And here's the report

Turtle Buddy Project 1

Group 1: Maria, Terri, Kirk, Brooke, Ellery, Lindsey

►The Future◄

The Band’s Goals:

· Increase the sales of the current CD and produce another CD

· Expand their performances to different places

· Reach a wider audience

· Play more live shows

· Want advertising that is “noticeable in its uniqueness”

o They do not want a logo

o All advertisements should be different and unique

· Suggestions they have for advertising:

o Unique posters such as a poster using just text, without a background (no rectangular poster board)

o T-shirts that say “Turtle Buddy Sucks” (reverse psychology)

The Target Audience:

· Although they don’t have a specific target audience, McDaniel students have been the primary targets

· Want their music to appeal to all ages

· Their current followers are the “Bohemians on campus”, people who like them because they have a sitar player, and some people who just like the catchier songs.

►The Present◄

The Band’s Ideals:

· Focus on the music

· Unite different groups through music

· The music is meant to promote self-reliance, self-expression, and creativity

· Want people to express themselves, be active about their dreams and try to do whatever they can to achieve them.

· They want to “stretch themselves in every direction” and accept all cultures and want their music to reflect that

· The music is about philosophy and self-discovery. They cover topics like life, love, being young, and what the future might hold.

Current Promotions:

· Word of mouth

· MySpace

· Facebook

· McDaniel College Bookstore

· Band website

· Mass emails to McDaniel students

Individual Members:

· Henry Amankwah was born in Ghana. He is the vocalist of the band. He is a Biology major in the McDaniel class of 2010.

· Sunita Pathik is the only female in the band. She plays the violin and graduates in 2011.

· Eric Welkos plays both the guitar and the sitar. He began playing the sitar after taking a music appreciation course at Carroll Community College. He is an Art History major in the McDaniel class of 2010.

· Tyler Buisch is the percussionist of the band. He plays the riqq, an Egyptian tambourine and a Spanish percussion box called the cajón. He is a Music major and graduates in 2009.

· Greg Adams plays the piano and the melodica. He was a Music major and graduated from McDaniel in 2008

· Keith Adams is the younger brother of Greg and plays the guitar. He is a Music major and will graduate in 2010.

►The Past◄

The Band and its History:

· The band name

o Band member Greg Adams saw a YouTube video featuring a turtle and wrote a jazz composition about it.

o They didn’t have a name until the college radio station asked them for one, they were known as the Troubadors/Wandering Minstrels

o When Keith asked his older brother Greg what their name was, the first thing he said was Turtle Buddy

o According to Amankwah, the name grows on you and takes the pretentiousness out of the music

· How they formed:

o They formed in the fall of 2007.

o They had been friends for a while.

o Began by having daily “jam sessions” around campus

o They all live together or in close proximity

· Words they use to describe themselves:

o Reaching the unknown

o Questing for lost lore

o Quirky

o Weird, peculiar

o Humility

o Spontaneous

o Unique

· Released a 9-track album July 29^th, 2008 titled Bright Bright Moon

o Have sold 100 out of 500 copies

o Available for sale in the McDaniel College Bookstore

o Available for sale online (links on MySpace and Facebook)

o Can be purchased directly from a band member

o It was recorded entirely in dorm rooms.

· They have performed across the McDaniel campus, at parties, the Pour House, the Mud Puddle in Frederick, MD, and at the campuses of other schools.

Maria,
I honestly have no more key points then what is already written. Thank you so much for putting this together and I'm sorry I am later in responding, I just got back from a away hockey game and this is the first opportunity I have had to get on my computer.

My Info

Here is what I wrote up, thanks for doing this Maria!!

When did the band form?

            - Last Fall

            - Been friends a while

            - Got the name because it was the first thing his older brother said when they             asked him

            - They just wanted to record their ideas, started in October, recorded in December,             finished in May.

                        - Recorded it all in dorm rooms

 

How is the CD selling?

            - Sold probably 100 out of the 500 copies

            - Selling it at the school store

            - Using MySpace, mass email, and word of mouth to spread the word about the             band

 

How would you describe the band?

            - Just a bunch of friends who like to play music

            - Care most about their music and promoting the music rather than promoting the             band

            - Want to promote self-reliance, self-expression, and creativity

                        - Want people to express themselves, be active about their dreams and try                                     to do whatever they can to achieve them

                        - “Stretch yourselves in all directions”

            - Album is “green”

            -Want people to learn about other cultures and all get along

 

What do you want to focus on in terms of promotion?

            - Would ultimately like to play more shows, because that’s where people really             get to hear their music and enjoy it, but don’t have any gigs lined up right now

            - Focus on promoting CD at school store and MySpace

            - Do not want a logo for the band

            - In terms of advertisements, they want “something noticeable in its uniqueness”

                        - Want all their advertisements to be very different and unique

            - Want a sign for the bookstore

                        - His idea he was thinking of: Posters and signs usually are text on a                                     rectangular background, wants to take the background away, so there is                                     just text

            - He also wanted Turtle Buddy t-shirts

                        - His idea: design t-shirts that say “Turtle Buddy Sucks”, reverse                                                 psychology

 

Who is your target audience?

            - Don’t really think about the audience

            - At McDaniel- targeting students

            - Right now their followers are “the Bohemians on campus”, some people that just             like them because they have a citar player, and some just like their more catchy             songs

 

Are there any other adjectives to accurately describe the band?

            - “Reaching the unkown”

            - “Questing for lost lore”

            - Quirky, but would be 3^rd place in terms of adjectives

            - Weird, peculiar 

Key Ideas Terri's Paper/TB assignment 1

Maria- You may just want to grab key info. from each paragraph and create more of an outline form. Let me know if you have any questions.

