It’s hard to believe this is the final blog. The time went by so fast, feeling slightly longer than the carousel ride, haha. Everything is coming together, and I am grateful for my team; whether we meet or not, we stay communicated. 

I have already created highlights for all 5 boroughs on Instagram. Now I need to finish adding all the carousels to the appropriate highlight.  Unfortunately, we discovered a typo in one of my posts. It has been up for a week; therefore, I think I will make a story with the edited version and then repost it at a later date. I missed one post based on my tracker, however, that was more of a bonus post, so I was able to easily get back on track. 

I’m looking forward to the showcase, showing off the final product, and hopefully also getting more traction on social media. My last goal is to attend the last carousel, so we legitimately mean we visited all 14 carousels. 

It’s hard to believe that we soft launch tomorrow to both the class and WBENA. This project and Lini, Tasha, and Alex have been such a large part of my life these last three months and as we close in on the launch it also means our time working together is coming to an end. I have learned so much about teamwork and what it takes to build something. At the beginning of this project I couldn’t have imagined what it would take to pull this off. I’m so proud of the work we have done together and I can’t wait to see where Tasha takes it next.  This pride and excitement is slightly tempered by my sadness that I won’t get to work with my team anymore. This semester I have admired Tasha’s leadership, Lini’s steadiness and determination, and Alex’s calm methodical thoughtfulness. I’ve become quite used to their presence in my life and it will take some time to get used to the change. I’m so grateful to have gotten this opportunity to learn and grow with my team and my peers.

Things are quickly wrapping up with the sites impending launch and hopefully minimal edits before the showcase. Later this week I will reach out to Nadia, Dr. Ostashewski, and Dr. Sonevetsky and update our social media sites. Lini, Tasha, and Alex are working so hard to get this project over the finish line and I’m excited to see what people will think of what we built.

Looking forward, I’m finally feeling up to revisiting my own project proposal from last semester with the skills I have learned from this class and through this project. Now that I have a slightly better grasp on what it takes to build a project I’m excited to see what I can accomplish.

I dedicate the final blog to my wonderful team. It has been a privilege to be part of this team and experience the generosity of my knowledgeable teammates. We worked so well as a team and managed to build a project without the degree of stress normally associated with such ventures. The credit goes entirely to the incredibly supportive environment both within the team and the classroom. The support could not have been more timely given the incredibly stressful time we are living in. The experience has been generative and constructive both technically and personally. 

Everything came together quickly this past week running up to the project dress rehearsal as pieces fall into place and the project site emerges from the foundational blocks set up over the semester. Pull requests for all the pages are gradually being merged into the main branch and we are working towards getting the site ready both for the dress rehearsal and the WBENA review tomorrow. I added an automatic carousel to the home page with call to action buttons linking to the history StoryMap, programs and song page, added a dropdown to the about tab with pages for the history, team, bibliography content and contact page. Looking forward to seeing the outcome with the rest of the pages being added and fine tuned by Alex and Tasha. Tasha and I printed and hand cut the brochures which in its tiny imperfections showcase the team’s labor, creativity and the quality of being human. As soon as the site is up, we can begin putting up the brochures around CUNY.

With the final weeks approaching, there is joy and satisfaction in what we have accomplished, the way we have had each other’s back through the process, how much we have learned from each other, and there is also an immense sense of loss and sadness. I will miss the camaraderie, the creative banter, the adorable cats walking across Tasha, Melissa, Alex’s screens demanding attention and everything about my amazing team. I would like to stay hopeful about the outside world by believing that my team and our classroom represents the future. I don’t have words that can adequately express my gratitude for being part of this wonderful journey, so I will just say a simple heartfelt thank you to my team, to my classmates and to our Professor. Thank you!

Last week was productive and fun. We are getting lots of traction on our Instagram page, specifically due to the Meet the Team Post! We received 716 views and 19 likes. I did fall slightly behind schedule with my weekend post; however, I am now back on track and feel confident about maintaining my schedule. 

I do, however, need to buckle down on my blogs. I hope to finish one today and begin working on the other one, too! 

Alright, finish line’s in sight.Let’s go.

The dummy site is live – I tried to include everything that we’ll use in the actual site, including PDF’s and recordings so there would be as few surprises as possible when we deploy the real thing. It took a few common sense tweaks here and there, but the sample site is currently live and stable. This means that we were also able to put the finishing touch (the QR code) on the brochure. After stumbling in awe through the second floor of Staples, I have acquired proper heavy, glossy brochure paper. Unfortunately, my efforts to print using said beautiful glossy paper were in vain this evening as I could not figure out how to switch the GC printer to the proper tray. Lini and I are going to try tomorrow before class, and between the two of us I’m sure they will be brought into the world in proper tribute to Melissa and Lini’s designs. I look forward to pinning them across the GC and the city at large.

For the next few days, it’ll be pulling together, finishing up the Story Map, making content edits, and finishing the front-end so we can give WBENA the first look (and first crack at critique / suggesting improvements!) for the website. The first deadline is on the horizon. Once we make that, it’s the three R’s – refinements, rehearsals, and write-ups.