Cognitive Associates Research And Evaluation

DURING THE FIRST QUARTER THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE LEARNING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (LMS) HAS BEEN A POINT OF DISCUSSION SINCE THE PAST SUMMER, WHEN THE ORGANIZATION WAS APPROACHED ABOUT THE POSSIBILITY OF AN ONLINE SYSTEM. FUNDS ARE BEING SOUGHT THROUGH THE COLORADO HEALTH FOUNDATION TO USE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SYSTEM. HOWEVER, CONSIDERATION OF THAT FUNDING HAS BEEN DELAYED AND IT WAS DECIDED TO AT LEAST PURSUE THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE LMS USING BW PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT FUNDS. THE ORGANIZATION ALSO INTERACTED WITH A NEW YORK BASED FIRM THAT DOES MARKETING AND DESIGN WORK, WHICH WAS INSTRUMENTAL IN THE INITIAL CREATION OF THE BW LOGO AND STYLE. THE FIRM HAS AGREED TO HELP CREATE AND DESIGN THE ELEMENTS OF THE BRAINWISE KIT. A DENVER MARKETING FIRM WAS RECOMMENDED AS AN ORGANIZATION THAT COULD SCRIPT AND PRODUCE A PROMOTIONAL VIDEO FOR THE ORGANIZATION. AN AGREEMENT WAS REACHED WITH THEM AND MATERIALS HAVE BEEN SHARED. THE INITIAL SCRIPT FROM THE VIDEOGRAPHER WAS IMPRESSIVE AND THE ORGANIZATION WILL BEGIN WORK WITH THE FIRM. A SOCIAL MEDIA PROJECT WAS UNDERTAKEN AND THE EFFORT IS FINDING A RHYTHM THAT APPEARS SUSTAINABLE. THE PROGRAM HAS PLATFORMS ON TWITTER, FACEBOOK, AND LINKED IN AND POSTS ARE BEING MADE ON A REGULAR BASIS. NEXT IN LINE IS DEVELOPING AN ADVERTISING STRATEGY UTILIZING FACEBOOK, AND A POSSIBLE GRANT FROM GOOGLE TO PLACE ADS ON BROWSERS SEARCHES. EDITING OF THE WEBSITE IS ALSO TAKING PLACE TO FURTHER SUPPORT THE ADVERTISING STRATEGY THAT IS PUT IN PLACE. THE CONTINUING DEVELOPMENT OF THE BRAINWISE KIT IS A PRIORITY AND PRELIMINARY SKETCHES OF THE PRODUCT WERE DEVELOPED IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE PUBLIC RELATIONS PROFESSIONALS WHO WORK OUT OF NEW YORK. THESE SKETCHES HAVE BEEN SHARED WITH THE LONG-TIME PRINTER OF BW MATERIAL, TO DEVELOP A PRELIMINARY COST ESTIMATE ON THE PRODUCTION OF THE KIT. A PRELIMINARY DRAFT OF THE "PARENT BOOK" THAT WILL BE PART OF THE KIT IS BEING DISTRIBUTED FOR EDITING AND LAYOUT. DURING THE 2ND QUARTER A CONTRACT WAS SIGNED FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE BW VIDEO. THE VIDEO COMPANY AND VOLUNTEERS WERE WORKING THROUGH A 2ND ITERATION OF THE VIDEO AND WERE PLANNING ON INCLUDING INTERVIEWS WITH VARIOUS COUNSELORS WHO ARE USING THE PROGRAM. BRAINWISE SALES WERE BOOSTED BY ORDERS COMING THROUGH NPAL, WHICH HAS BEGUN ITS NEW ROUND OF FUNDING TO ITS CHAPTERS. TO DATE 19 CHAPTERS HAVE PURCHASED THE 1-YEAR BRAINWISE PACKAGE WHICH WAS OFFERED FOR $1,000 PER CHAPTER. THE PACKAGE INCLUDES TRAINING BY BRAINWISE WHICH WILL BE CONDUCTED IN NEW ORLEANS, AS WELL AS REINFORCEMENT CLASSES DURING THE YEAR. DURING THE QUARTER THE SOCIAL MEDIA PROJECT CONTINUED AND REGULAR POSTINGS HAVE OCCURRED. BRAINWISE VOLUNTEERS, IN CONJUNCTION WITH A MARKETING FIRM, WERE WORKING ON DEVELOPING AN ADVERTISING STRATEGY UTILIZING FACEBOOK, BUT BECAUSE OF ISSUES WITH USING FACEBOOK TO TARGET A SELECTED DEMOGRAPHIC, A DECISION HAS BEEN MADE TO PURSUE A GRANT FROM GOOGLE TO PLACE ADS ON BROWSERS SEARCHES. DURING THE 3RD QUARTER ORDERS FOR BRAINWISE MATERIAL EXPERIENCED AN UPTICK PRIOR TO THE BEGINNING OF THE