The success of the website lies with the website coordinators and the webmaster working together as a team.

What is a Website Coordinator? The website coordinator is the channel through which information flows within the Detroit Area Council. There are three major groups of website coordinators:

• council staff coordinators - based up functional job responsibility
• council committee coordinators - suggested by the council committee chair
• district coordinators - suggested by the district key 3

We are a team. A team that may never meet as a group. A team who's every member you may never meet. But none the less, a team. Linked through the technology of e-mail addresses, we are able to communicate with each other at any time we need to. We have a diverse background of experience on the team, both in Scouting, Business, and Computer Technology. Consider all of this information to be at your fingertips and as close as your e-mail box. Visitors to the web site don't care who prepares the information, they just want it current and accurate. One of the aspects of web sites is that if a particular area is not kept "current and fresh",  the entire web site is looked at in a less than positive manner. What you do reflects directly on every other member of the team. We don't expect miracles, all we as is you to "Do Your Best." 

What the Detroit Area Council is doing for youth is publicized through the efforts of the Web Site Coordinators. They will work closely with the Webmaster and members of the web team to have the information prepared and kept updated on a timely basis. Web site coordinators may have others working on their team depending on their individual needs and requirements.

The specifics of the responsibility of the Web Site Coordinator are left to the applicable Council Committee Chair, District Key 3, or manager responsible for the area. Responsibilities relating to the web site information are listed below.

Website Coordinator General Skill’s 

• "People person"
• Good Communicator
• Positive Communicator 
• Good writing skills 
• Perseverance / Tenacity
• Punctuality (a sense of urgency) 
• Know when to holler for assistance 
• Be able to have fun.

Website Coordinator Technical Skills & Computer Equipment

• Required
  • Telephone
  • Pencil / Paper 
  • PC with email capability
  • MS Word (Basic Level User)
  • MS Word 98 Software or MS Word 2000 licensed software 
• Nice to have
  • MS Word (Intermediate Level User) 
  • MS Excel (Intermediate Level User) 
  • MS Excel 98 or MS Excel 2000 licensed software
• Even nicer to have or have access to 
  • Graphics conversion software
  • Scanner 
  • Digital Camera 
  • CD Writer 
• Future direction MS Front Page (we will train)

Challenge

• One of the biggest challenges the District Website Coordinator has is to:

• have the volunteers in the district aware that there is a website and they should go to it for information.
• have the volunteers in the district aware that there is a website and they should prepare event information for it.

• have the volunteers in the district aware that you are the Website Coordinator and the person who ALL INFORMATION should flow through

1. Understand the basic layout of the web site so you will know where to place your information for the most impact. Visitors are looking at News, Calendars, Events, and then other pages. People come to the website for information.

• The site is structured for the visitor first and then the functions, programs, and committees. An example of this is the Events Home Page where the site visitor lists all council events in one location for ease of access. The detail information is located in the particular functional or program area of the site. This provides multiple methods of accessing the information and the location is transparent to the visitor. Another is the Awards Page that has information from various program areas organized for the benefit of the visitor.

• The site is structured to facilitate a "static" / "dynamic" presentation of information in many of the areas. "Static" information about an event would describe what it is, why, etc; information that stays on the site all the time. "Dynamic" information would be the specifics about the occurrence of the event; the calendar, brief news, flyer, etc. An example of this would be the Lincoln Pilgrimage Page http://www.dacbsa.org/lincoln-pilgrimage.htm that supplies the "static" information about the pilgrimage and http://www.dacbsa.org/lincoln-pilgrimage-current.htm page that provides information about the current pilgrimage, the "dynamic" portion.

2. Know the pages that you are responsible for. Check them on a scheduled basis, especially after the publication of an update. We will due our best to keep the web site page responsibility chart up to date. Each page on the web site will be identified with the name of the coordinator responsible for it. If you have corrections to this chart, please contact the webmaster immediately.

Coordinators will develop a publication checklist for the pages they are responsible for. A copy of each checklist will be sent to the webmaster for publication on this site. 

3. Promote the use of the web site as an important vehicle of communication of information to your "customers" and the people in your function or area.

• Make sure visitors are aware that the "First Visit" page is a helpful way to be introduced to the web site.

4. Ask for "Help" & Assist Other Team Members

• Colin McConnell & Chuck Truza are available to provide information about the web site or to assist you in designing information for your area. 
• Be sure to ask assistance of other team members as well. Technology & the use of it are changing so fast there is no one on the web team who knows it all. Don't hold back your questions or your assistance.

 5. Voice your opinion and ideas.

• Ideas & suggestions for changes and/or enhancements to the website are always welcome. You can make a difference in getting the information out about Scouting. Please feel free to contact Colin McConnell at anytime with your creative ideas. I will also place a form on these web pages so you can submit your ideas and we can keep each other informed.

 6. Remember! Web Site Coordinators must have fun!