Class of 1997 Project:
City of Manhattan Beach Web Site
The 29 colleagues that comprised the Leadership Class identified 38 possible projects during the months preceding December, when the time came to select just one. After much discussion, we narrowed them down to 4 candidates. The class divided into four teams, each presented their candidate project.
Following the presentations by each team, the City of Manhattan Beach Web site project was selected over the other three candidate projects: a Shakespeare festival, a volleyball tournament, and publication of a volunteer opportunities booklet. One Web site selling point was that the Web site could incorporate elements of the other projects: those interested in producing events (tournament, festival) could plan the introduction of the Web site as a public event, while the volunteer booklet information could be a part of the Web site.
The class asked Steve Carman to be the manager of the Web site project, and he immediately set about organizing the team and establishing the schedule of activities. After initial brainstorming to decide what initial content the class would develop, several teams were set up to work on the various elements of the Web site. The initial Web site is a subset of the vision we have for its ultimate content. We directed our effort into those areas we, as representatives of the city, thought were the most useful:
- Home Page—With attractive Logo, Theme and “Buttons” for:
- What’s New?—A chronological listing of the latest Web site changes
- About Manhattan Beach—Description with photos of the city
- Fun Stuff—The Community Calendar, a movie guide and other fun
- City Hall—City Council and City Departments and how they work
- Schools—Public and Private Schools
- Community Resources—Index to over 130 volunteer and service organizations
- Links—Other Websites of interest
- Search—A finder for locating anything on the Website
- Feedback—Comments sent to the City #
As the City expands the Web site to provide information of value to the citizens of Manhattan Beach and organizes the City Intranet in a similar fashion, efficiencies can be realized that offset the costs associated with maintaining the Web site. Many companies and government agencies have saved significantly by eliminating internal processes that previously required documents and meetings to communicate information.
Visit the City of Manhattan Beach Web site today: http://www.citymb.info/
Class Members:
Mira Costa High School Juniors:
Katie Allard, Sean Barnes, Kamele Chacker, Kitty Cheung, Brandy Collins, Heidi Ghent, Charlotte Gulezian, Stephanie Kingdon, Jackie Minor, Devon Murray, Kimmie Nguyen, Jason Norvell
Adults:
Dale Abrahams, Virginia Anders, Eileen Baral, Tom Bullard, Brett Butler, Jeff Byron, Steve Carman, Kathleen Galvin, Doug Herbst, Don Herr, Dennis Kirkpatrick, Sharon Law, Leroy Nelson, Bob Patterson, Andrea Welsing, Brenda Wempner, Kira White Barr, Carla Wood
Special thanks to LeRoy Nelson, our Leadership Guide and Mentor and our honorary member of the Class of ’97.
Employers Represented:
Chevron, Smith Barney, MBUSD, TRW, Xerox, The Kettle, Merrill Lynch, City of Manhattan Beach, Bayview Productions, Beach Cities Health District’ Dupont Pharmacy, and ReMax Beach Cities Realty