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

[VAsk8r]

I too run my club's site. Someone else built it, and he helps a little behind the scenes (like last week when I managed to delete the Javascript needed for our membership form  ) but I do most of the content.

It's hard because online content is what I do for a living, and I feel our site isn't what it could be. But I'm also test chair, and I put together our club's newsletter and do other various things, and I just don't have the time and energy to significantly overhaul the site.

I think the biggest challenge for both our club site and the rink's site is that information constantly changes. We started a monthly club newsletter to cut back on the amount of emails we're sending to members, but I'll put rink information in it such as updated freestyle prices and then find out a week later the prices have changed yet again.

Our rink's site has gotten better and has more figure skating info than it used to, but there's an online payment system that's kind of awkward.

[jjane45]

I still don't know what to expect of the responsibility delegation suggestion. I briefly volunteered with an existing cms site before, where changing page contents was as easy as posting a blog entry. They complained the webmaster was very slow with updates. My plan was to train the staff for content updates, and only do troubleshooting as needed.

The staff member in charge was not tech savvy, so I said I'll do the actual posting part as long as he gets me the articles in the format I wanted: title, brief summary, body, and attachment names. I thought I was as clear as clear can be, even made a graphical guide on what I want. But I ended up getting really mixed up files and had to swim thru pages after pages of documents to even figure out the related attachments.

The staff member thinks it's my job to organize and rewrite everything. sometimes he thinks it's ok to just forward me an flyer and I'll come up with the title and description AND   where to put it. Sorry I am the technical person, I don't understand your operations and can't be responsible for making blatant mistakes! And most importantly, it's your job :/  After one month of struggle I gave up.

Rant over. I assume for a skating club site it will be more straightforward, and I could afford to play with the contents a little bit as needed without getting into trouble... have to figure out the responsibilities very clearly before digging another hole for myself.

[PinkLaces]

We've been begging our coaches for years for their bio info to put on the club website, but they are very resistant to it.  Funny thing is green sheets with coach's bios/info for private lessons are in a rack at the rink.  I suppose someone from the club could just enter all that info into the website, but no one has.  Our club and the rink have a sometimes good, sometimes strained relationship.

[jjane45]

Some coaches have a more impressive resume like world gold medalist, competitive student winning it all etc, while some coaches do really, really well with recreational skaters but don't have the matching resume on paper. Maybe they prefer to go with words of month... Still puzzled though.

[FigureSpins]

Why does this bother you so much?  From my way of thinking, it's just another way for the parents to compete: "Oh, my coach is a triple-gold medalist, bla, bla, bla."  It says nothing about how well the person coaches.  The PSA ratings are a better measurement, but they aren't that important in many areas. Reputation is a better measurement.  If you want to know someone's achievements, ask them.  Give them the chance to sell themselves.

Remember that coaches are people who might want a bit of privacy in their lives as well.  When our rink published our email addresses, my spam count went through the roof.  I refuse to join sites like Linkdln and Dice because I don't want my resume' online - it provides too much information for identity theft.  As a coach, I feel the same way.

[jjane45]

Because I care for the coaches I respect and really want them to get more positive PR... I can totally understand the concern of blind side by side comparison by prospective clients though, it's HARD to get the really important stuff (e.g. reputation, work ethic, ability to explain or demonstrate) on paper.

Yes spamming is bound to be an issue, I'd highly recommend creating an alternative email as alias and forward emails with specific keywords to primary email address, and occasionally checking the alias mailbox just to make sure no important emails are missed  Or the webmaster could put the email address (if the coach chooses to disclose it) in alternative format to stop the crawlers.

Google voice would also be something to consider for a public "work phone number" That's what I do for craigslist posts

[FigureSpins]

Because I care for the coaches I respect and really want them to get more positive PR... I can totally understand the concern of side by side comparison though, it's HARD to get the really important stuff (e.g. reputation, work ethic, ability to explain or demonstrate) on paper.

Why don't you try and write up a few fictional versions and see how little that will contribute to actual coaching.  It's meaningless trivia - the things that matter in coaching can't be put on a CV.  Even "coached the US National Senior Mens Champion" would be meaningless if the coach can't handle someone starting out.

Yes spamming is bound to be an issue, I'd highly recommend creating an alternative email as alias and forward emails with specific keywords to primary email address, and occasionally checking the alias mailbox just to make sure no important emails are missed   Or the webmaster could put the email address (if the coach chooses to disclose it) in alternative format to stop the crawlers. Google voice would also be something to consider for a "work phone number"

All well and good; I do this for some purposes, but a very technical approach to a problem that doesn't have to exist.  I don't know of anyone who ordered a coach off the internet.  Most rinks will provide contact info on request.

[jjane45]

Everyone in business needs PR. I know skaters who are timid to approach coaches in person. They may know the faces but not necessarily connect faces with names, let alone contact information of any type. Or they heard people raving about a certain coach but never had a chance to find out more. Not saying they "order" a coach from the web, but if the coach has something smart to say about herself / himself in the bio, s/he is one step ahead of competitors.

I am not a facebook fan, but maybe a public facebook page about the coaching and skaters? The website btw should be able to implement the anti spam...

The things that matter in coaching can't be put on a CV.  Even "coached the US National Senior Mens Champion" would be meaningless if the coach can't handle someone starting out.

Exactly my concern (and 80% of the adult skaters at my rink).

[jjane45]

Did anyone see Google sites in action before? They have templates for "classroom" and "hockey team", I am thinking it should be easier to maintain once the structure is laid out.

Sample 1
Sample 2

My only concern is the popularity and life span of this Google service... But since the site is simple, it probably would not be difficult to recreate if Google decides to discontinue its sites service.

[jjane45]

Wow that was quick and easy with google sites, got pretty much everything I wanted and especially like the integration with picasa album, docs, and calendar. Any google account with permission can edit site contents. I am "curiouser and curiouser" how they will like it.

Please PM me if you are interested in how it looks!

[jjane45]

Just want to report back that apparently parents and coaches were liking the club website very much. Club board also appreciated my work enough to surprise me with a nice gift.    

For me, I definitely lurve how easy was it for the test chair to update the testing session skating order, haha. It worked very well when I needed the most updated content for last Saturday's testing session. Before I revamped the site it was obvious that the club struggled to keep up with it, now it's all delegated nicely   - it can be done!!!

What my club members really need are just 1) calendar with club ice schedule; 2) test session schedule; and 3) membership forms. Those fronts are now covered nicely with announcements on the homepage. Only if they have time to put contents into the galley and accomplishments sections, those have been "coming soon" since last August

[Query]

Not everyone agrees with me, but I think a club should not rate rinks in a public way. You don't want to anger rink management so as to hurt your members' and coaches' ability to skate at those rinks.

Besides, sometimes the rinks with the worst management have the least crowded ice.