Lindsay Otten ’14: Kent Fellow in Political Marketing

I can’t believe my Fellowship at SmartVote is over. The 8 weeks really flew by, and I’ll miss the office and getting to work with a bunch of different organizations all the time.

Without any new projects to begin, my last week circled back to the SmartVote web presence. First, I had to teach my Marcia, my supervisor, how to use the social networking accounts I set up, so that they don’t go dark. She loved it, and she’ll be a far more prolific Tweeter than I ever was.

And finally, on my last day, we got a call to come look at the new SmartVote landing page (it isn’t live yet, though it is designed). Unfortunately, the thing looked horrible, and it had nothing to do with the gorgeous layout or images designed by the marketing team. The problem was that Marcia and I had created far less content than was necessary. Our page looked empty and sad.

So we spent my last afternoon at SmartVote frantically trying to write lengthier, more detailed copy for the webpage. We finished, just before closing time, and our new content will add a lot more interest and information to the page. My career at SmartVote ended with finishing up the project I’d originally been assigned to do. Which was fitting, I think.

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I feel so lucky that Cornell gave me the opportunity to participate in the Fellows program. My 8 weeks at SmartVote gave me firsthand experience in an industry that I didn’t even know existed a few months ago.

The political and non-profit marketing I did at SmartVote led me to pursue a paid summer internship with a Washington DC firm, GMMB, that does marketing and public relations for socially progressive causes, non-profits, and political campaigns (their most famous client is Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign).

Without my Cornell Fellowship at SmartVote, I wouldn’t have the skills to land a job in marketing, and I wouldn’t have even thought to apply. But now, I’ll be spending my summer raising awareness about Global Health issues for organizations like the United Nations Foundation. What could be cooler than that?

My cubicle at the SmartVote office.

Marcia threw me a mini going-away party.

My supervisor, Marcia, and I, as we left on my last day.

Lindsay Otten ’14: Kent Fellow in Political Marketing

My biggest project for my 7th week at SmartVote was another one that I won’t be around to see finished. But I did get to start working on issues important to the Iowa Taxpayers Association.

The ITA is a non-profit group whose focus is –of course– tax law. Most of its members are executives at large companies that are based or have a presence in Iowa. The organization is non-partisan, and spends most of its energy lobbying for big-business interests in Des Moines.

Early in the week, Marcia got a call from the one of the board members of the ITA. He expressed some concern about his group’s trajectory, noting that don’t get a lot of press, that they are seen as a partisan organization, and that the research they put out isn’t considered objective. Was there some way SmartVote could help?

And that’s how I spent my whole week researching taxpayer organizations. In the phone call, we got the names of 3 organizations that, while similar in focus, are far more successful than the ITA at creating a sense of legitimacy. I went to websites to find their mission statements, their functions, what kind of staff they have. I read their research reports. I looked for any mention of them in the news. Once I’d gotten a sense of what makes a successful taxpayer organization, I went back and looked at the ITA.

My research report comparing the 4 organizations, including the ITA, ended up showing some pretty obvious action steps that would help the ITA. My report also got sent off to SmartVote’s analyst on the East Coast. That way, if the ITA wanted to continue working with SmartVote, the process could start right away.

It turns out that the ITA was not particularly interested in some of our suggestions. But, they did ask us to come into Des Moines for a meeting to talk about hiring SmartVote. Unfortunately, though, that meeting is going to be the day after my fellowship ends.

