I found Simulated Business Week 2 being very hard indeed especially with communicating with 60 other of my fellow course students to bring together and present a final system to the general public.
But, in the end we did and very successfully as I thought the final presentation went extremely well and everyone involved with the project incredibly proud of it and something that everyone should be extremely proud of! A+++
Tuesday 3 April 2007
Week Three - Implementation / Marketing
In the final week of Simulated Business Week 2, I would be implementing my feature alongside Rory Marsh. Our feature was designed to show the financial breakdown of all events in terms of how much money was made and how much money was spent.
We were also both in the marketing group and therefore had to stay up to date with the tasks of the marketing department also.
The week started with the feature being changed, by using database queries to query the current database being built by the database department. These queries consisted of showing how much money was made by the various event types and by various members of staff.
The feature was eventually built and then integrated into the main system and in the ‘Review Event’ section of the system, the documentation was also done and uploaded to the discussion forum.
Marketing tasks also had to be done, especially on the last Thursday and Friday, with the food being prepared and placed onto plates and then taken down to the Marconi LT, drinks being prepared and taken down to the Marconi LT, we also had to get big canisters of hot water which would be used to allow people to have tea and coffee.
The boards in the Marconi LT would also have to be covered and slides showing our system being stuck onto them.
We were also both in the marketing group and therefore had to stay up to date with the tasks of the marketing department also.
The week started with the feature being changed, by using database queries to query the current database being built by the database department. These queries consisted of showing how much money was made by the various event types and by various members of staff.
The feature was eventually built and then integrated into the main system and in the ‘Review Event’ section of the system, the documentation was also done and uploaded to the discussion forum.
Marketing tasks also had to be done, especially on the last Thursday and Friday, with the food being prepared and placed onto plates and then taken down to the Marconi LT, drinks being prepared and taken down to the Marconi LT, we also had to get big canisters of hot water which would be used to allow people to have tea and coffee.
The boards in the Marconi LT would also have to be covered and slides showing our system being stuck onto them.
Week Two - Marketing
Week Two carried on from where week one had finished really, our marketing group continued to meet everyday at 10am to discuss any new tasks that had to be completed or what tasks had already been completed.
It was hard to balance out all the tasks that had to complete as many people would be implementing their features in the first two weeks. But we still managed well.
In the second week we advertised our eevent exhibition on the university’s nerve radio station, and we also had printed out and distributed our banners all over the university to market our exhibition to other members of the university.
Week Two would mainly be used to plan what we would be doing in the final week as the final week was the time that many of our taks would come into affect.
It was hard to balance out all the tasks that had to complete as many people would be implementing their features in the first two weeks. But we still managed well.
In the second week we advertised our eevent exhibition on the university’s nerve radio station, and we also had printed out and distributed our banners all over the university to market our exhibition to other members of the university.
Week Two would mainly be used to plan what we would be doing in the final week as the final week was the time that many of our taks would come into affect.
Week One - Marketing
In the first week everyone in the marketing group would meet at 10am to discuss what our plan was over the coming weeks and discuss any new ideas anyone had. We would meet usually in the little meeting room next to Dr Andrew Main’s office and that would be our general meeting place over the next three weeks.
We initially discussed what the whole marketing groups objectives were for the coming weeks including banners, leaflets, radio, food, drink, presentation boards amongst other things. In the first week I was given the task of designing and creating the banner which would be used to advertise the exhibition.
The exhibition had finally been given a name which was called ‘eEvent’ and we therefore purchased a website known as ‘www.eevent.biz’. We also had a logo designed and created using fireworks which I would need when designing the banner for our exhibition.
I then designed the banner and showed it to everyone at our next marketing meeting. These meetings incidentally would be taking place everyday at 10am, but on Fridays we would meet with Ian Scott to discuss our other marketing strategies that he had ideas for.
We initially discussed what the whole marketing groups objectives were for the coming weeks including banners, leaflets, radio, food, drink, presentation boards amongst other things. In the first week I was given the task of designing and creating the banner which would be used to advertise the exhibition.
The exhibition had finally been given a name which was called ‘eEvent’ and we therefore purchased a website known as ‘www.eevent.biz’. We also had a logo designed and created using fireworks which I would need when designing the banner for our exhibition.
