PROgression Project - Web Based Portal for Tracking Activities and Producing Hi Resolution Print Quality PDF Reports

-----[WORLDHOTELS, the Americas - PROgression Project]----- The concept behind PROgression is simple - a website that people login into to record their activities, upload related files to a repository (which is linked to activities on a 'per activity' basis), produce good-looking final reports via a web-based Adobe engine -> Hi Res Print Quality PDF, and alter minimal backend options as related to report templates, user login permissions (what certain people can and can't do within the site), final report rendering (how final reports will look), and (of course) the addition/deletion/editing of properties that can then have PROgression activity 'templates' applied to them. While simple in concept, the execution of this type of portal can prove challenging to accomplish in function, and downright difficult to accomplish in function and in form (so that the final result is pleasing to the eye). In addition to this, WORLDHOTELS would like this portal to have more of a social-community AJAX-widget driven 'feel' to it (such as Facebook might have), rather than a typical, 'blocky' CSS driven/web-sliced look and environment. We are looking for a rockstar in whatever programming languages it will take to do this,... that can help us do this. ## Deliverables Before proceeding further, please download the ZIP package from here... <[login to view URL]> This has wireframes and some boiler plate mockups. Here are some further details below: To Whom it May Concern, We have an upcoming opportunity for an exceptional (portfolio adjudicated) graduate level / postgrad for some coding work on an upcoming project, outsourced and managed out of our Orlando Office. Here is a short Bid Request/Info Sheet: -----[WORLDHOTELS, the Americas - PROgression Project]----- BACKGROUND WORLDHOTELS is the longest established Europe-based hotel group for independent hotels and regional brands worldwide. The company's portfolio consists of almost 450 affiliate properties in over 250 destinations in 65 countries worldwide. The company can be traced back to 1970 when the (then and still famed luxury brand) Frankfurt-based Steigenberger Hotel Group launched a reservation system to help keep Europe's independent hotels competitive in an increasingly aggressive global market. By the end of the decade, Steigenberger Reservation Service, later known as SRS Hotels, was firmly established as a global player in the hospitality industry. As a pioneer in hotel reservations technology, it developed its own reservations system, named Trust. WORLDHOTELS stepped into the 1990s with a rapidly increasing portfolio as the reservations system Trust was connected to the world's airlines' Global Distribution Systems (GDS). At the end of 2007, KP Capital became the majority shareholder in World Hotels AG. This step further enhanced and streamlined WORLDHOTELS service offerings which include the reservation system, Trust, the training company, IFH, and the sales management company, Nexus. Together, these companies operate today under the same umbrella company IHS founded by KP Capital. Many of the world's largest and/or most unique properties call us 'home', such as the Aria Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, NV or the Hotel Sahara Star in Mumbai, and many of our properties are featured in media spots or feature length films around the world, due to the frequently eclectic/unique ambiance and cinematographic appeal of our portfolio to the artistic eye. Our worldwide portfolio of independently owned hotels can be viewed at [[login to view URL]][1]. THE PROJECT The department of Performance Revenue and Optimization (PROs) in The Americas Region of WORLDHOTELS have recently been faced with additional business considerations that can best be addressed with automation and technology. Since 2006, this department has grown so quickly that it now faces an over-abundance of information about our properties, which the department directors must manually 'piece together' in a mashup of disparate files (spreadsheets, revenue reports, emails, documents, and other files) before producing a 'written from scratch' consolidated, branded, and aesthetically pleasing final report for each property (typically on a monthly basis). The resultant manual work overhead has been tremendous. In early 2010, the formal proposal to develop an online web portal in which members of this and other departments record their 'progress' and 'activities' with our properties was accepted on a trial basis, with the intention of recruiting a 'work-for-hire' programmer to leverage new technologies and coding language implementations to produce such a site/portal. This proposal and the plans which have been produced thus far have been dubbed the "PROgression" project. THE CONCEPT The concept behind PROgression is simple - a website that people login into to record their activities, upload related files to a repository (which is linked to activities on a 'per activity' basis), produce good-looking final reports via a web-based Adobe engine -> PDF, and alter minimal backend options as related to report templates, user login permissions (what certain people can and can't do within the site), final report rendering (how final reports will look), and (of course) the addition/deletion/editing of properties that can then have PROgression activity 'templates' applied to them. While simple in concept, the execution of this type of portal can prove challenging to accomplish in function, and downright difficult to accomplish in function and in