YMCA – DIGITAL and+ SOCIAL

THE CLIENT

YMCA Calgary provides community-building programs and services for people of all ages and abilities. Each year, thousands of Calgarians enjoy fitness and recreation, youth leadership programs, childcare, camps, and other community services from “the Y.” Their online presence, however, needed to be strengthened.

THE CHALLENGE

To recreate an online presence for YMCA Calgary that met their key needs:
- Represent the YMCA’s  key values of health, wellness and community
- Offer easy access to program information and registration
- Create online outreach and community via social media
- Allow YMCA staff to easily update the site via a new content management system

THE THINKING

YMCA is a non-profit organization servicing a wide range of people, so any solution had to provide real value for the budget and meet a variety of community needs.

Before creating a strategic framework, bmir engaged in extensive research including  discovery sessions to isolate the objectives, technical and content requirements of the website and the real-life needs of the target audience.

The result was a simple, adaptable site architecture that ensured great usability and easy access to info about YMCA’s hundreds of programs. The bright, clean landing page guided users to its three target areas, Kids, Youth, and Adults,and provided tailored content for each .

The site was developed with a simple [SYSTEM] CMS, so that YMCA staff could easily update the site to showcase their constantly changing curriculum and programs.

Befitting YMCA’s role as a vital community gathering place, social functionality and user galleries were woven through each page. bmir developed YMCA’s Facebook and Twitter strategies, which have built a vital social following, with nearly 10,000 Twitter followers and over a thousand Facebook likes.

Every digital execution should be guided by the client’s real-world needs and objectives. That’s why YMCA Calgary was intimately involved throughout the entire process.

THE PERFORMANCE

YMCA Calgary has been energized by the new website and intranet, engaging with their audience via Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter.  The changes earned them much praise in the community. The site also earned bmir a Silver at the 2011 Davey Awards.

Silver Award Winner, 2011 Davey Awards,
International Academy of Visual Arts