I then designed the banner and showed it to everyone at our next marketing meeting. These meetings incidentally would be taking place everyday at 10am, but on Fridays we would meet with Ian Scott to discuss our other marketing strategies that he had ideas for.
Introduction to Last Three Weeks SB2
After the final design specifications had been finalised for all features concerning our event management system, it was time for everyone to start implementing their features. This implementation was done in one of the three weeks leading to the final presentation, with the other two weeks meant to be used to work within the designated groups doing the various tasks.
My group was the marketing group and I was therefore implementing my feature in week three as many features would needed to be built in the first two weeks before my feature would be used.
To summarise I would be with my marketing group in weeks one and two and then implementing my feature in the final week three, with the presentation being held on the final Friday 30th March 2007, in the Marconi Lecture Theatre.
My group was the marketing group and I was therefore implementing my feature in week three as many features would needed to be built in the first two weeks before my feature would be used.
To summarise I would be with my marketing group in weeks one and two and then implementing my feature in the final week three, with the presentation being held on the final Friday 30th March 2007, in the Marconi Lecture Theatre.
Tuesday 27 February 2007
Deliverable Week 5: Updated Money Made Feature
This post below was taken from the recently submitted updated specification of the Money Made Feature, which includes a new look to the spreadsheet at the bottom.
(*All the figures in the spreadsheet are made up, and therefore fictional*)
---------------------------------------------------------------
Updated Specification
The button below is the ‘View Financial Summary’ button which would be made available to the user on the Home Page of the System along with the other features available to the user.
The button will look like this:
The button will look like this:
By looking at the spreadsheet it can be seen that there are various costs listed as well as a few sales that were made including Ticket Sales.
But I have decided to include within the spreadsheet to include a new update that will list the cost of each item as swell as the sales, which will then be calculated and then at the end the overall operating profit (Money Made) of the event can be calculated.
I have also maintained the colour scheme of Blue background with a white font:
But I have decided to include within the spreadsheet to include a new update that will list the cost of each item as swell as the sales, which will then be calculated and then at the end the overall operating profit (Money Made) of the event can be calculated.
I have also maintained the colour scheme of Blue background with a white font:
Monday 12 February 2007
Deliverable Week 3: Financial Breakdown Feature
This post below was taken from my report on the feature that I was responsible for, which was to display the Financial Breakdown of an example event which was the Bournemouth University SummerBall 2006.
(*All the figures in the spreadsheet are made up, and therefore fictional*)
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View Financial Breakdown Feature – Seyhan Ertugrul
The area of the event management system I will be implementing is the viewing the financial breakdown (‘Money Made’) of the event section on the record event part.
This section will have a:
- Front End – Rory Marsh (Inputting figures and sending it to the database)
- Back End – Seyhan Ertugrul (Taking the figures from the database and placing it into an excel spreadsheet)
Once the user has entered the figures of the event into the web based form, these figures would then be submitted and then placed into the database.
Then my section will then get these figures from the database and place them into an excel spreadsheet (view below) to view a financial breakdown of the event.
By looking at the screenshot below, we can see an example of how the spreadsheet would look like and then be turned into graphs or charts to show a financial analysis of the event.
This can simply be accessed by clicking on the ‘View Financial Breakdown’ button on the user web space.
(*All the figures in the spreadsheet are made up, and therefore fictional*)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
View Financial Breakdown Feature – Seyhan Ertugrul
The area of the event management system I will be implementing is the viewing the financial breakdown (‘Money Made’) of the event section on the record event part.
This section will have a:
- Front End – Rory Marsh (Inputting figures and sending it to the database)
- Back End – Seyhan Ertugrul (Taking the figures from the database and placing it into an excel spreadsheet)
Once the user has entered the figures of the event into the web based form, these figures would then be submitted and then placed into the database.
Then my section will then get these figures from the database and place them into an excel spreadsheet (view below) to view a financial breakdown of the event.
By looking at the screenshot below, we can see an example of how the spreadsheet would look like and then be turned into graphs or charts to show a financial analysis of the event.
This can simply be accessed by clicking on the ‘View Financial Breakdown’ button on the user web space.
