On Monday this week we launched what is probably my favourite project of the year – the new website that is the centerpiece of the United Nations Foundation’s Nothing But Nets Campaign.
The project was both one of the most inspiring stories and most interesting uses of online technology to support them that we’ve been involved with. It also happened very fast – we only learned about it in mid-September, so it was a very full 6 weeks from contract to launch of the site.
The UN Foundation’s web team were amazing to collaborate with, and I am in awe of their day to day work and the pace they run at. We didn’t do too shabbily either, on our end I send huge congratulations to "new guy" Darrell Houle, the unshakable project manager on the job (and former UN blue helmet himself, in a previous life) who held it all together. Senior designer Svea Dimmick nailed a very cool design and got 4 different partners to sign off in the first round, developer Tim Sloan built a solid Drupal back-end in record time, and designer / developer Jordan Lewin helped polish the site to perfection at the last minute.
Some of my highest praise is reserved for Tim Walker and our friends at Biro Creative, a partner of ours who developed the stunning Flash Movie that is the centerpiece of the site. These guys are really talented storytellers and animators who really got behind the project and delivered far beyond the bounds of their contract. Check out their movie and you be the judge, we all feel this is one of the strongest Flash moves in support of a campaign we’ve ever seen online.
So now is the fun part for the UNF – building community and raising money online. So our work doesn’t stop here, we are putting our money where our mouths are by pledging to raise $5,000 in donations through our networks to support the goals of the campaign even more. Check back here for updates on our progress, or visit our Communicopia "Netraiser" team fundraising page and support our team if you feel moved by the simple message of the campaign and want to help us save lives.
Definitely an inspiring project all around. I’d love to hear any of your comments on the site or campaign, just log in and let us know what you think.
