ILLUMINATION SPECIAL PROJECT | THE URBAN FOOD PROJECT

You Created a Project, What Happens Next?

Join the Conversation and Make a Difference

Congratulations! You’ve created a Passion Project and shared your introduction with Illumination readers.

(I hope you tagged me @treelangdon so I can be one of your cheerleaders.)

Here are some leadership suggestions.

What’s next?

As the project facilitator, your role is to bring together the participants and provide reporting and feedback on the progress of the project. Here are some ideas to help support the project.

• Commit to writing a news bulletin or feedback post weekly or once a month, whatever works for your schedule.
• Create a template to streamline the process.
• Respond to all comments on your introductory post and thank them for participating.
• Collect the profile links of any participants or others who comment on the project. I save them in a draft post so they are available to copy/paste easily. Be respectful in your tagging.
• If someone writes a post for your project and tags you, be a cheerleader, and collect the link to the article. Feature it in your next bulletin, providing exposure to the author.
• Once a week or daily, search Illumination for posts that mention your project, either in the kicker or the main title.
• Highlight and comment on the posts. Be sure to thank them for participating and give them feedback on their work.
• Copy the post links into a news article you are creating.
• Write an update on the project, celebrating the new members, and featuring their articles.

What if no one joins my project?

Don’t be discouraged. There are lots of people out there who are interested in your topic.

If they didn’t find you, maybe you can discover them.

• Search Illumination for your topic. For the Urban Food Project, I might search Food or Food Security, Gardening, or Urban Food. Be creative.
• Read relevant articles, highlight, and comment.
• Ask the author permission to feature their article in your project update.
• Write a periodic report on our progress, linking all the articles into one and adding anything new I can discover or figure out.
• Celebrate wins! Be a cheerleader.
• Answer questions. If no one has asked you a question, ask one yourself. Do the research to find your answer. Write an article about it or include this new information in your newsletter.
• Be patient and creative. Things will start to happen.

And don’t forget to tag me back.

Thanks for your support and encouraging comments. I really appreciate each one of you.

Dr. John Rose, Alison Tennent, Earnest Painter, B. A. Cumberlidge., Timothy Key, Desiree Driesenaar, Claire Michaeljohn, QuadConjures, Infiniti, Paroma Sen, Eli Snow, Daniel G. Clark, Eashan Reddy Kotha, Paroma Sen, Keno Ogbo, James G Brennan Uchechi Obasi, Timothy Key, Holly Jahangiri, Joe Luca, Charlotte Zobeir Ali, Kathryn A. LeRoy, Ph.D. Earnest Painter, Eeva Metssalu, Jennifer Geer,

And if you’re interested, join the Urban Food Project.

There are some trailblazing, collaborative projects being developed at Illumination. Dr. Mehmet Yildiz initiated a way to share information and collaborate.

He supports and encourages the creation of Illumination Projects.

Collaboration is a two way street. Join the conversation and be a part of this meaningful change.

Illumination is all about being engaged in a positive and supportive way. We can’t wait to hear what you have to say!

If you want to join our vibrant publication, please send a request via this link. We will help you succeed!

Tag me @treelangdon or add a message to this post if you’d like to connect. I’m a‘Top Writer’ in Poetry on Medium. Find me on Twitter and Facebook.*