Here is the URL for my web portfolio:

http://sites.google.com/site/erinmarlenesmith/

Trying... (5 of 12)

Admittedly, and with regret, I have neglected my blog postings. Sometimes in a full and busy life one must choose to neglect something, and unfortunately, my blog is it... I have never been good about posting to blogs, discussion boards, forums, etc. It's just one of my things.

Anyway, on to more important matters. My internship at MCLV has been going extremely well. I can't believe that it is coming to an end. I have been working on the personnel policy and procedure manual for several weeks. It consists of, well, policies and procedures!

I have researched and developed a few policies for MCLV (and PCLV-the Preston County organization also run from this office). One has been submitted to and approved by the Board! The others will follow at various points in time. I enjoyed writing the policies. They are aimed toward employees and Board members, and I used some various generic templates to help write them. It wasn't very challenging, but fulfilling nonetheless. I am always interested in document design, and I think that they look great. When I turned in a draft of a particular policy to my supervisor, I was challenged to "make it one page" instead of two, because she said "they [the Board members] won't read two pages." A lesson in audience and conciseness. It makes sense. Their meetings have a large agenda, and approving a policy doesn't need to take up more time than needed. I managed to condense it, while still retaining its original content and visual integrity.

The manual has come along nicely. I focused strongly on organization (it is broken into three logical sections: file checklists, procedures and policies), visual consistency (headings, font, point, emphasis) and audience (employees). I mainly used procedures that were already made (a lot of them hanging up at various places throughout the office), but I developed their content, of of course organized them within the manual. It was a lot of work, and I really enjoyed it. One policy that was to be placed in the manual was over thirty pages, and of course, formatting is always an issue that must be dealt with! Everything turned out well, though, and there is now organized, focused and visually consistent document that the office will use when they hire new employees. I am very proud of it!

I am also finishing up a pamphlet. It has a different audience, however. It is aimed toward the public (specifically philanthropists or anyone else that would like to donate). I got to use some emotional appeals in this document, which is always fun. Finding a good balance when using emotional appeals is important. Sounding to needy or whiny isn't good, but expressing some sort of need is important. I came up with a good balance, and used a lot of facts to grab peoples' attention. I think it will work well. I put the draft on my supervisor's desk yesterday, and I am excited to see what she thinks about it.

Well, that's what I've been working on since I last posted. Things have been going smoothly. Communication is good here, so I am able to ask a lot of questions to help me with my document production. I haven't had many problems (except for the occasional technological snafu). So, until next time...

The Goings On at MCLV (4 of 12)

Things have been going well at my internship at MCLV. I have finally finished editing the "External Links" and "Services" pages on the website, and have published them. Everything went fairly well as far as the editing and writing, but using the free website creator program that is used to manage their website has proved to be, well, frustrating. After weeks of weird formatting woes, I simply switched from a laptop to a desktop and it seemed to solve a lot of problems. (I had no idea...)

Anyway, this web design program is called "Joomla." Has anyone heard of it? Used it? HATE it? MCLV purchased their web domain and the initial design from a web design company in Morgantown, and they use Joomla to design the site, and we also use it to update it. I have no control over the overall design, just the text that goes into it. I wish I did have more control, as the site is a little drab, but oh well...

Besides updating and editing (and constantly adding links, small bits of info, etc. to) some of the website, I have created two documents, one a "Conflict of Interest Policy" that must be signed annually by any Board, Committee or Staff member, and a interest generating type flyer to educate people about how to include the organization in their will, life insurance policy, etc. (Planned giving.) I must always do two of every document, since the office serves both Monongalia and Preston County, but that is as easy as changing the heading, and replacing (via cutting and pasting) MCLV/PCLV, so it's no big deal at all.

I really didn't have to much original writing for either of these, since they are somewhat generic forms with many, MANY models everywhere. It was a matter of doing some research, and selecting various elements from different examples, changing some words, copyediting, and document designing (using our headings and logos). It did feel good, however, to produce a document that will be used yearly, (probably forever!) and another that will be distributed to the public.

Next week, I am moving on to the personnel policy manual, which I am excited about. Again, I will use a model to help me draft the manual. Susie actually gave me a contact that will gladly show me their policy manual as an example. I have been gathering materials little by little over the weeks at my internship, and now I will get started on actually putting them together.