Deliverable Week 3: Designing Feature Set
In this weeks deliverable we were told in the lecture that we would again be working in the big groups of 3, to pick a feature each and design it.
All the features were discussed in the proposal from the week before, and we therefore had to split the features between the 16 or so people in the 3 groups.
This was done by more discussions taking place over the myBU discussion board, where people selected the feature they thought they could design the best.
But as everyone had selected a feature, discussions still needed to take place where by people needed to discuss the consistency of design, to keep the same elements of the designing similar to everyone else's.
My responsibility for this deliverable was to design the 'Money Made' feature, which will now be known as the 'Financial Breakdown' feature.
This feature was broken into two sections, one being the front end and the other being the back end of the feature.
Front-End
- Would be carried out by Rory Marsh, where by he would design a web based form allowing the user to enter the financial figures of a specific event and then clicking on the 'Submit' button which would then be sent and saved to the database.
Back-End
- Would be carried out by myself, where I would place a button (along with the other buttons available to the user on their account) to allow the user to click on it and view a Financial Summary of the event.
- It would be broken down as a financial analysis, in the form of an excel spreadsheet where all the figures from all the various elements of the event would be displayed.
These figures can then be manipulated and implemented by he user, however they see fit, by possibly converting them into graphs and further financial analysis.
All the features were discussed in the proposal from the week before, and we therefore had to split the features between the 16 or so people in the 3 groups.
This was done by more discussions taking place over the myBU discussion board, where people selected the feature they thought they could design the best.
But as everyone had selected a feature, discussions still needed to take place where by people needed to discuss the consistency of design, to keep the same elements of the designing similar to everyone else's.
My responsibility for this deliverable was to design the 'Money Made' feature, which will now be known as the 'Financial Breakdown' feature.
This feature was broken into two sections, one being the front end and the other being the back end of the feature.
Front-End
- Would be carried out by Rory Marsh, where by he would design a web based form allowing the user to enter the financial figures of a specific event and then clicking on the 'Submit' button which would then be sent and saved to the database.
Back-End
- Would be carried out by myself, where I would place a button (along with the other buttons available to the user on their account) to allow the user to click on it and view a Financial Summary of the event.
- It would be broken down as a financial analysis, in the form of an excel spreadsheet where all the figures from all the various elements of the event would be displayed.
These figures can then be manipulated and implemented by he user, however they see fit, by possibly converting them into graphs and further financial analysis.
Deliverable 2: Proposal of a Web-Based System
The task for this week was to contribute to a more detailed proposal for a web-based system from each group.
This would therefore mean that our group 9, would be joining with members of groups 5 and 6, to put together a more detailed proposal for a web based system.
By using the discussion forum, the report was split into sections that pairs could contribute to.
I was paired with Mark Mortlock, in contributing to the 'introduction' of the proposal, in which we would introduce the proposal for the web-based system and discuss our consultancy and then discuss the aims of the company.
Aims:
This would therefore mean that our group 9, would be joining with members of groups 5 and 6, to put together a more detailed proposal for a web based system.
By using the discussion forum, the report was split into sections that pairs could contribute to.
I was paired with Mark Mortlock, in contributing to the 'introduction' of the proposal, in which we would introduce the proposal for the web-based system and discuss our consultancy and then discuss the aims of the company.
Aims:
- To create a professional and robust Record Event feature that is implemented on time and within budget.
- To enhance the existing image of your company by implementing an effective marketing campaign.
- To increase profitability by implementing a number of financial techniques.
- To enhance profitability with a different marketing campaign aimed at a wide variety of people.
- Ensuring customer support is always made available.
These aims were then added to the introduction of the web-based proposal.
Review of Thinkature.com
The review below is a review of www.thinkature.com which was completed by myself and formed part of a group review conducted by group 9 as the first deliverable of our Simulated Business Week2:
www.thinkature.com
The website seems to work well by providing users the ability to use instant messaging whilst inside a visual workspace, that people can interact with.
It can be used as a:
- Collaboration Environment
- Meeting Room
- Personal Web Based Whiteboard
Thinkature allows users to communicate interactively over a whiteboard and share ideas, and carry out procedures in a synchronous manner, so there is no need to keep pressing the refresh button.
