Retina International General Assembly 2018 - Auckland, New ZealandThursday,Location:
Room:
Start:

February 8th, 2018
University of Auckland Business School
Owen G Glenn Building, 12 Grafton Road, Auckland, 1010
Decima Glenn Room, Level 3
09.00 end: 17.00

APPENDIX 08-2

8.2

WebsiteMotion:The MC moves to accept the report of the CEO.

Report on Website Development
Retina International received an unrestricted grant to support thedevelopment of a new state of the art website which was facilitated byDara Creative an award-winning Web Development Company based inDublin and launched on World Retina Day, September 24, 2017.
The primary function of the site is to efficiently provide networking
opportunities, research updates, and news items on therapy
development to member groups while also being central to the further
development of our global community and the facilitation of capacity
building programmes.
Although it is designed as a tool for member organisations we know that
it utilised by scientists and clinicians who access its research database.
The website was built on a drupel platform to allow for easy expansion ofthe site. This format was recommended by members such as FFB andProRetina Germany as a good structure to fulfil our needs.
The website was designed by Mark Mulhall and built by Matthew Stocker
of Dara Creative Dublin, both of whom were passionate about the site
and went above and beyond to deliver it on time. Unfortunately for meboth left Dara Creative one month after the site was delivered.
Retina International, GA 2018, Auckland, New Zealandappendix 08-2, Website- 18.02.08

page. 1Website upkeep is critical yet expensive resource to keep updated andfresh. Charities are expected to have well-functioning up to the minutewebsites and this cannot always be achieved without ongoing financiallyand in-kind support.
It was critical from the outset that the positivity and dynamic nature of
the community is reflected in the website, I do not believe that since its
launch last year the website has achieved its full potential or been given
enough focus. This is due to resource issues and also the support
company (Dara Creative) having had many staff changes. I do notbelieve purely reactive site is of value, it needs to be more proactive andbetter utilised.
To address this a number of steps have been taken and the results will
be applied from 2018. A RI is recruiting a part time ScienceCommunications Officer to be in place January 2018. This post holder
will be dedicated to the development of the website and associatedonline tools. The RI team and the support company will have a regularmonthly call to agree priorities for the site on a month to month basis
and in line with our overall communications strategy. There will bemonths where the site will require a lot of work and others when theneeds will be less. Having a resource to take ‘ownership’ of the site will
be an advantage.
With the recruitment of a Science and Communications officer webelieve a more hands on approach to dealing with the service provider
will lead to a much more dynamic and focused site. Used appropriately it
should then achieve its potential of becoming a global hub of trusted anduseful information.
We will regularly interact with our membership to highlight and promote
their various activities and include their work in our new monthly Enewsletter.
Training: Although a dedicated resource will be employed to manage
the site, all staff members of RI will be trained in basic management ofthe site and an agreed process of updating and will be implemented. To
maximise limited resource, staff members will have responsibility forspecific tasks, for example, administration will upload documents to theprivate members section including GA documents and the like. A
guidance document will be issued to all staff members to allow them toeasily access and manage the site.
Toolkit Development: Drupel allows for ease of expansion and sofuture on-line toolkits will be developed to complement the look and feelof our site.
Developing voluntary groups and foundations: One of the key
reasons for the development of the website is to facilitate
Retina International, GA 2018, Auckland, New Zealandappendix 08-2, Website- 18.02.08

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communications between member organisations. Our new site should
also be used for us to advise and encourage the development ofemerging groups and potentially to match new organisations withexisting ones in a mentoring programme that could be facilitated throughthe website.
Newsletters: A content management system for the development andcirculation of e-newsletters is already part of the system and when acoordinated process of distribution is agreed we will utilise this for
streamlined communications.
RI TV: RI have already created a YouTube Channel. This will be better
utilised and uploaded with RI developed content as well as other usefulvideos from member organisations, research institutions as well as
learned societies and industry.
Social Media: RI has a presence on Facebook and Twitter. These will
be linked to the site.
Survey Monkey: RI has used survey monkey successfully this year andplan to do more with this resource in the coming year. This is a great
way of getting to know the membership better as it evolves and its needsand aspirations change.
Avril Daly
December 5, 2017

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