Blog 9: EQ

1.   Review this.  Confirm by stating "I reviewed the rule of three for writing an EQ."

Essential Question
Once a topic is chosen, the student will develop a working essential question.  The purpose of the working essential question is to help the student build a strong foundation of research which will allow him or her to create an essential question that encourages depth and rigor in the chosen topic.  An essential question must:

• Provide a framework for studies (It calls for breadth and depth of research, Is not a yes/no question)
• Takes a stance (Allows you to argue some point, Cannot be a recitation of facts or a list)
•  Format (It is specific, The wording makes sense)

*I reviewed the rule of three for writing an EQ*

2.  Review the following EQs and

• Tell us if it meets the rule of 3 criteria.
• Tell why it does or why it doesn't

 a.  What is the most important factor in healthy weight loss?

- I think this question does in fact meet the rule of three. The topic, being weight loss, has a ton of information. It's a health topic which is a topic that calls for a lot of research. You can go in depth with information about weight loss.
 b.  What is most important to securing a conviction in a criminal investigation?

- I feel like this question will lead to just one answer. The answer would most likely not give enough information about it. The research would not be extensive. Does not meet the rule of three. The format of the question is okay, the word choice could be better.
 c.  What is most important in creating a hairstyle that best satisfies a customer?

- Not a lot of research can be done on this. The research that COULD potentially be done would be interviews from people who constantly get their hair done. The format of the question is fine on the other hand.

 d.  How can an Anesthesiologist best treat chronic pain?

-Arguing points can be made. A lot of research could come from this. The format of the question is good. Meets the rule of three.

3.  Based on your review of the rule of 3 and your experience with assessing four EQs, please write another draft EQ for your senior project.

-What needs to be done in order to successfully manage a live music venue for an extended period of time?

Vegan Pizza!? Extra Post- October

- I walked into the venue that I'm doing my mentorship at. It was October 13th, a pretty cold day. My mentor Kevin text me and asked me to come to Bridgetown to help out with a show. I got there around 6:30 and helped the bands inside and sat around until the show started. Meanwhile, my mentor and a friend of ours went to go buy a huge, and I mean, HUGE, vegan pizza. A lot of the people there are vegan. I'm actually not vegan, so when my mentor came back with the pizza, I was really curious about it. The dough was made vegan, so no milk or eggs. The cheese was also vegan. I think that would be obvious. Anyways, vegan cheese is very heavy on the stomach, so I only took one small slice. To my surprise, the pizza was really good. The only taste difference there was, was the cheese. It tasted a lot like mozzarella cheese, and it was thick and had a different taste to it. Nonetheless, the pizza was awesome. The whole reason I decided to share this was because, since working at Bridgetown I've come to encounter a ton of new things. I've been introduced to new music scenes, and now even a new life style when it comes to food choice. I might consider going vegetarian and even vegan one day. We'll see. It's a good thing vegan pizza is a thing, I love pizza!

Blog 8: Research and Working EQ

1.  What is your working EQ?
-What does a person need to do in order to successfully open and manage a live music venue?
2.  What is a possible answer to your working EQ?
-EQ: What does a person need to do in order to successfully open and manage a live music venue

•  Take classes that show you how to run a business(accounting, business management etc.)
• Shadow multiple venue owners for a period of time to see how they go about running their venues.

3.  What is the most important source you have used that has helped you come up with an answer to your working EQ?
-If working at the venue counts as a source, I would say that. If not, the book I am currently reading for Research Check has shown me great information that has guided me to the more technical business side of this venture. It's called "Starting & Building a Nonprofit: A Practical Guide". So far this book has shown me what a Non-Profit business needs to do in order to start off and how to keep itself running, and how to apply for tax exempts, as well as getting a good insurance policy.

4.  Who is your mentor, or where are you volunteering, and how does what you are doing relate to your working EQ?
- My mentor is Kevin Lopez. My mentorship is taking place at a venue called "Bridgetown DIY".  It relates to my EQ because it is a live music venue. I'm getting hands on experience and learning what needs to be done in order to run successful shows, how to book bands, how to sell ticketst/entrances and enforcing the venues policies to keep it a safe place.