form (so that the final result is pleasing to the eye). In addition to this, WORLDHOTELS would like this portal to have more of a social-community AJAX-widget driven 'feel' to it (such as Facebook might have), rather than a typical, 'blocky' CSS driven/web-sliced look and environment. We are looking for a rockstar (or perhaps more than one) that can help us do this. THE SCOPE Timing | The project has already been delayed so the timeline for talent recruitment is already overdue. That being said, WORLDHOTELS prefers to (realistically) wait on the right candidate, rather than force a project forward only to develop 'the same old online activities tracking tool'. We are currently interviewing and vetting candidates and have received over 50 portfolios in total thus far. Once development begins, it is estimated that this would be a 3 month project, not including the final trial phase of usage. Phases | The initial department needs audit and planning phases have already occurred. Proposed wireframes for every single page of this portal have already been produced, as well as a visual guide to proposed functions throughout the site, backend included. Hosting for this project has already been purchased and any extensions or special software needed during the development phase of the project has been pre-approved. Hosting can be changed if needed by the programmer. No actual coding has been done. The wireframes currently on hand will be used as the first draft 'guide' for prospective talent, as we hope that such an individual will bring to the table with them the aforementioned social-community AJAX-widget driven 'feel' to the project, and thus the visual representation of these wireframes might change significantly during the process. Considerations | The individual and/or entity who agrees to work with WORLDHOTELS will need to sign over work-for-hire rights on the final product to WORLDHOTELS, though the possibility exists for ongoing growth development and/or support-related work-for-pay in the future. Possible non-disclosure agreements may also be involved depending on the situation. Remuneration | WORLDHOTELS will provide compensation for this project based on the adjudicated portfolio of the accepted candidate, their prior experience, and any pre-agreed upon 'floor' compensation that is discussed with UCF department heads or professorial liaisons. Compensation will be issued in 3 parts and will be disbursed via developer escrow account at vWorker.com. Any signup costs or administrative fees incurred by individual and/or entity who agrees to work with WORLDHOTELS will be handled separately. The accepted candidate will need to provide proof of identification and will need to provide a legitimate SSN or other TAX ID (in the case of foreign students) that can be referenced by WORLDHOTELS, AG Inc. in The Americas for auditing purposes. The total dollar amount in USD that will be offered for this project has not yet been determined (pending candidate review), though the acceptable 'floor' for this project is 2500USD and final compensation will be set to an amount that may be more than this. How much more will be discussed with any interested/qualified candidate beforehand,? after which a final offer will be made, and then split into 3 equal parts for disbursement. The first disbursement will be issued 30 days into the actual development, after a review of progress and meeting between the worker and the WORLDHOTELS Information Technology Manager for The Americas. The second disbursement will be made upon completion of the project and only after the PROs and Information Technology departments have tested and utilized the online portal for a full 30 days. During this time WORLDHOTELS will compile a 'Change, Additions and Removals' list. This list will be given to the worker for implementation. Upon its implementation, the second disbursement will be released. The third disbursement will be made upon completion of the project and only after the PROs and Information Technology departments have tested and utilized the online portal for a full 30 days, and had the opportunity to submit a second and final 'Change, Additions and Removals' list for implementation. Once the worker has implemented these changes, the site will be used in BETA for another 15 days to compile a final 'Debugging List' which will also be submitted to the worker for fixes. Upon completion and confirmation of these fixes (confirmation will be adjudicated in 10 work day intervals,.. i.e. - if a fixed bug does not crop up during an entire 2 week work cycle, it is considered fixed), the third and last disbursement will be released. At this point, any further 'Change, Additions and Removals' lists compiled by WORLDHOTELS will be submitted to the as additional 'work-for-hire', under a separate agreement TBD. Changes, Additions and Removals | WORLDHOTELS reserves the right to submit a total of TWO 'Change, Additions and Removals' lists to the individual and/or entity who agrees to work with WORLDHOTELS, and one debugging list,... with the understanding that the final disbursement of payment will not be released until these have been implemented. Worker Expectations | WORLDHOTELS reserves the right to terminate its agreement with any worker should the individual and/or entity who agrees to work with WORLDHOTELS fail to adhere to written or verbal agreements. All development goals will be submitted in writing by WORLDHOTELS but certain intangibles (such as the ability to correspond with the selected candidate via email or phone, or the ability of such a candidate to attend meetings locally with a WORLDHOTELS representative