Day 19: Presentation #4

This morning was spent polishing the presentation. The class left the hotel at 11 for our 12:30 meeting. The tube was packed with people, hot, sweaty, and after taking the Northern line to the Central line to the Picadilly line to the Northern line and we made it to our destination. Buro Happold provided a lovely lunch and we met with Mr. Allan Fraser-Rush to go over the project progress. The meeting went well and with positive feedback and clearer direction we go into our final week in great shape.

Day 18: polishing and prepping

Today the students did a lot of job shifting and team jumping to help each other get things done so that we could be in a good place and ready to present on Thursday at 12:30. Class ended at about 5:30 in spite of a small oddity that happened this afternoon. A mysterious person entered the part of the hotel where we work, at first we were not sure if they were a guest at the hotel or if they were up to something. We formed a protective "neighborhood watch" program and alerted the hotel staff. The hotel was quick to react, sending a manager to check on us, later the individual (who had left the area we were in) was sighted and identified to the hotel management. They then took over and we went back to work. Several students and the professors went out to dinner, taking a nice walk along the canals to a pub called the Narrow Boat. Some folks had more than one dessert.

Day 17: tying up loose ends

Today was a day of exploration, trial and error, and fits and starts. However, by quitting time the class and the work we need to finish for the client are both in a good place as we head into Wednesday and heavy meeting preparation. The power strip in the image is a good way of capturing what today was like...

Day 16: Making what's needed…

Today all the teams pushed hard toward the goals needed for Thursday's client meeting, which was moved up from 2:30 to 12:30. Now with two less hours and the same amount of work the teams had to work even harder. Four variations of the Mascot were created, the Launch Kit and details were moved forward, as were the presentation deck, and brandmark standards.

Sunday = fun day

Today was a free day for the students and they were all off on their own having fun in London. I will report back more tomorrow and possibly share some of their pictures. I made my annual pilgrimage to the Victoria and Albert Museum and enjoyed the many things they have on display. And, yes I do like the Arts and Crafts Movement.

Oxford visit

Today the Chimenti family and several students went by tube and train to Oxford. A walking tour through many of the colleges and the history of the city were enjoyed, followed by afternoon refreshment and sustenance at the Pub that C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien frequented.

Day 15: Half Day & Design Museum

With refined and clearer direction from our client the student teams were reshuffled slightly as they began to work toward our upcoming client meeting. But first we had to sing Happy Birthday to Melanie - the first of two student birthday's we will celebrate while here. Melanie enjoyed a personal sized cake with candles. At 12:10 we stopped, headed to our rooms to drop our laptops, gather our tube passes, and then met in the lobby by 12:30. The Design Museum is located just on the other side of the Tower Bridge with plenty of eateries to grab a quick bite from. Some of the students ate while looking at the Thames and the historic Tower of London. We then spent a bit of time looking at the exhibitions in the Design Museum including the winners of the international design awards across the broad spectrum of design. Thus ended our first work week in London and thus began the students first weekend to explore and experience our new surroundings.