SCHOOL YEAR. OVER $17,000 IN SALES AND SERVICES INCOME WAS BOOKED DURING THE QUARTER. EXPENSES CONTINUED AS PREDICTED AND A LARGE ORDER OF OVER $15,000 FROM A SCHOOL DISTRICT IN MISSOURI WAS USED TO BUILD UP AN INVENTORY OF THE CURRICULA. A LARGE CONTRIBUTION FROM A LONG-TIME BRAINWISE DONOR WAS ALSO RECEIVED DURING THE 3RD QUARTER AND WOULD BE TARGETED TOWARDS PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT. A BRAINWISE MASTER TRAINER WAS PRESENT AT THE NPAL CONFERENCE TO DO INITIAL TRAINING OF THE NPAL CLIENTS AND FOLLOW-UP SESSIONS WILL BE CONDUCTED VIA ZOOM DURING THE COURSE OF THE YEAR. EFFORTS TO IDENTIFY AN INTERNET PLATFORM THAT COULD BE USED FOR THE DELIVERY OF THE BRAINWISE ONLINE CURRICULUM WERE BEING RESEARCHED AND ONE WAS IDENTIFIED THAT COULD POSSIBLY BE UTILIZED FOR THE BRAINWISE COURSE. DURING THE QUARTER POSTINGS TO ALL THE SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS WERE CONTINUING AS SCHEDULED AND THE GRANT APPLICATION TO GOOGLE HAD BEEN APPROVED. THE AD GRANT WAS FOR UP TO $10,000 PER MONTH IN GOOGLE ADS WHICH APPEAR DURING SEARCHES THROUGH THE GOOGLE BROWSER. ADMINISTERING THE GRANT AND MAINTAINING AN AD CAMPAIGN IS AN EXTENSIVE PROCESS AND A COMMITMENT WAS MADE WITH A MARKETING FIRM TO PROVIDE THOSE SERVICES. AD CAMPAIGNS ARE BEING PLANNED AND ADS DESIGNED TO MEET THE REQUIREMENTS THAT GOOGLE PLACES ON RECIPIENTS OF THE AD GRANTS. ANOTHER ITERATION OF THE BRAINWISE PROMOTIONAL VIDEO USING NEW MATERIAL THAT WAS FILMED DURING THE SUMMER WAS COMPLETED EDITING OF THE VIDEO WILL OCCUR BASED UPON A STORY BOARD THAT WAS CREATED WHICH WILL HELP DIRECT THE EDITING. WORK ON THE PARENT MANUAL FOR THE BRAINWISE KIT WAS CONTINUING AND A MOCKUP OF THE KIT WAS DEVELOPED AND MATERIALS ARE BEING SHOPPED FOR INCLUSION IN THE KIT. ALTHOUGH THE ROLLOUT OF THE KIT WOULD BE SOMETIME IN THE NEXT YEAR, IDEAS ABOUT DEVELOPING A PR CAMPAIGN WERE BEING DISCUSSED AS WELL. EXTENSIVE WORK WAS BEING DONE WITH THE LOS ANGELES VA HOSPITAL ON THE DEVELOPMENT AND TEACHING OF BRAINWISE WITH HOMELESS VETERANS. INITIAL REPORTS ON THE ACCEPTANCE OF THE PROGRAM BY THE CLIENTS WERE POSITIVE. FOLLOWING UP ON THE GRANT RECEIVED FROM GOOGLE, DURING THE 4TH QUARTER AN ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN THROUGH GOOGLE WAS ESTABLISHED. ADS ARE APPEARING ON GOOGLE BROWSERS TRACKING RELEVANT SEARCH TERMS THAT ARE BEING USED TO SEARCH FOR SEL PROGRAMS. THE INITIAL RESULTS HAVE BEEN GOOD, WITH ACTIVITY THAT IS REGISTERING AT LEVELS ABOVE WHAT GOOGLE REQUIRES TO JUSTIFY THE USE OF THE GRANT MONEY FOR ADVERTISING. THERE WAS A STRONG INCREASE IN SALES OVER THE PRIOR YEAR, RESULTING IN A GOOD REVENUE YEAR AND A STABILIZATION OF THE BALANCE SHEET. MUCH OF THIS WAS DUE TO A DOUBLING OF THE NPAL CHAPTERS THAT SIGNED ON FOR THE BRAINWISE PROGRAM, AS WELL AS STRONG ORDERS FROM ESTABLISHED CUSTOMERS. EXPENSES WERE STEADY WITH THE ONLY SIGNIFICANT INCREASE BEING IN THE PRINTING CATEGORY. BECAUSE THE ORGANIZATIONS ENGAGES IN "JUST IN TIME" PRINTING, THESE COSTS MOVE IN PROPORTION WITH SALES. IN TOTAL 316 CURRICULA WERE DISTRIBUTED, ALONG WITH DIRECT TRAINING OF OVER 60 BRAINWISE COUNSELORS AND 15 NPAL CHAPTERS IN 26 STATES AND 3 CANADIAN PROVINCES. CONSERVATIVELY, IT IS ESTIMATED THAT THESE SALES RESULTED IN OVER 8,000 STUDENTS BEING INTRODUCED TO THE BRAINWISE PROGRAM.