Originally uploaded by Jason 2.0.
Sherry drew this a month or so ago as we were talking about how much work it is going to be to re-design and re-build www.arbor.edu. Working with different departments with competing interests is going to be hard. Two VPs with competing interests is going to be hard. Not actually having a project manager for this is going to be incredibly hard. Trying to educate the “powers-that-be” that standards trumps design (forgive me Stephen P. Anderson is going to be a huge mountain to climb. Couple these with the fact that 80% of the content on the site needs to either be updated, re-categorized, or killed will make things even more interesting.
The other blessing/curse is that we’re working with two vendors. The CMS we purchased, Ektron CMS400.net, and the firm we hired for migration, The C2 Group. So, we’re going to have to merge these two with our disorganized organization in a freakishly crunched time line to roll out an incredible site March 1, 2007.
As I evaluate where we are and what needs to be done, I’m confident we will have something ready. I just want to make sure that it’s excellent. I’ve got four books I’m reading right now and trying to make sure I can speed up my learning curve to slightly dodge the 8-Ball I’m behind.
The pic is a fun one of Sherry, Joel and I climbing the uphill battle that she aptly labeled, “Web Promised Land”. I’m going to refer back to this picture to both inspire and challenge me to push beyond just an adequate or even nice site. I want this new site to be excellent. In every way. So, onward to reading and growing. Why? Because today, Impossible is Nothing.