Project Phoenix will enter a new phase on 1 October as STC’s “staff augmentation” contract with The Bakery ends and the STC staff takes on full responsibility for the project as planned. STC initially selected a staff augmentation plan to start Project Phoenix, with the eventual goal of staff control, and this phase is in line with that goal.
The Bakery began working with STC a little over a year ago, and the staff augmentation approach allowed the Society to begin a number of ongoing initiatives and complete others that—without assistance from The Bakery—would have cost significantly more if outsourced piecemeal. While the most visible results from Project Phoenix are the new website and MySTC Social Network, The Bakery (with support from staff) also provided a number of other important services to STC, including market research and advice, focus groups, consultation on new hires, competitive analysis, technical support, development of advertising and graphics, and more.
Project Phoenix will continue with STC.org in a state of “perpetual beta.” Work to be done includes further content migration, CRM analysis, community microsites, and other improvements to the website and STC programs. This work will be managed and completed by the staff and volunteers.
STC would like to thank The Bakery for their guidance and expertise in this exciting new time for the Society. We greatly appreciate their work and we wish them well in their future endeavors.