# Of cautious optimism and new developments
- Sent on: 30-Aug-2022
- Mailing List: Newsletter #6
- URL: https://miranj.in/newsletters/2022/of-cautious-optimism-and-new-developments
Hello again! Hope you’re having a pleasant day.
When we last wrote to you, we were wondering if the pandemic would cause havoc every six months. While the virus is receding in strength, there have been other global concerns and we are feeling the heat of the economy we live in. We wonder what settling down might mean. Should we be cautious in our optimism?
However, not all is gloomy on our end! Luckily for us, we’ve been having some fun, and have been caught up with interesting work (something we are always grateful for). Here are some things afoot with our team.
1. 🥳 All of us met for the first time in the month of April. Paul flew in from Cambodia after _two years_ of working with us remotely. We spent a week together in Delhi working, eating excellent meals and enjoying some escape-room games. Having worked from our homes for several months, this change was a breath of fresh air.
2. ✈️ We then headed to Udaipur for a retreat, taking a step back from everyday tasks to enjoying the beautiful landscape. We had a chance to discuss our thoughts, hopes and plans for Miranj. We went on to share the same Covid strain 🦠 as proof of our team bonding 😂.
3. 🛵 New work: Take a look at the [Webflow][]\-based brand-reveal site for [River][], a Bengaluru-based startup building a stylish, multi-function electric two-wheeler for the Indian market. We worked with [Hamsa][] and [KL11][] to bring this site to life. It was exciting to participate in the early stages of an automobile start-up, especially one working on an electric vehicle. We look forward to riding the scooter when it’s out!
4. 🕊️ In 2022, continuing with our efforts to give back, we’ve channelled our donations to:
* [Homebrew][], which installs “[the stuff you need][] that Apple (or your Linux system) didn’t.”
* [SFLC][], which works on defending our digital freedoms and rights.
* [Magic Bus][], which equips children aged 12-18 in India to learn the skills they need in order to move out of poverty.
5. 🗓️ Ever since we went _remote-only_, we've looked for ways to make our internal team meetings more focused and meaningful. The latest in our arsenal is a weekly Stand Up Pro Max (a play on the practice of _daily stand-ups_). Here, each of us shares our weekly accomplishments and work. It helps all of us stay on top of our craft (😉) as a team, and we get a window into the details of others’ work that we might otherwise miss.
6. ✨ [Craft 4][] is out! And we’ve updated [four of our free Craft CMS plugins][] to support Craft 4. Our most complex plugin [Router][] is the only one yet to support Craft 4, but we’ve now added [multi-item Categories][], [Entries][] and [URIs][] filters to the Router plugin in the [latest 1.2.0 release][].
7. 📃 Our [Craft project boilerplate][] has seen some new documentation and explainers. Take a look at the [detailed documentation of our image component][] and [the explainer on our JSON-LD Schema architecture][].
8. 🤝 If you’ve enjoyed [our free Craft plugins][] or other community contributions (such as [project boilerplate][], [talks][], [slides][], etc), you can now [sponsor us on GitHub][]! Buy us a monthly beer 🍺, lunch or buffet 🍲. One-time sponsorships are also welcome!
9. 💜 Here’s some stuff that we’d love for you to explore:
* [“Lines of CSS” slider][]
* [“The least website possible”][]
* [What is the best way to mark up an exclusive button group?][]
10. 🏙️ We have a presence in Bengaluru now! Prateek has moved to the Garden City and can be lured far and wide, through traffic and rain, with the promise of good idli or _dosay_.
11. 🖋️ And the most important update: Please welcome [Kavya Murthy][] — our latest team member who we met over work on the [Azim Premji University website][]. Kavya is a writer and editor based in Mysore and our new _Content Strategist_. Having built extensive content-based websites for over a decade, we're excited to explore content in a deeper way with Kavya’s addition to the team.
### 🎙️ Tune In
Last year, [Tejas][] (from [3 Sided Coin][]) and [Souvik][] started [Two Studio Heads Walk Into a Bar][], a space to discuss the business side of small creative service agencies.
In a brand new season, Two Studio Heads is being released on [YouTube][] and [your favourite podcast service][]. Catch the first episode of this season where Tejas and Souvik discuss _[Branding and Positioning Your Studio][]_ with brand strategist, serial entrepreneur and the founder of [The Hard Copy][] – [Meeta Malhotra][].
