Lifestyle Networking

To design a lifestyle networking platform for local businesses and residents alike, with the ability to find out what%u2019s on in the area, recommended venues, things to do and who%u2019s out on a particular night or at a particular event.

The platform will be part of a network, so development should take into account the inclusion of new networks [locations] over time.

Domains and hosting is already setup and a logo has been created. The logo could be re-vamped in-line with ideas for the site design.

Sites of reference:
http://trustedplaces.com/ - nice directory, good use of tagging, user interaction
http://www.viewlondon.co.uk/ - information architecture, design
http://www.clicktonight.com/out-tonight/ - social networking

The website should incorporate the following pages:

Homepage
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What%u2019s on?
Things to do
Who%u2019s out?
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Venue bookings
Party Packages
Street Team
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Restaurants
Bars & Pubs
Clubs
Entertainment
Leisure
Shopping
Jobs
Transport
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Special Offers
Recommended
Best For
Reviews
Events
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Q & A
Contact Us
Sitemap
Competitions
Advertising
Web Services

The site will target two audiences: Members & Venues

Members should have the ability to create a small profile, incorporating an alias, age & profession. In addition to this, members should be able to display venues they recommend, reviews they have written and any events they have attended or plan to attend.

Members must have the ability to change privacy controls, screening certain attributes as they see fit.

An image or avatar will be used / displayed with any reviews etc posted on the website.

Members should have the ability to introduce contacts to the network. Once on the network members will be free to add people to their contacts lists %u2013 members will be able to accept or decline these invites.

Once added to a contacts list, members will be able to create nicknames for their friends and create groups of friends.

Private messaging should be incorporated and the ability to create private events. Features such as a wall etc will not be needed.

Members will be able to upload pictures to their profile/create albums but will not be able to tag people other than themselves. In the event tagging is increased for members other than themselves, these tags must be approved first by the member in question before going live.

All members will have a social calendar. This will show all events they are attending for any given month/day/period, including both venue events and personal private events.

Members will be able to review any venues/events/articles recommended to them by friends, with a quick link through to the associated page.

When reviewing venues members can write an overview, with a rating system incorporating various attributes such as value for money, atmosphere, service etc

In conjunction with this, members should have the ability to tag venues, creating tag clouds for each venue, improving the site search and user experience.

Best for: This should be integrated with the tag system, but essentially this allows users to state or find venues which are best for%u2026couples, cheap drinks, dancing etc

Venue%u2019s should have the ability to create a profile, incorporating the name of the business, it%u2019s classification, a selection of gallery pictures, location (with googlemaps embedded within site), opening times, venue capacity, booking info, dress code, payment policy, accessibility info etc

As well as this Venues should have the ability to add events, event images, special offers, best sellers, new stock, menu%u2019s, job listings and recommendations. (this will vary slightly depending on venue classification %u2013 restaurant/club/leisure etc)

Profile views, events created, attendees, recommendations etc should all be tracked via the venue account, as well as via admin.

For venues which opt in, a venue booking/reservation option should be included. At this stage this will simply include date of booking, number of guests and time of arrival. The booking will be submitted to the venue via email (logged in CMS) with a simple accept/decline link. A decline link would be sent with a new suggested time if applicable.

Guest list/Queue jumps options should also be included (opt-in), these would work in a similar way to bookings/reservations, but without a time selection.

Any events created by a venue will include an event name, an image (optional), times, ticket prices/entry prices and additional comments.

Once posted, members will be able to click %u2018attend event%u2019. This will add the event to their social calendar. Members will be able to see how many members within the network are attending that event and any comments which they have posted.

When viewing venue profiles, members should be able to see a tag cloud for that venue, which other members have recommended that venue and which other venues members like which are similar to the venue in question (ie. people who like this venue also like..)

Members will have the ability to recommend venues/events to friends. Any notifications like these would be shown when a member logs in to their account.

On any day, members and website visitors alike should be able to easily find out what%u2019s on in town. As default the site should display events for the current day/night, with popular events also prevalent.

Things to do will incorporate themes (such as eating out %u2013 linked to restaurants) and activities (listed as venues/businesses %u2013 such as paint balling & go-karting)

Who%u2019s out is a section which will list which members are out on the town on any given date. This may also specify what venues they are attending and who they are out with, depending on privacy controls.

Members will have the ability to change their status to encourage other members to connect with them. (ie. join me tonight, join us tonight) %u2013 invites can then be accepted/declined with a message.

A Q & A section should be designed for the site, allowing users to ask questions specific to a category such as restaurants (ie. where is the best place to entertain the in-lords?) or the network as a whole. (ie. coming to location with friends, where%u2019s the best place to go for a cheap night out?)

Members can then post replies, with direct links through to any recommended venues on the network. Articles (Q & A%u2019s) can also be recommended to other members.

Each of the main categories (restaurants, clubs, bars & pubs, leisure etc) will have similar functionality, but some will have additional features.

A section within each category should be accessible via admin to push/pull members to certain aspects/venues on the site. The homepage should have the same attribute.

Leisure for example, should allow Health Clubs to post gym classes/times, as well as membership info and prices.

Entertainment is perhaps the most involved, with the ability to allow members to create a band community %u2013 uploading music, posting gigs, uploading images. Downloads/plays could be taken into account to show popular bands/artists on the network.

Venues would have the ability to book bands/artists for gigs via the network.

Venue bookings is a feature guided towards restaurants/clubs and bars and will allow members to select the venue they wish to book from a list of venues, with a date, # of guests and time. Members could also specify an occasion and post any additional comments, such as special requests.

If members are unclear which venues are suitable for their event, they can perform a search for specific features (smoking area, dance floor, wheelchair access etc)

Party packages will be pre-defined packages. Members/site users can select how many guests plan to attend and on which date(s) and an email will be sent with confirmation of availability and booking information.

Street team/advertising/web services are text based pages.

Advertising space should be incorporated within the site design, with space on the homepage for banner advertising, as well as a featured venue.

Each category page should also have advertising space available, in the form of banner advertising and featured venues/events.

Advertising should be served via an auction system, whereby venues bid for advertising spots, typically for a period of 1 week. Homepage spots may be served for longer periods. Each spot will have a reserve. Any spots which don%u2019t meet the reserve will serve %u2018in-house%u2019 ads promoting various aspects of the website.

The venue bookings will all be done via email. We would however like to implement a more efficient system, which can be used by venues to coordinate real-time bookings.

Features such as social bookmarking, rss feeds and widgets should also be explored wherever possible.

Long-Term features to consider prior to development

We would also like to develop a system whereby members can order/reserve event tickets online. Whether this should be an online booking system or a txt based ticketing system is open to discussion.

Lastly, we would also like to explore the option of an online marketplace, where smaller retail businesses can sell their products via the website. Monies would be collected and then distributed to the merchants, minus a small processing fee.

Budget for the project is £750 - £1250

Project completion by 14-07-2008

An initial design concept will be provided (.jpg) for clarity & to aid planning/development.

Candidates must be able to show examples of previous works and be proficient in HTML/CSS/PHP/MySQL %u2013 with a good eye for design.

London based candidates preferred but not essential. Must be able to contact via telephone/email when needed and respond quickly.