A new UNB.ca
Since leaving daily journalism this fall, I've been working on an exciting project - helping build a new website for the University of New Brunswick.
UNB was among the first universities in Canada to launch a website for the public in the early 1990s. Since then, the site has grown to over 200,000 pages. While the site grew, technology also changed at a rapid pace, creating two major challenges for UNB.ca: keeping content accurate and fresh while also making the site look good.
In order to tackle this massive project, UNB adopted a phased approach, tackling development in careful, planned stages. The new site, available at www.unb.ca, creates a host of new opportunities for the university to tell its stories to prospective students as well as the broader public.
A learning experience
I’ve really enjoyed the transition from daily journalism to this web project. As a web content developer, I still get to tell great stories - thanks to a prominent feature on the homepage for displaying articles that highlight how UNB has an impact locally, provincially, nationally and internationally and articles that highlight amazing students and alumni.
The future of communications
If social networking has shown us anything about the web, it’s that relationship building is one of the most powerful advancements for the Internet so far. Social networking has become an entrenched part of the modern Internet not because it’s the latest and greatest thing, but because it helps meet one of the most fundamental human needs - the need to connect with others.
For me, websites aren’t just about static content. They’re not Internet versions of television ads or print publications. They’re a new kind of dialogue.
And like all conversations, they have to engaging, interesting and dynamic. To me, that’s the greatest success of this first phase of UNB.ca - it’s move towards dynamic, engaging content.