Another great advantage of Thinkature is that it can be accessed from any web browser which means that, it can be accessed and worked with 24 hours a day, from all over the world, which enables people who are not next to one another to still interact with what they are doing.
Thinkature is also free, and has no adverts in the website what so ever and is very easy to use.
Thinkature also provides users with help in many ways, including:
- Online help forums
- Bloggs
- Thinkature-Wiki (Online Help Guide)
- Or to email them directly with any questions or queries
I found the website very basic, without any ‘high end’ graphics or animations, which is a very good thing, as it allows the users to use the tools be provided to them in a very quick and simple manner, and gets to the point very quickly of what the website is all about.
The website also allows the user to try out the features before you go and sign up as a way to act as an incentive for the user but also to give them a taster of what the full capabilities of the website entail.
The workspaces are persistent and therefore never need saving as they are done so automatically.
Thinkature also now allows users to chat and communicate in real time with the ability to hold voice conversations online.
All in all I found Thinkature to be an excellent website offering users the ability to use their whiteboard workspaces for free of charge.
The website seems to work well by providing users the ability to use instant messaging whilst inside a visual workspace, that people can interact with.
It can be used as a:
- Collaboration Environment
- Meeting Room
- Personal Web Based Whiteboard
Thinkature allows users to communicate interactively over a whiteboard and share ideas, and carry out procedures in a synchronous manner, so there is no need to keep pressing the refresh button.
Another great advantage of Thinkature is that it can be accessed from any web browser which means that, it can be accessed and worked with 24 hours a day, from all over the world, which enables people who are not next to one another to still interact with what they are doing.
Thinkature is also free, and has no adverts in the website what so ever and is very easy to use.
Thinkature also provides users with help in many ways, including:
- Online help forums
- Bloggs
- Thinkature-Wiki (Online Help Guide)
- Or to email them directly with any questions or queries
I found the website very basic, without any ‘high end’ graphics or animations, which is a very good thing, as it allows the users to use the tools be provided to them in a very quick and simple manner, and gets to the point very quickly of what the website is all about.
The website also allows the user to try out the features before you go and sign up as a way to act as an incentive for the user but also to give them a taster of what the full capabilities of the website entail.
The workspaces are persistent and therefore never need saving as they are done so automatically.
Thinkature also now allows users to chat and communicate in real time with the ability to hold voice conversations online.
All in all I found Thinkature to be an excellent website offering users the ability to use their whiteboard workspaces for free of charge.
Deliverable 1: Review of www.thinkature.com
This was the first deliverable of the assessment, where by we had to look at a website assigned to our group and review it.
The main elements of the website were broken down into many parts as shown below:
1) Purpose:
The main elements of the website were broken down into many parts as shown below:
1) Purpose:
- Marketing Approach
- Financial Strategy
2) Review of the Features with the idea of implementing an events management system:
- Identifying functional/non-functional elements.
- Grouping the features logically and identifying the links between them.
3) Competing Websites:
- Identifying Differences/Similarities
4) Implementation:
- How they are implemented?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now, I had to go away and do my own individual review of the 'thinkature' website, which i found to be very good as it allowed me to review in detail the main elements of the website, which included discussing the main advantages and disadvntages of the site along with all the other elements I have discussed above.
Simulated Business WK2 Launch
We had a lecture about the new simulated business week and were given the project handout and placed into groups, where by every week there would be a task to be done and completed and handed in every Monday by 4pm.
Discussions and messaging with other memebers of the group would be done by using the myBu discussion forum of the Business Application Development unit.
This discussion board would allow group members to be in contact with one another in discussing and carrying out the relevant tasks.
I was placed into group 9 along with 5 others, and our first task/deliverable was to review a website (www.thinkature.com ) and then do an outline proposal for the system and then the ''investors'' will decide which event management area (make event, attend event or record event) will go forward for further development..
Discussions and messaging with other memebers of the group would be done by using the myBu discussion forum of the Business Application Development unit.
This discussion board would allow group members to be in contact with one another in discussing and carrying out the relevant tasks.
I was placed into group 9 along with 5 others, and our first task/deliverable was to review a website (www.thinkature.com ) and then do an outline proposal for the system and then the ''investors'' will decide which event management area (make event, attend event or record event) will go forward for further development..
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