English 421Y: Technical Writing Online

The purpose of our first group meeting was to pick a topic, choose roles, and get the ball rolling on developing our white paper. We were very productive with good communication and ideas flowing. Each group member played an active role in the discussion and everyone stepping up to complete specific tasks. If our group meetings continue to be this productive we should have no trouble successfully completing this project.

The first order of business was to decide on a topic(s) for our white paper. Based on previous e-mails, there was a general consensus that we should do something environmental/”green”. We decided to develop a white paper on energy saving tips for the student. There will be a number of options the person can pick from, with supporting data to back up the claims. There was a decent amount of time spent trying to figure out the best solutions to present. We originally had five or six, but narrowed it down to three. The majority agreed on topics that would be simple and have a real impact, keeping money in your pocket!

Amidst discussing ideas and trying to figure out the overall direction of our project, group members volunteered to complete certain tasks. We felt this was the better than delegating certain task to people, against their will. This should result in group members taking an interest in their contribution rather than doing it just to get it done. After we had a general idea of who was doing what, we spoke about layout and graphics. Everyone gave input on what they thought would look/flow the best, considering our topic and the fact that it’s a white paper.

After we traded all the information we needed, we started a contacts list and a general document on Google Docs. We will be using this utility to easily trade documents and have live copies of everyone’s work. Our next meeting will be on Sunday in order to get a plan going for next week.