I was recently asked by one of our clients, Bridgton Academy, if we could assist them with a brief alumni area for their web site.  We've had similar requests from other clients, so I thought I'd research what was available in the marketplace and use a tool that had already been developed.  What I found in my research is that there are some very nice tools available targeted at Ivy League schools (with Ivy League price tags), but little or nothing at the moderate end of price spectrum.  One of our developers had recently read a blog post about Ning, a social network tool that might be adaptable for our needs.  Boy was he right on the mark.  I was able to set up a private network in no time as proof of concept for the school.  There was no cost, but the network does show Google ads.  For $20 a month, you can either remove the ads or replace them with your own.  The network supports video, images, chat, discussions, blogs... pretty much everything an alumni office would want.  I anticipate that Bridgton will begin rolling this out to their alumni starting with the new year.  Stay tuned for results.

One of our clients, the New Hampshire Society for Technology in Education (NHSTE), recently approached us to help evaluate tools for membership management.  They are trying to deliver more of their services over the web - you know, the things that really make sense like newsletters, membership renewals and event registrations.  Their current solution is pretty limiting.  Currently the email lists are handled outside of the membership tool.  If a member changes email preferences, someone has to manually update the listserv.  As cumbersome as their current product is, it offers forms of payment that most tools don't, like accepting Purchase Order numbers for payment.

NHSTE asked us to research available products and to make a recommendation for a tool that will meet their needs while still offering the flexible payment options they currently have.  After our research, we have recommended MemberClicks as their solution.  NHSTE's Board of Directors will be voting soon, and I expect they'll move forward with Memberclicks.  If they do move forward, we'll be documenting the project here - how was the data migration, were there any pitfalls, what's the learning curve like.  Check back for the details.