RPCN Website Redesign Project Request for Proposal (RFP)

Transcription

1 RPCN Website Redesign Project Request for Proposal (RFP) 1. DESCRIPTION, PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES OF WEB SITE Redesign Project The Rochester Professional Consultants Network (RPCN) wishes to undertake a redesign and update of the current RPCN website. RPCN wants to build off of the Wild Apricot platform and its underpinnings of Event Registration and Membership Management. In general we want to simplify user navigation; improve content management; and improve registration of non-members, speakers, exhibitors, sponsors, and guests for RPCN events. We also want to enhance RPCN members ability to edit sections that pertain to their RPCN responsibilities. Our goals are: a. New look and feel b. Address issues of usability and Section 508 accessibility c. Modern and professional look d. Better navigation e. Responsive design (including available and navigable, by any device) f. Improve Search Engine Optimization (SEO) g. Develop naming conventions and rules (e.g., event types, roles & responsibilities, permissions, etc.), h. Improve keyword search capability i. Enable means for designated individuals with specific roles within RPCN (non-programmers) to update appropriate sections, generate reports, send RPCN sourced , etc.) j. Have means to check in at events via various portable devices (e.g. smart phones, tablets, and so on) k. Ability to change event registration status after the fact l. Keep Wild Apricot for various functions & interface with Wild Apricot for others m. Integrate with Social Media (broadcast notifications, newsletter availability, articles, blogs, tweets, etc.) n. Maintain the site functionality we currently have and integrate with the new site design and interactions o. Set up a method for hosting the site that is firewall protected and regularly backed up (whether that is hosting it ourselves or through an outside source) A full list of requirements, based on known issues, is included in the attached Excel Workbook, RPCN Website Requirements Breakdown xlsx. The workbook presents improvement ideas and new capabilities that RPCN would like to see in our website. Some of these improvement and capabilities include things we cannot currently accomplish with Wild Apricot. An option that RPCN has considered is the integration of a WordPress front-end to the current Wild Apricot platform. WordPress has the potential for improving management, editability, content management, and integration with Social Media. 2. BUDGET & COST ESTIMATES Our proposed budget range is, best offer based on feature, function, and cost. RPCN currently has the money in the current fiscal year s budget (ending in July 2015) to start the project. RPCN proposes incremental payments to the chosen vendor, starting with a $1, down payment.

2 3. TERMS AND CONDITIONS a. RPCN must own, or have full access to, the site code. RPCN must also have the right to customize the site code. b. Terms for proposal: 1. RPCN is ready for the work to begin immediately after the vendor is chosen. 2. Proposals should be delivered to 3. Four separate hardcopies should also be postmarked or received by July 6, 2015 to: Rochester Professional Consultants Network P.O. Box Rochester, NY All proposals must include a statement of authorization to bid signed by a principal of the responding company. 5. All proposals must use the proposal format outlined in the end of this RFP. 6. Parties submitting separate proposals may not discuss pricing information with one another or they will be ineligible to bid on the project. 7. Bidder status: bidder must disclose any relevant conflicts of interest and/or pending lawsuits. While RPCN members are free to submit proposals for consideration, RPCN Board Members are not eligible to submit proposals due to potential conflict of interest. 4. BACKGROUND OF ORGANIZATION Rochester Professional Consultants Network is a non-profit organization, founded in RPCN is an affiliation of individual consultants, who provide the business community with resources in a variety of high quality consulting services. Our members have extensive experience in business and industry. RPCN is dedicated to the professional growth of our members. We accomplish this by providing seminars, workshops, networking and community outreach. Today, RPCN has well over 100 widely diversified members representing a large number of business professions. Most members reside in the Greater Rochester area, but serve clients worldwide. For more information, please refer to the RPCN website: 5. AUDIENCE We envision three types of audiences for the RPCN website: a. One audience is the RPCN members that will be using the site. b. The second audience is non-members exploring becoming a consultant or entrepreneur. c. The third audience is business owners, managers, or others seeking the support of a consultant or an RPCN member. Other requirements: a. There is a defined group of users or "stakeholders" who will be regularly using the site. These include, but are not limited to, the different roles among the Board Members, such as President, Website Committee, Newsletter Committee, Treasurer, and Program Chair. b. Logins are required for Members. Special administrative logins, with permissions relevant to their responsibilities, are required for roles, such as President, Website Committee, Newsletter Committee, Treasurer, Registration Chair, Membership Chair, and Program Chair, or other roles as defined by the RPCN Board.. c. There are menus that should be viewable by ALL, but some menus are only selectable to logged-in members. Aside from the Members-only section of the website, the website should be accessible to the general public. d. There are restrictions to certain sections of the website to Board only and other specific RPCN groups. 6. TOOLS AND FUNCTIONALITIES For detailed information, refer to the Improvement Ideas column on each sheet in the attached Excel Workbook, RPCN Website Requirements Breakdown xlsx.

