This week's discussion topic is focused squarely on developing the Work Breakdown Structure for your team project.

The topic this week is the Work Breakdown Structure $($WBS$),$ especially as it relates to the project :

Gizmotron is rolling out a new product in several metropolitan areas in the US$.$ For the purposes of this assignment, let us restrict our attention to the Chicago area. An extensive marketing campaign is being planned in eight Chicagoland suburbs. For the purposes of this assignment, you may group the campaigns for the eight suburbs, so there is just one Chicagoland campaign as opposed to eight separate ones. The Chicagoland marketing campaign comprises three major efforts, which are distinct but interrelated, meaning that there are dependencies between activities in the three efforts: Publicity, events, and sales$/$marketing$.$ Here is a brief description of each of the three efforts:

$1.$ Publicity: News of the event needs to be disseminated. This will be done via mailings $($of a brochure$)$ and media $($radio and TV ads$).$ Mailings require graphics design, developing a brochure $($based on the graphics design and content provided by the sales$/$marketing effort$),$ and a two$-$part mailing campaign: paper$-$mail as well as e$-$mail. The paper$-$mail campaign is to occur a week after the email campaign has ended $($because the email campaign will generate some leads on who should be targeted in the paper$-$mail campaign$).$ The media component has two aspects: radio ads and TV ads, each of which requires scripting and slotting $($when to run the ads$).$ Some details associated with the various activities are:

a$.$ Graphics design is based on $$intelligence$$ provided by the sales$/$marketing effort that provides the graphics design team a draft proposal of the key types of messages to include and also some content to back$-$up those messages. $($The graphics design team may further refine the content.$)$ Graphics design takes $8$ business days $($after the draft proposal has been received$).$ Its total cost is approximately $$5,000.$

b$.$ The brochure takes $4$ business days $($after graphics design is completed$)$ to finalize and the cost is about $$2,000$

c$.$ The e$-$mail campaign commences right after the brochure is ready and takes $1$ business day $($cost $$6,000).$ A week after the email campaign ends, the paper$-$mail campaign commences and lasts $3$ business days $($cost $$5,000).$ d$.$ Scripting for the radio and TV ads take $3$ business days and $7$ business days $($respectively$),$ costs being $$2,000$ and $$5,000($respectively$).$ The scripting is also based on the draft proposal from sales$/$marketing$.$ The slotting effort for the radio and TV ads takes $2$ business days each $($at a cost of $$1,000$ each$).$ The radio ad slotting uses a radio listener report done by the sales$/$marketing team, and the TV ad slotting uses a TV watchers report, also done by the sales$/$marketing team. The radio and TV ads run over a period of $10$ business days, commencing immediately after slotting has been finalized.

$2.$ Events: The events effort comprises venue identification and setup, catering, and agenda finalization $($speakers$,$ entertainment, giveaways, etc.$).$ Venue identification and setup as well as catering are contracted out to companies who can be trusted to complete on time and budget. Venue identification takes $5$ business days $($cost $$2,000$ for eight venues$)$ and must be completed before the brochures are finalized $($simply because the addresses are needed for the brochures$).$ Venue setup is the act of determining how much space to rent at the venue, how the space will be organized, etc. This cannot be started until after the mailing campaigns $($paper and email$),$ radio and TV ads have run $($because campaign statistics$/$viewership is used to estimate event attendance$).$ Venue setup $($for all $8$ venues$)$ takes $6$ business days and costs $$5,000.$ Catering cannot be started until after the mailing campaigns $($paper and email$),$ radio and TV ads have run, and $($for all $8$ venues$)$ takes $6$ business days to finalize, with catering costs dependent on projected attendance. From historical data, catering costs are estimated to average $$4,000$ per venue. Agenda finalization requires contracting $($for speakers, entertainment, etc.$)$ and product promotion planning $($displaying$,$ demonstrating, giveaways, etc. of products$).$ The contracting and promotion planning are both dependent on projected attendance. Contracting $($for all $8$ venues$)$ takes $6$ business days and the total costs are anticipated to be around $$60,000($which includes speaker fees$).$ Total promotion planning duration is $10$ business days $($cost $$35,000,$ which includes product giveaways$).$

$3.$ Sales$/$marketing: This effort comprises $($market$)$ message development, marketing analysis, surveys, and legal approval. Message development is broken into two parts: draft proposal development $(5$ business days, $$5000)$ and executive approval $(2$ business days, $$1,000).$ The message development does not start until after the surveys are completed. The survey effort comprises focus gr