[][1]
Subscribe to the show on [YouTube][], [Spotify][] or [Apple Podcasts][]. If you’d like to chat with Tejas/Souvik in a future episode (or have some topic suggestions), please reach out to them on Twitter at [@twostudioheads][].
### 🤙 Let’s Talk
We’re on the lookout for interesting web projects and collaborations for the next quarter. Do [reach out][] if you (or anyone around) would like help/guidance on web strategy or development.
We’re also trying to shape our content services to make them meaningful and impactful for clients. If you’ve been facing any content challenges, let’s get on a call.
---
Do write to us with your plans for the rest of the year. We hope the remainder of 2022 is free of crisis, and we can bid adieu to the anxiety that has taken so much of our past two years.
Leaving you with glimpses into life at Miranj. It always involves food and drinks! 🍻
At Rustom’s in Delhi, April 2022, waiting for food. L-R: Divya, Anita, Prateek, Souvik and Paul.
Our team of 6! Top L-R: Divya, Kavya, Prateek. Bottom L-R: Paul, Anita and Souvik.
Stay safe, of course, and have a wonderful rest-of-2022!
– From all of us at Miranj
Miranj is _Anita, Divya, Kavya, Paul, Prateek, and Souvik_.
[our archive]: https://miranj.in/newsletters
[subscribe from a different email address]: https://miranj.in/newsletters#subscribe
[Webflow]: https://webflow.com/
[River]: https://www.rideriver.com/
[Hamsa]: https://thoughtput.in/
[KL11]: https://kl11.in/
[Homebrew]: https://brew.sh/
[the stuff you need]: https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/
[SFLC]: https://sflc.in/
[Magic Bus]: https://www.magicbus.org/
[Craft 4]: https://craftcms.com/blog/craft-4
[four of our free Craft CMS plugins]: https://plugins.craftcms.com/developer/548?craft4
[Router]: https://plugins.craftcms.com/router?craft3
[multi-item Categories]: https://github.com/miranj/craft-router#categories
[Entries]: https://github.com/miranj/craft-router#entries
[URIs]: https://github.com/miranj/craft-router#uris
[latest 1.2.0 release]: https://github.com/miranj/craft-router/releases/tag/v1.2.0
[Craft project boilerplate]: https://github.com/miranj/craft-boilerplate
[detailed documentation of our image component]: https://github.com/miranj/craft-boilerplate/blob/dev/templates/_components/_image.twig
[the explainer on our JSON-LD Schema architecture]: https://github.com/miranj/craft-boilerplate/issues/4
[our free Craft plugins]: https://plugins.craftcms.com/developer/548?craft3
[project boilerplate]: https://github.com/miranj/craft-boilerplate
[talks]: https://speakerdeck.com/souvikdg
[slides]: https://speakerdeck.com/rungta
[sponsor us on GitHub]: https://github.com/sponsors/miranj
[“Lines of CSS” slider]: https://ichimnetz.com/
[“The least website possible”]: https://normadesign.it/en/
[What is the best way to mark up an exclusive button group?]: https://lea.verou.me/2022/07/button-group/
[Kavya Murthy]: https://read.cv/kavyam
[Azim Premji University website]: https://azimpremjiuniversity.edu.in/
[Tejas]: https://twitter.com/space_dacait
[3 Sided Coin]: https://3sided.co.in/
[Souvik]: https://twitter.com/souvikdg
[Two Studio Heads Walk Into a Bar]: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCd2WkbMWeYjPuOywuUEi0wQ
[YouTube]: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhKe_qldKKyIL6Lw1V5nNp7Sx2-SHktuZ
[your favourite podcast service]: https://anchor.fm/two-studio-heads
[Branding and Positioning Your Studio]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95UxaMn8xNM
[The Hard Copy]: https://thehardcopy.co/
[Meeta Malhotra]: https://twitter.com/meetamalhotra
[1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95UxaMn8xNM
[YouTube]: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCd2WkbMWeYjPuOywuUEi0wQ
[Spotify]: https://open.spotify.com/show/00TxqtkvpCCiZ4yik6V7yv
[Apple Podcasts]: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/two-studio-heads-walk-into-a-bar/id1641881672
[@twostudioheads]: https://twitter.com/twostudioheads
[reach out]: mailto:hello@miranj.in