Reading the posted articles on the site reveals the bands desire to be unique and promote self expression.

During the interview, Keith provided some background information on the group. The group originated unintentionally. The group evolved out of some friends who liked jamming together. The members live together or in close proximity to one another and just enjoy playing together every day. The bands ideals are all about the music. Keith shared that the band wants the music to represent self reliance, creativity, and encourage self expression. The band would like to see their music be influential by promoting students to chase after their dreams and to become active. The music is personal to the band and would like to see their audience allow the music to become personal to them as well. When asked about the use of eastern instruments, Keith shared that the members enjoyed stretching themselves, accepting all cultures and Turtle Buddy hopes that is reflected in the music.

When asked about the current promotions and activities the band is currently involved in, Keith shared information regarding their first CD which was completed in July, 2008. He discussed the process in which the band created the CD and discussed current promotions. Currently, the bands resources for promotions are My Space, word of mouth, the school store at McDaniel College, Turtle Buddy web page and mass emails distributed to McDaniel students. The CD can be purchased through the school store or directly through a band member. Of the five hundred CD’s produced, one hundred have been sold.

In addition to the debut of a new CD, Turtle Buddy performs unofficially around the campus of McDaniel College. Often the band will play in the square and has performed at parties across the campus. The band has had several scheduled performances as well. Turtle Buddy has performed on the campus of several schools, the Pourhouse, and the Mud Puddle in Frederick, Maryland.

When asked what the band would like our group to provide and what the bands future goals are, Keith shared the group would like to expand. While he made it clear the band is definitely about the music, they would like to increase sales of the current CD and produce another CD. In addition, they would like to expand their performances. Keith stated he would like to move out of the home audience. While McDaniel has been the primary target audience, the band would like to see the music appeal to people of all ages.

Keith was very specific about the bands ideas for promotion. The band desires the advertising to be different. They don’t want the advertising to conform in a democratic sense, as it would not be a fair representation of the band. Turtle buddy would like something noticeable in its own uniqueness. The band is not interested in logos, but would like to have a poster or sign constructed which would be unusual and eye catching. Reverse psychology would be appealing to the band to help with promotions. Keith expressed an interest in T-shirts as a form of promoting the group and shared an interest in a sign for the bookstore.

Our group asked to provide some adjectives which would describe Turtle Buddy. Keith discussed humility, as he perceives the turtle to be a humble creature. Spontaneous was another adjective which helped to describe the group and its music. In addition, he thought of the players as Bohemians-men of mystery. He shared statements of reaching the unknown and throughout the interview Keith repeated phrases which would be beneficial in understanding them. Several times he talked about improvisation, creativity, self expression, and unusual. All these terms and adjectives are helpful in determining the message Turtle Buddy wants to express and will help our group with the information design process.

Background Info on Turtle Buddy

And here we go. Blog created.
And here's my individual report stuff. It was being obnoxious about the copy and paste thing so I just took out the bullets and stuff, that's why it's not so pretty anymore.

Turtle Buddy’s Facebook page, accessed August 30^th, 2008 provided the following information:

Six people make up the band Turtle Buddy. They include Henry Amankwah, Sunita Pathik, Eric Welkos, Tyler Buisch, and brothers Greg and Keith Adams.

Henry Amankwah was born in Ghana and is the band’s vocalist.

Sunita Pathik plays the violin.

Erik Welkos plays both the guitar and the sitar. He began playing the sitar after taking a music appreciation course at Carroll Community College.

Tyler Buisch is the percussionist. He plays the riqq, an Egyption tambourine and a Spanish percussion box called the cajón.

Greg Adams plays the melodica and the piano.

Keith Adams plays the guitar.

The CD Bright Bright Moon was released on July 29^th, 2008. It is made up of 9 tracks.

The Facebook page includes several articles about the band including one from the Carroll County Times, the McDaniel Free Press, the McDaniel News Center, and an album review. These are also available on the band’s Myspace page blog.

According to the article from the McDaniel News Center the band is characterized as a “progressive rock and folk band”

Keith Adams is quoted as saying “Philosophy and self-discovery drive the music. We talk about life, love, being young, and what the future may hold.”

The band’s goal is to unite different groups through music.

The Carroll County Times article “McDaniel College students use collective interests to form unique band” by Jordan Bartel explains how the band received its name. According to the article, “band member Greg Adams saw a YouTube video featuring a turtle and wrote a jazz composition about it.”

According to Henry Amankwah “It kind of takes the pretentious element out of the music.”

· Three of the band members are music majors: Greg and Keith Adams and Tyler Buisch. Erik Welkos changed from a self-designed South Asian Studies major to Art History. Henry Amankwah is studying biology. Sunita Pathik’s major is not listed in the article.

The band member classes, found on individual Facebook profiles:

Henry Amankwah is part of the McDaniel class of 2010

Sunita Pathik is part of the McDaniel class of 2011

Erik Welkos is part of the McDaniel class of 2010

Tyler Buisch is part of the McDaniel class of 2009

Greg Adams graduated from McDaniel in 2008

Keith Adams is part of the McDaniel class of 2010

Publicity includes a MySpace page, a Facebook page (both of which allow users to listen to songs), and a link to buy their CD. They feature four promotional videos on their websites and also through YouTube. They also have two Facebook photo albums.

Currently they have 117 fans on Facebook

They have 1415 MySpace friends and as of September 8^th have had 2,282 plays of their music and 6,407 visits to their site.