If I run my rink's website....

[jjane45]

Inspired by the "If I run the ice rink" thread but hope this does not turn into sci-fi

How often do figure skating clubs or ice rinks have really useful websites for their skaters? Informative, up to date, interactive discussions, skate swap, organizing events, etc.

I skate at a municipal ISI rink which has minimal club presence. New skaters are generally left on their own. Several skaters are putting together a website (wikispace to be exact) that provides tips, technical info, calendar, discussions, forms (ice time, show, registration), congratulatory messages for accomplishments.

What would be nice to have on such a site? (LOL I want coach evaluations such as ratemyprofessors.com but it's hard to stay politically correct)

Your inputs are greatly appreciated!!

[retired]

http://www.clubskater.com/

Skate Canada now offers free websites to clubs, all they have to do is buy their domain name every year, about $10.   

The state of club websites in Canada was and is pathetic.  Because clubs are run by volunteer board of directors, they'd occasionally get someone who would set up a website and it would get maintained for a year or two, then the parent volunteer would move on and in many cases, the new crop of volunteers didn't know anything about the internet other than playing Farmville.    The passwords would get lost, domains expired, and in one particularly funny/bad case, the website was acquired by a porn advertising site.

[Isk8NYC]

My current Club's website is very good, although they do have trouble maintaining it as the players change in the Club.  They manage, though.

They went paperless a few years ago, so all registrations are done online and paid for via Paypal or you can print-and-mail pdf documents.  Test registrations are shown online, so you know when an application was received and the coach can review the level and schedule for accuracy.

Upcoming events and competitions are listed.  Our own competitions have the information, announcements, registration, schedules and results online.

The club posts upcoming meetings as well as test/competition achievements and awards.

Overall, it's much better than another Club I know whose website has been "under construction" for four years...

[fsk8r]

I run my club's website and I can say it's a thankless task. I would really love for it to hold all the information I would want, but it's really very difficult to get everyone to tell you everything you need to know to get the information onto the website.
I'm not on the committee so I get told things when the committee remember the website, there's a blitz on the website for 5mins and then they forget it again. I look at other local club's websites for inspiration and get very frustrated when they've more information available than I can give.
A good website needs to be regularly updated, otherwise club member's won't use it as the first source of information but it's very difficult to change the habits of the lifetime and if the committee aren't especially computer literate it's very difficult to get them to think about things in that way.

[jjane45]

What I like the best about wikispace (original proposal was Google Group) is any authorized member can edit the pages freely in a "what you see is what you get" manner, taking off some burdens from the webmaster. It also gives venues to networking and grassroots events, if people actually take advantage of it! (probably too late for RISE movie outing, but that's the idea)

Thank you Isk8NYC for the information, sounds like a great club website! In our case, the official documents will still be handled by our rink management, we will only upload scans or point to City Recreation website if available. I personally think it's not going to be like an "official rink site", but more like a "welcome pack" plus hangout place for support and networking. (shades of this wonderful forum but in a local sense)

Any other cool things you wish to see on your rink / club's site?

[MimiG]

I ran my club's website for ages, and completely agree that it can be a thankless job, and I was on the committee. It was very hard to get the necessary (or any) information in a timely manner. I was always chasing people down for documents to be posted, competition and test results, upcoming event information, etc. It was a lot of work.

Here's what I maintained on the site:
Calendar of events, competitions and tests
Ice schedule
Coach bios
Registration forms (to be printed)
Our competition info (announcement, schedule, results)
Test & Competition results
Sections about the different programs offered, club rules, general info about figure skating & equipment
A history section with all the Gold Tests passed, past nationals competitors, and a bit about the development of the club

I did it mostly because *I* wanted a club website and I spent a lot of time and effort on it. After I left the club, it was a few years before they found someone else to maintain it. And even now, it's only updated once or twice a season and most of the sections are as I left them (or no longer on the site at all).

[Query]

Quite a few rink websites around here have up to date skating session schedules on-line, which is the most important thing, IMHO.

Most give address and phone number. Many give driving directions (which is great).

Some list the names of the skating clubs (hockey, figure, speed, curling, etc.) that skate there, including contact info, and list available facilities (e.g., pro shop, snack bar, room rentals), and the rink size. If you are an indoor rink, say so. Many list FAX numbers. Some list pro policies. E.g., "any visiting coaches with  PSA, ISI or USFSA insurance can teach after we verify you".

For heavens sake, say "Ice Rink" or "Ice Arena" on the home page, so no one wonders if you are a roller rink.

If you run a forum or mailing list, you have to censor it, to keep it decent, legal and avoid advertising commercial products and your competitors, which must be a lot of work.

I think commercial websites should be simple enough that any browser or mobile device or Google TV, etc., can easily read it, regardless of screen size or data rate. You need all the customers you can get. Simple unscripted HTML only, with maybe a low byte count facility image.

Register your page with at least the Yahoo and Google search engines.

