The Trustees of Reservations - Connecting People and Places via their New Web Site

NORTHBOROUGH, MA February 1, 2003 - Synthenet Corporation, a full service web development firm, announces that they have completed the design and development of The Trustees of Reservations Web Site (www.thetrustees.org).  The Trustees of Reservations has been conserving the best of the Massachusetts landscape since 1891, making them one of the nation's oldest conservation organizations.  They are a nonprofit organization funded entirely by their visitors, supporters and more than 35,000 members.  Their properties range in location from the Berkshire mountains to the beaches of Cape Cod and the Islands; they have worked to protect more than 48,000 acres of land across the state.

The Trustees of Reservations wanted to generate visitation to their properties, attendance at events and recruit new members and volunteers.  The web site also needed to be geared toward increasing public awareness and understanding of conservation efforts and better serve the existing members and the general public.

Utilizing Synthenet's Content Management System with E-Commerce, the Trustees' visitors are able to purchase memberships, books, trail maps and brochures online, as well as making donations through a secure shopping cart interface.  In addition to the Trustees of Reservations main web site Synthenet Corporation completed the design and development of the Trustees' five satellite sites, each showcasing a different enterprise:  private functions at The Great House at Castle Hill, Steep Hill Beach and The Bradley Estate; B&Bs at The Inn at Castle Hill, and The Guest House at Field Farm.

The Trustees' 94 properties are a large part of the web site.  There is a wealth of information about each one, including history, hours of operation, fees, downloadable trail maps, photo galleries and visitor surveys.  Visitors to the web site can search for properties through an interactive map of Massachusetts, by property name, region or by activity.  An Events Calendar locates activities at properties and other related venues.  Visitors to the properties are able to provide their feedback through a Trip Report interface; a form that is completed, approved through an administration area, and once approved, published on the end user pages for public viewing.

Consisting of over 900 pages, 1600 images and 135 documents, the Trustees of Reservations main web site and five satellite sites are maintained in-house by Trustees' staff members.  "The worst feeling about having responsibility for maintaining a content-intensive web site is not having total and immediate control over your content.  Synthenet's content management system is a robust, client-customized, time-tested, and intuitive tool that gives me complete confidence to do whatever our web site is called upon to do...under any deadline.", said Michael Triff, Director of Communications and Marketing.  "We needed to be able to decentralize content management responsibilities across the organization, but no one on staff knew HTML. And we could no longer justify the cost and time inefficiencies associated with outsourcing content management.  Nonprofit organizations and for-profit companies alike which have resigned themselves to being dependent on outsourced content management should rethink their entire web maintenance model in light of what Synthenet has to offer. Once you get used to having complete control over your web site, there's just no looking back."

The Trustees of Reservations will also be publishing nine electronic newsletters, utilizing Synthenet's Content Management System E-Communications Module.  All HTML forms and surveys appearing on the web site are generated through the Content Management System Form/Survey Builder.

About Synthenet Corporation:

Synthenet has developed over 150 business solutions, bringing to each, its core philosophy that with the proper methodology, technology can be instrumental in furthering an organization's business objectives.  The integration of custom web-based applications can vastly improve a business process and increase an organization's overall efficiency.  Synthenet has extensive experience with ColdFusion, HTML, DHTML, FLASH, Java, XML, JavaScript, and other client scripting languages.

Clients include:
Jessica's Biscuit (www.ecookbooks.com)
Member Services Center (www.aaamsc.com)
Working Advantage (www.workingadvantage.com)
Sceptre Database Consultants (www.sceptredb.com)
Brooks Automation (www.Brooks.com)