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Projects - Maryland Outdoor Club
Maryland Club Makes Its Activities Accessible Via the Web
When the Maryland Outdoor Club (MOC) needed a robust, interactive web
site and
hosting solution, it found the
perfect resolution with Maryland-based provider Tivilon, Inc. As a fledgling
organization without a lot of capital, the MOC needed its very first web site
to provide high levels of service with very little human intervention. The
challenge was to provide an efficient and effective database and application
designed to serve current members in every way imaginable while marketing
to potential members.
The MOC, a new not-for-profit organization for adults, features adventure
sports, social events, and travel excursions for its members in and around
the state of Maryland. The MOC's mission is to provide members with fun
experiences, the opportunity to network, and the ability to learn about
and participate in local adventure sports.
Founded in March 2002, the MOC currently has more than 300 members, primarily
Maryland residents. The organization relies heavily on its interactive
events and networking web site - the "virtual clubhouse" - to allow people
to sign up for membership, subscribe to the e-mail list, view monthly
newsletters, communicate with other members, register and pay for events,
submit event feedback, vote, pose questions, make suggestions, or provide
information to club officers.
As a non-profit, MOC's budget tested Tivilon's process efficiency and ability
to provide affordable services to any business. Working with MOC's financial
limitations, Tivilon provided a low-cost web site and hosting solution while
maintaining its total customer satisfaction policy. "The Maryland Outdoor
Club project was a great challenge for Tivilon, but definitely something our
team was willing to tackle," said Tivilon lead developer Mark Zawodny. "Plus,
we got great satisfaction in helping out a new non-profit."
To get started, Tivilon helped the MOC staff identify and obtain multiple
domain names for branding purposes and set up a Windows 2000 shared hosting
account. Through its partnership with Dotster, Tivilon secured
marylandoutdoorclub.org, mdoutdoorclub.org, and the .com versions of each,
at a low annual rate. Tivilon then analyzed the group's needs for its web
site and determined that the MOC would save the greatest amount of money if
they selected the low-cost Tivilon Too hosting account. The account features
an annual pre-payment discount, with the final cost for hosting totaling a mere
$14.95 per month.
Tivilon then helped the MOC assess its needs and ensure that the site could
function with little human involvement. Next, Tivilon developed an information
architecture that featured nearly 50 pages, each in an easy-to-find
location. With sketches the MOC provided to characterize a "look" for the
site, Tivilon's experienced design team came up with a site design and color
selection for the site.
With a final design in hand, Tivilon's developers spent about six weeks
developing the site. Making the membership sign-up and event registration
processes automatic, Tivilon enabled the MOC to save on substantial ongoing
administrative fees. The focus was put on ease of use for members and
effortless maintenance for MOC staff.
The end result affirmed Tivilon's process efficiency, with all design and
development completed in two months. The MOC was happy to see the project
come in under budget, even with a web-interface control panel that maximized
their ROI by automating several processes.
Visit the site: www.marylandoutdoorclub.org
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