Stakeholders:

• Marcy (Manager of all Tucson Festival of Books operations)

• Volunteers
• Tucson Signs

Marcy:

Q: In order for the TFOB to be successful, what do you think needs to be done?

A: To be successful, the festival should be ran smoothly with minimal issues from authors/individuals/participants throughout the entire day. I also hope this festival to raise more money than the previous years.

Q: In what way do you think we can help the most to improve the current sign distribution process?

A: What I need from your group the most is to analyze the process that we currently have, and be able to provide us with a better recommendation on how we can improve this process to make it easier for the volunteers. In the past, the sign distribution process has become a major headache because of the cluster of signs, and all of them being unorganized.

Q: What do you expect from the volunteers during the festival?

A: I expect the volunteers to know and understand the process and layout in order to help me/members/participants as much as possible during the setup as well as during and after the event is completed. I also expect the volunteers to set up the signs properly, meaning putting the signs on the correct booths with the correct number of signs and properly attaching the signs to the booths.

Volunteers:

Q: What would you say is the most difficult part about the sign distribution process?

A: The most difficult part would be the organization of the signs. It can get difficult to find the correct sings to put up, and put them away in the correct place, when everything can get very mixed up. It needs to be more organized.

Q: In what ways can we be most beneficial to helping make your job easier?

A: The most beneficial thing your group can do to help us, is to find a way to make everything more “assembly-like”, so it is easier for us to get the signs, know exactly where it goes, and be able to put it away in the correct place.

Q: What would you say is the most time consuming task that you endure while getting all of the signs distributed and posted?

A: The most time consuming task has to be the distribution part. There are HUNDREDS of signs that need to be hung and mounted. It is so much easier if we had a box of signs that went to one area, so we can go station by station, as opposed to grabbing signs and then finding out where it needs to go.

Tucson Signs:

Q: How big of an impact is TFOB in regards to the number of signs printed?

A: TFOB is one of the largest events that we print for, we even house all the signs they need for the festival as well as print other elements they need to put ON the signs, not just the signs themselves. For example, this year we had to print hundreds of barcodes and stickers with the TFOB symbol on them to put on the signs they already have.

Q: How can we help improve the inventory process of determining which signs need to be updated/thrown out?

A: If the barcode scanning process can be implemented, and recorded into the TFOB database, we will be able to have an actual tracking machine, so we can now tell where every single sign is. That way, we will be able to know if it needs to be thrown out, or archived. This will help us in conserving room in our facilities so that we will be able to store more signs, and be more organized. Efficiency = success in our books.

User Stories for Marcy:

• As the person in charge, I want to run to run the event with minimal issues, in order for the festival to be successful.
• As the person in charge, I want to run to festival successfully so that I can to raise more money than previous years.
• As the person in charge, I want a more streamlined sign tracking and distribution process so that it could be easier for the volunteers to distribute the sign efficiently.
• As the person in charge, I expect the volunteers to understand the layout and design of the festival in order to be as much help as possible.
• As the person in charge, I expect the volunteers to set up the signs correctly in order to run the event effectively.

User Stories for Volunteers:

• As a volunteer, I expect for the signs to be organized in a logical manner so that I can find them quickly and place it in the correct booth.
• As a volunteer, I want the signs to be grouped by section so that I can distribute them more efficiently (faster).

User Stories for Tucson Signs:

• As the manufacturer of signs, I want an improved sign tracking system so that we can keep track of the signs that will still be used and the ones we can throw out to free up space in our facilities.