A cross-functional team of IB employees recently won the inaugural Sierra Bravo’s F1 Overnight Website Challenge, a website makeover event matching talented volunteer Web pros with Minnesota non-profits.  IB’s winning team consisted of representatives from technology, design and production and was comprised of: Ken Earley, Lance Vo, Jessica Callery, John Shepard, Leon Giles, Kahlil Brewington, Luke Grohovsky and Susan Inglis.

Held on the University of Minnesota’s St. Paul Campus, the 24-hour overnight event pitted 11 Web development teams in a friendly competition to create ready to launch or ready to demonstrate new website for a Twin Cities-based non-profit organization.  Whether it was build from scratch or a wholesale re-design, the purpose of the event was to highlight creative ways for non-profits to strategically use web technology to accomplish their missions.

All 11 of the competing teams were evaluated by a panel of judges twice during the proceedings—as well as at the conclusion of the event, when they presented the final Web demonstration in front of their fellow competitors.  And after the votes were all tabulated, Team IB’s Families Moving Forward website was awarded First Place.

“We are, in a word, ecstatic,” said Leslie Frost, Families Moving Forward’s executive director.  “We got so much more than we expected—functionality, content, and coolness. We’re trying to add a little ‘hip’ without scaring off older volunteers while attracting new ones.  And now, when people search online for family homelessness, we’ll pop up first rather than never.”

In addition to pre-event preparation—made more difficult because competing teams are not assigned their non-profit until one hour before competition starts—Team IB credited much of their success to the use of ‘Agile’ practices and the individual strengths of their team members.  “Adapting Agile practices helped us win,” said team member, Leon Giles.  “Creating personas and user stories, along with solid iteration and release planning helped us stay on track, while keeping the customer in the loop.”

These practices were apparently not lost on the judges, who indicated that Team IB’s communication and interaction with the customer was a key reason why they achieved success, noting that, “the customer even liked the acceptance testing process!”

The winning website is expected to be deployed soon, but until that time, congratulations Team IB!