North Carolina State University Athletics
Giving the Customer What They Want (8/18/08)
8/17/2008 12:00:00 AM | Pack Athletics
Editor's note: Senior Associate Athletics Director David Horning is the chair of the Website Committee, which has met regularly since January to redevelop GoPack.com.
"The customer is always right"
This was the attitude that the web committee embraced as we started a six-month journey to improve GoPack.com. We realized that our customers needs are important and that our product should measure up to the competition. With this attitude, we embarked on mission to identify current deficiencies and find solutions for them.
We realize that GoPack.com is the front door to our athletics department and, at times, our university.
In doing so, we looked at several Division I and professional sports websites and tried to identify the best features for content and usability. Our goal was not to copy a single website, but to create a unique platform to fill specific needs of Wolfpack fans. With this in mind, we identified operational issues, administrative procedures, funding parameters, philosophical views and an attitude that we have to give our patrons the best website possible.
While the visible look of the site is important, our most valued resource is content. Old news is not good news. We have established internal guidelines that will ensure that the most up-to-date news, real-time ticket offers, highlights and the best in college athletics apparel will always be available to our fans from our website. We want GoPack.com to be the first web page NC State fans visit to see what is happening with all 23 Wolfpack varsity sports and within the department.
While we did not develop a new mission statement for GoPack.com, I believe our fundamental priority is to provide our users and readers with a quality experience. This involves entertainment, accurate information, discounts, top-of-the-line merchandise and and overall sense of satisfaction when they navigate elsewhere.
The future is challenging. It will require us to devote more time, energy and financial resources to the development of the website so people around the world will have a chance to see our great university and the student-athletes that represent us all.
Lastly, I would like to thank the members of the web committee -- Dick Christy, Brian Asbill, Chris Alston, Jim Sherrill, Annabelle Myers, Brian Reinhardt, Tim Peeler and the development staff at our website partner, JumpTV -- for their diligent work in reorganizing the site. This is a group with many unwavering personalities, and there were more than a few arguments and discussions as we worked through our many issues. But, in the end, we all worked together to deliver a product that we all believe is much improved for all who use it.
And, if you don't believe that there was some real dedication involved in this process, then you should have been here last Sunday night and Monday morning. Three of the web committee members never went to sleep Sunday night. Ten of us were in here at 4 a.m. Monday to get started on fixing any of the minor glitches that are inevitable when you flip the switch on such a major project.
While this portion of the redesign is complete, we are really just starting on a new phase in the life of GoPack.com. We will continue to look for ways to improve the site and your input is appreciate. We are always willing to listen to good ideas.
Thanks for being the best fans in college athletics,
David Horning
Senior Associate Athletics Director
