Road to ISABC
The Independent Schools Association of British Columbia came to Hired Guns with two requests: present their organization to the public and help them solve a
challenging communications issue.
The first request was fairly straight-forward. The Association needed a solid brand identity that encompassed an iconic logo for the Association that embraced tradition while still incorporating a west-coast aesthetic. They also needed an elegant "brochure" site that described the Association and its member schools. It was important to present the information for each of their member schools without seeming to promote any specific school over another. The Guns worked with the Association's Executive Director to come up with a small profile of each school, as well as an interactive Google map that shows the locations of the schools.
The second request was much more challenging.
ISABC has 20+ member schools, with a total of approximately 900 administrators and teachers. Creating an effective way for teachers and administrators of the Association's schools to communicate and, of greater significance, to collaborate in their professional work was the challenge. The geographical separation of the schools and the work schedules of teachers and administrators was preventing the desired communication.
The volume of email communications and the tedious task of managing this form of communication was limiting effectiveness. Discussion forums for teachers, easy access to documents and the Association’s policies, as well as the ability to publicise events and opportunities at the schools became highly desirable features in the web site.
Hired guns creative provided for my organisation a fully interactive web site with an excellent balance of functionality and creative design.The entire project was delivered in a professional manner. An excellent rapport between client and design team was established at the outset and frequent communication with Hired guns creative resulted in the outcome meeting
all expectations.
In response, Hired Guns built a custom-designed social networking site that includes many features found on popular social networking sites - discussions, photo and video sharing, blogs, polls, and an events calendar - all designed and built to suit the specific needs of the ISABC. In addition, the need for storage of current documents and archival records has been taken care of.
My need to have a web site that provides the organisation with an extensive internal communications tool as well as a creatively designed public face has been fully met.
The 900+ teachers and administrators from the ISABC member schools now have a virtual meeting place (??is this correct terminology??) where, for example, the Executive Director plans collaborative Professional Development activity amongst the schools, English teachers can discuss new teaching techniques, Marketing Directors can work on new approaches to student recruitment and Athletic Directors can post the video of the soccer goal that won last month's ISABC tournament or access archival records of past events.
The public site and members’ only site are distinct and a complex set of confidentiality protocols has been included in the design to address all concerns about privacy.