If your rink belongs to ISI or USFSA, make sure they have your web address.

[jjane45]

Thank you for the suggestions! Our site's primary purpose is to serve and connect the skaters already at the rink, and fortunately the unofficial status relieves us from many duties - chasing down the management will indeed be a nightmare!

For the "Coaches" section, maybe we can pass out forms to coaches with questions like Contact info, Experience, Accomplishments, Ratings, Teaching philosophy, Skater testimony etc. It's up to each individual coach if they'd return the forms / email us back with the info they choose to disclose, with or without a photo. Great PR if the site picks up traffic!

[fsk8r]

I ran my club's website for ages, and completely agree that it can be a thankless job, and I was on the committee. It was very hard to get the necessary (or any) information in a timely manner. I was always chasing people down for documents to be posted, competition and test results, upcoming event information, etc. It was a lot of work.

I did it mostly because *I* wanted a club website and I spent a lot of time and effort on it. After I left the club, it was a few years before they found someone else to maintain it. And even now, it's only updated once or twice a season and most of the sections are as I left them (or no longer on the site at all).

I'm glad it's not just my club which has these issues. Any advice on how best to get people to think about the website when they're organising things in advance? I'm really quite efficient at getting information onto the website once I've got it (normally within 24hours if not the same day), it's just I feel like I'm always nagging for information.
Half the problem we've got is that it's been left a couple of years so is very out of date and I'm trying to get the information to get it uptodate but have to chase for the information. And I'm getting to the point where I don't bother chasing, because I don't want people think I'm a pain in the ass.

[MimiG]

Sitting on the committee helped me a lot. Everyone I needed to get information from was in one room and I could remind them all at once, or set up a time to call and get, say, the results from the upcoming test session. Also my request for documents would get into the minutes, which often helped remind people and I wouldn't feel so bad bugging them again later since it had become an assigned task... It was still a lot of work, but it did get easier to chase people after I joined the committee.

[fsk8r]

Sitting on the committee helped me a lot. Everyone I needed to get information from was in one room and I could remind them all at once, or set up a time to call and get, say, the results from the upcoming test session. Also my request for documents would get into the minutes, which often helped remind people and I wouldn't feel so bad bugging them again later since it had become an assigned task... It was still a lot of work, but it did get easier to chase people after I joined the committee.

That was exactly my thought on why anyone running a club website should be included on the committee, unfortunately the club didn't quite see things my way. But we could have a whole new thread on "If I run my skating club..." to put together a best practice guide.
I just want to get to the point where all information flow I am copied in on, so I can filter the information onto the website, but I can't see that happening any time soon.

[icefrog]

I wish all the rinks would put the freestyle calender and how much a walk on session costs. I'm starting to skate at more rink to work with a specialist coach  and the sites for the rink I might start going do not have much info it says walk in for a schedule and its an hour away I guess I should call them...

[MimiG]

That was exactly my thought on why anyone running a club website should be included on the committee, unfortunately the club didn't quite see things my way. But we could have a whole new thread on "If I run my skating club..." to put together a best practice guide.
I just want to get to the point where all information flow I am copied in on, so I can filter the information onto the website, but I can't see that happening any time soon.

Ah, our committee was hurting for members, so it was pretty easy for me to get on it - I just offered to take over an established, but vacant, position (media contact - I called the local papers with competition results and let them know if we had any events coming up...)

[jjane45]

So many forum members are running websites!! :wow:

Sorry in advance if the suggestion below is ignorant, I am totally clueless about rink / club power structure.

What do you think about getting a content management system (CMS) template and delegate some responsibilities to other club members or directly to rink staff?

Say one member is directly in charge of maintaining ice show information, and the person who prepares the practice ice schedule in the office also uploads it to the website right after the schedule comes out? Cuts down the chase somewhat!

[fsk8r]

So many forum members are running websites!! :wow:

Sorry in advance if the suggestion below is ignorant, I am totally clueless about rink / club power structure.

What do you think about getting a content management system (CMS) template and delegate some responsibilities to other club members or directly to rink staff?

Say one member is directly in charge of maintaining ice show information, and the person who prepares the practice ice schedule in the office also uploads it to the website right after the schedule comes out? Cuts down the chase somewhat!

There's talk that my club would like to do something like this, but the people who have the information don't know how to maintain the website and have yet to make time for me to teach them how to do it. When I first took over the website, I put a lot of time into making it simple to maintain as I wasn't intending to make this a long term committment. I wanted to help the committee to have a simple to use website. Unfortunately, when I've offered to show them how to use it, I meet with lots of excuses as to why they can't find time. When I suggested that possibly they would want to have the position elected at the AGM, they were horrified that I might not want to be doing it for life.

[MimiG]

What do you think about getting a content management system (CMS) template and delegate some responsibilities to other club members or directly to rink staff?

