Almost there...but not quite yet.

This past Friday I spent three or more hours at the Cedar Bend Humane Society. I got to talk with the two co-directors and the person who is in charge of the Capital Campaign. I got some stats that I can use for my data visualization such as numbers of animals brought in, animals adopted and money raised for the campaign.

I got video for my audio slideshow and b-roll for my video, however it wasn't until I was home that I realized I was holding the camera the wrong way. For the slideshow audio that won't matter but that means all my b-roll footage is to the side. It is funny cause I practiced with the flip camera and watch it but when I played it back I also had the camera flipped.

Another problem I have encountered is that I couldn't get my data to upload. It said something was wrong with the x-axis. I tried flipping the information but that didn't help.

I am mostly finished with my slideshow. I have a lot of information on it partly cause my first interview with the adoption counselor was full of information but not very audible because of the dogs barking in the background. Since there wasn't a quiet office to interview her in you have all the background actually included in the interview...dogs barking, cats meowing, cell phones ringing, doors closing, and people talking. Hopefully that works to my advantage. I don't know if the pictures and the audio best complement each other but I really don't have the time to mess around and try some other ideas because of all my other problems with the b-roll, many eyes and google maps.

I think the captions tell a lot the interview doesn't the only thing is that they don't really match the photos. The audio slideshow was intended to let the adoption counsel to give her advice and thoughts from her side of the process. Then the photos show what people who come into adopt see such as sad animals who want love. Last, the caption tell more about the process...what test the animals have to undergo to be able to be put up for adoption, the cost, and the application process. Three sides of a story in one slideshow might be a little too much.

I am going to work on the story tonight to make sure I have enough information to fill the 800-1000 word requirement. In addition, I don't want to have an gaps in my writing.

I still need to finish my google map. I had troubles with that last week. It put markers everywhere I clicked even though I wasn't on the balloon marker icon. It made me so frustrated I want to switch to a flash map because I thought it would be easier, but I don't know what I would do with flash. Any ideas?

9 Days till Deadline...

In the Final Weeks...

Soon finals will be here and there is much to do before they arrive. During break I read the articles I received and searched for some more, trying to grasp the bigger picture for my article portion of the assignment. I found this interesting article on the New York Times website about food donation centers that are available to pet owners that can't afford to keep their pet otherwise. There was discussion about the current economy and home crisis that contribute to the rise of assistance. Chicago animal shelters in particular PAWS, are establishing foster care for animals and food donation programs with Petco to stop the euthanizing of animals. This article isn't the same focus as my article but it might be able to give it that extra idea of why the humane society in Cedar Falls needs a new facility and how the economy is impacting the fundraising for the project. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/12/giving/12PETS.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&sq=humane%20society&st=cse&scp=3

They also included a slideshow with this article. It was nice but dull after a couple of pictures because there is no sound and the pictures repeat the same ideas and some have captions that retell what you can already see from the picture or read from the article. I need to beware of making those mistakes with my slideshow. http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2009/11/12/giving/slideshowpets_index.html

Since I am behind from where I wanted to be at this point my list of things to do is extra long this week so I don't get further behind.

Here is my list of things I want to do this week...
I am going to do my interview for the interactive slideshow about the animals needing to be adopted and the adoption process depending on the sound bits I get from the interview.
I also want to do my video interview and get the b-roll done. I am still going to focus on the problem with the current center.

While doing the interviews, I want to get the locations of all the Humane Societies in Iowa and copyright permission for photos if they have them or find a different route to go on the google map because I won't be able to go take pictures of all the centers.

I also need to get the stats for animal drop off for my data visualization to show if the economy has increase Humane Society numbers.

Thoughts before break...

This week I worked on my website. I added a page dedicated to related articles kind of like the New York Times but it is on a separate page right now because my main page isn't set up for my final project. http://www.uni.edu/rkann13/relatedarticles.html

I am getting better at posting stuff on my website but I had trouble with changing fonts on headlines without changing the entire page's font. I don't know how to prevent that.

I looked through the articles I was given to brainstorm on the purpose of my article. They helped me think about the big picture. I know I am not going to be able to get that written till after Thanksgiving Break.

I need to figure out what I can work on while I am break concerning I won't be in the United States. I guess I will just trying to further my ideas, read some more article, and find some numbers for my data visualization.

I included another picture I took from my last visit.

The Visit

Last Wednesday I visited the Cedar Bend Humane Society. The co-directors were away on business and the place was full of college students playing with animals, but I got over 30 pictures. I got more of the cats because they were easier to access, but I got some of the dogs in their cages.

