At this month’s Healthcare Estates 2010 event (see also pages 6 and 7 of this issue) the Institute will launch its new website, and provide visitors to the IHEEM stand with an opportunity to see the new site in action.
The website has been developed in conjunction with Senior Internet, a Nottingham-based specialist in the design and build of websites for membership organisations, and the Institute’s existing database supplier, 3Si, of Newcastleunder- Lyme. Launched with the “tag line”, “Working with you to develop your career”, the new site uses up-to-date Web 2.0 technology, and is designed to more effectively market the Institute to new members and enquirers, and provide a more efficient way of keeping members up-to-date with membership services. The existing facilities that users are familiar with will all be retained, while new features will include:
• The ability for members to update their personal details online.
• An online CPD recording system.
• Online booking and paying for events, including Healthcare Estates 2011.
• An interactive search facility of Company Affiliates, by discipline, and region.
• “Find an Expert” – an interactive search facility of those registered on the various AE registers.
• Newly-designed pages for each individual branch, enabling their events to be effectively advertised.
According to Chris Parker, IHEEM’s recruitment/membership manager, these features are provided “in a new and freshlooking, easily navigable site, that is more in keeping with the standards that web users have come to expect”. John Long, the Institute’s CEO, comments: “Anybody wishing to research information or purchase a complex product first looks at online information or products. Researching membership of a professional institute is no different. IHEEM’s web-based shop window is open 24 hours a day, and needs to be bright, modern, attractive, informative, and easy to navigate. The new website will build on existing popular features, and bring new features that potential members look for when choosing their professional institute. IHEEM’s Council sees this investment as a major development for the Institute’s future wellbeing that will bring significant web-based enhancements to the services offered to members.” After the launch at Healthcare Estates, additional aspects will become available online as they are developed and released. To visit the new website, log on to: www.iheem.org.uk.
