FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Beth LaPierre
Tel. 585/899-4811
Email: blapierre@itx.net
ITX builds online community for The PKD Foundation
Pittsford, NY – October 11, 2008 – ITX recently launched the beta version of Hope Square. Hope Square is an online community for those affected by Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD). PKD is the most common life-threatening genetic disease and affects more than half a million Americans and over 12 million people worldwide.
The PKD Foundation sought to create an online community where PKD patients, caregivers, family, and friends could come together. Hope Square provides members the opportunity to create profiles, set up blogs, and join groups in order to connect with others affected by PKD.
Hope Square was built using ITX's DotNetSuite content management system and Microsoft.NET technology. As polycystic kidney disease does not discriminate, people of all nationalities, ages, and backgrounds can be afflicted with the disease. Given these reasons, site usability and functionality had to be universal and appealing to all audiences. ITX conducted an extensive usability study, extracting and improving on the suggestions they gathered to ensure an end result all users would feel comfortable using.
Working closely with Voltage Creative, PKD's marketing team, ITX helped to refine the design of Hope Square in order to maximize functionality while retaining visual appeal. ITX was able to deliver a full featured social network, complete with groups, videos, blogs, forums, and picture galleries. Feedback forms allow users to provide input, and weekly newsletters keep them informed of updates. The Hope Square Library allows members to tap into the latest news, research and information on PKD.
Currently in beta, Hope Square now has 360 members, 47 blogs, and 18 groups. The PKD Foundation has received a tremendous amount of feedback; the Blog and Group pages are covered in posts from members expressing their gratitude and appreciation for the site. Hope Square has made an amazing impact on the PKD community.
PKD's Ken Kahtava said, “ITX has done an incredible job of taking our vision and turning it into reality. They've been a fantastic, supportive and engaged partner throughout the development of Hope Square. More importantly, they helped us deliver on a promise to the 12.5 million people worldwide that suffer from Polycystic Kidney Disease. The outpouring of thanks coming from the Hope Square community is testament to this.”
About ITX
ITX is a solutions-based business technology firm that is committed to delivering the highest quality of service with over 10 years of industry expertise. Each year the ITX team completes hundreds of projects, from IT strategy and planning, the deployment of complex managed server solutions, custom application design and development, software and hardware architectures, and building user-centric websites and applications. The ITX team consists of 115 members, spanning 34 states and 4 countries, with headquarters in Pittsford, NY. For more information please visit www.itx.net or call 585-899-4888.
About The PKD Foundation
Hope Square is sponsored by the PKD Foundation. The PKD Foundation is the only organization, worldwide, dedicated to promoting research to find a cure for polycystic kidney disease. In 2007, the PKD Foundation funded more than $4.2 million in vital PKD research and lobby the federal government for millions more. In addition to funding research, the PKD Foundation provides a forum for patients, family and friends through more than 70 volunteer-led Chapters across the country and the world and holds the annual Walk for PKD, held each year on the third weekend in September, and the National Convention on PKD, the only conference in the world for PKD patients and medical professionals. The PKD Foundation was established in 1982 by Joseph H. Bruening and Jared J. Grantham, MD, and is headquartered in Kansas City, MO.