New Project: Volunteer Louisiana

By: Michael Lipe, creative director, April 21, 2009

After several months of diligent work, we have successfully launched the new Volunteer Louisiana website in partnership with the Louisiana Serve Commission.

At the end of 2007, we were contacted by Janet Pace, the interim exectuive director of the Louisiana Serve Commission, through the office of the Lieutenant Governor, to work on the redesign and development of the new volunteerlouisiana.gov website. Janet had first discovered Maxon Media through our involvement with Volunteer New Orleans (www.volunteerneworleans.com), which is a site that we developed in partnership with Cox Communications. 

 

In working with the team from Louisiana Serve Commission, we were able to engage in the design and development of one of the most important projects we have ever been involved with, and is one that we are extremely proud of, not only becuase it is a wonderful showcase for our comprehensive design abilities, but that it is actually a project that will benefit our state on an individual community level. It’s not everyday that you get the chance to be a part of something that can effect real change for our state, and this was one of those opportunities. We are extremely thankful to Janet and her staff for their energy and commitment that they showed throughout the process, and for the design freedom that they allowed us to have as we developed the site. I am also thankful to the hard work of our staff, specifically Tiffany Taunton, for the excellent work done for this project.

 

One of the ways that Maxon Media can really excel for organizations such as this is in our comprehensive approach to corporate branding and multimedia implementation. In this particualr instance, we were able to develop the new organization logo, and then build the new web interface design from there. Capturing the unique local culture and the heart of the people of the Louisiana was first and foremost in the design intentionality behind the mark. Creating something distinctivly Louisiana, yet conveyed a spirit of service was the driving force.

 

The site features some very useful sections including a comprehensive search feature, in partnerhip with Network for Good, to allow users to search for active volunteer opportunities by parish throughout the state. An entire area dedicated to “Voluntourism” is available on the site, which will encourage visitors to Louisiana, and specifically New Orleans, to engage in service projects while they are visiting the state. Other features such as a mutlimedia News Room, a volunteer blog that will give actual volunteers the opportunity to share their experiences, and an e-newsletter which will allow users to sign-up for frequent e-news updates are also available on the site.

 

The site is built on a comprehensive Content Management System that is completely customized to allow Louisiana Serve Commission staff to instantly update the site content, specifically in the event of natural distasters or special volunteer opportunities become available. We are already in discussions to further implement a social networking strategy for the site to allow the maximum number of people to be aware of the latest news and information related to volunteer service in Louisiana.

 

Click here to check out the site, and we welcome your feedback since you are, in fact, the intended audience.