Build Web Site in 12 Days? Yes We Can

With Spring into Sports just six weeks away and dozens of neighborhood organizations and school programs mobilizing youth to participate, a solid communications platform is a must.

That means a web site, of course, to provide background on participating organizations, contact info, videos about neighborhood sports and fitness programs, a calendar of events, plenty of photos and, as the April 4-11 extravaganza unfolds, standings and other statistics so we can follow how the teams and players are doing.

Can the web site for Neighborhood Sports Chicago be built in 12 days, so that it is up and running a month before the big week?

Yes it can. (We think.)

We're using the Grassroots template that Webitects, Inc. donated to the cause (thanks Paul). It has all the capabilities we need except for an easy way to load and update sports statistics (but we're working on that). We gained access to the totally blank site on Thursday and started putting up content: program outlines, existing sports stories from partner web sites, embedded videos, partner lists and of course, "About Us."

Anyone who has built a web site knows that shaping content, deciding where it goes, finding good photos and fine-tuning the whole thing can take two months, six months, even longer. But this is a proven template that we've worked with before, and we've got a strong team creating material on the fly.

We'll launch by Monday, March 2. Check back that day for the link.