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On the weekend of January 14, 2011, a group of local professionals and students specializing in web and interactive technologies gathered together in a lecture hall at the IUPUI School of Informatics. Justin Harter, the organizer of the event and the local group Refresh Indy, lead the group by introducing each of the 4 charities that were selected for the weekend charity event. None of the volunteers were aware of their charity or their team in advance of this introduction to the weekend.

The volunteers were split into 4 groups of 5-6 people. Each group had at least 1 developer, at least 1 designer, and at least 1 videographer. The goal: to build a website and shoot and produce a promotional video for the assigned charity.

Having attended the event last year, I was impressed with the number of volunteers who have returned. To me, that says great things for the event. It has effected the volunteers as much as the charities, and they have returned to do it again.

In addition to Web Easy Media, other local companies like Media Sauce, Mango Tree, and Media Fuel joined the ranks to help mentor the students and volunteer their time towards the goal of the weekend.

Our charity was the Sustainable Library Citizen's Coalition, which is designed to protect, sustain, and improve public libraries in Marion County. The other charities that were involved include Teacher's Treasures - which supplies Central Indiana teachers with much needed supplies, Anna's Celebration of Life - that ensures children with special needs is afforded the joy of celebrating their "specialness", and Indy-east Asset Development - which fosters collaborative efforts to achieve comprehensive community development on the Near East side.

To find out more about the charities involved, volunteers for each team, and before & after results of the weekend, check out the Refresh Indy article found here. And don't forget to keep an eye out for next year's Refresh Weekend!