Return on Intention

On Sunday January 28th, 2007 ten independent web developers, designers, marketers and coders got together for twelve hours to see how far they could get trying to build a web site for the New Mexico unemployed. The New Mexico Department of Labor has had some trouble getting a web solution that allows the unemployed to file their weekly unemployment claims. The NMDOL paid for and took delivery of a system that is supposed to accomplish this task, but it doesn’t work. It has been a very expensive and time-consuming journey for the Department of Labor. This story has also sparked a lot of heat with the taxpayers and the media. The Albuquerque Journal has printed many stories about it, one on the front page on January 7th, 2007.

If it has taken so many years (6) and cost the state an estimated $14 million to try and complete a working system, it must be very difficult to do. Or is it? To find out our crew of 10 independent professionals got together to find out in 12 hours.

We call the group Method Arts. Method Arts is not a company. It’s a consortium of independent or freelance web, design and marketing professionals that utilize the talent pool to accomplish large projects. The system has worked out very well for the members of Method Arts and their clients. The lack of overhead associated with keeping people on staff at a formal company has created better value to the clients and a strong product delivered from entrepreneurial specialists. The ability to form very talent specific teams has allowed Method Arts to overcome many complex problems. To take on the unemployment website problem, a strong swat team of professionals was assembled.

I (Reid Givens) was fortunate enough to be one of the team members for this project. While my main role was to help document the project through audio and video, I also got to participate in the strategy and planning sessions, a little design, a lot of research, and some content gathering. It was quite an experiment.

The rules for the day were that nothing could be started before 8:00am on Sunday the 28th. No planning, scripting, designing or anything that resembled work was allowed. All work had to be completed between 8:00am and 8:00 pm.

What did we accomplish in 12 hours? A lot. We had planned and designed a system that will allow the unemployed to login and fill out their weekly filings. We have a complete site concept, site structure, templates designed and code for almost every page, a mostly complete content management system, and the forms and database to accommodate the user accounts and registration and weekly filings. Is it done? No. Is it pretty? Not particularly, although much better than what they have now.

Why did we do it? The intent wasn’t to finish the project; it was to see how far we could get in 12 hours. It was a way to try and show that 6 years and over $10 million was more than adequate to get the job done. We also did it just to work together and gain some insights from the day. Everyone got something different out of the day, and it was great for all. What I got out this whole thing was the experience of working with highly motivated people that are really good at what they do. I learned some lessons and was exposed to many new ideas. I had the opportunity to contribute to a winning team. Given the choice, I would do it again.

To find out more about this project, a video documentary will be posted on the Internet when it’s complete. In addition a podcast will be posted here (on this blog). You can also get more information from the other Method Arts members’ websites and blogs. Visit the Method Arts website and follow the links to each members site.

After the Sprint, the Method Arts Team (most of us) Sat down and reflected on the experience.

Method Arts

00:00 - Who was there
00:13 - Daniel Lyons (Introduced by Kelly Patrick Robinson)
00:30 - Kelly Patrick Robinson (Introduced by Daniel Lyons)
00:56 - Vincent Thome (Introduced by Andrew Hedges)
01:34 - Mark Bixby (Introduced by Vincent Thome)
02:22 - Andrew Hedges (Introduced by Mark Bixby)
03:19 - Lance Sanchez (Introduced by Daniel Lyons)
03:38 - Reid Givens (Introduced by Vincent Thome)
05:25 - Brian Warren (Introduced by Vincent Thome)
- Josh Sallach participated in the sprint but was not present at this meeting
05:57 - What is Method Arts
07:50 - What did we do
17:21 - How did we do it
20:37 - What did we get done
25:20 -What do we do now / What did we get out of it

The second installment from Barcamp Albuquerque.
Brian Warren talks about layout tricks and tips using sifr, css, and more.
- Running Time - 22:53
- 00:01 - Brain joins us on Skype from Colorado
- 8:32 - Web design without compromise

You can download Brian’s presentation files here.

The First Installment from Barcamp Albuquerque.
Giles Bowkett shares some web development thoughts on MVC (model, view, control).

- Running Time - 52:56
- 00:01 - A sit down talk with Giles at a Coffe Shop
- 19:13 - MVC with Giles at Barcamp

It’s no surprise to most people that Santa Fe, New Mexico is one the USA’s largest art markets. If you look at the list of top 10 sources of revenue for New Mexico you’ll find that it’s all related to tourism. Santa Fe is the art capitol of our state, well…. actually, it is the capitol of the state….but the Albuquerque / Rio Rancho area is the largest metro in New Mexico, and where the airport is. I guess it was just a matter of time before someone tried to shift some of that art market to Albuquerque. The New Mexico Business Weekly reports about this.

My question has always been is it healthy to have almost all of your states (countries, companies, organizations) money come from one source? I wouldn’t think so, but with the line extension trap, maybe it’s not a bad thing after all. There is a case to be made for doing one thing very well and become the leading source for it, but I think for a society of people (in a state or company) to really flourish culturally, emotionally and hopefully economically we require diversity. We can’t all be artists…… can we?

On Wednesday, November 29th, I met with Giles Bowkett at the Satellite Coffee in North-West Albuquerque to talk about our experience at Barcamp Albuquerque. I arrived about 30 minutes before Giles did (he drove in from Santa Fe) and asked the manager if we could record a podcast there. I was amazed when she asked what a podcast was. I had just assumed that working in a coffee shop that offered free wifi and was filled to the brim with people on laptops that this concept wouldn’t be foreign to them. I was wrong. Apparently our job as teachers and informers is far from over.

I would like to note how interesting it is that whenever I set up my equipment somewhere (my rig isn’t super small and portable, I actually drag out the entire mixing board and mic stands) a small crowd seems to gather. I guess we all love the idea of having a voice.