It’s the day of the big launch. Luckily I’m not involved with the launch arrangements themselves, but I do have one pretty big responsibility: making sure that the frikkin’ website we’re launching actually works. For many, many weeks now this is the one day I’ve been looking forward to seeing the back of.
The team is understandably nervous when I get to work, and all looking rather awesome in their smart clothes. I do my best to present a picture of calm–at this point things are either going to work or they won’t, and being nervous about it won’t change that, so it’s not too hard. We have a few technical gibbons to set up, then it’s time to head off for the launch event.
Yes – the launch event. The powers that be want to make a big splash about the new website, which is thrilling and flattering, but also means that all eyes will be on us if anything snafus. The proceedings begin with the launch itself; a 30 minute presentation heralding the new website and explaining (very helpfully) that we still have a long way to go. It’s perfect. There’s some amusing miscommunication at the end which leaves all attendees thinking they’ve been invited to the morning tea, which is meant to be for the project team and executive only. It doesn’t matter–there’s enough food to feed a pack of students, let alone some errant staff.
After morning tea we head back to the office for some further champagne-based celebration. then it’s finally time to sit back and work out how to manage this beast that we’ve brought into being.
It’s been a good day, and I don’t begrudge a minute of it. It’s rare enough that we get credit for what we do, or that people truly get excited when you give them something new. It’s good to feel that all the hard work has been appreciated.
Oh, and for the evening we all went out for food and drinks, but I was pretty much dead by then.