SCBWI

“Web Advanced wowed us with their responsiveness and flexibility at every step along the way. Their creative solutions to both back end database issues, and front end user interface for our 22,000 members resulted in an innovative, beautiful website that will be able to evolve along with our growth as an organization.”

- Aaron Hartzler, Creative Director

THE CHALLENGE

Transforming a Website into an Online Community

Founded in 1971 by a group of Los Angeles-based children's writers, the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators is the only professional organization specifically for those individuals writing and illustrating for children and young adults in the fields of children's literature, magazines, film, television, and multimedia. Their challenge was to increase collaboration and communication among their 22,000 worldwide members, providing them with an easy method to network with others in their industry, exchange ideas on manuscripts and illustrations, locate speakers, find grants and awards, and access a wealth of online resources.

THE SOLUTION

	Creating a Website Design and User Interface that is Engaging and Visually Appealing One of SCBWI's main project goals was to ensure that members would find the website redesign so compelling and useful they would want to return again and again. We designed an intuitive user interface coupled with an artful storybook theme utilizing bold colors that connected with SCBWI's writer and illustrator members.

	Increasing Communication and Collaboration to Enhance the Member Experience SCBWI wanted their members to feel they truly belonged to an online community where they could easily share ideas, feedback, opportunities and resources. We developed a system where members can create their own profiles similar to social networking sites such as Facebook. The SCBWI members-only discussion boards cover a broad range of topics, and provide a means to keep up-to-date on current marketing information, upcoming events, and the activities of fellow members.

	Integrating a Variety of Third Party Tools and Applications to Provide Robust Functionality By integrating our own Web Blocks content management software, SCBWI staff can quickly and easily update web content without having to know HTML programming techniques. We also integrated our own E-Commerce engine, Web Market Pro, which enables online member billing and purchases of SCBWI merchandise.