Club co-sponsors Web site contest

An online site design competition co-sponsored by the Web Technology Club and Discover Financial Services began at noon today when the contest topic was posted on the technology club's Web site www.indiana.edu/~wtc. The entrants have two days to build a Web site to be evaluated on its operation.\nBrian Kennedy, a Discover information technology college recruiter and a 1997 IU graduate, had the idea for a Web contest in conjunction with the club.\n"I wanted to do a case study at IU and give the Web Technology Club some exposure at the same time," Kennedy said. "Also, as a company, we want to have a good relationship with the students and let them know what technology we offer."\nSixteen teams, each composed of three club members, have signed up. \nJunior Disha Puri, a club member and one of the event coordinators, said the contest has been well-received.\n"We had to close our registration last week because we had such a big list. Within four days, we had 16 teams," Puri said. "We have 18 teams in all, but two are on standby in case a team doesn't show up to present. We even have people waiting to be on standby."\nPuri said the entrants can use any computer program to design their presentations, which must run 15-20 minutes.\n"If they're not technologically inclined and don't know how to use HTML, that's okay," Puri said. "They can make a Power Point slide show or use another program to get their ideas across."\nToday and Friday, all teams can meet with a Discover employee for 20 minutes in Kelley School of Business Room 209. \nThe 16 teams have been divided among four judging panels. Each set of four projects will be viewed by two Discover representatives and one faculty member at 10 a.m. Saturday in the Kelley School of Business.\nProfessors Dwight Worker, Brian Arthaud-Day, Patricia Setser and Thom Gillespie and graduate student Nate Stout are the judges. Four teams will advance to the finals. \nThe final four teams will present their sites at 5 p.m. that day at the Bloomington Convention Center to Eugene Thomas, business school lecturer, and two Discover employees. At 7:30 p.m. the club will hold a banquet in the convention center that is open to all members. \nThe judges' decisions will be announced during the event. \nMembers of the winning team each receive $1,000, while members of the runner-up team will be awarded $250. Several $50 gift certificates to Best Buy will be raffled off to banquet attendees.\nKristin Wagner, a senior who serves as the club's president, said the competition was planned to coincide with the launch of the club's Web site. The site was first made available to users Feb. 1.\n"We are very excited about (the site) because it is very educational, which is the focus of the WTC," Wagner said. "I really hope that people are going to take advantage of all it has to offer because it's a great resource for anyone interested in Web technology. We've already had almost 200 members sign up in the last three weeks. \n"Our club is one of the few that is free to members and I'm sure that that attracts many people." \nWagner said both organizations hope to collaborate again next year.\n"The WTC and Discover would like to see both the case competition and the banquet as annual events," Wagner said. "We're hoping to get some of the kinks worked out and possibly make them bigger events for next year"