I wish I could have recorded the sounds of the dogs barking while I was there because I found it terrifying and depressing at the same moment. Some of the pictures were also depressing but I guess that shows the true atmosphere.On the other hand, my friend that came with put it best when she said, "At least they have a warm place to stay with food" instead of living in a cage outside in the middle of winter with abusive owners. It is a new outlook on the Humane Society for me.

I included some of the photos I took while there.

This week I want to look at past articles on other humane societies to get a feel for the bigger picture. I also would like to mess around with the video if I have time. I want to leave stuff I can work on without being near the Humane Society till Thanksgiving Break.

Visualize this...

This is where I am right now on the brain storming.

Data visualization: After learning about data visualization in class I was thinking about comparing national & Cedar Valley (would have to crunch some numbers) adoption rates to animals put to sleep because of lack of funding and over crowding over the past 20 years. Also I could look at the adoption rates of different types of dogs (some breeds more likely to be adopted?) and different age groups (the older the animal the less likely it is to get adopted compared to puppies and kittens?). I could even make my own graph based on what percent of pets are there because x reason such as 50% are there because of baby and children issues with the animal, 20% because of expenses issues with taking care of the animal, 15% because of inter-animal conflict, 5% because owners died, and ect. In addition, I could do a graph with money fund raised at each event to show what was a failure and what worked well. Last, I could do a graph showing how much money is giving to other non-profits in the Cedar Valley Area compared to the Humane Society. I don't know where I would find that data. There are multiple ways I can go, depending on what best fits with the story.

Video: For the video I can do a tour of the present facility and all the problems, showing all the issue the employees have to deal with daily such as overcrowd, rusty cages, leaks, ect. I don't know how I would do a tour of the new facility or if I could put their virtual online tour with that.

Slide show: I think animals would be the best subject to take photographs of. They are hard to capture but you can take your time with them. Plus you could get some interesting active shots with them getting bathed to look good for the adoptions or interacting with people during adoption hours. I don't how many animals I could focus on and if I should just stay with dogs or incorporate both dogs and cats. Focus on the adoption process or the animals needing adoption?

Interactive map: I like the idea of pinpointing where all the humane societies are in Iowa. It would be cool to add in adoption site like Petco where Cedar Bend Human Society has certain days and hours they bring animals. I think the map of the facility would be alright but not as interesting to the reader.

Story Time...

Since I was sick most of last week through part of the weekend and was trapped inside of my apartment against my will, I decide to start writing my article from the interview I had and what I knew about the capital campaign from the website. It needs more information and I need to interview more people involved.

So my goal for this week is to get down to the Humane Society before the next time I blog. It is hard to catch the co-directors during the weekends when it works best for me so I will have to make a trip to Waterloo before or after my classes. I was wondering whether I want to interview volunteers or employees about the capital campaign or save them for the video or slideshow. I guess it depends on how much they know about the campaign.

I would like to interview some people who have helped raise funds for the campaign. In addition, I want to find out if any people are against the building of this new facility for a different point of view. Otherwise I need to get some of the problems or issues with the building of the new facility so the story doesn't seem promotional.

I want to start taking some photos when I visit this week so I can formulate slideshow ideas. However, I know I am most worried about doing video so I should start working on that so I don't put it off. We will see how that goes. Also, I am not sure if I understand what a data visualization is or the purpose of it. But, I think we are suppose to talk about it later this week so hopefully that will clear up any confusion.

Nothing much new...

So I planned on visiting the shelter this past Wednesday or Sunday. Wednesday, I got bogged down with other classes so Sunday seemed like a good date. Well as life tends to go...the co-directors weren't working and the co-workers seems a little shy about giving out any new information or being interviewed without them there so they asked me to come back later in the week. I am going to try to go on Wednesday morning before my class or Friday after my class to get more information so I can start on my story for the Capital Campaign and get the creative juices flowing for the multimedia parts.

Therefore, I plan on blogging twice this week, to half blogs to equal one complete well thought out blog. I didn't know if we had to blog on Tuesday or if we could blog on Thursday so I am just giving a brief update until I know more later this week. To be continued...

Where to go from here...

I talked with one of the co-directors so I got an overview of the project and what they plan to do. I already knew most of the information from the website. I plan on visiting the Humane Society on either Wednesday or Sunday get some more information. When I go I also plan on talking to the other co-director and some of the employees. I want to interview Kathy McCoy who seems to be a a big supporter and she is also the person who brainstormed the original idea for the Capital Campaign according to the website. I need to find out more about where this idea originated.

