Proposal

Submit/Update Capstone Proposal Form
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 * Sponsoring Organization:**

Noosphere Marketing, LLC


 * Organization Address:**

33 W 19th Street

4th Floor

New York, NY 10011


 * Organizational Supervisor:**

Kathy Hipple


 * Supervisor's Phone:**

917-584-0633


 * Supervisor's e-mail:**

kathy@noospheremarketing.com


 * Executive summary**

// Set up the problem and your solution in a compact paragraph. Add specific, colorful details and numbers about the organization, your contact person, key deliverables, and long term impacts of your work. Think of this as your elevator pitch, 30 seconds or less. //

Noosphere Marketing, a small search engine marketing and optimization company, is embarking on a major product/service development initiative called Noosphere University. Noosphere Marketing currently has 10 employees which includes myself as Chief Technology Officer. My sponsor is the President, Kathy Hipple, who is also a student in the Marlboro Graduate School MBA in Managing for Sustainability program.

Noosphere University will produce a platform for colleges and universities to publish content and engage in a dialog with the global culture while at the same time furthering their 'brand', bolstering enrollment, and increasing alumnae involvement and giving. All of the current paradigms and practices of social networking, rich content and digital media, and search engine optimization will be 'baked in' to the platform, which will take client academic institutions far beyond their current web presence and exponentially increase their audience and intellectual community as a result.

As a part of this initiative, I propose to create an e-learning portal (e-learning.noosphereuniversity.org) that will:
 * publish a directory of e-learning initiatives world-wide
 * provide information on e-learning: software solutions, vendors, how-to, demo's, open-source offerings and more
 * showcase articles about e-learning: theories, projects, experiments, tools, comparisons, critiques and more
 * connect client academic institutions with the greater world of e-learning experts, authorities and resources

This list is not exhaustive but will serve as the basis for the intial creation and deployment of the portal. Noosphere's e-learning portal will focus on open source resources and solutions as cost-effective ways for academic institutions to create or enhance their e-learning offerings. The portal will also eventually serve as a marketing tool for Noosphere's own e-learning consulting business, which it plans to offer in conjunction with Noosphere University to client academic institutions who are looking to get started with e-learning or improve or enhance existing e-learning offerings.


 * 1 Project**


 * 1a. Rationale:** What problem are you solving? Quantify the problem.

How do you expect to measure success?

What unique aspects of networks are you leveraging to solve this problem.

Why is information technology the right way to solve this problem?

// The hardest part is framing the problem. Make sure you are solving a REAL problem, and that your client organization also believes this as a real problem. Don't fall prey to "it seems like a good idea" or worse "is cool". //

// Think carefully about scope. Don't sign up to save the whales, or develop a five-page brochure-ware site for your dog. //

The Noosphere University e-learning portal will address a number of problems (or perhaps more accurately, 'needs') for Noosphere Marketing, and also for its client academic institutions and the broader global academic community:
 * establish and showcase Noosphere Marketing's credibility and expertise in academic and learning solution technologies
 * provide a resource for Noosphere Universities client academic institutions to market their e-learning initiatives, showcase their innovations in this area, and connect them with resources, individuals and organizations involved in similar pursuits
 * foster greater understanding and knowledge of e-learning offerings, resources, trends, capabilities, tools and more for all who have an interest in this burgeoning domain

The portal will be promoted via Noosphere's search engine optimization expertise and will quickly become highly ranked in search engine results pages (SERPs). Google analytics tokens will be placed on the site and detailed reporting of visits, stickiness, and usage of various components will be tracked. The site will be continuously edited and tweaked to retain high search ranking, relevance to the field of e-learning, and general usefulness as a destination for e-learning resources.

Intensive search engine indexing, optimization, and reporting techniques will assure that the portal stays active and relevant to visitors with all levels of interest in e-learning. The Drupal content management system (CMS) will be employed to facilitate rapid prototyping, versatility, sophisticated out-of-the-box capabilities (thanks to thousands of plug-in modules of all imaginable kind provided free of charge by Drupal's enormous open source community) and simple and straightforward maintenance.

This kind of a destination site for e-learning would not be possible without mature tools and technologies like search engine optimization, content management systems, and high-speed, redundant and reliable networks. The current state of the art of open source offerings in these technology domains facilitates an optimal user experience with very low out-of-pocket expense for Noosphere Marketing.


 * 1b. Goals:**

What outcomes to expect your project to have on the organization?

When will the organization see the benefits of your work?

How is your client going to measure the success of the site?

Who will receive credit and "look good" because of your efforts?

What will be the long term impacts on the organization?