MacKenzie Dreeszen ’14: Armstrong Fellow in Food Consumption

This week I worked with Jenny and Matt on developing ideas for children’s activities for urban farm tours. First we determined learning objectives, then formulated hands-on learning activities such as arranging photos of a plant at various stages from seed to plant in the correct order, matching seeds to plants, and teaching children about the history of the farm. Additionally we would include seasonal activities such as harvesting potatoes and planting seeds. I then created a brochure to send to elementary schools, daycare centers, and preschools advertising urban farm tours and I compiled a list of area elementary schools, daycares, and preschools with their addresses and phone numbers. I then wrote a letter to schools and daycares informing them about urban farm tours and gave them our contact information. Jenny received a flyer advertising Soilmates, an interactive youth soil education program offered by Scott Koepke at New Pioneer Co-op. This program focuses on the fundamentals of sun, soil, air, and water for food with a special emphasis on soil health through composting and worms. I contacted Scott about using the Soilmates program at the urban farm, and we will arrange to have him use this program with youth this summer.
I finished entering survey data and attended my last staff meeting, where we discussed summer staff positions, CSA shares, tool collection, and the upcoming newsletter. Matt and I reorganized the Cultivate Hope section of the warehouse. Matt asked me to create a Flickr account for Cultivate Hope, and I set up an account and uploaded photos from the urban farm.
The urban farm will be presented to the Cedar Rapids City Council this month, and I was in charge of creating a PowerPoint presentation with details about the farm’s location, site plans for the farm, and expected positive outcomes from the urban farm. This morning Matt, Courtney, Jared and I had a Cultivate Hope meeting and we reviewed the PowerPoint for the City Council and went over updates on the urban farm, including tilling, planting, the greenhouse, and the ribbon cutting ceremony. I plan to spend my remaining time here analyzing survey data and finishing up an application for the 2012 Midwest Gardening Grant.
It is hard to believe that my Fellowship is already drawing to an end. It seems like my first day here was just yesterday, and I am surprised at how fast these last two months have gone. I have thoroughly enjoyed working with the staff at Matthew 25 and reaching out to residents in Cedar Rapids. This has been an invaluable opportunity that has taught me skills I will use not only in school but as a member of the workforce. I learned how surveys are conducted, from distribution to entering and analyzing data, how the grant application process works, how to plan field trips, the importance of community support, and about sustainable, local food production. This experience refined my writing skills through writing grant applications, developed my critical thinking and problem solving abilities, and I have used time management to prioritize and accomplish tasks by deadline. I will greatly miss the sense of community at Matthew 25, whether it is working on grant applications together, staff meetings, or potlucks, and I hope to keep in touch.

Lindsay Otten ’14: Kent Fellow in Political Marketing

After our success with One Iowa, it was time to work on my official Fellows project: SmartVote’s web presence.

The company’s current website was built a few years ago. Its layout isn’t very fresh, it’s very wordy, and the services described are outdated. I’d already set up a Twitter account, updated the Facebook page, and helped administer a LinkedIn profile through which we could reach out to (and research) potential contacts. But without a functioning website, these were kind of stalled.

So this week Marcia and I met with the marketing and IT departments to talk about setting up a new landing page for SmartVote. This new page would be integrated into the entire AdTrack site, with similar layout and design. It turns out that our simple new webpage (which, while it will provide information, is mostly meant as a place where potential campaigns can let us know they’re interested in our services) should be really simple to set up.

Our next step was to write some content and meet with a graphic designer in the marketing department to talk about a header image. After our big meeting, Marcia and I stayed in the conference room and wrote up some simple copy to go on the landing page. Because it’s not an informational site, we didn’t think it needed much. Later in the week we discussed the graphic and ended it with a gorgeous image for the site.

My other big project for the week was another research assignment for the marketing department. This time, I was looking up contact information for companies whose information could not be found by an expensive online algorithm service. Essentially, I was pitted against a computer to see if I could do a better job. I did, but not by much. Many of the companies AdTrack works with are so massive, or so industry-specific, that they don’t make any contact information or employee names available to the public.

It can be kind of tough to work on bigger projects like the landing page, or this research, because there’s no definitive end. It’s looking like the new SmartVote web page won’t go live until after I’m done with my Fellowship, and even a lot of the companies I get to research or meet with, I won’t have a chance to complete a project for. But at the same time, it’s kind of cool to know that work I’m doing in these 8 weeks is a part of something bigger, and that I’m contributing to real projects.

Anders Swanson ‘12: McConnell International Fellow in Secondary Education

This week I had the very exciting opportunity to host Cornell College students in Ávila! It was a great chance to show my classmates how and where I lived here in Spain and introduce them to the students with whom I work. My students have a great deal of interest in American culture and history, and the Cornell students needed every chance they could get to speak Spanish with Spaniards. After a tour around Ávila and a break for lunch, we began the “intercambio” by speaking in small groups for 45 minutes, alternating between the languages. After that we all climbed up the great walls of Avila to sightsee and continue to talk and learn.

My favorite part was trading slang/colloquial words in each language because they’re things you cannot learn in classroom. I mentioned in an earlier post that one of my challenges as a teacher here in Spain is to trying to instill a passion for learning English. With this opportunity I was able to fulfill that goal to some extent. Speaking with native speakers about their culture brings the language to life, something that is much more difficult in a classroom setting.

I think everyone enjoyed the experience and it was a truly EXTRAORDINARY OPPORTUNITY that would not have been possible without CORNELL COLLEGE.

