|
| The Americas Society / The Council of the Americas
|
|
Headquarters of the Americas Society and the
Council of the Americas at 680 Park Avenue in New York City.
|
The Americas Society, a national not-for-profit institution, is dedicated to informing the people of the United States about the societies and cultures of their Western Hemisphere neighbors.
The Council of the Americas is the premier business organization dedicated to promoting regional economic integration, free trade, open markets, and the rule of law throughout the Western Hemisphere.
Customer Quote:
"Prospect Technologies [was] our premier provider of Web site / Internet support. They [were] extremely professional, easy to work with, and highly innovative in their solutions. They displayed almost *unlimited* energy in enabling us to create the Americas Society / Council of the Americas’ place on the WW Web."
Name: Mr. David Wernick
Title: Director -- Communications
Company / Agency: The Americas Society / The Council of the Americas
| Business Profile: |
| Industry:
Non-Profit
Business Focus: B2C
Description of Business:
In 1965, David Rockefeller and a group of like-minded business people founded the Council of the Americas / Americas Society based on the fundamental belief that free markets and private enterprise offer the most effective means to achieve regional economic growth and prosperity.
|
Benefits: |
- Two-(2) content rich, highly interactive, easy to load, Web sites. Both the AS and COA sites were linked to afford maximum benefit of the Web site / administration / infrastructure to minimize redundancy of information and development cost
- Access to the literally hundreds of programs conducted by both organizations.
- Ability to register on-line
- A members only section w/ information on business contacts, telephone numbers, firm information, etc. etc.
- An on-line art gallery
- Downloadable presentations, the ability to watch video, listen to lectures, etc. . . . all contained w/i the AS / COA Web sites!
|
|
|
| The
Client:
The Council of the Americas is the premier business organization dedicated to promoting regional economic integration, free trade, open markets, and the rule of law throughout the Western Hemisphere.
In 1965, David Rockefeller and a group of like-minded business people founded the
Council based on the fundamental belief that free markets and private enterprise offer the most effective means to achieve regional economic growth and prosperity.
The Americas Society, a national not-for-profit
institution, is dedicated to informing the people of the United States about the societies and cultures of their Western Hemisphere neighbors. The goal of the Americas Society is to foster an understanding of contemporary political, social and economic issues confronting Latin America, the Caribbean and Canada, and to increase public awareness and appreciation of the rich cultural heritages of our hemispheric neighbors.
|
The Challenge:
After much thinking and discussion, the affiliated Americas Society and the Council of the
Americas based in New York and Washington, DC decided that they would broaden their
educational advocacy and policy discussion efforts through a new, Interactive Web site.
"A presence on the World Wide Web will give members fuller and faster access to both our Washington
policy monitoring and our New York City based meetings featuring national leaders
from the Western Hemisphere",
said former Ambassador Everett Ellis Briggs, President of the Society and the Council.
"It will also allow for
immediate interchange of information and ideas between members and the Council's
staff".
|
The Solution:
After releasing an RFP that was responded to by a number of different vendors, Prospect Technologies of Washington, DC won the engagement. The evaluation criteria rested upon a number of issues including graphics, hosting fees, load speed, and price.
In addition to Web site development, Prospect Technologies also provided support for the computer and communications networks for
the Council and the Americas Society. This involved a detailed study on the existing network / Internet environment and suggestions were made on the linkage of the New York and Washington, DC offices together in a seamless, networked environment.
Specifically, Prospect Technologies has provided for the Council of the Americas and the Americas Society:
- A highly interactive Web site with moving JAVA to announce new features for the month.
- An on-line art gallery showing current and past art exhibitions.
- A detailed staff list with hyperlinked E-mail utility to make it easy for viewers to communicate with the Council and the Society
- Extensive sections on program announcements,
calendar, speeches, presentations, as well as
download facilities for the reader to view the presented material
- Secure sections for members only which contain detailed program summaries, as well as access to members telephone numbers and addresses.
- An extensive Government Affairs and Trade
Web pages which has highlights of the latest in trade development including the results of
NAFTA.
- The ability to search each Web site for information.
- Job and Career Opportunities at the Council and Society
- On-line statistics concerning Web visits, length of stay, and pages visited.
Additional E- Commerce / e-business capabilities and enhancements were also developed. These included on-line member registration and payment with credit card in a secure manner. In additon, Automatic Server Parsed Web pages -- .asps! -- were used to enable a viewer to select specific information from a members-only database. These secure sections for members-only contain detailed program summaries, as well as access to members telephone numbers and addresses . . . a terrific help in networking!
The close cooperation between the Americas Society / Council of the Americas and Prospect Technologies has enabled these Web sites to win many accolades and awards. These include "Top 100 Web sites in the World" as well as Web-star.com "Top Web site of the Day".
"The resources of the Internet have greatly increased both the quality and quantity of interactions with Council and Americas Society
members", said Bill Lewis, President of Prospect Technologies. "They have seen a quantum leap in
ways to develop relevant information and programs to support members".
|
The Benefits:
- Two-(2) content rich, highly interactive, easy to load, Web sites. Both the AS and COA sites were linked to afford maximum benefit of the Web site / administration / infrastructure to minimize redundancy of information and development cost
- Access to the literally hundreds of programs conducted by both organizations.
- Ability to register on-line
- A members only section w/ information on business contacts, telephone numbers, firm information, etc. etc.
- An on-line art gallery
- Downloadable presentations, the ability to watch video, listen to lectures, etc. . . . all contained w/i the AS / COA Web sites!
|
The Next Step:
- Work w/ the AS / COA staff to expand e-mail / e-forum capabilities
- Move site into some more complex e-business applications to include conference / program registration / payments.
- Allow expanded use of e-mail and ListServ to allow program information to be focused upon specific member segments / markets.
- More on-line art, music, policy, and literature programs.
|
| |
|
|
