Tutor/Mentor Connection Progress

I’ve been working for a few days now on reorganizing the Tutor/Mentor Connection website. It’s been an interesting, and definitely challenging experience so far; I’ve never turned my organizational and design skills on a task so open-ended, or so important, before.

The first part of the process was to print off about 30 pages’ worth of the TMC website, take a highlighter and red pen to the pile, and then tack the results up to a very large board. Having it all spread tangibly in front of me made starting to connect the information and develop a hierarchy and structure far easier. At this point – and I wouldn’t say I’m fully done by any means – I’ve found that the information on the site breaks down into four main categories, those being a) information about TMC and Cabrini Connections; b) information to help visitors to the site understand the issues TMC is taking on; c) information to help those visitors, who fall into several categories (individuals who want to help, individuals who need help, corporations…), find programs and get involved, and d) resources for students enrolled in the programs.

Read On

Jun
11
Posted by
Mendelsohn
Filed Under
Design
2

Cabrini Connections/Tutor Mentor Connection

We have engaged in a working relationship with Cabrini Connections/Tutor Mentor Connection (CC/TMC) that I am very excited about. I volunteered at Cabrini Connections a number of years ago teaching art classes after school to under privileged kids, and found the experience to be really rewarding. However we were just starting to gain some momentum with the Royal Order, and ultimately my commitment waned. I recently reconnected with Dan Bassill, who heads up the organization, and asked if there might be opportunities for us (The Royal Order) to contribute our skills and talents to CC/TMC. Dan has spent many years and a considerable amount of energy establishing this network, long before social networking was a buzz phrase. He came in last Friday and walked us through the universe of sites, blogs, maps, presentation decks and related links that make up their online presence, and it became clear that there would be plenty of opportunities for us to contribute. The challenge is identifying where can we add the most value to the organization, and how can we be sure to focus our attention on a project that doesn’t pay the bills.

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Jun
10
Posted by
hogan
Filed Under
Design
4

The Intern

I’m Jake, the new intern. Tim asked me to throw this blog together today so that the Order has something to write on beyond BaseCamp. It seems that social networking is increasingly a part of everything, everywhere, so here we are, following suit.

About me: I’m going to be here all summer, but normally I live in Milwaukee. When I’m not there I go to school at RISD, where I study graphic design. The first project I’ll be working on is for Cabrini Connections/Tutor-Mentor Connection, a nonprofit group headed by Dan Bassill. The groups’ missions, as I understand them so far, are to prevent impoverished Chicago kids from making criminal choices by showing them the value of education. Currently, this is done through a Gordian knot of webpages, maps, and flowcharts. Careful information design will be the sword here.

Read On

Jun
10
Posted by
Mendelsohn
Filed Under
People
1