Ouf. A full eight months after I started, after countless hours spent sitting in front of my computer, I finally launched IFLRY's new web site today! It’s late, but also up to the expectations I had. So I am quite relieved, of course, and also excited about the prospects of this new online communication tool. Most of the new features are outlined in the press release below, but I wanted to emphasize here on the ideas behind the work I have done in the past few months.
It is becoming obvious, the best (and possibly only, given our means) way to communicate our message to a worldwide youth audience is through the web. Think about it: for a flat fee of $30 per month, more than a billion internet users (including a great share of youth) can potentially hear from us. It is just up to us to catch their attention with convincing online campaigns.
More than static content pages, the purpose of this new site is to develop a real online community on which we’ll easily be able to build a stronger organization. It will also hopefully fill the big gaps between events and allow us to work together in a more constant and efficient manner. As well, by making our resources, forums, blogs and other online tools (such as the Libel) available to all, we will hopefully tap into the energy of more than three million individuals, and not just those part of their organizations’ international committee.
Please register today, fill in your profile and get discussions started in the forums; follow up, comment, inspire or even criticize the bureau’s work on their blog; check out the links to existing online campaigns and, most importantly, help us spread the word about the new web site within your organization.
I also need your comments, thoughts and ideas (or bugs you found!). Please post them in the comments section of this post or in the forums.
Finally, thanks to Bart Woord for all the time he spent helping me on this project, often in the middle of the night! The delays drove him crazy too, but we’ve finally made it.
- MaG
21 November 2006
IFLRY Launches a New Web Site and Online Community
A completely redesigned and enhanced web site was launched today by the International Federation of Liberal Youth (IFLRY). With a fresh appearance, format and content, the new web site aims at becoming a true online community for liberal youth across the globe. It can be viewed at http://www.iflry.org.
“The Internet is now obviously the preferred way to communicate our mission-related activities, timely information and policy statements to our member and partner organizations, governments, the media and to the general public. The new web site makes it easier for anyone interested in the work of IFLRY to find information and answers to questions in a clear and user-friendly manner,” said IFLRY’s Vice-President, Marc-André Gendron. “But the main appeal of the new web site is its role as an online community of the world’s liberal youth. We believe that with its new features, such as Free Speech (a new online forum) the Liberal News Centre (which gathers news from IFLRY’s member and partner organizations), the Libel Magazine (soon to be available as an online version), blogs and photo galleries, the new iflry.org will become the main portal for international-minded young liberals. The Issues Section, to be launched in December, will also be a key part of IFLRY’s role as a facilitator for the exchange of information between its member organizations, with a new campaigns showcase blog at its core.”
The IFLRY web site has also undergone significant improvement in the areas of content, navigation and design. A “Register” button at the top of the page also allows individuals to subscribe to IFLRY’s newsletter, participate in interactive online discussions and create their own online profile.
Notable content changes include the Bureau Blog, where member organizations will be able to follow up on the work made by IFLRY’s administrators and staff, a Document Centre containing archives of previous IFLRY activities and links to different online democratic or human rights oriented campaigns. The new standard-compliant design structure makes it easier for users to find web content, and is more accessible by users with assistive technology devices, such as screen readers for the visually impaired.
The International Federation of Liberal Youth is the international umbrella federation of liberal and radical youth organisations. It consists of more than 60 member organisations from the five continents, representing more than 3 million individuals. Please visit iflry.org for more information about the organisation.
For more information:
Marc-André Gendron
Vice-President
e-mail: marc@iflry.org
gsm : +15148678743