Summary

CMT Agency is the largest convention models and talent agency supplying trade show and event staffing around the world. CMT Agency represents some of the most respected brands and corporations in the world including: Pepsi, Eli Lilly, Roche, P&G, Gatorade, Brut, Sara Lee and Frito Lay.

See Ajax World Magazine - Comprehensive AJAX and CakePHP Powered Website Launched by CMT Agency

Challenges

The CMT Agency website is mission critical to the business as all business transactions take place through the site.
Another vendor had spent 14 months building a site that did not work and was crippling the CMT Agency business.
The previous site would have to be stabilized while a new site was built from scratch.
Since the code base of previous site was not structured with no framework in place and the database not normalized correctly and did not meet the business process requirements, it could not be used as a model.
Glick had to understand the business processes and anomalies as soon as possible to get the new design started while understanding the current code base to keep the previous site running
All Talent profiles, images and videos, client booking requests and agent jobs would have to me migrated to the new system.
Each Talent needs to be able to register, create profiles, upload professional and snapshot photos, create resumes, apply for jobs, accept or deny invitations, write notes to agents, track progress in their selection process, confirm jobs, and view past history for payment.
Clients will need to register and create profiles that was not included in the previous system. This will allow clients to not only create booking requests but track the progress of the event throughout the booking process.
Clients will need to be able to select from a group of recommended talent from the agent and rate talent after the event.
Agents will need to mediate between clients and talent, create and send quotations, approve new talent profiles, edit booking requests and jobs, perform complex searches for talent meeting client criteria for multiple country and city events, confirm talent for clients, send invitations and confirmations, send talent to clients for approval, and send special instructions to talent.

Solution

Glick underwent multiple, in-depth planning sessions with CMT Agency and agents to fully understand all the business processes with the company to create the measurable objectives of the project
After several planning sessions to understand CMT Agency's business processes and research in the market, we were able to deliver a truly unique and comprehensive solution that utilized the latest web technologies for CMT's exploding international business.
With so many anomalies that occur in complex event planning and logistics to normal processes, we needed a framework that would allow us to modify backend business processes without affecting front-end development. We chose CakePHP (www.http://cakephp.org/) due to the model view controller (MVC) architectural pattern that is inherent in the framework. We used AJAX throughout the site utilizing script.aculo.us libraries for user interface functions such as a light-box for clients to scroll through talent photos, dynamic tabs, drag and drop features to select talent and view portfolios, and AJAX-driven data grids for easy sorting and selecting throughout the site, and Flash to stream video and audio for talent reels and audio voice-overs
Clients can login and create all types of complex requests online and manage the entire process from their dashboard of events. Specific talent can be requested from hundreds of talent types, gender, languages, etc. to meet their marketing requirements. They can then select from a group of talent that the agent recommends for each city, date and time frame. Clients can rate the talent they use and request them again for future events or select completely new talent from our expansive and constantly growing resource pool."
Glick designed and deployed a web server farm and SAN system and automated process for sending email blasts in a solution that will respond to increasing site traffic, user demands, and content delivery needs

Results

"We chose Glick over other vendors because we received high recommendations regarding Glick Interactive's work and previous successes. I would highly recommend Fred Tanzella, Abhi Goel and Ankur Gupta and their team of experts", said Shelly Justice, CEO of CMT Agency. "They literally saved us from pulling our hair out. Our entire business is run from the web and Glick Interactive built us a first class site in three and a half months that both our clients and talent rave about".