// Goals are different than deliverables. describe the OUTCOME of your efforts. The benefits. The value you add. For example a marketing plan may be a deliverable, but the outcome is increased ecommerce sales from X to Y over some period of time. It doesn't need to be about money of course. Just be certain that your goals are SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, time-sensitive. //

The implementation of Noosphere's e-learning portal will hopefully provide the following outcomes:
 * a shorter, more productive sales cycle with candidate institutions for the Noosphere University initiative.
 * an enhanced presence and increased enrollment for client institutions in their e-learning offerings.
 * the launching of an e-learning and ed-tech services offering from Noosphere Marketing.

Noosphere Marketing should begin to see the benefits of the e-learning portal in early 2012. The build will take the remainder of 2011, and search engine optimization will proceed in parallel, so the presence of the portal on search engine results pages (SERPs) should be strong by the end of Q1 2012.

Initial measurement of the success of the portal will be done by extensive Google Analytics reporting. This reporting will also feed back into the ongoing optimization effort to promote the site. The outcomes outlined above will be more difficult to accurately measure. As the portal gains traction and reach, its benefits and analytics numbers will be incorporated into the sales pitch for the platform, and so efficacy can be measured by percentage of candidate institutions that actually sign up for the platform. Noosphere marketing will solicit feedback from client institutions and in this manner will be able to measure efficacy of the e-learning portal in increasing enrollment in their e-learning offerings. Noosphere's own e-learning and ed-tech services offering will advertise on the portal and contribute content, and will be able to measure success in terms of increased new and repeat business.

The President and CEO of Noosphere Marketing will receive credit from the board of directors and from their customer base for the positive outcomes driven by the e-learning portal. Long-term impact will be to establish Noosphere Marketing as the go-to company for colleges and universities to promote their capabilities both in traditional academic offerings and in e-learning offerings, thereby increasing their enrollment and also their endowment (as a result of closer ties with their alumnae community), ultimately (hopefully) making Noosphere Marketing a market leader in this space. It will also enable Noosphere Marketing to grow its e-learning and ed-tech services division.


 * 1c. Process:** What techniques that you learned in this program will you employ?

// Practice your new toolkit! Do a value chain analysis, apply process engineering, use ithink to simulate viral effects, quantify the benefits through a Return on Investment calculation, etc. //

How will you work with the organization to achieve your goals?

Will you need to have meetings or lead workshops with key stakeholders?

Where will the work happen?

// A mistake that students have made in past years is to pick a project that requires days and days of meetings to make meaningful progress. A digital strategy project for a large company, for example, may require A LOT of synchronous meeting time. Make sure to factor your travel appetite and budget, and scale expectations appropriately. //

I plan to employ the ADDIE design cycle to the creation of the e-learning portal, involving Noosphere Marketing principles as much as possible in each step of the process. I view the portal not only as a resource and business enhancement, but also as an instructional tool in and of itself. It will instruct those who make use of it in existing e-learning technologies, resources and offerings as well as provide demonstrations of tools and platforms they can employ. As such, the ADDIE framework, the CRAP guidelines and the pedagogical principles learned and employed in Ped I and II will have direct bearing on how I design and implement the portal. I intend to solicit ideas from Noosphere Marketing every step of the way, making it as collaborative a process as possible.

I will hold bi-weekly meetings with the stakeholders to discuss the progress, show demos, brainstorm and plan.

The actual work of building the site and gathering content will happen continuously. Just as I work on Marlboro class assignments during every free pocket of time during the week and especially on the week-ends, I will work on the portal in this same fashion. I also intend to reduce my consulting work week to 4 days instead of 5 days, as I will need this in order to put the required 250 hours into the project.


 * 1d. Deliverables & milestones:** What are the monthly, or finer-grained deliverables that will assure you and the client that you are making progress? What deliverables, or feedback do you need from the client at various stages of the project? Have you built in buffers that permit some schedule slipping without jeopardizing your graduation?

//Make a table! Columns should be: deliverable, person responsible, draft due date, final due date. Be sure to add things that you need FROM the client as well like feedback, content and any resources that go with certain deliverables (you may need special software, training, hardware, or funds). Be sure to list these in as much detail as you can on your table.//

//Some of your first activities may be interviews to fully understand the intended audience for your project, the dynamics of your client's business, and sessions to get alignment on project goals, etc. Your last activities should include assembling and giving final presentations, and project debriefs to talk about the process, their assessment of your work, and plans for follow-on consulting.//

Responsible || Draft Due Date || Final Due Date ||
 * Deliverable || Person
 * Overview Design Document || Myself || July 1 || July 20 ||
 * Feedback on Overview Design Doc || Jane || July 10 ||  ||
 * || Kathy || July 10 ||  ||
 * Detailed Design Document || Myself || Aug. 10 || Aug. 31 ||
 * Feedback on Detailed Design Doc || Jane || Aug. 20 ||  ||
 * || Kathy || Aug. 20 ||  ||
 * Site Prototype || Myself || Sept. 23 || Oct. 10 ||
 * Feedback on Site Prototype || Jane || Sept. 30 ||  ||
 * || Kathy || Sept. 30 ||  ||
 * Working Site with Content || Myself || Nov. 10 || Nov. 25 ||
 * Feedback on Working Site || Jane || Nov. 18 ||  ||
 * || Kathy || Nov. 18 ||  ||


 * 2 Client**


 * 2a. Organization details.** What's the short history of the organization? What are their revenues? Growth rate? Profitability? Key competitors? Competitive advantages? Threats?

