During lunch, I was chatting with one of our Ei connectors, Sam Stubblefield, about creative work and communication.

It’s not enough to just be making interesting or innovative things, but you also need to be able to get your ideas and content out there where others can appreciate it. Or to quote my favorite Chicago makerspace, Pumping Station One, “[The project’s] not done until you blog about it.”

So what exactly does this mean?

1. MAKE

This is the content that you produce, whether it’s a story, drawing, or song.

2. CAPTURE

Now it’s time to document what you’ve made. This can involve photos, write-ups, or recordings, depending on the medium you created your work in. The documentation process can happen after the project already completed, but it’s also useful to show your process and mistakes or changes along the way. You can then organize and clean up these snapshots to make them more presentable. More formal documentation can take the form of case studies or blog posts.

3. BROADCAST

Now that you’ve made that cool thing and captured it, what do you do with it? Since there are so many options available, sometimes it’s tricky finding to find the best venues for broadcasting. You can start with your immediate social network of friends and family at first, or try a medium-specific audience such as art-blogs on tumblror recordings on Soundcloud. There’s also the old-fashioned analog way, where you can print out a copy for your mom to hang on the fridge.