Societies

Society Sites specializes in the design and implementation of web sites for professional Societies such as:

• Medicine
  Virtually any organization can benefit from a dynamic web site designed to benefit its members as well as the public.

  
  
• Optometry
• Dentistry
• Podiatry
  
• Lawyers
• Psychiatry
• More...

Our goal is to improve your Society's communications, streamline members' data gathering and organizing, and support the group through a "Member Search" so the public can search for a certain professional that fits their needs.

Although we specialize in web sites for professionals societies, any organization that is in need of a web presence can benefit from one of our sites...

Design

First impressions are everything! 
Web surfers have an extremely short attention span - if you do not show them an easy-to-use site, they will promptly leave never to return.  You must present them with a great site the first time.  If you fail on the first attempt, they will likely forget about your site not take any further attempts seriously.

Our web sites are not "cookie cutter"
Each is built to specifications that are hammered out prior to any designing or coding.  Some things to consider when designing a web site:

• Will your site be for "Members Only" or will the public also be welcome?
• Do you need member logins?
  You only get one shot at the "Check out our new website!" email.  You should never have to send out the, "Oops, now check out our website..." email.

  
  
• Do you need a "Member Search" engine?
• Do your members need profiles, or will it just be for static information?
• Do you need any custom maps?
• Will you hold all of your information on the site?
  • Document Downloads (Letterhead, roster, etc)
    
  • Member Database
  • Member Forum
  • Classifieds
  • Etc
• Do you need an encrypted site?
  • For taking donations or dues
    
• Do you need to sell on your site?
• Should you give out passwords or let members create them on the fly?
  • Easy passwords allow for more members to log in, but lowers security.
• Do you want your site to be presented in a "News" or "Magazine" fashion?
  

We will not abandon you!
Even after your site has been created, we will provide constant support and assistance to make sure that it continues to run smoothly. We do allow you to make certain changes by yourselves to the site, however.

Pricing

Since all of our sites are custom-created for each client - all pricing differs. 

The Process:

• Initial Consultation - Free
  • First brief interview to learn more about your project
• Design Conference
  • A meeting between top execs and others to define what it is you need.  Do you want a calendar?  Random passwords?  Allow members to create profiles?  This part of the process is the most crucial and should not be taken lightly.  The web site should rarely be changed after this meeting.  It is imperative that the client know his/her desires prior to this meeting.
  • Shortly after this meeting we will agree on an ITF (Initial Time Frame) - this is a date that we hope to have a completed site ready for approval.
    
• Coding and Design
  • This is the period where our team takes your blueprints and creates your web site.  The time it takes depends on what has been decided on by you... anywhere from a few days to a few weeks.  During this period our team will be available to you for emergency changes and to present progress reports.
• Wrap-Up Meeting - Free
  • Site presentation and approval.
• Post Coding
  • After our obligation has been met, any coding or changes will incur a fee if requested after the ITF (Initial Time Frame).
• Maintenance - 1st year free! (does not include SSL)  Then $499/yr ($799 if using SSL)
  
  • Covers domain registration, hosting, updates, and security.
  • Does NOT cover content alterations or other design changes. 
    

About Us

Our Team:

Adam P. Parker, O.D., our founder, President, and chief data architect has been practicing Optometry since 2002. He graduated from Virginia Tech with a Bachelor's degree in Biology and received his second Bachelor's degree and Doctorate from the Pennsylvania College of Optometry in Philadelphia, PA. He has been coding since 1985 and designing web sites since 1998.  His RichmondEyeCare.com was the inspiration and motivation for SocietySites.com.

Kevin Lafone, O.D. is head of our sales and marketing department.  Dr. Lafone assists in the design phases as well.  He graduated from North Carolina in 1998 with a Bachelor's Degree and obtained a second Bachelor's degree and Doctorate from the Pennsylvania College of Optometry in 2002.  Dr. Lafone practices Optometry full-time in Cornelius, NC.

Mike Armstrong, MBA has over 10 years experience in finance, IT and management.   Michael has held management roles in a variety of fields ranging from a small Healthcare consulting company (recently bought by WebMD), the leisure and travel industry, and most recently the insurance industry.  He has been responsible for leading global teams to amazing results.  Michael has a B.S. in Finance and International Business, and his MBA from Indiana University.

Should you decide to have Society Sites build a custom web site for your Society, our team of professionals will walk you through a detailed questionnaire to ensure your site is exactly the way you want it prior to the design and build phase.  An estimated date of completion will be set and we will work closely with you throughout the process.  It's your web site, you should get what you want.  Our designers are professionals too - we know what works and what does not work.  We are not hard to get a hold of either... most of us have our IMs on throughout the day as well as Skype and of course email.

FAQs