Objective 2:Demonstrate ability to assemble and resource a mission-aligned start-up organization capable of delivering and growing new technologies.

Objective 3:Demonstrate capacity to apply lean/agile approaches towards market analysis and product development within changing technology landscapes.

Conspiracy 50 points possible Graded using rubric on class shell

Sources http://youtu.be/VyOtIsnG71ULinks to an external site. http://youtu.be/NqCvOod9XCoLinks to an external site.

Situation Overview

You are a lackey for the governor of Iowa. As you walk into work this morning, you see the entire senior staff in the conference room in what appears to be a very intense conference. They need coffee, so you take in the beverage cart and start serving. As you pass out drinks, you realize that the governor has just been caught in a massive scandal involving major corn subsidy kickbacks, and the story is going to break at a press conference 48 hours from now (the person breaking the story has to finish organizing their facts and evidence, and it will take that long to put together a press package). This will ruin the governor, his staff, and more importantly, any chance you have of getting promoted past Office Lackey. As you despair, you suddenly have a crazy idea. Due to what scientists call the "Press ADD Effect", the only way to minimize a big story is to create an even bigger story. And there is only one way to create a bigger story in Iowa than a corn kickback scandal. That's rightUFO's attacking a farm!!! You figure your job is over anyway, so you interrupt the discussion with a loud throat clearing and say "You know, there IS a way out of this." In the silence that follows, you could hear a pin drop. . .

After you explain your idea, the room erupts with anger. "How the @!#$@# are we supposed to get in touch with aliens, bring them here, and somehow convince them to attack a farm where we can film it?!!" the Public Relations Director asks (he's pretty narrow minded). "Does anyone know any aliens?" (at this point, several hands actually raise but are thankfully ignored). The governor, looking desperate, says to you "Okay, you've got my attention. How do we do this?"

You quietly explain that the group could find an abandoned farm and destroy it, then make a miniature replica of it and film it being attacked by flying saucers. If it looks authentic and is leaked correctly there is no way the public will care about a scandal if they actually have evidence of an alien attack.

Guidelines and Expectations

Your plan is simple and involves a three pronged approach:

• Crime Scene.Find an abandoned farm. Destroy it (in Iowa, this is much easier than it sounds and could be done by two people and 5-10 sticks of dynamite). Then have a group of "special investigators come in, take photos, and bulldoze the entire area.

Eye Candy.Build a tiny replica of the farmhouse. Build a swooping magnetic track above the scene so that several superconductor "flying saucers" can fly around overhead. This all has to get done in the next 48 hours so post processing effects aren't an option. The video (appearing as a shaky amateur phone video) will show a few lights in the sky, then the saucers swooping around (the liquid nitrogen trails will look awesome), then the house exploding

1. The Leak.The video will be released on YouTube in the next 24 hours to get the buzz going. However, to make it a true conspiracy-style event, you will need to leak to the press: -- An FAA report that unidentified radar signatures were seen in the area at that time (the official statement will deny this) -- A "stolen" and leaked crime scene report that describes mysterious burn marks on the ground and traces of DNA in the middle (as if someone was either vaporized or beamed to the mothership). The area will have been bulldozed (officially, this is for "safety" reasons) so you don't even need to plant any evidence. The official statement with not include this tidbit. -- A leaked anonymous statement from the governor's office stating that the military has been called in on this one as there are rumors of other farms being attacked in a similar fashion (we don't need any evidence for other attacks, the conspiracy nuts out there will likely grab the torch and run with it).

Deliverables: Answer the Questions

• Question 1: Complete gold card for this project. I expect at least 10 stakeholders
• Question 2: Create 25 item, 3 level WBS for your project.
• Question 3: For each WBS item, explainhowyou might estimate the expected cost (use an expert, prior situations like this, etc.). YOU DO NOT HAVE TO PROVIDE AN ACTUAL ESTIMATE!
• Question 4: Create - Gantt chart for it (the exact format of the chart is up to you).