I just want to offer a quick ConnectLakeland progress report to keep you all in the loop.
Right now, all of our conversations are revolving around the site structure. We have to hit that out of the park from the get-go so we are being very deliberate before we start purchasing software rights, writing code, etc. The volunteer programmers* received an exhaustive wish list of what ConnectLakeland.com should be. Good news is that all wishes can be granted. They cannot, however, be granted all at once. Essentially, three major functions of the site have been identified: 1. Event posting, 2. User-centric interaction (a thorough incorporation of social media, for the most part), and 3. Community information (kind of an on-line brochure).
The programmers don’t want to bite off a 6-8month long task, nor do we want them to. Also, this is all being done on a volunteer basis so we need to chip away at this site build according to the amount of time our volunteers can offer. With that in mind, the programming team will begin with #1 in the form of a community calendar with a bit of #2 sprinkled in, with the idea that the social media functionality will grow soon after the calendar is running successfully. We’ve still got some details that need to be hashed out that involves a lot of website lingo I cannot properly recapture. Thank goodness we’ve got some stellar programmers at the helm!
As with almost any volunteer-based activity, these things do take time. Mostly it’s a result of us all carving out an hour in our schedules that works for everybody. Sometimes that seems like a bigger challenge than deciding whether to go with PHP or ASP.net. (Yea, I’m still not sure what that means but it’s in the discussion notes so that must mean it’s important.) We have very motivated volunteers that are chomping at the bit to get the site built so the designers and content development folks can get to work. Thanks for hangin’ in there.
*The programmers are: Todd Baylis (Cipher Integration & QGiv), Ryan Deeds (Lanier Upshaw), and Matt Sandonato (Lanier Upshaw). Also assisting are Aaron Bates (USFP Blue Sky) and Chuck Welch (Lakeland Local). If you have some programming skills you want to show off, please speak up so we can pull you into this phase of the site build.