The idea of time moving faster than you realize can be scary when things like a big group project need to be completed. Having been given the assignment of helping KIB with a video, I expected hurdles to be jumped over, but I am very surprised at the amount of tasks that had to be knocked out before progress could be made. Rallying as a team and getting things accomplished is not difficult with the individuals we have working on this video. Passion, motivation, communication, critiquing, etc... It's all evident when Stephanie, Brad, Nan, Michael, Paige, and I are together discussing or working on the project, and it's literally been able to open each of our eyes on what needs to be done. Having just completed interviews at KIB, I have found even more confidence that this video will turn out better than expected!
What exactly is my role though? As someone who is used to the term, "project manager", I know what that role calls for and I recognize that it is a lot of work, especially when I have a Capstone to focus on, but alas.....I prevail! (so far at least!) It hasn't been easy but I feel that my role is to push along and move the project forward when no one is doing so, it's natural for people to be quickly burned out on something as large as this, and I am certainly one of them, but I consider one of my primary duties is to keep everyone on their toes and remind them what needs to be done. Communication through Facebook has been a big part of how I keep up with everyone in the group, recently I found out just how easy it is to have miscommunication when I misread a message from days ago only to find out that we might have wasted a day we could have used. It was frustrating, but knowing my project manager duties I had to correct it, so I started posting more general updates for everyone.....lesson learned.
Having personally gone on every location shoot we've done, I feel it's important that I am there as a "visible" leader, even when none of us really want to give up one of our weekend days to go film video at a park. It's a great feeling to all rally together and get some good footage for the project though, the worst part is always organizing everyone together, but once we are there, things go really well. Another one of my roles was being in charge of equipment and that was a challenge in itself. I'm not very knowledgeable when it comes to video equipment and there is a lot of terms that are thrown out there and times where I had to just shake my head and nod hoping for the best! I was able to check everything out and turn it back in within a 24 hour period that had me driving back and forth on a tight schedule, but I was able to make it work.
At the actual shoot, I got there early to set up with Brad and Michael, and even though there were a few technical it went together very smoothly. I was very pleased with everyone and still am in the full scope of the project, there has not been one person I feel is slacking. Everyone plays a part and this project is the stage! I look forward to showing off what we have so far tomorrow when we present!