My internship is very self-directed. My supervisor plants a seed, and I pretty much do everything on my own. I do consult with her and ask questions, but she puts a lot of trust in me to do things on my own. I'm glad that I can use models and examples for most things. That, with some common sense, is usually enough to produce a document that works well for its purpose. I hope that in the end, the documents work for the organization. I think that they will be fine!

I hope that everyone is doing well at and learning a lot from their internships! Until next time...

The "Culture" at MCLV (3 of 12)

The environment at MCLV is extremely laid back, disorganized, informal, caring and busy. It suits me well. Although I can usually expect to sit at my computer within the main area of the office and do what I need to do for my internship, I am sometimes asked to jump in and lend a hand for something that needs to be done NOW. This is fine with me, and gives my brain a kind of break from typing, researching, cutting, pasting, editing and formatting.

For example, the week before last I spent most of my long day making a banner for the Scrabble Tournament that MCLV hosted on campus. (I believe it ended up outside hanging on Stansbury Hall.) I was able to use creativity, and also some of the things I have learned from my PWE classes, such as placement, emphasis and chunking types of information together. We don't have a lot of money or employees there, so we have to make due with what we do have. While making the sign, I had no control over the size of the letters used, so I had to rely on spacing to make sure it was easily readable. (I will post some photos this week when I am there.)

MCLV relies on everyone there to get things done in a thrifty, creative, "just try it out and see what happens," and a "just do the best you can" type of way. I really like it, although sometimes it is frustrating trying to figure out how something needs to get done, because it can be rather time consuming. My supervisor, Susie, however, is always willing to listen to any question or suggestion, and always answers, comments or lends a hand to the best of her ability.

Another example: We have no IT type of person, so on the first day of my internship we had to install a new router for our networking system. Mind you, I have never dealt with routers or networks, but I can follow instructions, so I dove in and lent a hand. After a couple of days, and Susie being on the phone with "helpdesks," etc., we were finally back online and running.

I really like it there. Sometimes dogs visit, sometimes Susie cooks lunch for whoever is there, it is freezing in the office (to save money), and we listen to music, watch TV during lunchtime (I don't... I hate soap operas!) and we laugh a lot. I wish that MCLV did have more money and staff, because they work hard and are really passionate about their mission, to increase adult literacy. As Susie says, there is a lot of time wasted on trying to figure things out, and no one is providing services when this happens. But we are the only ones there, so we must tackle everything that comes along. I like this innovative approach. It is never dull, and there is a lot of problem solving (not related to literacy or my internship) but I still have plenty of time to concentrate on my projects. I mostly spend a lot of time updating web content, but that is a different story...

My Internship (2 of 12)

My internship is with the Monongalia and Preston Counties Literacy Volunteers, Inc. This is a non-profit organization that teaches adult learners to read. They also offer tutoring in ESL (English as a second language) and basic computer classes. I am working at the office, which has a staff of two.

I have a lot of work to do this semester, including editing and updating the Monongalia County website, and perhaps making a new one for Preston County. I am also going to create documents to implement a new personnel policy system and create a planned giving form.

The Monongolia County website has much more information than Preston County's, it just needs a lot of updating and organization. I have been working on the external links page, which is about twelve pages (when cut and pasted into Word) of unorganized cut and pasted information, mostly from emails sent to the director. I am working on organization via categorization and headings, and also checking the links (63 of them) to see if they work, and finding new ones if they don't. I am also writing descriptions for them. At the page stands now, it is completely unusable and intimidating for anyone that would try and get information from it. I am working very hard with its design, and trying to make it as user friendly as possible. There is a lot of very good information there that will be able to be easily accessed when I am finished with it.

Establishing Expectations (1 of 12)

After looking over the course materials, I feel that this will be a very helpful class for my future job hunt and profession. I believe that there is a lot of interesting material that relates to relevant issues pertaining to careers.

I am familiar with both texts used in this course, because they were also used in my Technical writing class. They seemed to be very helpful for that class, which culminated in an online portfolio, much the same as this class will. I expect that they will also be useful in this class.

Apart from the classwork is the actual internship. I really look forward to producing documents that will be used by the organization and others. I am very interested in making the best, most usable documents that I can. I can't wait to start!

Overall, I look forward to all aspects of this class. I feel confidant that I will succeed in both the classwork, and the internship.