Graduate Thesis Project: Almost Together

I created Almost Together because I was interested in using the content strategy, audience analytics and human-centered design skills I’d learned during my graduate program at Northwestern University to document and celebrate how different types of communities stayed connected during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Can a virtual happy hour improve your week?

It’s just after 8:00pm and a few college friends have already logged on Zoom for a virtual happy hour. By the end of the night, most of this tight knit group will jump on with their significant other to say a quick hello or stay a while and enjoy a virtual drink with old friends. 

Zoom tips: How to look good on video calls

Once a tool for corporate America to meet “face to face,” Zoom now dominates our social interactions. Even if you never used Zoom before the pandemic, you’ve probably attended at least one Hollywood squares style meeting by now. Wedding photographer and Sweat with Us founder Caity Kramer has three key tips for looking your best on video calls. 

Three graduates talk about graduating during the pandemic

To better understand how my fellow 2020 grads are celebrating this milestone during COVID-19, I spoke on the phone to three graduates from across the country. Their stories, which have been edited and condensed, capture the experience of most 2020 graduates.

Zoom tips (part 2): Best practices for exercise classes

Many of us are turning to virtual workout classes to decompress and stay physically fit during the pandemic, I spoke with Caity Kramer from Sweat with Us for some Zoom tips for working out.

Pivoting during a pandemic: Q&A with the founder of Well Read

I spoke with Karina Carlson about adapting her DC-based event brand, Well Read, to our current moment. When Covid made in-person events impossible, Karina began working with another DC-based entrepreneur, Beth Cormack to create a pandemic-friendly event series called Virtual Wellness Week. 

Sweat with Us creates a fitness community during quarantine

Innovative fitness instructors are adapting to the present moment and finding ways to support their fitness communities and supplement lost income during a difficult financial situation. But when classes are not constrained by studio space or location, who you’re exercising with gets a lot more interesting. 

Zoom tips (part 3): How to play music of Zoom

Northwestern professor and my graduate advisor, Rich Gordon has been attending music classes at Chicago’s Old Town School of Folk Music for 19 years and has been participating in classes like the Grateful Dead ensemble class for over 10 years. He shares some of his tips for making the most out of Zoom jam sessions.