Friday, March 17, 2017

Week 6

Week 6, more like this week has been sick (no but seriously I think I am coming down with something). Anyway glad we made it this far guys. 

So just as a quick update for the weather on the east coast, snow has provided a very real paradox for me. While I do love sledding down snowy hills and making snow angels, the weather has impacted my involvement with 5th St. Farm. As most people know, gardens and icy, snow-ridden weather do not mix so we will see if that volunteer opportunity will carry out which is slightly disappointing. 

But aside from that piece of bad news, this week has been really great. I did most of my research by creating some blog content for BlocPower’s Marketplace website and read into some blog content generated by an intern that previously worked with BlocPower. One of the pieces this author wrote included information about Hempstead High School, a school that installed solar panels in their school and used it to create classes about solar energy. It felt like chance and coincidence mixed as I happened upon this article, because as you all know this is the topic I am researching. 


In addition to creating/looking into blog content, I also did some interesting (though that might be relative) work. So I went through a number of python tutorials to prepare myself for the much anticipated wiki site (which amazingly worked yesterday but crashed today). This included a resource called “Automate the Boring Stuff,” a site that a coworker provided and has proved to be really helpful. What’s really exciting is that while the wiki site is being finished, I can spend time learning a different type of code, HTML, which I am in the early stages of becoming involved with.

And then onto the topic of meetings. Meetings this week mostly consisted of talking about our second round of Facebook ads and finishing up the editing of our survey which I mentioned in last week’s post. The results of that survey, if I am not mistaken, should be out next week which I will soon report on. Finally, while we talking abut meetings, I just wanted to mention something interesting that came up in our all hands meeting which is that when our senior team pitches BlocPower to investors they all have to be on the same page about BlocPower’s vision and its scalability (which manifests into the 3 P’s-people, profit, and product) which I thought a valuable piece of marketing advice.


Anyways, ’til next week fellow readers.




20 comments:

  1. Hey Kayvon! I hope you feel better soon. Congrats on the developments...I hope you get the site all figured out. It sure sounds like you are learning a bunch of valuable lessons.

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    1. Hey Dani! Thanks for the input as I have already learned many valuable lessons, like how volunteering for a garden in peak winter season is not the greatest idea :).

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  2. Hey Kayvon,

    Sounds great that you have been learning a new type of code. Also it is very unfortunate that you can maybe not participate in the volunteer opportunity at the school. Exited to see what you have done this week!

    Thanks,
    Harrison Miao

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    1. Hey Harrison! Yes HTML and Python have been treating me well so I cannot complain. Although the volunteering opportunity did not pan out I am glad that I have found some nice online resources that have provided valuable supplements to my research. Look forward to your input soon.

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  3. Hey Kayvon! What is it like transitioning from an object oriented programming language to a tagged programming language? Get well soon!

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    1. Hey Michael, great question! It's not so much a transition as you put it because I am still learning both simultaneously but I will say HTML just from observing code is much simpler to pick out contextually. Thanks!

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  4. Hey Kayvon! How successful have the Facebook ads been? Are they the primary mode of advertising you have?

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    1. Hey Ahmad! The Facebook ads have not been very successful but that is simply because in our initial run, the landing page was our website which made making donations to our projects all the more confusing. And to answer your latter question, they are the primary mode of advertising we have used thus far, though we have developed prominent SEO channels through our blog and social media (i.e. Twitter). Thanks!

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  5. Hey Kayvon! I hope you don't get sick. It's great to hear from you. It's a shame that your 5th St. Farm plans may have gotten ruined. However, it's great to hear that you're diversifying your knowledge of code and learning new languages. How has your role at BlocPower changed since you first started? I wish you the best of luck with dealing with future developments.

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    1. Hey Kirill! I think that's a great question and I think my role has changed from someone that was a passive notetaker to someone dynamic and engaged. That transition is purely a credit to the coworkers on my sprint and tech team, both of which have eased me into my newly acquired role. Thanks!

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  6. Sorry to hear about the 5th St. Farm and the weather. At least its better than 90 degrees in Arizona(hopefully). The wiki page seems to be going well and its cool you're learning HTML. Good luck with your research!

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    1. Hey Ravi! I think Arizona weather is looking pretty good right about now :), and to your point the wiki page is going well as I develop some more coding skills. Thanks again!

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  7. Hey Kayvon. Sorry to hear about the weather ruining your plans. Will you be able to return to that opportunity once the weather improves? Anyways, looking forward to next week!

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    1. Hey Jackson! While it is possible in the next four weeks that the weather improves enough for me to join 5th St. Farm, the impact I will have there will be minimal because I will have limited time to allot there. Thanks!

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  8. Wow! I guess your temperature was rising when New York's was lowering! (I don't need to explain that). Anyways, I hope you were able to overcome the aforementioned obstacles! And congrats on the wiki site that you you got working (I am sure you worked out the bugs that made it crash).

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    1. Hey Garik! I can't exactly be credited with getting the wiki site up as that was the work of some of the developers here. Anyways thanks regardless and look forward to your input soon.

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  9. Learning all this coding seems like a really great opportunity. What exactly does the "Automate the Boring Stuff" do? I look forward to next week's post!

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    1. Hey Gillian! "Automate the Boring Stuff" is an online coding resource that teaches step-by-step processes for beginners to learn Python. Thanks!

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  10. Hey Kayvon! From what I have read you have learned a ton over the past few weeks. It's crazy to see that you are so involved in every process. Can't wait to hear more!

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    1. Hey Frida! I certainly hope to accomplish more in the coming weeks and look forward to sharing my future work. Thanks!

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