Waiting on the fun

So far, I feel like we have been working on a lot of planning. How many bags, how much, when, where, etc. I just want to get the bags and start selling them asap. If by some miracle we can get them before this weekend that would give us a great start. I just want to mention, I am so impressed by Ignacio's ability to work proactively on this project! His wonderful and extensive spreadsheet and his ability to be on task with Stuart are all very impressive and appreciated.

Here is the e-mail that I sent to Cassie from Bouldin Creek:

Cassie,

My name is Christy Camp and I am a graduate student from the School of Social Work at UT. I am currently part of a class called Global Project Development run by Professor Dorie Gilbert. Our class has partnered with the McCombs School of Business MBA program and Trashy Bags, a nonprofit based out of Ghana. Trashy Bags recycles water sachets (West Africa's form of a water bottle) and creates recyclable shopping bags in various sizes. Trashy Bags employs women with HIV/AIDS that otherwise would not be able to get work and support their families in Ghana. Currently, we are trying to raise $5,000 to open a new factory so Trashy Bags can start producing more bags to sell to stores like Whole Foods. As part of our fundraising, we need to sell more bags! I was wondering if we could possibly set up a table in front of Bouldin to sell our bags. I have attached pictures and the Trashy Bag website link. 

Trashy Bags website

If you have any questions you may reach Dr. Dorie Gilbert at the following e-mail address:
dgm@mail.utexas.edu

Best,
Christy Camp
817-988-1543

________________________

I got an e-mail from Cassie from Bouldin Creek that read:

Hi Christy, 

We would love to have you participate in the Bouldin Brunch Bizarre. I love the idea and what you are raising money for. Here's a little bit of information on the event. 

Set up is free to you! Every penny earned is yours to keep. Vendors are responsible for own table and seating. Optional tent/canopy is recommended, but not required.  We ask that Vendors arrive at 7am on schedule date for set up. Selling hours are from the hours of 8am-2pm. Vendors will receive bottomless drip coffee and iced teas and will receive a ticket for one free espresso drink. 

Christy, the next available date I have for vending is Saturday November 3rd. Will this date work for you? If so, Please let me know as soon as possible and I will email the Vendor Contract to you. 

Talk soon, 
Cassie Ransdell  

____________________________________

I have not been able to reply because I am unsure about when we will get our bags in. Hopefully we will know soon!

In other news, my art friend Tim Opsahl has a website with some of his work:
Click Here for his portfolio. Tim has agreed to make our logo for our World AIDS Day event.

I look forward to seeing everyone tomorrow!

ps - I am yet to here back from Barton Springs Farmer's Market.

Getting the word out on Trashy Bags

This past week I have been trying to get in contact with different sites where we can sell the Trashy Bags we plan on ordering. Once we have our 100 trashy bags, we certainly need to be able to make money off of them! So, I have been scouring Austin for potential sites where we can become vendors.

#1 - The Austin Farmer's Market - Website Link
Unfortunately, this Farmer's Market (the premier market in town with over three sites) is highly exclusive and prefers only locally made products. I spoke to Suzanne Santos, the Director of Community Relations, about possibly having Trashy Bags as a vendor and she outright told me we would not qualify. I have the application if anyone would like to take a peek, but it's also on the website.

#2 - Bouldin Creek Brunch Market - Website Link
I have e-mailed Cathy, the woman in charge of setting up the vendors at Bouldin Creek. If you have not ever been to Bouldin Creek, it's a fabulous vegetarian/vegan restaurant on South 1st Street that is absolutely PACKED on the weekends. On the weekends from 7am to 3pm there are vendors in the front lawn selling different homemade items. I briefly spoke to restaurant staff (there is no manager) and they thought that Trash Bags could get a spot on the lawn! I have e-mailed Cathy all our information as well as links to the Trashy Bags website and Dr. Gilbert's e-mail if she has any further questions. This looks like it could become a reality, so finger's crossed!

#3 - Barton Springs Farmer's market - Website Link
This market is more friendly and accepting to vendor's who sell arts and crafts, homemade widgets, etc. I called the individual in charge of accepting new "sellers" and was able to leave a message. I have not yet heard a reply. I went ahead and filled out our application and faxed it in on Friday, so hopefully early this week we will hear something.

#4 - 23rd Street Artist's Market (located on the drag) - Website Link
This outdoor market, which I'm sure all of you are familiar with, is generally reserved for artists and handicrafts. I thought it would be worth it to try and see if we could get Trashy Bags included, though. It always looks so busy! The website has no application and there is no phone number that I could find. If anyone else wants to try and find a way to contact them, that would be great. I had no luck.

#5 - Austin Cooperatives - Website Link
This idea requires a lot of work. I found the directory of Austin Co-ops and I thought that we could contact some and just tell the story of Trashy Bags and see if they would like to purchase some bags. There are many different types of Co-ops, and some grow their own food, some are for vegans only... it really varies. The thing is, everything they do, they do together! They go on large grocery shopping trips and buy things for multiple people  at one time - they could really use Trashy Bags! Also, people in Co-ops are oftentimes interested in initiatives like Trashy Bags.

These are hopefully a few helpful ideas that we can discuss during our teleconference with Trashy Bags.

Ok, I have been reading through everyone's blogs, comments, and the conversation on the wiki page. It definitely sounds like we need to start get the ball rolling on some of these awesome ideas. I hope that in class Monday we can throw out our ideas and get a class consensus on what we are actually going to do. It's time to solidify a schedule like Ana had mentioned.

So, I want to share some thoughts:
GRAD SCHOOL IS HARD! You guys, I get overwhelmed on a daily basis and this particular class makes me especially nervous. I had the opportunity to take classes similar to this one during my undergrad. I really love community involvement, fundraising, and working amongst student groups. Honestly. However, this semester I feel almost too caught up in my frighteningly difficult graduate classes to really give our projects my all. I obviously don't want to flake out and not engage with our class. I know we are all busy and very involved in different stuff on and off campus. I just know that I personally need accountability. Meaning - I need to be corresponding on a weekly basis, discussing projects in person out of class, texting/calling. Let me know your thoughts.