Work to Begin Soon on JTB Website

[Mosiah]

Let me chime in. At US$280K, the Jamaica Tourist board is getting a good deal for the design/development of this web site. Building a quality website does not include just one individual, there is normally a team of about 5 people working together to get the job done. They will need Information Architect (US$100 per hr) , Art Director (US$150 per hr) a senior developer (US$200 per hr), Junior Developer (US$100 per hr), Project Manager(US$80 per hr), and Quality Assurance Analysts at about us$90 per hr. Stretch that out over a 6 months period and you get a true picture of what it takes to get a quality website built.

Having worked on a number of websites, and having gotten the chance to see the budgets that are allocated for the building of medium to large scale websites, I can tell you that the company I worked for up to recently would have probably come in with a $350K bid to get it done. I'll give you an example of a site I worked on that came in a little over US$300K...took 5 peolple 6 months to get it done. http://www.sellbottledwater.com

Having said all of that, I am 100% certain that the expertise does exist in Jamaica to get the job done. There is no need to send this off to America to get done. Heck, they could pay me and a graphic artists 60K each and we get this site up and running 6 months.

But its a worthwile investment. If you think of what the JTB spends annually to advertise on TV, Magazines etc in the US alone, you will see that the US$280K is a greta value that presents another advertising medium which have the potential to reach persons as far away as the North Pole.

Well, that's my point, RF. Yes, if you give the job to a team of yanks, that how much yuh going to pay for it, but it is highly unlikely that a Jamaican firm would have bid that job for a whopping $20 million!!! That's 5 times your $60k offer, RF!

Yes, I feel they are going to get a good website, but I think they overpaid and delivered a firm bitch slap to the face of the local IT industry, even while the IT minister, Mullings, is trying to encourage it. In the meantime, check these websites: www.bahamas.com and www.jamaica.com

[Assasin]

them deh couldn't pass any webpage test. The Jamaican one is a disgrace with most a the link not working.

As I think the final product will tell. If them a go have GPS like maps with link, put togather a real online database of restuarants, villas, and attraction etc with real information then it will be worth it. In other words the Jamaican website for that amount in my view should be one of the BEST in the industry.

[Mosiah]

I wasn't bigging up either of them. I like the Bahamas one more. It's not exactly a good-looking site, but the links and their content are good! Is that something a local team could have done? I wonder who Bahamas got to do that and how much it cost them.

Btw, I rate Bahamas as having one of the better tourist boards. Their commercials are strong and they have never had a problem featuring black vacationers. Contrast that to...Sandals, say. Yet, Bahamas have tourist like sand!

[Bricktop]

Their commercials are strong and they have never had a problem featuring black vacationers. Contrast that to...Sandals, say. Yet, Bahamas have tourist like sand!

Is Sandals a Tourist Board? Sandals is in the business of making money and they are making more than anyone else so are you questioning their business plan? If catering to black tourists made them more money don't you think Sandals would jump at the opportunity?

[Assasin]

I never say you were bigging them up. I would say let us see the end product of the Jamaican Website cause if it sells the small man business and do things like provide a guide to different places that we have to show then I am all for it.

Jamaica has never made an effort to sell to black tourist. I worked in the industry and I have seen no real effort to sell to black tourists.
We need to do a better job, hopefully that is a part of the purpose of the website. As you talk about Bahamas look on their religious tourism, something we we fail to see. We are stuck in the 1970s as it relate to tourism.

The Bahamas website is ugly and is a turn off for me. I went there and said yuukks.

[Mosiah]

That Bahamas website is actually very, very good! Take a look at the Islands drop down menu and go to any one of them. There is a chockful of information, complete with videoclips. And notice how the islands are incorporated into the logo. Brilliant! Sheeet, this website better cost more than US$300,000!

The overall look may be a bit disappointing, but once you start to explore the website, you'll want to go there. I know I do!

It even has a My Bahamas option! Our next RBSC site will have that, right RF?

[Karl]

Jawge, if the JTB was intent on winning business house football, we would all understand if they paid that amount to a Brazilian coach. But for a website?!?

I'm going out to buy Website Design for Dummies right now!

Website Design for Dummies?
Why would you go out and buy that? It is not about competence. In Jamaica at present there are many excellent...TOP OF THE WORLD website developers. It is "Are you genetically connected or can you allow for the "porcurement officer's USA bank account or offshore bank account to swell?"

massa guh wuk pan yuh connections!

[Lazie]

Website Design for Dummies?
Why would you go out and buy that? It is not about competence. In Jamaica at present there are many excellent...TOP OF THE WORLD website developers. It is "Are you genetically connected or can you allow for the "porcurement officer's USA bank account or offshore bank account to swell?"

massa guh wuk pan yuh connections!

Unuh can chat one bag a bull at times. Any of you tek the time to research the company, instead of talking s h i t bout top of world?

[Karl]

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Karl
Website Design for Dummies?
Why would you go out and buy that? It is not about competence. In Jamaica at present there are many excellent...TOP OF THE WORLD website developers. It is "Are you genetically connected or can you allow for the "porcurement officer's USA bank account or offshore bank account to swell?"

massa guh wuk pan yuh connections!

Unuh can chat one bag a bull at times. Any of you tek the time to research the company, instead of talking s h i t bout top of world?


Unuh can chat one bag a bull at times. Any of you tek the time to research the company, instead of talking s h i t bout top of world?

'The company'?

As I never said there was ONE JAMAICAN company that had TOP OF THE WORLD skills to produce TOP OF THE WORLD web sites, but pointed to many Jamaicans with the necessary skills...I am wondering which company you are pointing at?

Kindly enlighten me?
Thank you!

[Lazie]

Oh ... suh as usual yuh a talk without knowing whats going on? I should slap myself for thinking otherwise.

[OJ]

why a us firm and why 280, k I cant imagine why the cost. What back end programming will they be putting in.

[OJ]

I too cant see 280 k web site unless there is some real sophistication in the back end programming. I don't get it and I see very good corporate sites with sophisticated oracle/sql back end and all kind of secure authentication and they are no where near that price.

[OJ]

Reggaefan I agree but we both know we can build that tool for way less, unless the price includes hosting and monitoring and business continuance and all that those services. Even so I think it high, and you could still find talent to build the site locally and then host it abroad.

[Lazie]

I too cant see 280 k web site unless there is some real sophistication in the back end programming. I don't get it and I see very good corporate sites with sophisticated oracle/sql back end and all kind of secure authentication and they are no where near that price.

OJ the company is an advertising firm. I too questioned the amount until RF chimed in. I visited their site and discovered that they're in advertising.