Method 6: Five Stars

Star #1: Capstone Project Day One
Situation/Task: My class was assigned to organize ourselves in order to host an event for a local charity.
Action: I took everyone's opinions on what sort of event we should hold.  When the board was full, I held a preliminary vote on the top three choices.  From there, I asked each of the idea champions (those people who had come up with the ideas) to defend their idea. 
Result: We elected to hold a Bowling Event for the Detroit Institute for Children.  The class divided itself into functional teams, and  I became the leader of the marketing team, and coordinated the class' efforts to keep everyone on track.  The class raised over $5,000 for the Detroit Institute for Children.

Star #2: Capstone Project, Continuous Success
Situation/task: The marketing team set its own goals for success; one of these goals was to maximize the capacity of the bowling alley.  This particular bowling alley could accommodate 360 bowlers, and we only had five weeks and no budget to advertise.
Action: I polled the team about what everyone thought would be the best way of promoting the event. I then assigned each team member to champion a project.
Result: The team succeeded in pursuing more forms of promotion than one would have thought possible.  We were advertised in newspapers, on television, on the radio and fliers all over the tri-county area.  Though we did not achieve our goal of maximum capacity, I am proud of the wide range of exposure we achieved for our event.

Star #3: The Provide.net Experience
Situation/Task: I signed on to a struggling company with the intention of turning it around.  This company was pigeonholed a declining market and the attention of the owner was divided, and he was not able to focus exclusively on the company.
Action: I did an analysis and determined that at its disposal the company had ample human resources and upstream bandwidth; the two ingredients necessary for a web design department.  I taught myself HTML, CSS and the use of some common content management systems .  In the technicians' free time, I trained them in these techniques.  I also updated Provide.net's website to appear more modern and business-like.
Result: Provide.net is able to offer website maintenance and support to its customers, and now advertises itself as a full Internet Solutions Provider.  The technicians are able to support website related issues, allowing the operations manager to focus his time on improving the business.


Star #4: International Institute Incident:
Situation: I was asked to direct the summer camp at the International Institute of Metropolitan Detroit, with minimal support from my superior, an absentee volunteer staff, no budget.

Action: I did a lot of research and found multi-cultural activities that would appeal to kids of all ages.  I contacted local cultural groups and proposed they use our camp as an opportunity to promote their work.  I created a partnership with the local library for weekly visits.
Result: A very successful camp experience!  Although the first week was a bit rocky, by the end of eight weeks the campers had a great time, and had a new appreciation for the great diversity of people in the world.


Star #5: Pretty Lake Office
Situation: The previous year's office staff at Pretty Lake Vacation Camp had left its offices in complete disarray.  Counselors were not receiving necessary medical information on time, and the camp was at risk of failing a government audit of camper financial information.
Action: I stepped in and became the assistant office manager.  I took care of all the day-to-day clerical activities to allow the Office Manager to get the office in working order.  I also implemented filing systems, and worked on digitizing camper files.
Result: I came up with a system for filing and disseminating information that meant that not only were counselors given their camper's medical information immediately, but all records were kept in compliance with government regulations.