Net Quotient, M2K Donate Web Site Redesign to SmartGrrls.org; Non-Profit Introduces Girls to Science, Math, Technology Careers

The woman who discovers a cure for cancer, engineers the translation device that teaches humanity how to speak with dolphins, or pilots a Mars lander may be the sixth-grade girl introduced to a career in science, math and technology thanks to SmartGrrls.org, a Web site redesigned by Net Quotient Consulting Group and M2K.

"Our goal was a redesigned Web site that screams that it's cool to be smart," said Rachel Muir, executive director.

Click here to see the site before it was redesigned:
http://www.technopolis.com/smartgrrls.before.jpg

Click here to see the site after it was redesigned:
http://www.technopolis.com/smartgrrls.after.jpg

"We asked our all-girl advisory board what they wanted in a Web site," said Muir. "We found that girls want a site that is simple, easy to navigate, animated, and interactive. We wanted to give girls the features they wanted -- contests, post cards, fun facts and quizzes -- and promote real women scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs and doctors. We made sure they could get those things at smartgrrls.org."

Net Quotient and M2K normally design and build e-commerce Web sites for dot-com companies and brick-and-mortar businesses under a strategic alliance known as Mercanteer(TM). The alliance integrates strategic consulting, graphic design, media and creative services from M2k, www.m2k.com, an interactive agency, with the application design, development, back-end systems and technical services of Net Quotient, www.netquotient.com, a consultancy that develops Internet-based business solutions to bring businesses to the Web.

SmartGrrls, however, is a non-profit organization created to foster math, science and technology skills that young women -- intimidated by social, cultural and educational roadblocks -- tend to abandon during their teen-aged years.

The organization, based in Austin, Texas, and founded in 1997, conducts camps, mentoring programs, workshops for teachers and parents, and other activities to inspire middle school girls, ages 11 to 15, to reach their full potential. Of the first group of eighth-graders enrolled in SmartGrrls, 100 percent are now taking advanced math and science classes in high school.

Funded by grants, corporations and individual donations, the non-profit has also recently announced its launch of the Girls' Technology Center, the first and only establishment in Texas dedicated solely to bringing technology to young women. The Center is expected to provide hands-on training to more than 1,000 young women in its first year of operation.

Net Quotient and M2K donated their time, expertise and services. Pro bono planning began in August 1999. Development started in October. The new site went live in early January 2000.

"The old site had some of the content, but the design didn't work," said Dan Hanrahan, director of technology at M2K, sparked to work with SmartGrrls by his seven-year-old daughter, Bethany.

"The old site was more corporate, cumbersome, difficult to follow. The new site is a heck of a lot more fun, easier to navigate, more vibrant, more friendly, highly interactive, something that girls will talk about with friends, building more traffic, introducing still more girls to critical skills," said Hanrahan.

Using Java applets, CGI scripts and HTML, Net Quotient's programming work included building a system of administrative templates that permit SmartGrrls staff to create new quizzes and games, rotating out features in order to quickly refresh the site.

"We had to work with constraints on bandwidth and server space that is donated by the Internet Services Provider," said Bill Churchill, a project consultant at Net Quotient.

"This also meant we could not use certain technologies to generate pages dynamically -- large databases, tools such as StoryServer and Cold Fusion, designed for commercial sites," said Churchill.

"Net Quotient and M2K did an extraordinary job," said Muir. "The new design and administrative tools give us our first real opportunity to throw up a million different features, see what works, see what's most popular, and refine into the future. It's an incredible impact. Exciting."

About M2K
Based in Austin, M2K specializes in Interaction Advertising(TM) -- advertising designed to engage the recipient and move them to take action. M2K understands the entire brand-to-sale continuum and applies strategic creative thinking to every phase of this continuum, from building the brand to making the sale. M2K's services include brand identity programs, Internet advertising and marketing, and Web site development, with a special focus on e-commerce and extranet sites. M2K's creative, media and technology groups are united around a common belief: "the idea is to sell something(TM)."

About Net Quotient
Net Quotient Consulting Group, www.netquotient.com, is a consultancy that develops Internet-based business solutions that bring businesses to the Web.

Net Quotient customers include Continental Airlines, CVS/Pharmacy, Ericsson, First American, Hoover's Inc. and New York Life, among others.

Specific Net Quotient services include electronic commerce and Internet development, Web interfaces to corporate databases, including legacy data, as well as Web server design, Java application development and custom Web page design.

Founded in 1995, Net Quotient is majority-owned by Applicom Systems, a member of Formula Systems Ltd. (Nasdaq: FORTY - news). Net Quotient's headquarters are located in New York City, with offices in Austin, Boston, Chicago and London.