2013 Red Cloud Business Bootcamp
(There's a lot to read with videos at the end! Please scroll all the way down!)
Being a member of the Red Cloud is being a part of the Hongyun Art Team! Red Cloud students came together during the Thanksgiving break to work on jumpstarting their business ideas! Hongyun's goal for the Red Cloud through next May is to use their creativity, their artistic talent, and of course their social skills to create a line of products that will launch at the 2014 Maker Faire! Here are the photos from the 2 day Red Cloud Business Bootcamp event!
To learn more about what the Red Cloud students did, we're sharing some snippets from diaries our Red Cloud students wrote about the event!
Day 1: by Michelle and Amanda
It was the first day of boot camp, and we first dumped our stuff in the Hongyun Art bus. I was very, very, very, very excited to see Mindy!!!!! Hongyun did not know about the big surprise that we were going to do for her on that day. After we dumped our luggage off, we went to the studio to have a quick meeting about business. In that meeting, we learned about how to know the right around of money to have a growing business. For example, we talked about the Maker Faire. We started with 1000 dollars because that would be enough to buy materials and pay for a booth at Maker Faire. One booth would be 500 dollars. Also, we learned about profit. You can buy a low cost product, like a shirt, for $1, and then sell it for $20 to make money. Then we had the rest to get materials.Then, we went into the bus to go to Target. I thought that we were supposed to look at the small crafts there, but we actually just went in there to get ice cream and Hawaiian bread. We actually saw some cookie kits that Tommy talked about in the meeting. He said that the people who sell the products make the kits so it can be more convenient. After we checked our stuff out, we got on the bus again, and went to Hongyun's house to drop the food and luggage off. After doing so, we went to Saigon to eat lunch. Everybody paid a share of $10 during the lunch. Hannah didn't want to eat anything. Eventually, Hongyun opened up Hannah to the many foods. Amanda loved the 烧卖 , and everybody loved to Taro Buns. When lunch was over, we were stuffed! We went on the bus and traveled to a mall called Valleyfair. There we window shopped for the whole entire day until 5. It was very fun, and we bought Starbucks, and we visited stores like Sanrio, Build a Bear, Abercrombie and Fitch, and Forever 21. We looked at the differences of all the stores. For example, we compared Abercrombie and Fitch to other stores that targeted teenagers like, Forever 21. Abercrombie and Fitch had barely any lighting and loud music, while Forever 21 had bright lights and soft music in the background. In a watch place called Swatch, there were watches lined up everywhere, and the walls were white. This drew attention to the watches, which were colorful. This way, each watch was a different color to match any style. They were priced around $60 to $150 a watch. We went to California's Pizza Kitchen in the mall for dinner. We bought three very big pizzas and a salad for all of us. Afterwards, our waitress brought a slice of red velvet cake and a scoop of ice cream for Hongyun's birthday! We sang Happy Birthday to her very loudly and she was so happy, even though everyone else was covering their ears. At home, she was treated to a surprise. We took turns going into the bathroom together to blow the balloons Amanda brought and blew them up, then stuck it into the closet. Then we had a Talent Show.mMichelle, Olive, and Amanda, performed a song from Equestria Girls, My Little Pony. It took a long time for Michelle and Olive to practice, and Amanda to manage lights. Finally the show started. We started with the words, get ready for the show of a lifetime! You could tell that the show was awesome. Afterwards, Amanda sang a Fox parody about Hongyun Art, and when she reached the chorus, Cheryl and everybody else started showering balloons onto Hongyun! Hongyun practically started to cry as Hannah gave her her present. Jellybeans! Then, we watched Monster University, brushed our teeth, took a shower and went to sleep. It took us quite some time to go to sleep. In the morning Mindy was climbing all over us! Now, we had woke up and are now typing this thing.
Day 2: by Amanda
We got up bright and early and awaited Hongyun and Tommy's surprise. The first thing I did was feed Mindy with Olive wearily. They had been hinting for a while that something was going to happen today. We had our breakfast at Panera Bread, next to Target. We walked there, and it took about ten minutes. We saw some weird trees outside of Target. They had furry flowers hanging off the twigs. The big plants growing along the branches were like gourds. They were green, and about as big as Tommy's head. I felt curious, but I was eager to get to Panera Bread to eat. Obviously we took Mindy, and she did her business along the way. I felt kind of guilty. She stayed outside, and we joined her after buying breakfast. She was practically drooling as we stepped outside. Tommy prepared the bus and snacks, and didn't come with us. I ate some cherry pastry and asiago cheese bagel. We talked about our past experiences and chatted away. We were then whisked away into the Hongyun Bus to pickup Kristy, and then go to the surprise! We picked Kristy up at Hyde, and then drove to our surprise destination: the Santa Cruz beach! Although I got a little carsick during the way, Hongyun gave me some hot water and I felt pretty good afterwards. At the beach, we made a sandcastle and looked for sea shells. Technically it was a sea turtle, and we set two white shells for its eyes. Using the seashells we found, we spelled out "HY" and decorated the shell of the turtle with various rocks and stones. This surprise was awesome! The saltwater if the ocean was cold and wet, but I loved it! Deelia, Cheryl, and I journeyed off to an arch at the other side if the beach. There was a lit of seaweed and flies and I got slightly nauseous. Hannah found a big hole and started digging deeper. We also saw a crab, and played with Mindy. We tried to bury her in sand, but unfortunately Mindy moved around too much. I volunteered to bury my legs, and after Deelia and Michelle were done patting down the first layer, they suddenly out two more thick layers of sand. My legs were numb, and suddenly I had the urge to burst out. As Deelia walked away with Mindy, I kicked out of my sand dunes. I splattered a lot of sand on Michelle, who was right next to me! As we made it back to the bus, Mindy spotted a gopher and tried to catch it. Then, Hongyun and Tommy asked us where we wanted to eat lunch. Most of us voted on The Boiling Crab, a place us Red Clouders had seen, but not eaten at. Of course, it was a big success, and even the pickiest eaters in our group (Hannah) we're in love with the tastes and flavor of pounds of savory shrimp, chicken strips, fries, and water. Afterwards, we went to the studio for a meeting. After the first day of Bootcamp, we had many new ideas for what we were going to do. For example, we could do melted crayon art, pencil earrings, or bath salts. Yesterday, we went to a place in the mall, where there were balls if handmade bath salts. A very nice lady showed us how bath salts work, and how they could bubble and fizz in your bath, giving off a refreshing scent. My personal favorite idea was the one with putting Legos into sanitizer. This would add a fun little touch to washing hands. Also, we could use different materials that can fit anyone's interests. Hannah also showed us a type of origami called Golden Venture. I found this very interesting, but to people with unstable hands, it could be challenging. After Kristy, Cheryl, Jasmine, and Deelia left, we set off to Party City to do research. We studied party favors. Small items that would sell for 10 cents were sold for about 59 cents. If there were a certain number of favors in one bag, then the company selling and the store and make more than $2. Therefore those companies are making money out of every party favor. Also, we saw candy party favor prices, like 5 for $1. This offered more convenience to buyers. After research, we went to eat dinner. We had to leave Mindy in the car. Guess what we had? Pho Noodles! Michelle and I shared a bowl of small noodles and chicken breast. Afterwards, we went back home and got cozy and showered. Hongyun slowly started devouring all the butterfly cookies, and we kind of got mad at her for making us right this much. It was a relatively more relaxed day.
