Shells!!

For my last memo, I will gather my thoughts on the shells project. I thought it was a great idea, but I wasn't sure how practical it was. From the very beginning, I remember telling Tom that I didn't know how much I could contribute, but that I definitely planned to use it as a learning experience. I think I definitely learned a lot about the process, and if I were to do it again I would feel confident enough to contribute and take a larger stake in the project.
The project was definitely worthwhile. As far a a grade is concerned, I don't know how I feel about being the experimental group. I feel it will be a lot easier for groups who are maintaining the site. As for it being a class, I often felt like I was enrolled in two different classes at once. The shells by it self should have been a class, instead of shells and reporting.
I learned alot about how the web works. I have a little experience with eb sites, but nothing dealing with creating an entire site from scratch. Again, I definitely think I learned alot and that is what I set out to do; so mission accomplished.
I can't say I would do it again, but if it comes up during my career, I wouldn't hold out. During my time in Montgomery, the paper accumulated a large youth population because of a website it had. So, I said that to say that I definitely think having this knowledge is useful - especially in this transition time for the press. I just wouldn't do it again necessarily at the Missourian, while I'm in school, or having to deal with some of the things we did this semester. (see next pg)
I would change some of the time wasted. I felt there was a lot of talking in circles, a lot of backtracking and a lot of ego. This is something I typically see with journalism students, but I think it could have been eliminated if there was a clearer objective at the beginning. I understand this occurs when people brainstorm, but we could have accomplished more by the end and not have been constantly pushing work back.
I would keep the last couple of weeks when we got down to business. At first I was discouraged that we wouldn't get anything done. However, the last couple of weeks we got down to business and got a lot accomplished. I think this was mportatn to me to see that a big difference could be made from a few simple ideas.