The 1998 OBGYN.net Ricardo Marques Humanitarian Award

Date: June 21, 1998

What is the OBGYN.net Ricardo Marques Humanitarian Award and why was it created?

Early in the development of OBGYN.net a young doctor from Portugal came forward to help us build resources of value to physicians in his country. Dr. Ricardo Marques was devoted to the belief of improving healthcare to women in remote places in the world. He believed that the Internet would be vital in accomplishing that goal. Ricardo also believed in making a personal effort and sacrifice to that end. He made several trips to Africa for Doctors Without Borders. On June 21, 1997 he made the ultimate sacrifice. He was shot in the back and killed in Somalia while there on a humanitarian mission to build a women’s clinic. We have decided to create an award in Ricardo’s memory. To commemorate June 21st, the first anniversary of his death, we are donating a website to a deserving woman’s health association or organization in his memory.

Description of the Award:

The Award is in the form of development and hosting of a website over a three-year period with a value of $25,000 US. This allows for a $10,000 initial design budget and a $5,000 yearly hosting and maintenance budget over three years. This is adequate to develop expand and maintain a first class website that any organization will be proud to have representing them on the Internet.

Who is eligible for the Award?

The recipient of the Award will be a non-profit association or organization whose mission is to improve women’s health care. Special consideration will be given to organizations with a global or humanitarian focus and /or special programs for the underserved. This organization may or may not already have a website. If they already have a website the Award can be used to replace or enhance it.

Applying for the Award:

The organization must submit a brief request for the award citing reasons why they believe their organization is eligible and should be selected. These requests must be submitted electronically by email to RMH-award@obgyn.net. Requests must be submitted no later than July 31, 1998. A follow-up with printed material explaining the scope and mission of the association would be helpful. Please mail this material to:

OBGYN.net Ricardo Marques Humanitarian Award
MediSpecialty.com, Inc.
9101 Burnet Rd., Suite 201
Austin, Texas 78751

Selection Process:

The OBGYN.net Representatives and Advisory Board will announce their selection no later than August 31,1998. The selection will be made by a majority vote.

Terms and Conditions:

    1. The recipient will have all rights to ownership of the website created for them by OBGYN.net. It will not be represented as part of the OBGYN.net website but will be an independent stand-alone organization website. Ownership, editorial control, copyright and liability will belong to and be the responsibility of the organization accepting the Award.
    2. Recognition by the Recipient that the website is being donated by OBGYN.net will be done in the following manner. In the footer, on the bottom of all website pages just above the copyright the following line will appear in small font: This website has been designed and donated as the 1998 OBGYN.net Ricardo Marquese Humanitarian Award. The word "OBGYN.net" in this line will link to: http://www.obgyn.net
    3. The acknowledgement line can be removed at the end of the three years term or sooner if the Recipient chooses to move the website off the OBGYN.net server and forfeit the remainder of the hosting and maintenance award.
    4. The design and structure of the website will be at the sole discretion of the Recipient as long as it adheres to proper design parameters. All external links and content will be provided and/or approved by the Recipient.
    5. The Recipient will be responsible for all publicity related to the website beyond the announcement of the acceptance of the Award by the Recipient that will be made by OBGYN.net.
    6. OBGYN.net reserves the right to make the claim that it designed and hosts the recipient’s website as long as that claim is indeed factual and true.
    7. Any special featuring or promotion of the Recipient’s website on OBGYN.net will be done at the sole discretion of OBGYN.net, with the approval of the Recipient and is not intrinsically part of the Award.
    8. Any special co-sponsorship or revenue generating activities will or will not be done at the sole discretion of OBGYN.net and the Recipient, and are not intrinsically part of the Award.
    9. The website will be created using Microsoft Front Page. This is a universally accepted web design tool and will allow for remote management of the website if desired by the Recipient. A copy of the Front Page software will be provided to the Recipient for this purpose. Telephone support will also be available Monday through Friday 9-5 CST.
    10. OBGYN.net will provide a quarterly activity reports to the Recipient on the activity of their website.
    11. The term of the Award is three years from the time of acceptance. The recipient can choose to terminate the hosting and maintenance portion of the award at any time before that date and move it to a different server of their choice. If the Recipient chooses to move the website before the end of the three-year period no cash of other form of compensation will be made for the unused portion of the Award. The unused portion will be forfeited.
    12. The Award Recipient will be announced on OBGYN.net no later than August 31, 1998. Work on the actual Award website will commence within thirty days of that time and should take about three months to complete providing text and information is provided by the Recipient in a timely fashion.
    13. The Award allows for a $15,000 budget for development. This is adequate for a very comprehensive website that will include graphics, reply forms, interactive forums, text, html pages, secure area, design, and implementation. The scope of the project will be specified in detail before the work commences. This budget is not adequate to cover the development of complex databases and other highly sophisticated computer development. All costs within the $15,000 development budget and the $10,000 maintenance budget will be born by OBGYN.net. Any additions made by the organization beyond this $25,000 budget will be done at the sole discretion of the organization and are not to be borne by OBGYN.net. The provider of the Recipients choosing will do these enhancements.
    14. A Secure access area will be provided within the website if requested by the Recipient. Management of the assignment of passwords outside of what can be done electronically on the website, including credentialing of members who will be allowed access, will be done by the Recipient at their own expense.
    15. The Recipient as the owner of the website has complete rights and discretion to enter into profitable agreements for promotion of other entities on their website as they see fit. However they cannot resell the Award or any part of it to another organization.