I am further behind than I wanted to be at this point, but I have time to make up for it.

I need to talk to them about using their virtual tour of the facility on my site if that was possible or as a last resort I could just link it.

I am still sticking with my story idea from my previous post until information tells me to go a new route. I haven't come up with any new ideas for multimedia from last week. I still like those ideas if they are possible. I was thinking about doing a slideshow with animal pictures in a "Face Behind the Cage" idea because the people who work at the Humane Society know these animals like the back of their hand. They write "adopt me ads" similar to dating ads. I think it could go well with the story, but I don't know if it would get too off track. In addition, it would be fun to do something creative such as "The Day in the Life of a Dog." It isn't exactly with the Capital Campaign but it might enhance the story and give a different aspect of the story. It all depends on what footage, pictures and interviews I get by December.

Cedar Bend Humane Society's Capital Campaign

I am going to cover the Cedar Bend Humane Society’s Capital Campaign and the construction of their new facility. Recently, they updated their website to show pictures of the construction for the new center. They are also selling “Build Them a Home” wristband to raise money for the new center.

I haven’t got a chance to talk to the co-directors but plan to this week. I also want to talk the humane society’s employees (who know the background of the animals in need of this new facility), volunteers who are helping raise money, people who are donating and maybe the construction manager although I want to keep the story about the need for the new center.

Questions I will be asking:
Why do they need a new center? What is the purpose of the new center?
Why now?
How much will it cost?
How much have they collected?
How are they paying for the new center (government funds, donations, fundraisers)?
How is the center raising money for this new center?
When will the new center be built?
Where will it be built?
How big will it be?
What improvements will be made? How is it going to be better (for the staff, visitors, and animals)?
How will this impact the animals?

I will come up with more questions and follow-ups as I interview and get a grasp on the story.

For multimedia, I can create an interactive map of the current facility showing the animals’ “home” or kennel including their pictures. I could also link to the virtual tour of the new facility on their website. Another idea is create a graph to show how much money they have raised and how much to go using a dog can or a dog bone.

What to Write About...

The first idea I thought of was covering the Cedar Bend Humane Society and their ongoing Capital Campaign. The estimated cost of this new facility will be expensive. Their goal is to receive 900,000 dollars in private donations. I think this story would be easy to include slideshow pictures of the people working there and the animals that live there. I think you could do an interactive graph with pictures of the animals. In addition, there is already a nice model video on their website that shows what the new facility would look like. You could also do a graph of how far they are from reaching their goal using some creative pictures. There is information on their site, http://www.cedarbendhumane.org/ about the plan, the challenge, and the background. If I did this story I would call the the co-directors of the Cedar Bend Humane Society letting them know I wanted to do a story on the Capital Campaign. I would try to go down to the shelter during the weekends. Get to know the staff and animals. I would get more information on the campaign. The point of the story who be to show why there is a need for a new facility.


The second story idea I had was to cover the current health care reform debate. It is all over newspapers and television news. It is even a high interest topic on the WCF Courier's opinion page. People are talking about it but what do people really know about it and where do they get their information from? For this piece my goals would be to contact local state representatives and get more information from them. Also interview people in the Cedar Valley area from all different ages and political backgrounds to see how people view this bill and what made them come to that consensus. I think this one would be harder to get pictures for. You could get pictures of patients and hospitals, but it would be harder to connect. Lastly, I would have to think up a interactive graph/feature that I could include with this because right now I don't have any ideas.

The last idea I thought of was to cover the annual Thanksgiving Food Drive (Sept 26 to Oct. 10) at the Waterloo Food Bank. It might not be as interesting as the other two stories because it happens every year, but with the recent unemployment rates and economic downturns it would be interesting to see if that impacts the number of food collected and the number needed. You could get a lot of personal stories that would make a nice audio video. Similar to the other two story ideas I would need to make contacts, get background information, interview people who are experts on the subject, and interview other people impacted. http://www.thefoodbank.ca/

My goals for next week is to scope out each story, get necessary background information, and make a decision on which one I want to cover.

By the 18th I want to have already made some contacts.

I want to have visited some of these contacts by the 26th.

The following week, I want to have taken some picture and video so I have something to work with. I also want to be making some decisions on what interactive feature I want to use.

During October, I want to get more in depth and finish up on interviews. I also want to make sure my website is in place.

In November, I want to compile everything and write the article.

In December, I just want to be working on finishing touches and reviewing information I have received.