Many of the issues must be tackled against an ever-shifting backdrop of policies, standards and technologies. For example, services must be as accessible as possible to people with disabilities: but how should complex international technical standards be applied, and how is the legal picture changing? There are also moves towards sharing online web software and services between neighbouring councils or councils in a particular area. Our event will analyse what works best, and how barriers to sharing can be overcome.

It has been another year of major development for the ‘Local DirectGov’ portal, and interconnections between councils and connections with citizens through this national service are another key area to monitor. As one of our headline partners in this year’s event, the Local DirectGov team will be here to help in person.

To help councils address all these issues and prepare for other challenges in the future, the Socitm Insight programme is partnering with E-Government Bulletin for the second year to bring you our landmark event, ‘Building the perfect council website’. The conference will attempt to encapsulate and present every aspect of how to create successful online services: easy to use, working first time, compelling and engaging.

From usability and transactions, to webcasting, podcasting and handling politically sensitive councillor web pages, we analyse that elusive ‘wow’ factor that makes people love a site and want to return to it. Our one-day conference will once more bring together experts and practitioners to share tips and warn against pitfalls. Above all, the event will distil the collected wisdom of nine years of the Socitm Insight programme’s annual Better connected review of UK council websites and feature the reviewers’ insights, plaudits and brickbats.

Event programme

Venue:

Olympia 2 Conference Centre, Hammersmith Road, London W14 8UX (2 minutes’ walk from Kensington Olympia train and tube station)  www.eco.co.uk

Conference co-chairs:

Dan Jellinek, Editor, E-Government Bulletin

Martin Greenwood, Socitm Insight Programme Director.

Event highlights

Our keynote speaker is Dominic Tinley, editor-in-chief of the UK Parliament website. Dominic, who will speak on ‘Usability and the citizen’, is a new media and usability specialist with extensive experience managing high-profile websites including BBC Online and Channel Four Learning. Delegates will then gain a unique overview of Socitm’s ongoing Better connected review process for all council websites from Martin Greenwood, director of the Socitm Insight programme, as he reveals planned developments for next year and runs through key lessons learned from recent reviews. Brand new research on council web portals and shared web services, commissioned by Socitm Insight, will be unveiled at the event. Four parallel workshops will cover ‘nuts and bolts’ issues for building better sites, including accessibility and integrating third party software.

The benefits

All delegates will be able to:

• learn from the experts in our comprehensive speaker programme
• learn from each other in structured interactive workshop sessions and through networking in the three conference breaks
• assess the best of the current crop of suppliers to the council website market in our accompanying exhibition and through specialist demonstrations
• discover how to remain engaged with Socitm’s ongoing Better connected website review and advice programme.

The charges

The charge for the conference is £175 + VAT for delegates from Socitm Insight subscriber  organisations; £195 + VAT for other public sector  delegates; and £295 + VAT for private sector  delegates. There is no limit on the number of  delegates from any individual organisation, but places  overall are limited, and are filling up fast, so register today at our website to ensure your place is booked: www.headstar-events.com/council07/

Sponsorship and exhibition

There are spaces for 20 companies to exhibit at this high profile event, and six of these can also become headline sponsors with extensive branding and  marketing opportunities.  To find out the full details of these packages, and costs, please e-mail Claire Clinton on claire@headstar.com (tel 01273 231291).