NWJazzworks develops jazz with the help of UKFast
NWJazzworks is the agency for the development of jazz activity in the north west of England. They provide support for the region's jazz musicians, venues, listeners and industries. The site has everything from a database and diary to features for its community including an mp3 player allowing visitors to hear the bands. These revolutionary characteristics along with a pioneering attitude have resulted in the winning of the UKFast Best Community Website.
Following a white paper recommendation that the Internet should be the platform for rejuvenating jazz as it is an ailing musical form, NWJazzworks turned to UKFast to host an online resource with Web 2.0 principles. The challenge was to find a way of offering an outlet for artists, venues and audiences that would create a ‘What’s On’ directory for the whole of the north west.
After seeing the success of NWJazzworks' website, the team created another site named Manchester Jazz Festival (mjf) which provides a platform for the region's contemporary jazz musicians and composers, and increases awareness of the music. In addition to this, the site offers concert information, reviews and an added podcast feature which has become a talking point across the jazz community.
Bespoke database driven website
NWJazzworks' website is a user driven service so their server is pushed to deal with constant demand for information and the need to save information. The bespoke database driven website solution gives them the scope to not only offer visitors special privileges, password protected areas and up-to-minute information; but also store useful visitor details for email marketing campaigns and manage client details.
The NWJazzworks server supports a comprehensive Content Management System (CMS). This system allows NWJazzworks to take control of their website, not only focusing on content management but also on creating and maintaining relationships with clients. Sophisticated, easy to use tools mean NWJazzworks has the ability to add photos or diagrams; send newsletters and FAQs manager. These tools enable the company to send up-to-date messages and to develop strong relationships with music lovers which increases their return on investment in the long term.
With the Manchester Jazz Festival website, the bespoke CMS allows mjf to manage and update the entire content of the site every year to reflect each festival programme. This means the site is totally skinnable and can be re-used without looking out-dated or obsolete.
Backup of user generated content
NWJazzworks offers a shared space for music lovers to enjoy, using technology that nearly everyone has access to. People have the ability to add their own details to the site, find other bands and venues resulting in a diverse range of user generated content. UKFast dedicated server backup guarantees that all this business-critical data is backed up right to the moment catastrophe strikes so NWJazzworks never have to worry about losing any data.
In addition to this, both the NWJazzworks and mjf website have many different types of lists to supervise. These include mailing lists, message boards and private messages so it’s imperative to protect this information.
Website security for protection against hackers
NWJazzworks' solution is used strategically to support innovation but this also has implications for database security. Members of the public can access the site to download music or upload their own, as such, it needs a robust and secure network to protect against hackers.
Understandably, the security of NWJazzworks' network is absolutely essential. A dedicated firewall protects their network, providing defence against outside and inside attack and ensuring the 'door' to their network remains locked at all times.
Threats and vulnerabilities from the Internet are increasing all the time, but with a UKFast solution the company are guaranteed peace of mind that visitors can drive the website with their content without inadvertently infecting the network with malicious code.
Streaming and Bandwidth
The Manchester Jazz Festival takes place at nine different venues, providing a collection of free and ticketed events that are collectively one of Manchester's most important music festivals. Last year their podcasts appeared as download of the day in most of the broadsheet newspapers. During these busy festival times UKFast technicians keep a careful eye on bandwidth and open it up to allow premium quality bandwidth, ensuring that demand doesn’t exceed supply.
UKFast has some clients for whom streaming is an important aspect to the success of their website so streaming servers have been created to work alongside website servers. The NWJazzworks streaming server allows music lovers to play a file as it is being downloaded so they have the ability to listen to the audio clip virtually instantly, allowing the website to handle much larger traffic loads.
Click on the link to visit the NWJazzworks website and get a comprehensive guide to jazz in the north west - www.NWJazzworks.org or visit the Manchester Jazz Festival website.
