Public Media Institute & Experimental Sound Studio

The Public Media Institute and the Experimental Sound Studio are two non-profits promoting community-based art in Chicago through media programming. PMI and ESS are collaborating to deliver a series of skill-share workshops to provide training from experts on topics like sound experimentation and media accessibility. TechTeam will help these groups by preparing a training session on the backend technologies used for live-streaming services. We will research the relevant protocols (RTMP, HLS) and softwares (OBS Studios) involved and assess the options available for streaming services, focusing on open-source alternatives to products from major corporations. We will also investigate APIs to assist in automating processes like setting up a Twitch stream at a repeated interval and handling re-streaming. Near the end of the quarter, we will present an accessible and beginner-friendly training session on these technologies. We will also condense our research into a training document which PMI/ESS can reference later.

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Creative Chicago Reuse Exchange

CCRx is a non-profit organization that enables the redistribution of surplus materials to teachers, artists, and other civic groups. By creatively reusing supplies, CCRx promotes environmental sustainability and affordable access to equipment in Chicago. TechTeam will help them with that goal by completing a data analysis and visualization project to further their understanding of their reach and impact. CCRx has been collecting data from several sources about their volunteers, donors, and customers. We will analyze that information and extract meaningful trends that are relevant to CCRx’s mission and give insight into the nuances of their operations. TechTeam will then create visualizations that clearly display these statistics in an understandable manner – both for internal use by CCRx to understand their impact and for potential external use to attract donors and volunteers.

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Alternatives

Alternatives’ mission is to provide behavioral health and restorative justice resources to youth in Chicago. During spring quarter, TechTeam will help them by redesigning and updating their WordPress website to best reflect this goal. TechTeam will remove information that is no longer relevant, redesign the website’s layout to be accessible and usable, and add new features to help them with their new mission statement. Also, TechTeam plans to help Alternatives with a future project for Autumn quarter 2021 by creating an app to give youth an approachable method to access the resources that they need. This spring, we will do initial preparation for the app project if time permits, including creating drafts for how the app might look in Figma, researching existing apps with similar goals, and preparing a template for workshops on app design.

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Sue Duncan Children's Center

Sue Duncan Children’s Center (SDCC) is a non-profit organization situated in the South side of Chicago whose mission is to enrich the lives of youth of all ages by nurturing their academic, athletic, and artistic growth. TechTeam will help develop both a new frontend and backend for the SDCC’s website, including a reference page for similar organizations, a convenient way to display and manage media like bog posts, photos and videos, and a clean information displays.

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Cook County Board President

The Cook County Board of Commissioners is the governing board and legislative body of the county. It is comprised of 17 Commissioners, each serving a four-year term and is elected from single-member districts. Each district represents approximately 300,000 residents. The board aims to create educational video programming for children who are learning remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. TechTeam will assist the board in creating an Android mobile app that would allow both children and parents to browse through and watch the Project’s content.

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