Motivation

A Note from the Creator:

I love chocolate. I love chocolate so much, in fact, that I created this website to share that love. However, I want chocolate to be loved as more than a delicious sweet. Chocolate is a symbol of culture. The various uses of chocolate around the world represent rich cultural perspectives and heritages. As world citizens and citizens of the World Wide Web, I at Chocolate Journeys also love the world we inhabit and desire to communicate that love as well. The marriage of chocolate and world culture was the ideal motivation for Chocolate Journeys. It provides an opportunity to simultaneously celebrate and learn, anthropologically and sociologically, about chocolate and the world.

-Janelle L. Tiulentino, Creator

Objective

Chocolate Journeys strives to provide an optimum experience to all visitors. Our goals are as follows:

• To facilitate ease of use in site navigation, through each of two organizational modes:
  • World region
  • Anthropological or sociological topic in culture
• To provide a comprehensive treasury of information, for each featured world region, in:
  • History     
  • Tales & Myths
  • Symbolism & Values
  • Traditions & Customs
  • Current Uses
  • Trends & The Future
  • Recipes & Treats
    • Note: This section will be featured as an interactive entertainment portion of the site.
  • Related Links
• To facilitate connectivity for consumers through multimedia, interactive features such as online chat forums, and connections to a larger online chocolate world via links to vendors and special interest chocolate websites
• To promote enthusiasm for chocolate as a food, and beyond its narrow classification as a food

Why Chocolate Journeys?

There are many websites featuring chocolate. Chocolate Journeys differentiates itself from the competition in such ways:

• Few competitors focus as extensively on the cultural anthropological and sociology of chocolate.
• Few competitors feature as much comprehensive information as Chocolate Journeys.
• Few competitors focus on multiple, diverse world regions
• Few competitors condense information about chocolate in such ways of organization as the interactive world map or cultural anthropology/sociology topic
• Few competitors share interactive features and resources with visitors
• Few competitors provide links to a broad range of related chocolate websites and vendors

Development & Resources

     The following development stages outline the foreseen evolution of Chocolate Journeys.

     Each stage represents a specific checkpoint in the progress of the website as we endeavor to achieve our final goal, reaching Development Stage 5.  

• Development Stage 1
  • Chocolate Journeys is to begin on a free-of-charge Wiki domain.
  • Ideas for the site are developed.
  • A rough outline of the site's features and navigation is composed.
  • Resources
    • Free wiki domain
    • Minor technical support from peers
• Development Stage 2
  • Chocolate Journeys begins to collect initial research and information for featured world regions and topics.
  • Wiki domain style is improved.
  • The Chocolate Journeys domain begins moving to an improved, more sophisticated domain allowing for more features and design.
  • Resources
    • Initial seed investment collections, approximately $100 from Creator's personal funds
    • Technical support from friends majoring in Computer Science
• Development Stage 3
  • Begin compiling formal collections of texts, excerpts, and analyses for featured world regions and topics.
  • Finalize move to improved domain.
  • Begin aggressive fundraising campaign by seeking additional seed investment, soliciting small chocolate-related businesses
  • Resources
    • Additional seed investment collections from family/friends
    • Initial funds raised from small business advertisers
• Development Stage 4
  • Consult experts in chocolate, anthropolgy, sociology, various world cultures, and pertinent academic disciplines for website content
  • Finalize content
  • Create and finalize multimedia and interactive features for website
  • Continue agressive fundraising campaign by soliciting larger chocolate vendors, related businesses
  • Begin compiling advertising, e-business card, and catalogue/links program for advertisers and revenue
  • Resources
    • Previously collected funds for travel, expert consultation costs
    • Incoming revenue for advertising project costs
• Development Stage 5
  • Maintain website by updating information with news, trends, and developments every 3 weeks
  • Brainstorm/create multimedia and interactive features for website
  • Hire website consultants/technicians for domain upkeep, efficiency, and optimization
  • Maintain advertising and marketing relationships with outside businesses
  • Resources
    • Funds for hired help compensation
    • Funds for overall website maintenance
    • Funds for Creator's time compensation (i.e. Creator's salary)

Intended Target & Methods

Chocolate Journeys aims to attract any Web visitor with any degree of interest in chocolate and/or culture. Whether users are merely visiting by accident or actively seeking certain information, this website aims to satisfy all degrees of curiosity.

The completed design of the website is intended to appeal to the user through visuals, ease of navigation and functionability. The color scheme and decorative images will feature decadent chocolate and diverse cultural themes, such as picturesque places around the world. The website's front page will feature a full, clickable world map that visitors can use to navigate directly to a particular region. The sidebar will categorize the website's content by topic, if visitors wish to navigate via topic instead.

While the website aims to keep visitors at the domain for as long as possible, through its information and features, the website also emphasizes connectivity to other related sites on the Web. Links to advertisers and special interest sites allow visitors to further their curiosity and interest in chocolate and/or culture.

Anticipated Trends

Chocolate Journeys will be updated as developments emerge in the world of chocolate and culture. Anticipated trends could possibly relate to:

• Evolution of chocolate as a food/ingredient, and resulting cultural significance
• Evolution of chocolate as a cultural symbol
• Traditionally unconventional chocolate use, especially as a means of expression

Potential Obstacles and Risks

• It will be difficult to strike a balance between this website being overly informational and overly festive.
• The website may have to be updated more than every 3 weeks as designated, to coordinate with worldwide developments and maintain regular viewer interest
• The website will be available internationally, but is written from a Western standpoint and innate bias
• It is unclear how "expertise" in chocolate, culture, and the relation between the two is defined
• Some content may be controversial, such as the statue of Jesus carved entirely of chocolate

The Team

The creator of Chocolate Journeys, Janelle Tiulentino, is currently a freshman undergraduate student attending Stanford University. She is a prospective Sociology major with related interests in foreign language, cultural and social anthropology, and economics. Aside from academics, her interests include food, travel, friends, and money. She currently resides at Stanford University in Stanford, California, where she is developing this website.

Because Chocolate Journeys is currently in its beginning stages of development, Tiulentino is the sole member of the official Chocolate Journeys team. However, she solicits help from friends and hopes to hire more members in the future. Such members would include a layout designer for website design and feature upkeep, a logistical assistant to handle finance and administrative paperwork, and one or two research assistants if determined to be necessary in the future.

Janelle L. Tiulentino

Updated 4-May-2008, 3:03 pm