Develop a 12-month project plan timeline that includes at least 15 milestones for the SOMB project as proposed. Identify the items that are considered critical path items. Include dates for starting and completing each milestone, and who is responsible for completing the tasks as outlined in the plan.

case study

Your Assignment You have been contracted by the Shirt Off My Back Foundation (SOMB) to plan a one-and-a- half-day conference for the organization. All of the assignments for the course will relate to the planning of the conference. You will need to reference the information below often as you work on your written assignments throughout the course. The Organization The Shirt Off My Back Foundation is only six years old, but it has already received national recognition-and funding. This 501c3 non-profit organization targets women who need extra support to find a job or get a promotion. It started out accepting donations of business-like clothes and distributing them to women in need, but today it provides a range of services including scholarships, babysitting, transportation, etc.whatever it takes to help the ten women chosen each year in their journey toward success. The founders of the organization include Elizabeth "Liz" Roberts and Lisa Sloan. Liz is a fun, funny, extremely gregarious woman. She is full of energy and she believes passionately with a capital "P" in the Shirt Off My Back Foundation. She started it with her best friend Lisa and the two have built it together. Liz is the director of volunteers and Lisa is the director of development. They equally share the duties of CEO. Liz is always dressed to the nines in business attire. She sees herself as a role model for the women served by the organization. However, there is always a bit of flair-an oversized piece of jewelry, a flashy scarf, or even a slightly outrageous hat. Her attire says, "follow the rules, but don't forget to strut your stuff." Lisa is detail conscious, and secretly sees herself as the "practical" balance to Liz's overwhelming optimism. When planning an event, looking at adding a new service for women, or looking at the future of the organization, she is the one who skips to the bottom line first before reading the description of what will take place (the antithesis to the way Liz views things). Both women are extremely kind and compassionate, but demand a lot of themselves and others. They see the Shirt Off My Back Foundation as an extension of themselves and have high expectations for the future. For the first five years, the organization hosted a lavish Top Drawer Gala" where the ten women supported for the year were recognized and donors and sponsors had a chance to mingle and be seen. This year, both Lisa and Liz had a change of heart. They were trying to help women become successful in the real world, but the organization was hosting an event that was out of the financial realm of most people. This year's event was much more affordable, included families, and felt much more comfortable in light of the organization's overall goals. Yes, it certainly netted the organization less money, but it made up for it in terms of relationships with new vendors and sponsors. It set the tone for the goal-centric future of the organization. Moving In a New Direction The Shirt Off My Back Foundation, working with a research organization, has just completed a series of surveys, focus groups and interviews to determine the most important forms of support women need to be successful. Much of the research confirmed what Liz and Lisa had always known, that women need to know their children are safe and cared for when they are working; they need have the opportunity for education; they need to have reliable transportation. All of these "tangibles" were already being addressed by the SOMB Foundation through its programming (albeit on a local scale only). The information that came out of the survey that was surprising to both Liz and Lisa was the fact that many women don't feel like they can create their own success, because they can't imagine how that could be done or what that would even look like. Some of the quotes included, I can't imagine how I would ever make that happen." "If someone could help me figure out the steps, I know I could become the businesswoman I've always dreamed about." "I don't know how to turn ideas into realities." "Embarking on a 'self-promotion' project just somehow seems wrong." Once this trend started turning up in the research, those who designed the study changed some of the questions and found an interesting mindset. They determined that whereas women are very creative when helping solve the problems of others (children, spouses, family members and even friends), they seldom turn that creativity toward themselves. Liz and Lisa wanted to help women recognize their abilities to create change in their own lives. After much deliberation, they decided to develop a conference that could be taken to multiple cities that would address this need. Liz and Lisa want this conference to be different. They love to make plans, so they were excited about planning the conference. Liz enjoys the big picture, the way things flow, and the "feel" of things. Lisa enjoys the details: the budget, the sponsors, and the number of guests. Between the two of them, they make the ideal team. But, for the Create Conference (working title of the meeting), they decided they wanted help. This is where you come in. When embarking on any project, Liz and Lisa always come up with three words to guide the entire project. They could be three "takeaways" they want for their guests at a special event. They could be three words defining the goals of the organization. They could be the "talents and attributes" they want women to recognize in themselves by the end of the conference. The three words they came up with for these conferences are: Creative Visionary Personal Change Agent The goals of the conference include helping women connect with their POWER, helping them with their abilities to see and create change in their own lives, and to welcome their own creativity. The conferences will take place in the following cities: Las Vegas, NV, Atlanta, GA, Minneapolis/St. Paul MN, and Seattle WA. Here are the givens: Each conference will last for one and a half days. Friday's activities will go from noon to 5 PM. Saturday will start at 8 AM and go until 6 pm, followed by a celebratory dinner from 7-9 pm. The total budget is $250,000 for each event in each city (remember, you are just selecting one destination to plan this event for). Maximum number of attendees: 300 (limited to women in the community; out-of- town participation is not encouraged, this is to be a community-oriented, team building opportunity) Conference format: plenary sessions with breakout rooms for discussions and special workshops (several concurrent sessions to choose from in each given timeframe) Local sponsors only unless there are one or more national/international sponsors that can remain connected to the organization at the grassroots level Some of the suggested programming and event details include: Creativity activities Networking opportunities Games Dogs for petting (or rabbits) Help participants develop long-term goals Meditation training Daycare "Spouse activities Life coaches Ideas for long-term follow up with the attendees Will this event help smaller groups to form in the