So yeah, we hit a rough patch, lol. But it was a good experience to have early on, to learn that we were mature enough to disagree fiercely, vent freely, then kiss, make up, and move on.
So back to work we went.
The key component of our “launch” as a company was to build a website. Our blog/website was going to put us on the map, literally, so we wanted it to be an accurate representation of the TPC brand–functional, attractive, and full of useful information.
Since we’re a new business, there are a lot of expenses associated with starting this endeavor. Fully embracing the DIY (Do It Yourself) revolution, and invoking the Power of Three whenever possible, we decided that rather than hire a web designer to build us a site, we would take a crack at doing it ourselves.
I served as webmistress for my previous two jobs, and consider myself pretty web savvy, so I took the lead on the web stuff. It’s been a minute since I’ve had to build a website from scratch, but some things are just like riding a bike. After I got into the zone, all my html knowledge started coming back to me.
Not to say that this whole process wasn’t without aggravation. First off, we had a helluva time trying to get the template we’d purchased (Thesis 1.6) to actually work. I spent many, many hours during the Power Summit trying to troubleshoot technical issues. Was pulling my hair out and cursing up a storm at some points. (see previous post, lol) But I had to keep my eye on the prize–in 48 hours, we had a blog to launch.
The first set of decisions surrounded blog architecture. What was going to be our color scheme? What should be the main categories for the Nav bar? How would we organize the sections of our site? What kinds of information did we want to provide? What kinds of resources did we want to feature? Who should we include as Friends of TPC?
After we had the blog architecture laid out we needed to discuss content. What was going to be our overall story arc? How many times a week would we blog? Who would be responsible for producing the original content?
All I can say is–it’s a good thing Omar was here while we were building this thing. We had the benefit of being able to crowd around the computer to test out different layouts and fonts, tweaking this and changing that, until we got it just right. By the time we went to bed on Saturday night, we’d made some serious progress.
The finishing touch came to me in a dream. Sort of. As my partners will tell you, we eat, sleep, and breathe Pantheon. Always thinking about ways to be tighter, better. Well the first thought in my head when I opened my eyes Sunday morning was–we need a picture of the Pantheon Kindred.
Since this was one of those rare occasions where the three of us were actually in the same zip code, we needed to find someone to take our photograph. But could I get ahold of a photographer on such short notice?
I called my photographer friend Lisa Rose, who shot the cover image for WHEN LOVE ISN’T ENOUGH. As luck (or fate) would have it, she was free to shoot some photos for us that afternoon. Serendipity strikes again!
The shoot went really well, and within hours Lisa had the proofs uploaded to a website where we could pick and choose from the “best” ones. There was something about seeing these pics that just made it all seem REAL. We were really doing this. The Pantheon Collective was official!
For the TPC Technical Article on building a website, click here.
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