Visionary, ‘Tech Jedi’ make for a killer combo

Krista Gibson, Jerry Williams make Arete Athletics volleyball site unlike any other

Webmaster of the Week: Dec. 28-Jan. 3

NAMES:
Krista Gibson and Jerry Williams

SITE:
Areté Athletics

POSITIONS:
Gibson is Areté Athletics’ founder, co-owner and director; Williams is in charge of everything tech related (his informal title is Tech Jedi) and also serves as an assistant coach.

BACKGROUND:
Gibson, a former volleyball player who attended Sam Houston State, co-founded the volleyball club based in north Dallas in May. Gibson chose the Greek name Areté [pronounced ah-reh-‘tay] because, she says, it transcends volleyball – it means excellence of any kind and moral virtue. The club’s site launched on the Sport Ngin platform in July, and Registration for multiple clinics and tournaments was up and running within weeks. Williams is originally from the Cincinnati area, where he played high school volleyball. A Miami University graduate, Williams moved to the Dallas-Fort Worth area from Cincinnati with his wife, Megan. The duo have been regulars in doubles volleyball tournaments for years, and Jerry Williams eventually connected with Gibson, who was looking for someone to manage the club’s technology.     

WHAT THEY DO:
Gibson provides the vision for the club and its website, including the colors, design and overriding mission and message. Beyond the initial design and navigation, it’s up to Williams to turn Gibson’s ideas into reality. She describes and draws how she wants certain pages and sections of the site to look, and Williams (a software developer for Frisco-based TTS, LLC) uses his design and coding skills to bring those pages to life. He created the unique and eye-catching Coaches & Staff page completely out of custom code he created and placed on the site using the Code page element. “We’re so different from any other club and organization in the region, I wanted our website to reflect that,” Gibson said. “The functionality piece of it has been huge, and Jerry goes in handles that.” Williams also uses custom code elements on the home page for the Coach’s Corner and The Areté Athlete features. “The player and coach spotlights, I try to change those up on a regular basis,” Williams said. “My main goal is to try to make sure when everybody comes back to the site they see something new.”

MAKING THEIR MARK:
Williams used Call To Action page elements on the home page to give high visibility to Registration Now, Our Teams and Our Story links. He chose a variety of club photos and colors that match the site’s theme.