area that will carry on the project throughout the year? Comfortable seating (bean bag chairs?) Notebooks, iPads, and food all day, opportunities for exercise Your Assignment You have been contracted by the Shirt Off My Back Foundation (SOMB) to plan a one-and-a- half-day conference for the organization. All of the assignments for the course will relate to the planning of the conference. You will need to reference the information below often as you work on your written assignments throughout the course. The Organization The Shirt Off My Back Foundation is only six years old, but it has already received national recognition-and funding. This 501c3 non-profit organization targets women who need extra support to find a job or get a promotion. It started out accepting donations of business-like clothes and distributing them to women in need, but today it provides a range of services including scholarships, babysitting, transportation, etc.whatever it takes to help the ten women chosen each year in their journey toward success. The founders of the organization include Elizabeth "Liz" Roberts and Lisa Sloan. Liz is a fun, funny, extremely gregarious woman. She is full of energy and she believes passionately with a capital "P" in the Shirt Off My Back Foundation. She started it with her best friend Lisa and the two have built it together. Liz is the director of volunteers and Lisa is the director of development. They equally share the duties of CEO. Liz is always dressed to the nines in business attire. She sees herself as a role model for the women served by the organization. However, there is always a bit of flair-an oversized piece of jewelry, a flashy scarf, or even a slightly outrageous hat. Her attire says, "follow the rules, but don't forget to strut your stuff." Lisa is detail conscious, and secretly sees herself as the "practical" balance to Liz's overwhelming optimism. When planning an event, looking at adding a new service for women, or looking at the future of the organization, she is the one who skips to the bottom line first before reading the description of what will take place (the antithesis to the way Liz views things). Both women are extremely kind and compassionate, but demand a lot of themselves and others. They see the Shirt Off My Back Foundation as an extension of themselves and have high expectations for the future. For the first five years, the organization hosted a lavish Top Drawer Gala" where the ten women supported for the year were recognized and donors and sponsors had a chance to mingle and be seen. This year, both Lisa and Liz had a change of heart. They were trying to help women become successful in the real world, but the organization was hosting an event that was out of the financial realm of most people. This year's event was much more affordable, included families, and felt much more comfortable in light of the organization's overall goals. Yes, it certainly netted the organization less money, but it made up for it in terms of relationships with new vendors and sponsors. It set the tone for the goal-centric future of the organization. Moving In a New Direction The Shirt Off My Back Foundation, working with a research organization, has just completed a series of surveys, focus groups and interviews to determine the most important forms of support women need to be successful. Much of the research confirmed what Liz and Lisa had always known, that women need to know their children are safe and cared for when they are working; they need have the opportunity for education; they need to have reliable transportation. All of these "tangibles" were already being addressed by the SOMB Foundation through its programming (albeit on a local scale only). The information that came out of the survey that was surprising to both Liz and Lisa was the fact that many women don't feel like they can create their own success, because they can't imagine how that could be done or what that would even look like. Some of the quotes included, I can't imagine how I would ever make that happen." "If someone could help me figure out the steps, I know I could become the businesswoman I've always dreamed about." "I don't know how to turn ideas into realities." "Embarking on a 'self-promotion' project just somehow seems wrong." Once this trend started turning up in the research, those who designed the study changed some of the questions and found an interesting mindset. They determined that whereas women are very creative when helping solve the problems of others (children, spouses, family members and even friends), they seldom turn that creativity toward themselves. Liz and Lisa wanted to help women recognize their abilities to create change in their own lives. After much deliberation, they decided to develop a conference that could be taken to multiple cities that would address this need. Liz and Lisa want this conference to be different. They love to make plans, so they were excited about planning the conference. Liz enjoys the big picture, the way things flow, and the "feel" of things. Lisa enjoys the details: the budget, the sponsors, and the number of guests. Between the two of them, they make the ideal team. But, for the Create Conference (working title of the meeting), they decided they wanted help. This is where you come in. When embarking on any project, Liz and Lisa always come up with three words to guide the entire project. They could be three "takeaways" they want for their guests at a special event. They could be three words defining the goals of the organization. They could be the "talents and attributes" they want women to recognize in themselves by the end of the conference. The three words they came up with for these conferences are: Creative Visionary Personal Change Agent The goals of the conference include helping women connect with their POWER, helping them with their abilities to see and create change in their own lives, and to welcome their own creativity. The conferences will take place in the following cities: Las Vegas, NV, Atlanta, GA, Minneapolis/St. Paul MN, and Seattle WA. Here are the givens: Each conference will last for one and a half days. Friday's activities will go from noon to 5 PM. Saturday will start at 8 AM and go until 6 pm, followed by a celebratory dinner from 7-9 pm. The total budget is $250,000 for each event in each city (remember, you are just selecting one destination to plan this event for). Maximum number of attendees: 300 (limited to women in the community; out-of- town participation is not encouraged, this is to be a community-oriented, team building opportunity) Conference format: plenary sessions with breakout rooms for discussions and special workshops (several concurrent sessions to choose from in each given timeframe) Local sponsors only unless there are one or more national/international sponsors that can remain connected to the organization at the grassroots level Some of the suggested programming and event details include: Creativity activities Networking opportunities Games Dogs for petting (or rabbits) Help participants develop long-term goals Meditation training Daycare "Spouse activities Life coaches Ideas for long-term follow up with the attendees Will this event help smaller groups to form in the area that will carry on the project throughout the year? Comfortable seating (bean bag chairs?) Notebooks, iPads, and food all day, opportunities for exercise