The Global Citizen’s Internet Forum (GCIF) is a gathering of community networking professionals scheduled to take place in Montreal in December 2002. The event will act as both a platform for information sharing and a showcase for the best in community networking from around the world.

GCIF organizers contracted The Commons Group to develop a conference web site plan. The purpose of this site was not only to allow registrations and document the conference, but also to create an online community and knowledge resource that could be used before and after the GCIF event.

Client Goals

• Find a way to balance the ‘web visions’ of all the project’s stakeholders
• Create a web site outline and costing information to use in grant proposals
• Develop requirements documentation to guide web site developers and other members of the conference team

Web Strategy

When The Commons Group arrived on the scene, a series of consultations with project stakeholders had already taken place. We were able to use minutes and notes from these meetings to develop a basic set of web site requirements. Once accepted by the core conference team, these requirements were fleshed out further to include a site map, a series of technology options and site development costing. This efficient approach to developing requirements allowed us to produce a final document in under two weeks and at minimal cost to the client.

The Result

The final result was clear, concise document that described the Global Citizen’s Internet Forum web site. The proposed site included a community-driven knowledge base, discussion forums and a platform for remote participation in the conference. The web site strategy document has been used as the foundation of grant proposals for the conference web site.