Below is a picture of some of the language exchange participants.

MacKenzie Dreeszen ’14: Armstrong Fellow in Food Consumption

This week saw a broadened set of tasks for me to perform, such as going to Theisen’s to purchase seed potatoes, grass seed, and starter trays. Never before have I walked out of a farm and garden store with such a full, heavy cart! When I brought my purchases back to Matthew 25 I had to haul them to the Cultivate Hope section of the warehouse, which I will be reorganizing soon with Matt’s help. Because Theisen’s did not have onion plants, I had to order these over the phone from Johnny’s Seeds.
Wednesday was the monthly staff potluck, and we had the privilege of sharing a delicious meal with the AmeriCorp NCCC team while they gave a presentation about their organization. The team will be here for six weeks working on expanding the farm, and they spent the week putting in soil and preparing it for planting. Like the NCCC team that was here a few weeks ago, this team spends 10 months visiting different locations and performing service in the areas of infrastructure, rural and urban improvement, and environmental stewardship. Members are between the ages of 18 and 24. The potluck provided an opportunity for the staff and NCCC team to get to know each other better and share enthusiasm for the urban farm.
The rest of my week was spent putting together a display board for the CSA Fair that took place over the weekend. The purpose of this fair was to educate area residents about CSA (Community-Supported Agriculture) shares and to instill interest in purchasing CSA shares for the urban farm. The display board included site plans for the urban farm, including a master plan, the pavilion, the play area, and the food forest. Additionally, I researched specifications on the greenhouse that will be installed on the urban farm and looked up lot dimensions on the Cedar Rapids Assessor’s website to include with the application for a building permit to the city of Cedar Rapids.

Lindsay Otten ’14: Kent Fellow in Political Marketing

Coming back from the trip to Des Moines was energizing. I’d had a chance to visit the capitol and meet with an organization whose mission I feel really strongly about. Marcia and I just wanted to keep going! So the fifth week of my fellowship ended up being pretty ambitious, especially when it came to reaching out to organizations.
Early in the week we had a meeting with the president of the Iowa State School Board Association. The state school board association is a membership organization for the individual district school boards of Iowa. Member districts get access to reduced-rate services like insurance and building inspection; the group also has a small lobbying body in Des Moines. But right now, the IASB is at a sort of crossroads. In 2010, it was investigated by the FBI for misuse of funds. There’s new leadership now, but the IASB has lost a few members and a lot of trust. It needs to find and build a new identity.
We went in knowing about the IASB’s past problems, but we walked out with the knowledge that they were interested in beginning a strategic planning process, including a survey of their members, sometime this summer. That’s pretty useful information for a marketing firm to have.
By the end of the week, Marcia had written a strategic planning proposal for the Iowa State School Board (I edited). From meeting to the proposal getting emailed, we had less than a week for project turnaround.
The same day we met with the IASB, we got a call from One Iowa. They liked our demo so much that they wanted to get a price quote for AdTrack’s mailing and calling services.
Putting together a proposal is fascinating because it requires multiple departments (print and design, call center, client services) to be in sync; everything has to be cohesive. The whole thing reminded me of a group project on Cornell’s block plan. Everyone had to stop what they were doing, sit down, and work together. And, of course, we were on a serious time crunch (you can’t make a client wait for weeks).
It was my job to take all the little pieces of pricing information and make them match, look pretty and make sense. The whole process, with our multiple rounds of editing, took 2 days. But the time we spent was worth it, because One Iowa commissioned a mailing campaign for the end of March.

Anders Swanson ‘12: McConnell International Fellow in Secondary Education

One thing that I have a lot of trouble with here in la Medalla Milagrosa is discipline. As a language assistant who for the most part does not give grades or punishments like the other teachers, I seem to lack an authority that is necessary to teach. This happens for a variety of reasons ranging from myself outwards towards the culture at large. This creates difficulty when evaluating myself and the situations in which I find myself because often I am at a loss for what to do next.

One example: I often find my students speaking to each other while I’m speaking. I’m sure this happens in schools around the world. What irks me about students talking while I am, is that in the United States, my experience is that they usually attempt to stay quiet, they whisper. Here, students seem to not notice at all that I am talking. They have conversations at a normal volume. At first this drove me up the wall.

As any educator should, I took some time to evaluate the situation. Initially, I wanted to blame the students for being rude. This progressed to finding fault with myself and my teaching style, but the problem persisted even when I created and executed engaging, student-centered lesson plans. I then realized that students do this with the full-time Spanish teachers as well and immediately felt more relieved. In talking with other language assistants working in Avila, I have discovered the same complaint: students regularly talk over the teacher. The trouble lies in whether it is our place to say what is better.

