SDSU Students Redesign Website for POW!

A team of San Diego State University students created and recently launched a newly redesigned website for the Poway Center for the Performing Arts Foundation (POW! Foundation).

The Entrepreneurial Management Center's WebCompass at SDSU is an undergraduate, semester-long internship program, where students from three different colleges—business, graphic/web design and computer science—strategically create a website-based project for San Diego small companies or non-profits.

This semester’s class of six completed two web design projects including one for the Poway nonprofit. The POW! Team was made up of three students, who operated like a small agency, said program director Bernie Schroeder.

“The soul of why we do it is to give the students the experience and to benefit a local non-profit – it’s a win-win,” Schroeder said.

In the past, the program has created sites for the Foundation for Women, Cali Baja and Hostelling International San Diego.

The goal with the POW! site was to generate more awareness for the Center and help drive revenue, as well as establish an improved user interface.

The team re-designed the website in about 14 weeks, including edited content and search engine optimization improvements.

Formed in 1990, the POW! Foundation books artists into the city-owned Poway Center for the Performing Arts with a goal of being a premier venue.

The business students from the College of Business Administration drive the project plan and write or edit any website copy, while the graphic/web design students from the College of Professional Studies & Fine Arts are responsible for graphics, user-interface design and creative elements of the website. On top of that, the computer science students from the College of Science are responsible for all HTML coding of the website, any search engine optimization, as well as selecting a content management tool for the clients use.

“Our online visitors will now experience a more vibrant and seamless view of the POW! Foundation," said Michael Rennie, executive director. “The site is also designed to be more flexible so as to accommodate future growth. It will greatly improve the ticket buying experience, but more importantly, it will build a better bridge between our performers and our audience.”

Schroeder is pleased with the website redesign too.

The website now “represents them and targets the community they want to serve,” Schroeder said. “It’s a North County La Jolla Playhouse.”

For more information about the program, contact Bernhard Schroeder at bschroeder@emc.sdsu.edu or (619) 594-0560.