Become a star in THE BIG IDEA galaxy

The Big Idea website redevelopment project

What's the point of The Big Idea Web?

To serve New Zealand’s creative community by being the space where:

• creative people find the confidence, inspiration, networks, opportunities and tools to grow their big ideas into viable careers, projects and enterprises
  
  
• connections are made locally and globally to collaborate, meet and promote creative people and their projects
  
  
• creativity, innovation and enterprise ignite to deliver unique value into all sectors of New Zealand society

To be THE online home for New Zealand’s creative community what needs to be delivered?

• access to current work & professional development opportunities in all parts of the creative sector
  
  
• the latest industry news drawn from New Zealand and international sources
  
  
• easy ways for people to connect with each other through a wide variety of online forums
  
  
• avenues for practitioners to showcase their work, their experience and their unique value
  
  
• tips and tools that are directly relevant to the way people work in the creative sector
  
  
• inspiring profiles of professionals who are ‘thought leaders’ in the creative sector
  
  
• interviews with practitioners, producers and entrepreneurs who are inspiring best practice
  
  
• stimulating models of enterprise and income generation in the creative sector
  
  
• strong examples of innovation and clever thinking by creative practitioners who are making a difference
  
  
• a platform for celebrating success by New Zealand practitioners here and overseas
  
  
• access to models, tools and information that stimulate business acceleration in the creative industries
  
  
• an environment that inspires confidence in the worth and value of New Zealand’s creative practitioners and professionals
  
  
• a picture of how the creative sector works as the heart of a sustainable global economy for New Zealand.

At the technology end, what needs to be improved?

• our outdated technology cannot support new technologies and tools used in the creative sector and made popular by developments on the broadband scene such as pdf, mp3, video, film clips, cad files, flash, Excel, Word and different image formats
  
  
• we need to provide new functionality to support income generation via new tools, modules, templates and services
  
  
• information clustering and search capabilities to be upgraded and access to The Big Idea’s content archives needs to be provided
  
  
• new categories of information and services need to be introduced
  
  
• site navigation needs to be more intuitive
  
  
• new services such as a free-lance directory need to be provided to support networking between practitioners and people/organisations in all sectors keen to connect with them.
  
  

What is The Big Idea rebuild project?

Underway since 2006, the aim of the project is to complete a major rebuild of The Big Idea website so that New Zealand’s creative community on-line has access to the best available functionality, tools and content to support career & enterprise development in and through the creative sector. We are now entering the third phase of the project.

• Phase 1 | Initiation & Requirement Specification: Research and analyse TBI Trust and creative sector requirements
  
  
• Phase 2 | Technical Solution Analysis: Identify & review best technology options
  
  
• Phase 3 | Solution Design, Build & Implementation: Undertake build; beta-test & launch in the creative community
  
  
• Phase 4 | Grow & Maintain . . .
  
  

What will the new website provide?

• TBI Central This is the central user interface. It signals a community space, e.g. a marae, zocalo, piazza, town square. It houses links to recent editorial content (news, interviews and articles), employment listings, practitioner and organisation profiles as well as login, search, help, filter and display information and user preferences
  
  
• Enterprise Space This is where the community can: find tools and resources that primarily help them make the most of work and income opportunities, e.g. employment listings, enterprise news, enterprise forums and freelance registry
  
  
• Network Space This is where the community can: profile themselves, interact with other members and participate in community activity via such functionality as practitioner or organisation profiles; events calendar; network forums and blogs; professional development courses, organisations and resources; recommended websites and opportunity listings such as auditions, awards, calls for cast and crew etc
  
  
• Knowledge Space This is where personal and professional development information and resources are located, e.g. educational facility providers, tertiary courses, conferences and workshops, graduate profiles and learning exchange forums
  
  
• Gallery Space This is where the community can: create, upload and view creative content, e.g. photos and images, documents, sound, moving images, online spaces, podcasts; post exhibition/show reviews; participate in work in progress blogs or link to digital exhibition spaces
  
  
• My Big Idea Space The member self administration area allowing community to register, add and maintain personal details, select creative discipline(s) and region(s), register for the e-bulletin and upload personal profiles and creative content
  
  
• Usability Functionality This is functionality that allows the community to find, interact and disseminate information and content, e.g. search, filter, tag, print, email, bookmark, comment, promote, rank, receive RSS feed
  
  

What do I help grow through my gift to The Big Idea?

People and organisations supporting The Big Idea Web Stars Campaign help:

• grow the power, strength and capacity of creative people and their businesses in the sector who are keen to contribute to New Zealand’s high-value economy
  
  
• people who are establishing careers in the creative sector to access the networks, services, opportunities, jobs and tools that assist their project and career development
  
  
• expand creative thinking, innovation and enterprise in and through the creative sector (into other sectors)
  
  
• build pathways that enable talented young people to see and generate the career opportunities that support their unique talents and skills
  
  
• creative people no matter where they live in New Zealand to connect with the inspiration, services and tools that assist them to generate and sustain a successful career/business