Halfway through the project woo! Week 5 psht, no problemo.
So this week was again filled to the brim which I cannot be happier to report upon. So just to give a quick background, which I am positive is more than likely in order, I have been involved in something called development of operations which is what has taken up all of my meetings. What devops (what the cool kids call it) involves is crowdfunding campaigns and outreach to various audiences in order to bolster our public relations as well as gain valuable marketing data. As an example, BlocPower recently put out numerous Facebook ads to see if that would attract customers to donate. We targeted a variety of ages and races dispersed throughout the Bronx and Queens as part of the project and have gained really interesting insights we are trying to work off of. These insights include that the landing pages that people are taken to after clicking on ads makes a big difference on converted customers (that is those who make donations to numerous retrofits for churches on our website) which we took note of in the most recent (yesterday) sprint meeting. This meeting also included something else which I thought from a business development perspective to be invaluable: surveying people. We initially discussed doing focus groups but a problem that often arises from these is that the desired audience (young, college-educated for us) is difficult to achieve and they are often really time-consuming and expensive. So we decided upon surveys, the draft of which has been circling around the team so we can develop something pretty enough to ask our audience (in this case, middle-aged and higher income) because as you all know the wording of polls/surveys can sway results dramatically.
In terms of the work I got done in the office this week, I did a lot of data cleaning which is basically looking up buildings generated by Salesforce (a business development tool) and seeing if they have valid BBL and BIN numbers (numbers buildings in NYC must have in order to be considered “valid”). I know I mentioned the wiki stuff last week but that still needs to get set up so the coding for that project might have to wait…I know I know I’m excited for starting that too.
Anyway, will be sure to include some pictures next week. Until another day my fellow readers.
Hi Kayvon! Looks like you're getting to see all sides of running a start up. Glad you're enjoying your time at BlocPower!
ReplyDeleteHey Gillian! I am certainly seeing all the wonderful sides to working for BlocPower which has been truly humbling. I will continue to enjoy working here and look forward to your future input!
DeleteHey Kayvon! It seems you have been doing a lot of work this week. So what is What Develops? Keep up your hard work!
ReplyDeleteHey Oscar! Not sure what you meant by "What Develops" but I think that's autocorrect trying to translate Devops :). Great question, so devops is a collaborative practice used to streamline our software and marketing campaigns into something cohesive. Thanks for the input and will continue to keep you updated!
DeleteHi Kayvon! Is it really already Week 5? That went by really fast! I can't wait to hear more about the success of the survey and the wiki stuff.
ReplyDeleteHey Dani! That sure did go fast. Glad the process has been interesting and more to come in the much look forwarded to (not really) Week 6 post. Thanks!
DeleteHey Kayvon, it looks like you are learning a lot with your time in New York. With this being said, what do you think Is the most important information you learned so far? Also, what is your favorite aspect to living in New York?
ReplyDeleteGood luck,
Harrison Miao
Hey Harrison. I think the most important piece of information that I have learned thus far has been combining some of the research and information gathering tools I acquired in BASIS with work in an office environment. So I'd say that's the most important piece of information that I've learned, that is combining those two elements. My favorite aspect to living in New York would probably have to be that there's always something happening (an event, a concert, etc.) no matter where I go which has been something I have gladly become acclimated to. Thanks for the input!
DeleteHello Kayvon! Are the donations only being used for the churches or are other buildings receiving the donations as well? Anyways, looking forward to next week!
ReplyDeleteHey Jackson! So on our website we have three churches that people can make donations to, and that is usually the type of buildings people give money to (as they belong to those congregations). Thanks for the question!
DeleteHey Kayvon! I am very interested in the facebook ad campaign. Which demographics have been most interested in your project? Good luck and have fun!
ReplyDeleteHey Michael! The people most interested in our project have been middle-aged, men (most likely project managers), though it is difficult to precisely tell (because we filter who can see our Facebook ads). Thanks for the awesome question!
DeleteI can see that you are really getting into the nitty gritty of managing blocpower. What is an example of data from surveys effecting your operations?
ReplyDeleteHey Ahmad! I certainly am getting more involved with BlocPower which is really exciting. In terms of your question, we are not using data as much as we are using knowledge of our clientele base that we want to target for interest loans. Thanks for the input!
DeleteSounds like your Blocpower work has been successful and helpful. Even though the coding week is next week, it seems that even some of the office work is helping. Good luck with your coding!
ReplyDeleteHey Ravi! BlocPower has been really helpful, especially applying some of the knowledge-based skills in a work environment. Thanks for the good tidings and I hope to continue to help people here at the office. Thanks!
DeleteHey Kayvon! It sounds like you are working with a new interesting aspect of working with blocpower. How exactly did you target a variety of ages and races dispersed throughout the Bronx and Queens? I hope the rest of your time in New York is just as exciting, if not more exciting.
ReplyDeleteHey Kirill. The aspects that I have been working with in BlocPower truly have added to my nuanced experience here. I did not personally target our clients, but members of our team did it through a feature in Facebook that allows people to manage/filter who is targeted and what kinds of people view our ads. Thanks!
DeleteHi Kayvon, Wow it seems like you have truly gotten to see all sides of BlocPower. Your understanding on what is going on at this company is commendable. Keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteHey Frida! You saying that really means a lot considering you have such a great handle on your project! Thanks and I will be sure to do my best (which hopefully is good work :)).
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