at pre-agreed times, excessive delays in the timeline of work accomplished as adjudicated by WORLDHOTELS leadership, etc.) are also highly contributive to the overall project communication, and must be available to WORLDHOTELS in order to ensure reliability and timeliness. Failure to provide adequate 'effort' in these intangibles will result in the termination of the relationship with WORLDHOTELS and its agreement with any worker, as well as the forfeiture of any undisbursed payments (and may result in the formal legal request for payment refund of previously disbursed monies). Any arbitrative matter will be submitted to [login to view URL] for review and thus will be associated with the student's permanent online resume. Specifications | The coding languages to be used for this project are open to discussion, though they must support the overall 'social media widget driven feel'. The current package of wireframes and specs can be requested via email by emailing me back at <avelazquez@[login to view URL]> with 'I AGREE TO THE WORLDHOTELS NON-DISCLOSURE POLICY' in the subject line (minus quotes), and short message letting me know who you are and referencing the project. Below is the core clause of the WORLDHOTELS NON DISCLOSURE AGREEMENT: ----- CONFIDENTIALITY AND NONDISCLOSURE AGREEMENT----- WHEREAS, the Discloser WORLDHOTELS agrees to furnish (Any Respondent) certain confidential information relating to ideas, inventions or products for the purposes of determining an interest in developing, manufacturing, selling and/or joint venturing; WHEREAS, (Any Respondent) agrees to review, examine, inspect or obtain such confidential information only for the purposes described above, and to otherwise hold such information confidential pursuant to the terms of this Agreement. BE IT KNOWN, that the Discloser (WORLDHOTELS) has or shall furnish to (Any Respondent) certain confidential information and may further allow (Any Respondent) the right to discuss or interview representatives of WORLDHOTELS on the following conditions: 1. (Any Respondent) agrees to hold confidential or proprietary information or trade secrets ("confidential information") in trust and confidence and agrees that it shall be used only for the contemplated purposes, shall not be used for any other purpose, or disclosed to any third party. The "confidential information" to be disclosed by WORLDHOTELS under this Agreement ("Confidential Information") can be described as and includes: - Technical and business information relating to Discloser's proprietary ideas, patentable ideas copyrights and/or trade secrets, existing and/or contemplated products and services, software, online products, schematics, websites, research and development, production, costs, profit and margin information, finances and financial projections, customers, clients, marketing, and current or future business plans, models and/or intangible products, regardless of whether such information is designated as "Confidential Information" at the time of its disclosure. 2. No copies will be made or retained of any written information or prototypes supplied without the permission of WORLDHOTELS. 3. At the conclusion of any discussions, or upon demand by WORLDHOTELS, all confidential information, including prototypes, written notes, photographs, sketches, models, memoranda or notes taken shall be returned to WORLDHOTELS. In the case of digital downloads, (Any Respondent) will delete such materials from media to such a state that cannot satisfactorily be recovered using conventional tools. 4. Confidential information shall not be disclosed to any employee, consultant or third party unless they agree to execute and be bound by the terms of this Agreement, and have been approved by WORLDHOTELS. In the case of proposed worker candidates, (Any Respondent) may introduce elements of projects topically in order to brief/determine possible candidates, but without reference to exact goals, scopes, functions and/or proposed tangible execution. Recipient (Any Respondent) shall use the Confidential Information only for the purpose of evaluating potential business, partnership, opportunities and/or investment relationships with WORLDHOTELS. 5. This Agreement shall not be construed as creating, conveying, transferring, granting or conferring upon the Recipient any rights, license or authority in or to the information exchanged, except the limited right to use Confidential Information specified in paragraph 4. Furthermore and specifically, no license or conveyance of any intellectual property rights is granted or implied by this Agreement. 6. Neither party has an obligation under this Agreement to purchase any service, goods, or intangibles from the other party. Discloser may, at its sole discretion, using its own information, offer such products and/or services for sale and modify them or discontinue sale at any time. Furthermore, both parties acknowledge and agree that the exchange of information under this Agreement shall not commit or bind either party to any present or future contractual relationship (except as specifically stated herein), nor shall the exchange of information be construed as an inducement to act or not to act in any given manner. 7. This Agreement and its validity, construction and effect shall be governed by the laws of the State of Florida, U.S.A. In the event that this agreement is breached, any and all disputes must be settled in a court of competent jurisdiction in the State of Florida, U.S.A.. AGREED AND ACCEPTED - by responding to an email with 'I AGREE TO THE WORLDHOTELS NON-DISCLOSURE POLICY' in the subject line (minus quotes).