The New RC Website

The Upshot
How we did it?
Who’s responsible?
The students…
The faculty, staff and alumni…
The Future…?


The Upshot

The RC always has been a small, if ambitious, operation. The administrative support staff in the RC offices totals nine people – and this includes the Director and Associate Director. We do not have a full-time webmaster; shoot, we don’t even have a quarter-time webmaster. The upshot: often we need to think and act creatively in order to accomplish great things. The new RC website is a perfect example of this.

How we did it?

Believe it or not: we began the early development of the new RC website in June 2005 with a video shoot of RC faculty – many of whom you see talking on this site. The first comps were developed by Media Genesis in November 2005. Most of the draft writing and multimedia content were added in the winter ’06 semester. This summer was spent refining, editing, adding, tweaking, etc., etc. And here we are…

RC alumni and students were integral to the development of this site – and will be pivotal to its future*. Without the incredible assistance and generosity of Media Genesis and their staff (www.mediag.com - a hi-tech firm founded and run by Brad Frederick and Antoine Dubeauclard, RC 1994 alumnus) - this project would have never happened. Equally important, were it not for the creative energy and contributions of RC students – some of whom received independent study credit, others received stipends – the final, rich product would not have been accomplished.

Who’s responsible?

The students…

The main RC Student web team for the 2005-06 school year included:

  • Ryan Healy (RC Alumnus ’06) – Ryan was the chief writer for the textual aspects of the site. He wrote most of the preliminary draft language for the site, and many of the final drafts as well. Today, he is somewhere in Asia teaching English.
  • Greg Kovas (RC Junior) – Greg was the main Project Manager for the site’s development. He worked along with Craig Regester (RC Webmaster) to shape and manage the entire process of the site’s development. He is a Computer Science major and will continue working on the ongoing site management for the 2006-07 school year.
  • Andy Linn (RC Alumnus ’06) – Andy was the main multimedia content coordinator for the website. He is largely responsible for taking and/or choosing most of the photographs on the site. He also spent many hours reviewing and selecting video content for the site. Andy graduated with an Arts and Ideas degree, specializing in History and Design. He now resides in the Cass Corridor neighborhood of Detroit, the city in which he was raised, as he saves money to attend graduate school in the field of urban planning. Andy's latest project, a crafting business with sister Emily (RC '00), can be visited at http://www.ilovecitybird.com

Another RC student who deserves mention:

  • Meghann Rotary (RC Junior) – Meghann joined this project in April 2006, and provided assistance to Andy Linn with the multimedia aspects. She is responsible, along with Andy, for many of the photographs taken of current students. She will join Greg for the 2006-07 school year on the RC Student Web Editorial Team.

The faculty, staff, and alumni…

Several RC faculty, staff and alumni were integral to providing content, editing, and sharing important feedback on the site’s development (apologies if we forgot to mention you here).

These include (in alphabetical order):

  • Charles Bright (overall vision and development)
  • Erin Burgoon (important editing of RC admissions content)
  • Cynthia Burton (copy-editing whiz)
  • Susan Crowell (important design advice)
  • Michael Gould (E3Q music content and technical advice)
  • Lana Kanitz (important editing of RC admissions content)
  • Mark Kirschenman (technical advice for music content)
  • Charlie Murphy (important academic services content)
  • Jennifer Myers (technical advice)
  • Dan Price (important design advice; beautiful photos of RC art studios)

Other RC Faculty, students and alumni who provided important feedback on early comps of the new site:

  • Carolyn Anderson-Burack
  • Hank Greenspan
  • Olga Lopez-Cotin
  • Betsy Palazzola (RC ’07)
  • Brian Spolarich (RC ’94 Alumnus)
  • Laura Thomas
  • Frank Thompson

The Future…

Good websites are alive and continue to grow and develop over time. Indeed, this is the third or fourth generation of the RC website. Of course, needless to say, we hope this version stays around for at least 3 years or so.

Our main strategy for keeping this new site interesting – as with most things “RC” – is having students centrally involved. With this in mind, each new school year, we plan to organize a RC Student Web Editorial Team of 3-5 students. This team will work diligently throughout the academic year to keep this site updated and full of interesting and relevant content.

So far, the RC Student Web Editorial Team for 2006-2007 includes:

  • Greg Kovas, Project Manager and RC Junior
  • Meghann Rotary, Multimedia Editor and RC Junior
  • … and you? (Please contact Craig Regester (regester@umich.edu) if you would like to get involved.)

Finally, thank you again to everyone involved in helping us complete the new RC website. We hope you enjoy it.

Cheers,
Craig Regester (RC ’93 and RC 1/8th-time Webmaster)