Blog 7: Independent Component 1 Approval

1.  Describe in detail what you plan to do for your 30 hours.

- For my 30 hours of independent component, I plan to continue doing hours at the venue I am currently doing my mentorship with. Some things that I will do are, working the door, booking and running 2-3 shows and running meetings at the venue. When I help out at a show, I get to the venue half an hour before, clean up the venue, take any trash out, bag the recycle, count the money in the register and fill out a sheet of paper that has all the details of that nights show. When I'm done with all the pre-show prep, I will open the door and let people come in. When they come in, they'll hand me money and I'll stamp their hands for evidence of paid admission! As for booking and running the 2-3 shows, I'll get in contact with 3 or 4 bands, put a show together then propose it at the meetings we have at the venue every other monday. After that is all set in stone, the band will come in the day of their set date, I'll help set up the PA system as well as work the door and do all the other things I do when I help work a show.

2.  Discuss how or what you will do to meet the expectation of showing 30 hours of evidence.

- To prove that I did my 30 hours, I'll keep a log on my blog. That log will have the hours I was there and a discription of what I did. I'll also have my mentor keep a log for himself. For the days that I host my own shows at the venue, I'll take pictures of the flyers the bands make to promote the show, I will promote the show on my social media websites and screen shot them to show as some evidence of promotion, have someone take pictures of me working the door at the show and setting the PA system. 

3.  And explain how what you will be doing will help you explore your topic in more depth.

- I'll be able to actually set up, book, and run my own show. Which I actually have no experience of doing so. I'll learn what to do from my mentor. This is a big deal because not just anyone can run/book a show at the Bridgetown venue. I'll learn hands on how to do these things.

Volunteer and fun? Extra post- September

Above is a picture of Touche Amore playing at Bridgetown DIY for their secret record release show.

-It's pretty neat working at a venue. For fun and what not, I go to a lot of shows. Sometimes in Pomona, or even in Anehiem. The cool thing is that the venue I'm doing my mentorship hours at, is right down the street from my house. How convenient right? Anyways, I get to get hours by coming in early, setting up to sell entrance to the show, stamp peoples hands and clean the venue up before the show. When there's a big show, we usually have a tap of people, that being 100. So once I finish getting in that many people, I count the money, store it in a private place and get to join in with the crowd. I've been able to see some really great bands, and meet most of them and help them out with setting up and getting situated before the show. In the picture above, we have a band named Touche Amore playing. This was a really secret show that wasn't announced until two hours before the actual show! We had tons of people come to the venue, unfortunately we had a tap and had to turn down many, MANY, people. All in all, it was a fun show, and the experience of working in a venue has been fun so far. I cant imagine it getting boring.

Second Interview Questions

The purpose of the second interview is justify your mentor as an expert in the field.  Thus, you will be asking at least 5 questions about their background and/or the background of the organization or company where they work.

1.  Who is your mentor and where do they work?
-My mentor is Kevin Lopez. He works at Bridgetown DIY, the venue that I'm going to be doing my senior project at.

2.  What five questions will you ask them about their background?-What things made you want to work at a venue?
-Would or have you considered opening a DIY(Do it yourself) venue on your own?
-How long have you been working with venues?
-What or who influenced you to work with music?
-Have you always been interested in the music business? If not, when did you become interested and why?

Blog 5 Project Reflection and Working EQ

The Pentagon: 
(1) Positive Statement: What positive thing happen as a result of what you have completed so far?
- Some positive things that I have gotten from the project so far are some new friendships and a lot of knowledge and understanding of what my project deals with. Since I'm doing my mentorship hours at a venue, I get the inside scope of what happens behind the scenes. Example, what needs to be done to book a show. I've also met a lot of people who like all of the things that I like. Example, music and venues.

(2) EQ Content:  Pick a piece of research or your interview.  How has it helped you improve your understanding of your topic? An article I read a few weeks ago for a research check, named "How to Start a Coffeehouse". It gave me a lot of information about picking PA systems for the venue, tips on tickets and marketing/advertisement ideas.

(3) What has worked for you so far in the senior project?
- The trip to the library has opened a lot of "doors" for me. I now know where to go to find research for business plans, and research for anything that has to do with marketing and owning any type of business. 
- Spending time at the venue and going to meetings there have helped me a lot. I've gained a lot of knowledge by just being there for a few hours. 

(4) What hasn't worked so far?
- I don't think there's anything that has led me down a wrong path so far. Everything that we've done in the senior project has someone helped me.
(5) Finding Value:  

•  What is a potential question you would like to study this year?  (working EQ)

         - What does a person need to do in order to successfully open and manage a live music venue?

