Attempt #2

There's only so much hope in the world before you realize that you're not getting a response.

It has officially been a month since I appealed to the local businesses of Charles County and abroad for small donations to go toward my conference tuition, and not a single one has replied as to whether or not they would be able to contribute.

What's strange to me is that if this were a college acceptance I was waiting on, at least I'd be guaranteed to get some kind of message. But nothing.

Registration for the conference officially opened 5 days ago, and due to the fact that a full payment of tuition is due upon making the final decision, my chances of getting in are slimming down. I have yet to actually contact any DC businesses though, and hopefully I'll be able to have some luck with them.

Basically, it's about $285 holding me back from the experience of a lifetime. I say this because ever since I got the letter in the mail from George Mason, I've found out just how supportive my family is. They're willing to go above and beyond to help me out, but the reason I'm appealing to all these businesses is because I wish they didn't have to give so much.

If I could get a few major sponsors, not only would I be able to register sooner, but it'd be less of a burden on the ones I care about.

I have until the 30th of March, and I will be sending more letters. A lot more. I'll be posting more blogs. I'll record more videos (even if the original ones were horrible). Somehow, I'm making it to this conference, and I'll continue to use this blog as a way to keep everyone posted. Right now, its just proving to be a little more challenging than I expected.



Thanks for reading,
Leena

Finally, it uploaded!

The following is an experiment that I decided to conduct after watching a few YouTube videos that had some advice on the journey to internet fame. While I don't see myself becoming a video celebrity, I figured I'd give it a shot:

Hopefully this plays right!

If it happens not to....

Coming to a screen near you!

VIDEOS!

I made about three today, not counting the random clips that I plan to use once I get my head around this Movie Maker stuff that I have discovered I have. I am in the process of collecting tips on YouTube video popularity, and one such video gave me this general idea:

To make it on YouTube, you've gotta be a girl. I was not aware of this, but maybe there's some truth to it. As for dressing up specifically for the camera, I personally have decided it's a no-go. You will probably be seeing me in whatever I decided to wear to school that day. I might be cute, but bum-day is a usual for me, especially when it's as cold as its usually been outside. The only thing that's not 100% legit is the fact that I don't wear my glasses during my videos, because my webcam is evil and produces a really fugly glare.

This guy also said to be as random as possible, make your videos long (the very next video I watched said under 3 minutes, oops.) and make one everyday. You know what? I'm going to try that.

Not only am I shooting for 5 videos a week, I'm also going to vary their content. One day we might be chatting in my room, and the next I'll take you guys on a walk around the block. Maybe elsewhere? This is for a journalism and media conference, so I figure that I should be well-versed in keeping things fresh for the audience.

Tomorrow is going to be more than a little busy what with me going shopping for X-Mas pictures and such, as well as finding time to study for an AP test I JUST found out about, but I will work in some time for video editing and hopefully 2-3 posts by Wednesday night.

I love you guys already, even though I am aware of the fact that only my aunt is following this blog at the moment. I appreciate you Nikki, and yes, I am going to bed now!

Thanks,
Leena

Quick Update

Hello,

So far, I've discovered that this blog thing is harder than I thought it would be. See, this isn't my first time starting one. In fact, I've had about 2 already - I just didn't expect anyone to read them. With this one though, the intent was to connect with others and possibly get the attention of future sponsors. I did contemplate deleting my latest and first video, and am still debating it right now.

The thing is...I could. But if I decide to go "Forget it, it doesn't matter", what am I learning? The whole reason I wanted to attend this conference is to learn something and get to the point where I can make business contacts after I graduate from college.

This blog isn't amazing or anything, but it is in its early stages, and I'm sure that even the more popular ones weren't the best from their first posts. My videos will eventually get better, even if I've discovered that my webcam has a pretty poor quality when it comes down to it. I do take part of the blame but again, I'm pretty nervous knowing that someone will be able to watch them pretty soon.

As far as where I'm at now, I am very close to securing all of the money for my tuition for the conference.

I'd like to thank my parents, my grandma as well as all of my aunts and uncles who have donated way more than I ever expected.
Today I'm making efforts to get letters to not only corporations but local businesses and even my school board. Not everyone is answering my calls, but hopefully having a solid letter in front of them will inspire something. Before I jump into my homework for the day, I'll be looking up addresses and printing out cover letters in order to have these things out by the weekend.

Still working on things,
Leena

What exactly are you planning?

If I were to be completely honest, I would need to tell you that I am in the process of compiling a solid fundraising plan. The current list of my ideas includes the following:

• Dollar donations over Facebook via PayPal (this one needs researching...)
• Writing letters to the headquarters of local grocery stores, news stations and other chains
• Sending press releases to radio stations
• Donation pledges from businesses (Bronze = $100, Silver = $200, Gold = $300+)
• A referral arrangement that my uncle has promised to set up with me
• Raffle tickets
• Fundraising at school

I plan on getting a group of friends together and possibly selling things outside of local stores or after school hours. Actually, I have a few different plans for my friends and this blog in itself. So far, I am very interested in the concept of including videos in my blog posts. It might be a little more interesting to hear me speak, and I hope to get as creative as possible with them. I have some sort of software on my computer that's waiting to be utilized, so why not? I'll even use my empty YouTube page for once.

Later on today, I plan on experimenting with my first video of this kind. I haven't really used my webcam for much except for the silly pictures my eight year old sister and I took for fun, and I'm sure that there's going to be at least three takes before I get things going.

But I don't want you all to just hear me, so if I can get a group of friends together, I want them to tell you why you should sponsor me, and why this opportunity would be so amazing for me. They could give you a perspective that I couldn't, and hopefully it'll influence some of you to help me along the way.

Because I am in my first year of Multi-Media at school, I will also check in with my teacher to see if I could get permission to post some of my work online. At this stage in the game there isn't much for a concrete example, but we have quite a bit of time on this journey of ours.