// You can't help an organization that you don't understand. Make sure to budget TIME to research, interview and thoroughly understand all of the details. Don't be shy. You need to know sources of revenues, cost centers, and the CEO's biggest goals as well as concerns. We will ask you these questions in your final presentation - get the facts. If your client requests one, be sure to ask the Director of Academic Programs for a Non-Disclosure Agreement, which lays out the safeguarding of intellectual property. //

The organization has existed for approximately 1 year. It started as a pure-play search engine marketing (SEM) shop, but with a change in the staff and a series of formal brainstorming meetings it has shifted focus to Noosphere University. Currently there is a de minimus revenue from the SEM clients and no revenue from Noosphere University. Growth rate for Noosphere University is purely speculative at this time as it is a start up and any numbers like that will be projections, not actuals.Noosphere University is not profitable at this time.

Key competitors are:
 * NING
 * Thought Farmer
 * IBM Connect
 * Academic Room
 * PaperThin/Commonspot

Competitive advantages:
 * Combined expertise of the principals
 * New technology, no legacy systems
 * Relatively few doing exactly what we offer
 * Perceived marketplace need for the product/service

Threats:
 * Other companies releasing similar products at the same time (although we don't know of any)
 * Others stealing the idea from Noosphere University
 * Inability to get funding


 * 2b. Competitive landscape.** What are the terms of competition?

Is the industry growing overall? By what percentage per year?

Who are the leaders in this industry? What makes them great?

// Here is your chance to demonstrate your understanding of the industry. You want to articulate the macro forces that are play on your client organization. //

These are difficult metrics to pin down. The compound annual growth rate for the biggest social media companies from 2006 to 2010 averaged 100%. A rough estimate of annual growth for the search engine marketing industry is 15% per year.

None of the direct competitors would be considered leaders at this time as nobody has conquered this particular 'space' (mission-driven organization custom content publishing and social media platform) but one could always point to Facebook and Twitter as leaders in the social space and Google and Microsoft (Bing) as leaders in the search marketing space. A number of factors make these companies great but I believe it boils down to one common denominator: they had the foresight to build inventive solutions for a new medium (internet, social media, search engines) and then they hired the best people to make it happen.


 * 2c. Stakeholder map.** Who is your contact? Who do they report to? What is their annual budget authority? What would make this person succeed in the eyes of their boss or company?

// Understanding the power and reporting structure inside an organization is a key to success, not only for those people who work for your client, but also for your consulting role on this project and in the future. It's always complicated, delicate and political. Get used to it. Map it out. Help your contact reach her goals and create a lasting relationship with the organization for ongoing partnership benefits. //

My contact at Noosphere Marketing is the president, Kathy Hipple. Noosphere is very non-hierarchical, so it is probably most accurate to say that she reports to nobody but the whole management team is responsible to the group for their deliverables. Budget authority will depend on funding which is currently in process. Kathy's success would be to land a broad portfolio of client institutions for Noosphere University with the help of the e-learning portal for attracting and retaining clients.


 * 3 Team**


 * 3a. Roles and responsibilities:** Who will be the team that works on the project both from Malboro and from the client organization?

Why are you the right person to undertake the project?

How do your skills, expertise and interests map to the requirements of the project?

// You may choose to have a multi-student team working on a project ONLY if your roles are clearly articulated. For example, you may have one person in charge of design, branding and usability; another in charge of strategy and market research; and other in charge of programming and implementation. Multi-student teams will receive ONE grade, so be very careful choosing your team and coordinating project deliverables. You are likely to learn more about the authentic communication and project management challenges of teams, and your final project MAY ultimately be more impressive, but collaboration is never without landmines. Consider carefully the risk and reward tradeoff of group work. //

The project team consists of:


 * Myself** - Naturally I will be the 'hub' of the project - scheduling meetings, eliciting specifications, designing and building the portal. I have been building software systems for over 20 years and am well versed in every aspect of a project of this sort. I am learning a lot about the subject matter of the portal (e-learning) through my work at Marlboro and expect to learn even more in the course of this project. E-learning is one of my major career interests and pursuits, so I feel well qualified to undertake this initiative. I am also learning Drupal, the CMS I will employ for the build, and feel that this nascent skill (I have built websites before, but not with Drupal), the power and flexibility of Drupal, and having Trevor (see below) as technical advisor will provide a strong foundation for the technical success of this project.