•  What do you plan to do for mentorship?  If you haven't found a mentor yet, then discuss where you are currently looking and who you are talking to to find it.  

         -For my mentorship, I'll be working at a venue. My duties will include running the door, selling tickets,    attending collective meetings, booking and running 4 shows on my own.

Blog 4: Interview Preparation

1. Who do you plan to interview? Why?
- For the first interview of the senior Project, I plan to interview my mentor, Kevin Lopez. That's because I feel like he can be the one who helps me start off. He'll be able to point me into the direction of other people. People who'll be able to help me learn/gain more knowledge in the future, when I interview them as well. He's the key to more people who will help me succeed in my senior project.

2. Additional Questions:
- What brought you into the side of business in music?
- What are the most important things one has to consider when managing/owning a venue?
- What inspires you to give back to the community by running local shows in a venue?

Blog 3: Topic Choice and Semester 1 ESLR Goals

1. Topic: 
Music Business- Managing/running a venue.

2. ESLRS:
- I believe that in order to see my growth in the ESLRS I must participate in certain activities during the school year. I'll be able to play a part by donating during our food can drive; or help out during any other school functions, like a "garage sale". I'll also be able to help out through yearbook(I am the yearbook photo editor).
-To see my improvement as an effective learner, I'll be able to look up my grades online and see what I'm doing well in and what I need to work better on. I'll be sure to ask for help whenever I'm struggling in any class subject in order to assure I'm learning as I should be.
-In the near future I'll be able to look at my blog posts and see the difference in language and post content itself. As time passes I'll use blogger to improve on how I record things, how I post things, and when/if I post things on time. I'll be able to improve by presentations in the future and learning to organize things using a computer and internet.
-I have noticed that senior year will consist of things that will force me to communicate with many people. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, but I know that in the end I will know how to talk to people effectively. Whether they be strangers, my mentor or teachers.

All in all, this whole project seems like it is going to shape us, and push us more into the adult world.

Blog 2: Summer Mentorship

1. Mentorship Log 

2. What is the contact name & number of where you volunteered?

- Kevin Lopez (626) 478-4958

3. What questions were raised because of the 10 hours of experience?

- What does it take to open a venue?

- What legal codes must be met/kept in order for the venue to be “up to code”?

- How much money is needed to open a venue?

- How much money is needed to keep the venue running monthly?

- Where should the money come from?

- How should the weekly/monthly income of the venue be handled?

- What needs to be done in order to keep the venue a safe environment for all ages (drug free)?

- What type of insurance policy should the venue have?

- What is a suitable location for a venue?

- How does one go about dealing with noise complaints?

4. What is the most important thing you gained from this experience? Why?

- I believe the most important thing I’ve gained from this experience are the managing skills I’ve been taught. It’s the most important thing because I actually want to own and manage my own venue in the future. When volunteering, I was placed in the position to manage the money coming from ticket sales. I had to make sure everything was accounted for in the end. Including ticket to money ratio, water sold and donations.

5. How did what you did help you choose a topic?

- I have always been fond of going to shows (concerts). It has become one of my goals to work in the music industry even though I do understand that it is competitive and a difficult industry to succeed in. I figured that since I want to eventually own/manage my own venue, I might as well gain experience by volunteering at one and basing my senior project off of this. What I did this summer showed me, more or less, what happens behind the scenes at a venue. For example, what needs to be done to book bands, how to promote events, running the door and how to handle the income of a certain event.

2013 2-Hour Presentation Reflections

1.These are the presentations I saw:
Jorge - Electronic Dance Music
Jessica - Making an Album
Marilyn - OBGYN
Dominic - All Star Cheer
Nicholas - Automotive Repair
Alyssa - Yoga
Arianna- Macine Programing
Emma - Yearbook
Danny- Car Audio
Absent thursday and friday

2. Questions about the senior project?
-I don't have any questions about the senior project itself. All the questions I had before have been answered.

3. What has the most important part of the senior project based on what you are seeing in the 2-hour presentations?
-After seeing all of those senior presentations, I think that the most important part of the senior project would be the essential question. All of the projects are based off that question, and all of the presentations are based on answering it in three ways.

4. What topic are you considering doing and why?
The topic that I am considering in doing is a form of business. That being music venues and how to run a successful venue. Why? I want that as my topic because once I graduate and begin college, I want to major in business and eventually open my own venues. Shows/concerts are my favorite things and I actually want to work in the music/business industry.