They say that as a teacher you have to pick your own battles, but I am still deciding if this is a battle worth fighting. The students are taught by the culture of the school and their country to act a certain way, it would be remiss for me to try and change something that is out of my control. It is this aspect of student-teaching internationally that is so compelling. It is always a learning experience that leaves me reflecting on my pedagogy, which is exactly what student-teaching should be.

MacKenzie Dreeszen ’14: Armstrong Fellow in Food Consumption

I was assigned the task of ordering seeds for the Matthew 25 urban farm this week, which required me to select seeds from a seed catalog website. We needed to order corn and pumpkin seeds, and I researched varieties of both based on disease resistance, taste, and cost. There were several meetings to attend this week, including a staff meeting and the Healthy Living Coalition at Linn County Public Health. The staff meeting started with a devotion led by Courtney and gave everyone an opportunity to plan and discuss upcoming Matthew 25 events, including HubFest and planting potatoes at the urban farm on Good Friday.
Following the staff meeting, I went to the Healthy Living Coalition meeting at Linn County Public Health. There were several reports and presentations on various health initiatives, including the Blue Zone Project in Cedar Rapids, an effort to obtain funding for the city to improve resident’s health by adding improvements that encourage exercise and healthy lifestyles, the NewBo Market, which is a year-round farmer’s market, and Healthy Footsteps, a program to promote healthier childcare centers and preschools. I gave a report on the USDA fruit and vegetable survey and the urban farm.
Matt and I printed several diagrams detailing our plans for the urban farm design, focusing on storm water management. These site plans will be submitted with the application for the building permit from the City of Cedar Rapids. We also needed to submit further documentation for the Solid Waste Agency grant application such as where our waste is disposed and a memo from Jason Evans at the CRLCSWA following a site visit, and I worked on obtaining this information.

Lindsay Otten ’14: Kent Fellow in Political Marketing

The highlight of my fourth week at SmartVote, and definitely of my time here so far, was my trip to Des Moines this week.

Marcia, my supervisor, and I drove out on Thursday morning. We had an informational lunch meeting, a product demonstration, and a visit to the capitol building.

Over lunch, we chatted with a friend of Marcia’s about the direction in which non-profits are headed in 2012 and the sort of data management they’ll require. Our contact is involved with multiple non-profit organizations, and she was interested enough to schedule a product demo.

It’s truly fascinating to me how so much of business is about who you know and quid pro quo. I’ve come into contact with a few powerful Iowans in the past few weeks, and they are always, always networking. Sure, networking with people 3 times my age is a little intimidating. But at Cornell I’ve had the opportunity to talk to and work with professors who are at the top of their field. It’s not exactly the same, but having that in class experience gives me the confidence to speak up in meetings with some really interesting people.

After lunch, Marcia and I went to give a demo of SmartLead to One Iowa, an organization fighting for marriage equality in the state. We set up a webinar, answered questions, and got a better idea of what kinds of tools non-profits most need. I’m a big fan of One Iowa’s message, and I love having the opportunity to help them better communicate with their supporters.

Late in the afternoon, we took a quick trip to the Iowa State Capitol Building, built in 1873 and covered in murals and gold leaf. We went in the visitor’s entrance, had our bags checked by security, and then headed upstairs to the legislative offices.

We happened to visit the capitol at a really interesting time. The day before, in dispute over the Republicans’ late filing of a bill to erase most state gun restrictions, the House Democrats staged a walk out. The building was full of activity, still buzzing with the previous day’s drama.

Marcia has been in contact with the House Minority Leader Kevin McCarty for a while, but they hadn’t met before, so we stepped into his office to chat. He gave us the inside scoop about the walkout and strategized about the Democratic Party’s lack of a candidate to run for Mt. Vernon/ Lisbon state representative.

I’ve never been inside the US Capitol Building (and it probably wouldn’t have offered us nearly the freedom to wander), so it was amazing to see up close just how the Iowa government works. Especially since I’m working with a political campaign tool, it’s really important that I experience as much local government as possible. So far I’m loving the behind-the-scenes political and non-profit strategizing we’ve been working on. I can definitely see myself doing this for a long time.

The painted ceiling of the capitol rotunda.

Here I am with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarty, in the area of his office where he conducts press conferences.

Here I'm standing right outside the Senate floor.