Business

From 2:30 to 5:30 today, Tim and I attended the yMedia 'Briefing Workshop' held at Microsoft's office building in Auckland's viaduct (along with other teams and community groups). While we were all briefed on the processes, terms and conditions of the competition, the focus of today was to collaborate (this was the word of the day) ideas and work on a two-week action plan with Amanda and Rebecca, who are part of our chosen community group YouthworX.





With chocolate chip cookies, Toffee Pops, Moro bars, Crunchie bars and Just Juice to fuel us, we all sat around a table discussing not just their wants for their organisation, but the very passion that drives them to work for their organisation. Tim and I got to learn a great many interesting things about Amanda and Rebecca that steps beyond their work. We all talked about who we are, what we do, and aspirations of where we would like be in future. Through talking we got to know and understand each other further.

We find ourselves inspired by their drive and determination to build a stronger link of communication between the youth organisations, to ultimately improve services to the youth of the North Shore. It makes us want to help them even more!

As we listened to the needs and wants of YouthworX further, Tim and I pitched possible network and digital solutions to help improve the running of their organisation. We ran through many ideas, working out pros and cons of each idea and trying to figure out what works best for them. Amanda and Rebecca were mostly supportive of the solutions we provided. We proposed our solutions to the yMedia Mentors Adele and Sheena who both constructively offered us advice on our ideas and how to approach these two weeks wisely.

We were both flattered that we already received positive feedback from Amanda and Rebecca, who said they're impressed that we're able to clearly understand the purpose of YouthworX, and what they want to achieve with it. That was a compliment to our confidence and gives us that extra bit of motivation we need, knowing that we're doing good so far. It was evident in today's workshop that the level of clear communication and understanding between the four of us is already working phenomenally. It provides great hope for all of us working together on this project.

After today, things are shaping up to look great. Having made a plan of action, set meeting dates with YouthworX and organised a list of tasks to follow according to a strict time table over the next couple of weeks, all we can say is;

"Sorted." ;)

- Kenneth and Tim

Fellowship of the YouthWorx

So, on a rainy afternoon in July Kenneth and Tim decided to venture out into the mist to liaise with the lovely Amanda Judd of YouthWorx.

The whole purpose of us trooping to Takapuna, after approximately 5 hours of university, was to get to know the community group that we would be working with for the next little while.

At four o’clock we met with Amanda, the sole employee of the organisation, to chat, laugh, gossip and talk about how Phoenix and the rights to American Apparel distribution are controlled by Mark Ellis.

We started off with some amazing organic juice and the nibbles provided. We talked about what we were doing in the wondrous world of AUT Communication Studies and what Amanda had got up to before her joining YouthWorx. Topics shifted to clothes and goldfish before we decided that we should probably get down to business and get to understand the organisations purpose and goals, and more importantly what we could do to help.

Amanda joined the organisation only recently, but the whole shindig has been going since 2001. When she arrived she found that the main goal had been put by the wayside in favour of employees working with other youth/council based organisations. Now she wants to pursue the ultimate goal of providing a space where youth based organisations can share information and resources.

A database where organisations can discover what other organisations have in terms of services and objects they are willing to share. So right now YouthWorx’s main audience they are wishing to serve and aid are youth based companies, organisations and charities. They want to involve organisations revolving around sports, performance arts, health, mental health and education, to name a few.

The main challenge that YouthWorx is facing at the moment is finding the ways in which they can create a cyberspace database. They don’t have the resources and abilities to create an attractive space for this to happen in. They also want to start advertising and enticing the youth to use a (foreseeable) website to discover resources and services available, but they want to get a synergy in the youth sector before they advance to this stage. :D

So thats about it! Check back after we do our planning workshop tomorrow....cos honestly....its gunna be the best thing ever! After American Apparel, of course (Amanda will agree!).

Tim and Kenneth

Team Hamburger: What's with the name??!

Every team competing in the competition registers with their own team name.

Our team name is Team Hamburger. So why this name?

Well, as much as we love our burgers, it's more than a devotion to this delicious meal.

We like to think of ourselves as double pattie action squeezed between two hot buns.


... no, not really.

It's just a name that best describes our combined talents and skills. As we're both hoping to give this competition our best, we want to make sure we nourish our client with all that what we have to offer.

By being mates through university, Tim and I have discovered that we are both creative people with a lot of skills to offer. However, while we may be similar to each other in some areas, we are both capable of sharing different perspectives/views.

That helps us observe something at all angles. That's what makes us work as a balanced, professional team.

With the hope of winning aside, I personally think this challenge will be a rewarding experience. I've never participated in something like this before, nor have I worked with a Non-Profit Organisation.

Outside of uni or work, i've never done something this 'meaningful'.

And devoting two weeks of my life to do something like this isn't a big ask.

I'm really determined to help these guys because I wholely believe YouthworX are doing an amazing thing for the community.

All in all, I hope at the end of this I can make a good difference in some peoples lives.

Chur.

- Kenneth

First post!

We know our blog looks a little bare, but we'll let you know when it looks a bit more lively! :)