CMAA Website Analysis Paper

A discourse community shares a common language, characteristics, patterns or practices through communication and the identity the group shares . The industry illustriously shares individuals from various career backgrounds, yet they are able to work together and achieve common goals. The industry relies heavily on construction managers, or the people who take the role as one. Essentially, they are the glue that keeps projects together and functioning there are various construction management groups that instill this ideology in its current and potential members. The Construction Managers Association of America (CMAA) website persuades through its usage of membership and scholarship opportunities. The website also informs through its usage of facts about the association and construction industry sector.

The CMAA excels in attracting a wide audience. Those who are educated, and those who
desire an education utilize the website. There is a team of writers, editors, members, and board leaders are integral pieces for the validity of the site. Throughout the years information, mission statements, and values are updated on the site to stay consistent with the standards set in the construction industry. Those in the construction industry , or those who have basic knowledge in the construction industry are the intended audience. They need to know information about what the CMAA does or be persuaded to join. The overall attitude is that construction managers need to stick together. With this idea in mind they ensure those looking for scholarships or memberships that they are willing to stick up for their own. People are able to find this site looking for information involving construction managers. There is a lot of information about the field and association. The text has a good reputation among members and the wider community. The genre of the text is informational. This is the format many organizations use to display their information. Most of the website is credible evidence. (talk about ethos, pathos, logos). The preferred modes for this text are narration and description, both used to persuade and inform the audience. The design of this text was simple. The simplicity made the content of the website easy to absorb, so there was not an influx of complex information on the reader which deters them from wanting to read more. This text is easy to “use” because the words are simple and the information is fairly straight to the point, along with easy language. The ethical values to complete the task at hand to the best of their ability. The text effectively communicates their goals and values through its various sources of information and research.

While the website was able to succeed in many aspects, it did falter in others.
There are improvements to be completed. The CMAA was able to produce large amounts of information into small text, but at times text would drag on unnecessarily when a simple bullet point with a definition would suffice. The website would also had difficulty accessing various tabs.Where you would think one topic would be under a certain category, it would actually be found in another category. The organization of the site has gotten its props, but the lack of flow takes away from the content and effectiveness of the organization factor. Some of the images are of various buildings members of the CMAA has constructed but they do not have labels naming the firm or name of building which some believe is pertinent information, especially if networking opportunities are available. The CMAA also unknowingly takes you to links of different sections of the CMAA websites, which can get confusing if you are trying to go back to the main page. While there are some failures the positives, outweigh the
negatives.

Discourse communities ensure that various groups have a safe space to express themself in a manner they feel comfortable with. The CMAA website while geared towards construction managers, also persuades and informs other groups about its field in a clear and concise unbiased format. The CMAA website it effectively showcased its ability to inform and persuade the reader through membership and scholarship opportunities, and usage of facts about the association and construction industry sector.