For those who don't know, CCLaP actually has a number of cutting-edge experiments planned for the website this fall, using the latest in so-called "Web 2.0" technology to help in our continuing mission to support underground artists. These projects are so cutting-edge, in fact, that I don't know how to program them myself; I thought, then, that I would maybe make a mention of the projects here, for any of you with tech/programming backgrounds who would like to help out the center. Don't forget, such projects count towards earning a free Fellowship; build one of these for us, and we'd be happy to give you free admission to our live events for a year (or free copies of our first ten books for those who live out-of-town), a free t-shirt, and all the other things that come with the program.
1) We want to build an in-house wiki here, entitled "The CCLaP Guide to Being a Self-Sustaining Artist." This will basically be a giant interactive document, explaining in detail many of the issues that come with being an underground artist; how to create chapbooks, where to publish your own full-length book, how to book your own tours, what to look for in contracts you sign, just all kinds of things like that. The trick, however, just like with other wikis, is that it's our Members and Fellows actually contributing the information, not just the CCLaP staff.
2) We want to build a social network here, entitled "The Chicago Cafe Network." This would basically be for visual artists in the Chicago area, as well as the cafes, restaurants and bars in Chicago that feature visual artists; a way to streamline the process, in other words, so that not only artists could search for businesses that feature their type of work, but business owners could search for artists that create the type of work they want to feature.
And 3), we want to build a micropayment system here, called "Shoutouts." Micropayments, for those who don't know, are basically loopholes in the credit-card transaction process; a way for two people to exchange just tiny amounts of money (a dime, a quarter, etc), without either party having to incur a heavy transaction fee for doing so. The way it'll work at CCLaP is actually quite simple; for $5.50, you'll have a chance to buy 20 "shoutout credits" worth 25 cents apiece, with the extra 50 cents going towards a one-time transaction fee for those 20 credits. Then anytime you stumble across a poem or story or piece of visual artwork here that you like, you'll simply be able to click on a link saying, "Send this person a Shoutout!" to pay that artist 25 cents. It's not a big moneymaker for sure; but definitely a way to send at least a little compensation to the CCLaP artists you most admire.
Anyway, we're looking for both back-end people (PHP, MySQL, etc) and front-end (Ruby On Rails, AJAX, etc), who would be interested in taking on one or more of these projects, in return for a free Fellowship and our undying thanks. And hey, you even own the code afterwards; sell it commercially, put it on your resume, use it at other sites, we don't care! If you're qualified and interested, simply contact us and let us know. Thanks!