Tacklebox Wins Internet Best In Class Award

Ellicott City, MD, January 16, 2004 — Tacklebox^®, Brook Group, LTD’s signature Content Management System, was nationally recognized this week as one of the best in the industry when it won the Internet Best In Class Award at Content Week 2004.

This impressive second place honor was awarded to Brook Group among competing firms nationwide, for their design and implementation of Tacklebox on the US Department of Energy’s main Web site, energy.gov. 

“We worked very closely with the Energy.gov Advisory Committee to develop a look and feel that would translate to all the various program offices and facilities of the Department. We were focused on developing a look and feel that was both aesthetic and easy to navigate,” said Kara Brook, Brook Group CEO. “We built the Tacklebox tool from the ground up.  It’s exciting to see it get the recognition that we know it deserves.”

In early 2003, Brook Group was hired by the US Department of Energy to develop a new public Web site for the massive organization.  This main Web site is the umbrella behind which 4000 other sites exist.  After months of research, strategy, information architecture, brand design and implementation, Brook Group launched a dynamic, database-driven site powered by their signature content management system, Tacklebox. 

Tacklebox  is a self-maintaining, easy-to-administer content management system (CMS) that allows for multiple users with different technical capabilities to have 24/7 access and real-time publishing.  Tacklebox CMS software application offers a complete Web-based publishing platform for managing content for Web sites, intranets and extranets.  The Tacklebox central publishing engine facilitates decentralized publishing through an intuitive and easy-to-use Web interface.  A J2EE application, Tacklebox CMS provides for brand consistency through database-driven page templates backed by a robust suite of content and site management features, including roles-based users, workflow management, content scheduling, WYSIWYG authoring, and navigation management.  Most importantly, the centralized publishing engine reduces the cost of Web publishing overall. 

“We are very proud that Tacklebox is being employed to facilitate business operations in a situation where the intense amount of information is equal to its level of importance,” said Brook.   Implementing the Tacklebox CMS into the Department of Energy’s main Web site was a massive achievement led by the Department’s Office of the Chief Information Officer. 

The IBIC Awards are featured annually at Content Week to recognize the top Internet and Intranet applications of the previous year.

About Brook Group

Brook Group, LTD is a strategic Web design, content management and custom engineering firm with a commitment to user experience development.  Brook Group provides information architecture that helps organizations streamline internal efficiencies and increase market share.  The firm has earned its impressive reputation through 20 years of innovating customized Web tools that help businesses reduce costs and increase productivity. Brook Group specializes in customization, creative design and branding, content management, Web application development and Internet marketing. 

Brook Group, LTD, holds a GSA schedule and is a certified MBE.  Its clients include industry leaders such as Ameritrade, VeriSign, the US Government, and 20 divisions of America Online.  Brook Group’s content management product, Tacklebox^®, is one of the most customizable and highly tested products on the market.  Tacklebox is currently employed by such firms as the US Departments of Energy and Justice, and AOL.

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