Ours was set up like this, but if I didn't update it, it didn't get done at all. Not enough people were comfortable with the internet at the time to do it and there was significant resistance to new tasks being added to defined positions. And not a chance rink staff was helping with our (private) club's website... It might work for some clubs, depending on the committee's comfort-level with the internet, though.

[jjane45]

Our wiki is coming along nicely. While we like to have open discussions (part of the goal is to connect people), it's yet to be seen if hate or anger will get out of control on some topics.

For example, a question was raised about posting complaints, and I recommended a "Suggestions" page for polls and reasonable improvements etc. with posts going into the respective discussion page.

Another Pandora's box is the "Coaches" page. Enough said. Currently the discussion page says "good common sense and netiquette". I really do want to limit it to "positive messages only" but that sounds iffy.

Although login is required to post and permission is required to edit pages, I am still scared of the dark side of figure skating. Discussions cannot be disabled for just one page, it's none or all. Any suggestions on discussion page policies?

[Isk8NYC]

You can put together a form for the coaches to fill out, asking:

Name
Years giving PRIVATE lessons
Years as a solo GROUP lesson instructor
Years as an apprentice or junior coach (this allows the 17-year olds to show they've been assisting for a few years

 Memberships:  ISI, PSA, USFSA
 Liability Insurance: Yes or No
 PSA Accreditation or Ratings
 USFSA Registered Coach: Yes or No
 CER Compliance (None, CER-A, CER-B, CER-C)
 Own test levels: ISI or USFSA
 Accolades/skating achievements

Here's what you really need: their preferences of students
 Recreational vs. Testing vs. Competitive
 Specialties like Moves, Freestyle, Dance
 All ages, adults, tots, youth, teens
 Levels: beginners, freeskate through axel, freeskate axel-and-above, ice dance, elite ice dance, Moves through Juvenile, Moves above Juvenile.  (Made those up)  You're an ISI rink, so maybe "Beginners through Delta, FS1-5, FS6-10, Dance 1-5, Dance 6-?, things like that.  It can be a check box.

This is probably too much, but I wanted to give you a lot of choices to consider.  I think you have to tailor it and keep it simple.  You might only want to put the population they want to coach.

[jjane45]

LOL thank you so much Isk8NYC! What I have is way longer than that yet missing the question on population. Rushing to change it now.

[Isk8NYC]

You might not need that much info.  Keep it sweet and simple.

You need to moderate the discussion board.  Beware of trolls and pranksters, but be alert to disgruntled skaters/parents.
Try making it announcement-only for a while and update with positive news flashes so that the tone gets set before you open it for the public.  You need a solid set of guidelines to enforce or you'll get "My DD took lessons from () and she was a horrible teacher"  Freedom of speech vs. promoting the club...could be a mess.

[Debbie S]

I'm in the process of overseeing my club website's overhaul, so this has been interesting to read. My club has a Facebook page, which is where we do most of our announcement posting. People can post news and comments and such. The website is really used to post documents (like test app, club ice contract) and provide basic info on our club and coaches.

Freedom of speech vs. promoting the club...could be a mess.

ITA. I would not recommend have any rate-my-coach feature. Anywhere. First, the USFSA advises/requests clubs to not promote one coach over another, or allow a coach to promote themselves over others. It's ethics. Having each coach fill out a brief form stating their experience, preferred coaching areas and levels, and their contact info should suffice.

Any comments-on-coaches section will undoubtedly turn ugly very quickly. I imagine most coaches wouldn't even want to have their names on such a thing and would likely not provide any info that would make them part of such. Even if comments are positive, coaches will complain about certain parents or students (or coaches, via parents/students) spamming the board with gushes about a certain coach. Negative comments, even those that appear 'constructive' to an outsider, can give the club serious legal issues.

There is enough drama going on in rink lobbies w/o a website/discussion board adding to it.

[jjane45]

That makes good sense Debbie S. I guess we can cite the ethics (anything from ISI side?) and plain disallow any discussion of specific coaches.

[Isk8NYC]

The Ice Chalet in Tennessee has a great website for an ISI rink/club program.  You might want to take a look and see how they handle things.

[jjane45]

Would it violate ethics code for a coach to list skater testimony in the bio section? (ISI rink specifically)

Thank you for the Ice Chalet tip, they have a very informative site. I have not seen any rink/club website with an active forum though.

[jjane45]

Now that I joined a club, I offered to help with the club website, which struggles to get updated info / or to get info updated. Really not sure what am I getting myself into, IF the board meeting decides to take my offer.

I am a firm believer of CMS and responsibility delegation, that the webmaster is responsible for technical issues and making sure that each individual section can be EASILY updated by a board member / volunteer responsible for that part of the club operation. We will see how people react to that.

Re: the home rink wiki site I've been maintaining along with another adult skater... Let's say it's very helpful to skaters / parents / coaches but not getting the needed support from the rink. We had to scan publicly available documents instead of say, receiving an electronic copy. Also was surprised that coaches are very hesitant to send us their bio to be posted