 * Kathy Hipple** - The president of Noosphere Marketing and also my captstone sponsor, Kathy will provide input into the specification and design of the portal, feedback as to its usability and on-going efficacy vis a vis the stated goals, and also be the portal's co-champion within Noosphere Marketing and its clients. (I will be the other champion.


 * Jane Wilde** - My capstone advisor, Jane will meet with me and provide input and feedback on every step of the project. I hope that she will also help me with e-learning resources for the content-gathering part of the project.


 * Trevor Mckeown** - Trevor is the lead architect for Noosphere University, and will be my technical advisor throughout the build.


 * 3b. Communication plan:** what tools will you use to review deliverables, and stay in-touch?

What norms will you establish around communication?

Will you have weekly meetings, or progress reports?

Do people have preferred modes of communication (fax, pager, cell phone, IM, email) or times of day?

What is the contact information of EVERYONE involved?

// Step 1: get the contact information of EVERYONE involved, and their rules (don't call me after 9pm or only use my cell phone on weekends or I only check my email in the mornings). Write this all down and distribute it to the team and your clients. //

I will have bi-weekly meetings with my sponsor and meetings as needed with my capstone advisor and my technical advisor//.// Communication will be primarily by email, but I also will establish a wikispaces wiki for organization and resource access. I will publish a progress report bi-weekly and circulate it to the entire team.

Kathy Hipple

phone: 917-584-0633 email: kathrynhipple@gmail.com

Jane Wilde

phone: 413-388-8041 email: wildejk@gmail.com

Trevor Mckeown

phone: 757-589-4003 email: tmckeown@gmail.com


 * 4. Risks and assumptions**


 * 4a. Risks:** what are the three things that are most likely to go wrong?

Are the risks based on people and personalities, or technology, or market dynamics? What is your plan to recover from each anticipated risk?

// This is a standard section of any technology or business plan. Anticipating risks and thinking through fall-back plans gives you instant respect as a realist. //

The primary risk is that the e-learning portal will be under utilized and thus not provide the anticipated outcomes for Noosphere Marketing and its clients.It seems unlikely that market dynamics will cause interest in e-learning to diminish any time soon. If anything, market dynamics would indicate the exact opposite. So any lack of interest in the portal would likely be due to its design and usability being suboptimal or it its search ranking being poor. To mitigate the effects of these three risks (under-utilization, poor design, bad search engine optimization) I will:
 * Employ design best practices that I have learned at Marlboro
 * Utilize my personal network of colleagues and associates to test and optimize the design
 * Consult e-learning and ed-tech professionals to elicit feedback on maximizing traffic to and interest in the portal
 * Work with Noosphere's in-house SEO expert to ensure that the site is optimized for search
 * Leverage social media tools to bring traffic and interest to the portal.


 * 4b. Key assumptions:** What or whom are you counting on to make the project a success? Do you need timely reviews and feedback from the client? Do you need content? Do you need technical execution assistance? Do you need access to their servers or a hosting service? Are you counting on being reimbursed for expenses and travel costs? Do you need funding for particular purposes (training, time, fees, specialized services)?

// This is a standard section of any good proposal. There are always assumptions, and it's typically in your interest to make them explicit. Ambiguity around deliverables or reimbursable harms consultants and clients in the long run, so make fair disclosures about what you'll need and expect now, avoiding misunderstandings later. //

I am counting, first and foremost, on myself to make this project a success. It hinges on the effort, creativity and skill that I bring to the table. This is by design. I feel that a capstone should demonstrate my progress in my chosen field of study and not be contingent on forces beyond my control for its success or failure. That said, I don't live or work in a vacuum; I've worked in teams for my entire career - and this is a team effort in so much as the rest of Noosphere Marketing is involved - and they will be.

Timely reviews and feedback from the client will be necessary for this to succeed. Noosphere Marketing has to feel that the e-learning portal supports their business goals, and advances their standing with their client base and with the greater academic and e-learning communities.

I need a lot of content in order for the portal to succeed. Part of my project plan is how to go about gathering and filtering that content. I will also need technical assistance - fortunately I have contracted a world-class Drupal developer for the Noosphere University platform build, and he will serve as a sounding board and technical mentor for my build of the e-learning portal. Hosting will be done on a free Drupal hosting platform or on the free portion of Amazon EC2 (Elastic Cloud). I do not require any reimbursement or funding - my only expense is my Drupal training, which I am paying for out-of-pocket.

We expect you to work hard on your Capstone. We expect you to solve tough, non-trivial problems. And we expect that in return you will learn a great deal about how to attack real-world, complicated, Internet strategy problems, and implement plans and systems to help real companies succeed in a new digital landscape.

For the investment you make in time, effort, energy and brainpower the payback will be in rich learning and rich experiences that you can immediately apply to your career after Marlboro.


 * Additional Comments:**