Creating a Sense of Chesapeake Community
Upon beginning my job with the Chesapeake Bay Program, there was something in the back of my mind that I would have loved to work on a website for students about the Chesapeake Bay. Little did I know that something similar was already in the works.
When Krissy approached me and told me about this project, I was in love with her concept for Bay Backpack. I saw the development along the way, got to proofread some of the content for her, and saw my role in the website increasing as time went on. Still, I didn’t realize how much Backpack would come to consume my work life.
I remember when Krissy asked me to produce an info sheet for her as marketing materials. I was so psyched to have something creative and fun to work on – to design it completely and to try to “sell” this amazing website. I also helped Krissy with the planning of the launch event for Bay Backpack, held at the end of January last year. Seeing my flier out on the table with the Backpack pencils, notepads, flower seeds and other brochures was pretty cool.
But the coolest thing was seeing how many people showed up for the launch of this great new resource. Watching as teachers came up to Krissy to talk to her about this admirable project was enlightening. Sometimes, it’s hard to tell that what we’re doing is making a difference. But this event, coupled with the feedback we get on the site, proves that we really are. I was so proud of Krissy when I was observing this event, and so proud to be a small part of the Backpack family.
My involvement continued after the site officially launched, mainly as a proofreader for my colleague. But when it became obvious that there was going to be a gap between Krissy leaving her position to pursue her Ph.D. and someone being hired as her replacement, I saw that my role would have to increase.
Krissy asked Kristin and I to manage the site, tag-teaming the blogging, website content and social networking aspects of the job. I didn’t realize what a hard job it could sometimes be to create content for the site. Convincing people to be guest bloggers (and follow through with it) is harder than you may think. Getting people to read the blog posts is even harder – but Kristin took care of that for me with her ever-increasing Twitter proficiency!
At first, I was intimidated by the tasks. But soon, I was thriving under the deadlines. Having a solid weekly deadline got me back to my journalism roots, whether I was the writer or the editor. I loved getting emails from people wanting to contribute to the blog. I loved reading about their experiences and being able to help them share them with a broader audience. I loved the community that the site provided, the community that took me in without hesitation.
When our new staffer was hired, I felt a mixture of sadness and relief. I would no longer have to be rushing to get something ready for a Monday morning post if I didn’t have anything at 2 p.m. on Friday. But I would also be losing a lot of my responsibility and sense of community in this job.
I am confident that Sarah is going to continue to take Backpack on a great journey, and I’m looking forward to continuing to help out where I can.
The first year of Backpack has been a great learning experience for me, and I can’t wait to see where it’s headed in its second year. One thing is for sure – we couldn’t have gotten it to its second year without all of you, so thank you! For reading, for contributing and for just wanting to educate about the environment! Please let us know if there is anything else we can do for you.