Well it’s official, Expressive Connections is now open to the public. The site is in a sort of alpha-mode right now. We think it’s got a pretty solid start – which is why we’re inviting you to take a look around, create an account and let us know what you think – if you’d use it, or what features you’d like to see added, etc. It’s still got some kinks and we’re working things out here and there. But we’ve got big plans.

Expressive Connections started out as a group project for class. Well once again, AJ and I have found ourselves in the same course (this time entailing Ruby on Rails, MySQL, Apache, and other things of the “Web 2.0” nature) Just like the last course we took together, this one has a group project – that is to develop a web site utilizing the ideas and languages learned in class. Since Expressive Connections already fits into these project requirements, we decided to ask the professor, Kurt Demaagd, if we could continue building onto the project rather than start again from scratch. He agreed and so you can expect to see a lot of new features and changes. Here’s what we’re aiming for:

• On-site private messaging
• Member endorsements and letters of recommendation
• Ability to watch favorite users, see who other users are watching, and see who is watching you
• User-submitted audio and video content for portfolios!

Right now, we’re aiming our services at artists and writers. But we’re a network for creative professionals, right? Well, what kind of network for creative professionals would we be if we left out musicians, producers, actors, directors, and everyone in between. So, we’re not going to leave you out.

This is where we stand and these are our plans for the next semester. I think you’ll see some exciting changes along the way. And, hopefully you’ll help us, too – by checking it out, creating a profile, or spreading the word around to others who may be interested.

It’s a work in progress and we want you all to help us in building the most exciting site we can, so any feedback you give would be greatly appreciated.