A Project in the Making

This blog is for my Multimedia Storytelling class; however, I will be using it to discuss my progress on a project for Communication Campaigns.

Comm. Campaigns is a course requiring classmates to break into groups of three or four to develop a business. Each year has an assigned theme which students must center their businesses around. This year's theme is "Food for Thought" meaning all businesses must produce goods that are environmentally friendly, organic, etc.

Though the business is obviously not created in its entirety, each group is responsible for producing public relation and marketing materials, creating an event that benefits the community and summarizing the company's basics including mission statement, history, location and products. Additionally, each group must build a booth, displaying their mock-company's press materials and product prototypes. Each booth must provide visitors with product samples and giveaways, enticing visitors in an attempt to collect votes. Booths will be set up in the Mercyhurst Student Union Tuesday, May 11 for the annual tradeshow, which will run from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. 

Students as well as professionals from the Erie community will attend the trade show, voting for students booths to determine who has created the best mock-business. Erie media outlets may also be in attendance as the event attracts an average of 300+ people. 

My group has chosen to create Whisk, a gluten-free, organic bakery, which will be located in on West 8th St. in Erie. 

While most of you are probably relatively familiar with organic food, or food that has not been genetically modified, making it all-natural, gluten-free may be a new vocabulary word. The term gluten-free means that the product in question does not contain any wheat. This is particularly beneficial to those who suffer from celiac disease, a wheat allergy, which greatly restricts one's diet. People with celiac disease are typically unable to eat cakes, cookies, brownies, bread and pasta.

Whisk will sell affordable cookies, cupcakes, brownies and cakes that contain nutritious ingredients and can be consumed by a wide range of people, helping those with celiac disease find treats that taste just as good as the originals.

My group came up with this idea after we noticed that shops selling exclusively cupcakes were becomingly increasingly popular. I'm from Pittsburgh where my friends and I frequently visit such bakeries, stopping by for a snack whenever we're downtown. In Squirrel Hill, a neighborhood of Pittsburgh, there is a cupcake shop, Dozen, and a gluten-free bakery, Gluuteny. Whisk will combine attributes of both Dozen and Gluuteny, producing unique flavored cupcakes that are fancily decorated and gluten-free.

Whisk aims to exude a classy vibe, relying on the colors white, black and red to create a brand identity. Because the project does not need to be completed until May 11, plans are still underway; however, continue to stop back to monitor Whisk's progress, view our products and read excerpts of our press materials. Trust me, when it comes time to mass produce hundreds of cupcakes and assemble a booth, things are definitely going to get interesting.

In the meantime, click the links to the right to visit Pittsburgh bakery Web sites and learn more about eating organic or living with celiac disease.

Here's a look at Whisk's logo: