The Bermuda Run Garden Club after celebrating its 30th anniversary last fall have ventured to create their own website.

Teaming with local web tech students and class instructor Thomas Brown – program coordinator for web technologies at Forsyth Tech Community College, they began the process of showcasing the club’s projects, history and activities.

The timing could not have been more perfect – the students needed a final class project and the garden club needed a website.

What made this situation so unique was the creation of a team atmosphere similar to a work enviroment for the students. Not only were they still learning how to design and build websites, but how to interpret a client’s wants and needs- a valuable and time saving tool in today’s market.

And for the garden club, a not-for-profit which runs on a tight budget, graduating students seemed to fill a cost-effective solution.

The web design team consisted of students Brian Menzies, Susan Velez, Bob Puckett, Sean Browne, Hannah Crookston and Shawnamarie Turner along with BRGC members Diane Burke, Martha Apple and Kim Carson. To make the right decisions about how to build the website, panel discussions were held covering topics like interactive features, colors, cost of hosting and maintenance and future growth.

Next came the development of a sitemap which launched the actual design process.

“In designing and building a professional, functional website everyone needs to be organized from the get-go. There are so many options to choose from and so many ways to go off track. Knowing your goals before hand keeps the development moving forward,” Brown said.

Club members could not be more pleased with the outcome and are thankful for the dedication and professionalism of the students.

“They have showcased our club’s 30 year history and moved us onto a new frontier that connects us to the world around us” said club president Sue Whittaker.

For more club information and to see what the students have accomplished visit the site at www.bermudarungardenclub.org.