I chose this theme for my Summerbridge site for several reasons. The black background with white content section is clean and simple. Kids and parents are going to be accessing this site, so I don't want the theme to be loud and difficult to follow. I like that this theme allows for large headers that span the entire top of a content page. I also like the orange accent color because it fits with the summer time theme and our other warm color - red. I wanted a top navigation bar so that I could fit a variety of menu options and so that the content page is wide enough for what I want to pu ton it.
1. Describe some of the conversations you had with the people you indicated in your marketing plan.
When I talked with my cousin Mark, he was really excited to get involved. He told me he knows of a few clients who might be interested in donating to Summerbridge. We are going to meet next week so he can give me some contact information for those companies and so that we can brainstorm some ways his company can get involved. I also had great success when talking with my old boss at the ice cream shop. He agreed to hang up a large banner advertising Summerbridge and we started talking about a promotion idea for his store and donations to Summerbridge. 2. Did speaking with this person bring about new leads, new information, or new avenues for you to investigate in terms of your project? After talking to Jackie, she put me in contact with a student looking to teach. I am going to meet with her for recruiting purposes. Jackie is also going to keep an eye out for more potential teaching candidates as she works with student athletes this school year. 3. Were you able to increase your social media presence during break and how? I was able to increase it slightly, which is a good start. When I talked with my friends and family about my movement, I had them get out their phones and friend or request me right then and there. It was great because I knew that they wouldn't say they'd check it out then forget about it. 1. Thoughts on the overall experience:
After working for Summerbridge for a number of years, I started looking for new ways to spread the program's message. I realized that we had a poor online presence and that we needed to create one both so that our current students could have a hub through which they could continue learning and so that we could spread word about our program. I dove in haphazardly without much planning. As I began creating the website, I realized that I had so much information I wanted to convey. I have added a lot of content, but (as per my way of working) I have a series of semi-completed sections that I tend to work on piecemeal until everything is done. This process is both effective and not. If I could spend my time working only on this website, and if I were getting paid to create it, this process would work just fine. However, because I have to work on it in my spare time for no money, this piece meal process is less effective. 2. Evaluation of success: One of my goals when creating the website was to get our current and former students and parents more involved in the program and more educated on a variety of school related topics. In some ways I have succeeded. The past two summers, I have encouraged students to go on the site, and last summer, I set up the site on computers at Celebration, which enabled many people to interact with the site and familiarize themselves with it. I have received a couple of contact forms from former students, which means that to some degree, the site has been successful in reaching out to former students. Despite this minor level of success, I have a lot of work ahead of me. 3. What would you have done differently?: I would have created a full plan before diving right into the website creation. I tried to keep things organized, but there is so much information that I am having difficulty with that task. If I had planned from the outset, I could have created a solid plan with goals and a table with steps and achievements. This kind of information would also be helpful for when I take on other people to help with this project. 4. What is your plan for this project in the future?: First and foremost, I need to keep adding content to the site and complete some major sections including Lehigh Valley Colleges, Lehigh Valley Schools, Good Books, Meet the Staff, and Summerbridge Success Stories. I also need to build a strong presence on social media. I want to continue to use Pinterest as a resource for teachers and students and I want to build a much larger following on Facebook and Twitter. I want to start sending live tweets about Summerbridge events. I also want to get organized enough that I can take on a helper in this project. I just can't do it on my own anymore.
Everything worked smoothly on Macbook - Google Chrome, Safari, iphone, and ipad. On the mobile devices, the screen gets compressed, but it is easy to find the tabs and navigate. I did notice that on Safari, the pages loaded a little slower than on Chrome. I might need to dial back on the images, at least on the homepage so that slower web browsers and computers can load this page. Other than that, the images look clear and I didn't have to make any significant changes.
What:
I shot this video during a Challenge Accepted course one summer. This clip is part of a much longer 15 minute (or so) video. I cut down this clip because I wanted to isolate the part that makes me laugh. I am the one filming and I lose it during the entire filming. I am just laughing at the silliness that is unfolding. What makes this video so great for me is that it is taking place during a challenge one student made up for our class. The challenge was a hot mess, but the kids went for it anyway and had a blast. Not only does the video make me laugh when the two boys just sprint across holding that tiny girl between them, and when the one boy gets nailed with a dodgeball on his way back, but it just fully embodies the spirit of Summerbridge. We use creative learning, hands on learning, and we have fun. Why: This video has the best chance of all the ones I have taken over the years to go viral...or at least of being watched by people connected to Summerbridge. It is short, funny, and shows a familiar setting that most people in the states can relate to - gym class. Where did I post it: Right now, I have it posted on my Summerbridge YouTube channel. I haven't done much with this channel yet because I want to make sure that I don't violate the privacy of the students. Although their parents sign release forms that allow us to use images and footage of the students publicly, I still get wary about having the content on the web. My future plan is to post it on the new Facebook page and on our Twitter profile as the summer program draws near. Views: Only 4 views to date, but hopefully more as I start putting it up on our other social media. When I thought about using the image on my site, I wasn't sure where to put it once I had created it. I decided to make a second image using this first one. I made the first one in Picmonkey, added text in Word, and then put that image into Fotor to make a collage. I put this collage on the What is Summerbridge page and think that it actually works well to break up the large amounts of text that follow. It sends a message that while we are a serious organization, we also celebrate people for who they are and welcome silliness and creativity as well as academic rigor.
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