Winners and Winners Prevail at Overnight Website Challenge
Team IB and Families Moving Forward take top honors
Sierra Bravo congratulates the winners of its first-ever F1 Overnight Website Challenge presented by VISI, a website makeover event matching talented volunteer web pros with Minnesota non-profits. Top honors go to the new website created literally overnight by Team IB (Internet Broadcasting) for Families Moving Forward, a social service agency providing shelter and supportive services to homeless and low-income families with children.
For the price of a good night’s sleep, 11 non-profits worked with eight web pros for 24 hours. Each team donated 192 hours. The 11 teams donated a combined 2,112 hours – with a real-world market value of more than $200,000.
“We are, in a word, ecstatic,” said Leslie Frost, Families Moving Forward’s executive director. “We got so much more than we expected — functionality, content, and coolness. We’re trying to add a little ‘hip’ without scaring off older volunteers while attracting new ones. And now, when people search online for family homelessness, we’ll pop up first rather than never.”
Web developers and non-profits didn’t know who they would work with until an hour before beginning their 24-hour project. Team IB overcame this by advance game-planning for all selected non-profits.
“We all work together at Internet Broadcasting — and will even continue to work together — after our F1 experience,“ said Susan Inglis, senior web producer at Internet Broadcasting. “We met over lunch every Wednesday for six weeks to develop ideas for helping all 11 non-profits.”
“Work should be gratifying on both a personal and professional level, and to us that means helping people use technology to resolve their real world business needs,” said Luke Bucklin, president of Sierra Bravo. “We are grateful to our volunteers and sponsors for helping 11 worthy nonprofits further their respective missions by working smarter online.”
More non-profits (and their web development teams, winners, every one of them):
- Altered Esthetics (Internet All-Stars)
- Doorstep Healthcare Services (Twin Cities Open Circuit)
- Hope Chest for Breast Cancer (Team.Net)
- Kairos Dance Theatre (CTRL I ALT I DEL)
- Little Brothers — Friends of the Elderly (Ruby.MN)
- Metro Meals on Wheels (Pollywog Stew)
- Rebuild Resources, Inc. (Team Clockwork)
- Riverview Economic Development Association (Might Polymorphin Power Rangers)
- Twin Cities RISE! (Bleeker Street Boys)
- Wingspan Life Resources (Web 414)
(Most new websites aren’t yet deployed. Watch for before and after views of each project at www.f1webchallenge.com)
Sierra Bravo thanks these F1 judges for selecting 11 deserving non-profits and critiquing the work of 11 generous and talented web development teams:
- Robert Stephens, Geek Squad founder
- Christine Durand, communication director, Minnesota Council of Non-Profits
- Jan Finken, president, IQ Marketing
- Patty Henderson, interactive director, Colle+McVoy
All 11 non-profits won a one-year complimentary web-hosting subscription from Presenting Sponsor VISI, as well as complimentary computer training from Supporting Sponsor New Horizons of Minnesota. In-kind event sponsors: Adobe, Buffalo Wild Wings, Brueggers, Chipotle, Dominos, IQ Marketing, Peace Coffee, Red Bull.
About VISI
VISI is Minnesota’s largest Internet hosting and connectivity provider and is located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. VISI offers customized services in four key areas – Web hosting, colocation, connectivity and consulting. For more information, visit www.visi.com.
