Marks Project Inc

DURING 2020, TMP UNDERTOOK A REDESIGN TO IMPROVE OUR WEBSITE PROCESSING TIME WHICH WAS NECESSITATED BY SIGNIFICANT INCREASES IN OUR USERS AND PROJECTED ADDITIONAL FUTURE USER TRAFFIC INCREASES. DURING THIS REDESIGN, WE DELAYED ADDING ANY NEW ARTIST PAGES UNTIL MID-2021 TO AVOID DUPLICATE WORK TO THE EXTENT POSSIBLE. AT THAT TIME, IT BECAME APPARENT THAT OUR SELECTED WEBSITE DESIGNER WAS NOT GETTING THE JOB DONE AND WE INITIATED A SEARCH FOR A REPLACEMENT. LATE IN 2021 A NEW WEBSITE DESIGNER WAS IDENTIFIED; THE NEW WEBSITE IS SCHEDULED TO BEGIN BETA TESTING BY MID-SUMMER 2022. IN ADDITION TO OVERCOMING LOAD TIME PROBLEMS, THE NEW WEBSITE WILL ADD REFINEMENT TO SEARCH FUNCTIONS TO FURTHER IMPROVED USER EXPERIENCE ON ALL DIGITAL DEVICES.DESPITE THE WEBSITE PROCESSING TIME DISRUPTION, WE EXPERIENCED AN 11% ANNUAL INCREASE IN OUR USER BASE THAT IN 2021 NUMBERS OVER 141,000 USERS. PAGE VIEWS SIMILARLY INCREASED 7% TO ROUGHLY 845,000 AND WE WERE ABLE TO MAINTAIN A BOUNCE RATE OF ABOUT 41%. COVID 19 CONTINUED TO SEVERELY IMPACT OUR STAFFING AND OUR ABILITY TO TRAVEL WHICH, IN TURN, IMPEDED OUR OUTREACH. PRIOR TO COVID, TMP TOOK PART ANNUALLY IN NATIONAL COUNCIL ON EDUCATION FOR THE CERAMIC ARTS (NCECA) CONFERENCE WITH ITS 6,000+ ATTENDEES. WE HAD A PRESENCE IN THE RESOURCE HALL AND INTERACTION WITH POTTERS/CERAMIC ARTISTS, MUSEUM SPECIALISTS, AND COLLECTORS. DUE TO COVID, THE 2020 (NCECA) CONFERENCE WAS CANCELED AND TMP'S PANEL PRESENTATION POSTPONED. IN MARCH 2021 TMP PRESENTED THE PANEL, "WHAT'S IN A MARK?" VIA ZOOM TO THE 2021 VIRTUAL NCECA CONFERENCE. THE PANEL WAS MODERATED BY JUDITH SCHWARTZ, PHD. THE PANEL MEMBERS WERE: MARGARET CARNEY, PHD ART HISTORIAN, FOUNDER OF THE INTERNATIONAL DINNERWARE MUSEUM; MARK HEWITT, NORTH CAROLINA POTTER; AND BETH ANN GERSTEIN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, AMERICAN MUSEUM OF CERAMIC ARTS (AMOCA). 2021 ALSO MARKED TMP'S FIRST SUMMER COLLEGE INTERN, A CERAMICS STUDENT AT UNIVERSITY OF IOWA, AMES, IOWA. OUR INTERN RESEARCHED AND DRAFTED ARTISTS PAGES FOR THE DOCUMENTATION OF AMOCA'S AMERICAN CERAMICS SOCIETY COLLECTION. THIS PROJECT WAS PARTIALLY FUNDED BY A CENTER FOR CRAFT, 2020 CRAFT FUND RESEARCH PROJECT GRANT. IN 2021 WE ALSO LEARNED OF THE BROADENING REACH OF TMP'S WEBSITE: WWW.THEMARKSPROJECT.ORG IS BEING INTRODUCED AS A RESEARCH TOOL TO AND USED BY COLLEGE STUDENTS IN A GROWING NUMBER OF CERAMICS PROGRAMS.