Two big concepts to share with the vendor, then a few proposed milestones.

Concepts

Working groups need "subsites"

The working groups described in the RFP and Use Case document need more than just group-level authentication for users. They should be able to set up shop for themselves on the DLF site. Essentially, to create a "subsite" of sorts. This should not be too hard in Drupal, but maybe some kind of template can be created to make it easy for a new group to put a "page" ("subsite") in place.

DLF is busy, timeline will have to stretch

Given the timing of the forum in November, much of October will be extremely busy for DLF staff. In fact, you should expect very little response from the staff during the lead-up to the forum. Some product should be ready to share at the Fall Forum itself (a beta of the site? some planning documents and wireframes?), but we expect that much of the development will, in fact, not conclude in October, or even November. Instead you should expect that the project will take into December to accomplish. The milestone suggestions below reflect that reality.

Milestones

Milestone 1:
Due: 15 August 2008
Goal: Contract Signed

Milestone 2:
Due: 5 September 2008
Goal: Solution definition complete

Milestone 3:
Due: 10 October 2008
Goal: Visual design complete

Milestone 4:
Due: 17 October 2008
Goal: Server space procured and access provided to DLF

Milestone 5:
Due: 21 November 2008
Goal: beta web site available with all functions accessible

Milestone 6:
Due: 12 December 2008
Goal: web site is fully developed and available

Milestone 7:
Due: 19 December 2008
Goal: training of DLF staff complete

Milestone 8:
Due: 30 December 2008
Goal: main DLF URL directed to new site

Process

We will schedule weekly progress calls to start in September and continue through completion of the site. At least one person from the vendor team should consistently be available for these calls. In most cases these calls will last less than 30 minutes, but they serve as a time to make sure that both the vendor and DLF teams are getting what they need from one another.