3 7. REPORTING NEEDS Here is a list of reports and capabilities that the RPCN website currently supports under Wild Apricot. Wild Apricot does a good job of allowing the user to easily choose and save reports, reuse them over and over again, and add new fields to the reports that are desired. Wild Apricot enables one to add to or customize the field, and also designate which fields are required, who has access to the data (Admins only, Members only, and so on). a. Reports for event registrations and transactions (members, non-members, exhibitors, sponsors, speakers, guests, and other designated individuals) b. Reports for any member s transactions (membership renewal, events attended, and so on) over the course of their membership c. Membership information (Active, lapsed and date, and so on) d. Event information e. Financial information for activities maintained or scheduled through Wild Apricot f. Contact information (this is primarily tracking non-members contact information and the events they ve attended) g. Archive members who have passed on, rather than deleting their information from the RPCN database Here is a list of reports and capabilities that we would like to have available from the updated RPCN website: a. Attendance of members and non-members at all events (forums and presentations) that could be accessed through a smart phone or tablet at point of need b. The ability to export a registered list of Event Attendees, Sponsors, Exhibitors, and Guests to an alphabetized Microsoft Excel spreadsheet c. The ability for an RPCN Member to log in and access reports, except those designated for RPCN Board only d. The ability to easily import the Attendee Names, and possibly other information, such as Company, into a Name Tag template from the exported Excel spreadsheet e. Analytics about website usage (who is using it, how often they re using it, what they re using it for, and so on); Google Analytics will, but Wild Apricot will not. f. Availability of samplings of collected information from the Forums (Business and Technical) should be settable, as determined by a responsible RPCN member, who can post/un-post or archive info on schedule or on demand. g. Analytics on newsletter distribution, including total sent, total delivered, the number of opens and click-throughs, and the most-clicked links all formatted in a report that shows cumulative statistics for each month and can be filtered in date ranges. 8. SITE SPECIFICATIONS a. Design parameters: As stated in section 1, last paragraph, it is desirable to integrate a WordPress front-end to the current Wild Apricot platform. WordPress has the potential for improving management, editability, content management, and integration with Social Media. b. Accessibility/Usability i. Section 508 compliance is required. ii. Usability testing at concept, mid-stream, and at completion to validate design and interaction. RPCN will do this testing. c. This platform is a redesign of the current RPCN website. The current site is developed using Wild Apricot as a platform. d. e-commerce i. We are currently using an e-commerce system for Event Registration and Membership Renewal. ii. We are currently using PayPal, via Wild Apricot, for any e-commerce web functions. 9. AVAILABLE TECHNOLOGY RESOURCES/INTEGRATION ISSUES a. RPCN has existing pages of Web content that we expect the chosen Web Developer to add to the new site. Those existing pages can be found in the RPCN Site Map, available at:

4 b. RPCN has existing databases that will need to be imported or connected to the new site and backed up, as Wild Apricot usually does several times each day. Wild Apricot has Application Program Interfaces (APIs) to import external information, such as: i. Information exists from Survey Monkey that needs to be imported ii. Information from Meetup and other forms of Social Media, such as Facebook pages and our RPCN LinkedIn group c. RPCN has existing e-commerce systems, web forums, and other tools that the new site should be connected to as well. Wild Apricot has Application Program Interfaces (APIs) to import external information, such as: i. Information exists from Survey Monkey that needs to be imported ii. Information from Meetup and other forms of Social Media, such as Facebook pages and our RPCN LinkedIn group d. There is an existing database and interface that needs to be kept as an integral part of the website s proposed solution. This is everything that Wild Apricot currently supports for RPCN besides the content management capability for the web pages and web site should be included here. The existing database and interface ncludes the various information already outlined in Sections 7 and 9 of this RFP. 10. STAFF RESOURCES Project Contact Name: Michael Van der Gaag Website Advisor & Program Manager (585) Rochester Professional Consultants Network (RPCN) [email protected] Current Website URL: Proposals will be reviewed, as soon as they are received, by the RPCN Board. Vendors will be working with the Website Advisor and the Website Committee. 11. PROPOSED TIMELINE: This timeline includes usability tests that will be conducted by key members of RPCN (not the responsibility of the vendor). Date May 18, 2015 June 8, 2015 June 15,2015 June 18, 2015 July 6, 2015 July 13-17, 2015 July 24, 2015 Week of July 27, 2015 August 4, 2015 August 5 10, 2015 August 13, 2015 August 20, 2015 August 21 26, 2015 September 1, 2015 September 15, 2015 September 16 22, 2015 September 23, 2015 Task RFP release date Submission of questions on RFP Answers to questions ed to all bidders Notification of intention to bid Proposals due Finalist interviews Proposal award date Initial meetings Concept wireframe with interaction descriptions due User testing by RPCN (one week) RPCN Feedback given to vendor Minimal functioning prototype (no backend) due User testing by RPCN (one week) RPCN gives results feedback to vendor Revised prototype integrated with back-end Internal test, review, and verification Drop-dead Date (no new concepts/functionality added)

5 Date September 28, 2015 September 28, 2015 October 26, 2015 November 2, 2015 Beta site launch User survey Proposed site launch Task 12. FORMAT FOR PROPOSALS 1. Executive Summary 2. Technical a. Web development process: explain the process you will follow to build the Web site, including major milestones and evaluation b. Address usability standards and testing c. Address any important technology information and specifications used in your solution (languages, platform, etc.) 3. Management a. Organizational structure: communication process; including lines of reporting and any special tools used. b. Schedule of deliverables; include major milestones and testing proposal. 4. Budget a. Break down cost by production hours, tools and functionalities b. Maintenance and support: identify any costs that should be assumed as part of the site and ongoing costs for maintenance and support we need in the future. c. License fees: identify the costs we will need to pay to develop or host the site including recurring licensing fees. d. Hosting: identify whether we must or are highly encouraged to host with your company. If hosting is provided as an option or requirement, provide pricing options and listing of services provided. e. Training and Style Guide: identify costs to train our staff to use site tools and provide a style guide. f. Other charge areas: Please identify whether there will be other expenses, consulting fees, future work, etc. to complete this project. 5. Attachments a. Qualifications and Experience: relevant case histories with information on accessing online demos or examples b. Brief biographies (three to four paragraphs) of all who will work on account c. Professional references