Infusion Vol. 15
Launched December 2022, Infusion Vol. 15 publishes stories and photos from the Fulbright Korea community in a print magazine and a newly refreshed website.
The Challenge
Fulbright Korea wants a new annual volume of its long-running literary magazine, Infusion, to share the written stories and photographic captures of grantees. With the new volume comes a new staff, composed of current Fulbrighters, which the Editor in Chief must hire and train.
The Goal
This project aims to amplify the voices of the 2022 Fulbright Korea cohort and alums through a print magazine and online publication of written content and photography. It also seeks to highlight the educational objectives of the cohort by featuring students’ work in the form of a drawing and poetry competition for elementary, middle and high school students.
Identifying Staff Talents
Infusion recruits all staff, except for the permanent Publishing Coordinator, from the current year’s cohort. This high turnover leads to variable quantity and experience of applicants.
10 people, about half the prior year’s headcount, initially applied to Infusion during general recruitment. This left many roles vacant with little time to extend.
Staff were placed in roles according to qualification and need. Most roles were filled immediately or via extended deadline, but the Podcast Team remained empty due to insufficient applications.
Creating Vision and Theme
External constraints force Infusion’s submission window to overlap with summer recess, during which contributors are busy teaching camps or traveling. There is little time to write afterward.
As in previous volumes, a theme was derived from pieces rather than prescribed. This allowed for the highest possible number of submissions and allowed writers free expression.
Final photos and fonts were selected by Design Editor and approved by Editor-in-Chief, while layout options were deliberated between Editor-in-Chief, Design Editor, and Managing Editor during Final Push project sprint.
Rolling with Schedule Changes
Final Push is an in-person project sprint, which brings the Editor-in-Chief, Design Editor and Managing Editor together toward the end of the annual publishing cycle. This sprint was originally scheduled for the final weekend of October, giving staff several weeks to complete tweaks to the design.
Unfortunately, Final Push had to be moved to November last-minute due to the external scheduling of the Fulbright Korea Fall Conference during the weekend that was initially set aside for it.
To adapt, the Editor-in-Chief held additional preparation discussions with the Design Editor and Managing Editor prior to Final Push. This led to a smooth and effective sprint to publication.
Final Publication
The team's dedication resulted in the successful publication of 11 pieces of writing and 30 photos from 17 Fulbright community members, as well as eight poems and four drawings by 12 students. 200 copies of the magazine were distributed to Fulbright community members and alumni.
Vol. 15 Posted on Redesigned Website
The newly redesigned Infusion website, an effort of the 2022 Web Editor, was successfully launched by year's end and hosts the online edition of Vol. 15.
Successes and Improvements
Program Successes
Print and online editions were launched on time.
Layout tells a story through order and theme of pieces.
Teams successfully completed all tasks due to staffing prioritization.
Areas for Improvement
Begin recruiting early in the year to grow interest and awareness.
Increase contact with Fulbright researchers, scholars and alumni for greater breadth of content.
Prioritize acquisition of multiple Web Editors to update and QC website.
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