In fall 2011, the PEI Writers’ Guild took on the organization of the Pen & Inkling Festival, a week-long event celebrating writing in Prince Edward Island. It was a big event, for a small organization.
The Writers’ Guild needed a website that could get the word out about Pen & Inkling events. The co-ordinator wanted a quick way to add details on her own, and to do press releases running up to the Festival dates.
The Writers’ Guild also wanted to build its membership, through this high-activity, high-profile time. A combination of paper-based forms and incomplete spreadsheets had created a situation where there was no fully up-to-date membership list. As a membership funded organization, it was very important that there be an easy-to-use membership form, and membership information, on the website.
We created a new WordPress-based site, to fan out details about the Pen & Inkling Festival and generate more awareness about the PEI Writers Guild.
The site pulled together all the Pen & Inkling event details, scheduling, and biographies of all presenters. The user-friendly content system allowed the event co-ordinator to update the details, as they got confirmed or when the information arrived.
Event tools and news releases featured social networking buttons, so supporters could pass along the word on Facebook or Twitter, with a single click.
Using free Google Docs, we built a new on-line membership form for the PEI Writers Guild. When a new member fills out this on-line form, the Guild gets an e-mail notification, and all the information goes into a shared Excel-compatible spreadsheet. No more conflicts between multiple versions of the spreadsheet!
