Webtivity Design Solutions

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am a program manager for Bradenton Downtown Development Authority, a state quasi-governmental agency. We operate off of tax increment funding (TIF) from the city and the county. Those monies go back into the areas that are considered those TIF districts in an effort to alleviate blight and stimulate economic development.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Webtivity Design Solutions?

Our agency needed a website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We created a page where local developers or commercial realtors could log in and upload photos of buildings as well as information about square footage, cost, etc. We’ve worked in that realm and the general public has been able to interact with the site as well.

A lot of it was getting the word out about our grant programs and other ways we fund projects. We wanted to get it out there to show people what we do, as well as relevant maps and information about TIF districts in case they live in such a district and might be able to come to us for some assistance.

We will need to update the site as soon as we sort out all of the departments and responsibilities.

What is the team composition?

We have worked with two or three members of their team, including web developers and project managers.

How did you come to work with Webtivity Design Solutions?

We spoke with several different companies, but Webtivity really had it together. We went to their office, sat with them, and worked through some things. Then, they showed us examples of other cities and municipalities they were working with; we were very impressed.

How much have you invested in them?

We have spent between $10,000–$50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them in 2007 and they now update the site as needed. With state statutes changing, we have to keep up with them, and Webtivity has been really helpful in sending that information to the state and ensuring that it’s posted.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

It has helped us a great deal to get people to understand what we do, why we are here, and what we are here for. We definitely achieved—and surpassed—our original goal.

How did Webtivity Design Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

Most of the time, we used email to communicate. They were very responsive and timely in getting things done.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their level of professionalism in the business world is impressive. They have a good grip on what it takes.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I don’t think so. It’s on us to initiate further changes.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Sit down and talk with them because that sit-down meeting will show you right away that they are not new to this.

BACKGROUND

So,  you work for a port authority?

Yes. I work for a port in Western Florida.

What is your position within the company?

I’m the communications manager, so I do a lot of writing, working with the media, work on our website, and special events – that type of thing.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What as the main goal for your organization for undertaking this Web design project?

When we went to change the website from what it had been prior to what it is now, the idea was to update the format and bring it more up to speed with the look of something that is up to date and in line with any other top business. It needed a new look, and it also needed to update all of the information, which was out of date.

How old was the website? 

I’ve been here almost six years, and they have had it several years before I got here. I don’t know exactly how long, but it was 10 years old at least.

What was your process for selecting a Web design partner?

The process that we must undergo when it exceeds a certain amount of money is we have to interview. We can interview as many potential companies as we want, and then we narrow it down for the top three to five that we think that could achieve the level of quality that we are seeking. At that point, we have to take the lowest bidder on the project but, again, we may have 10 companies, and several of them could’ve given a lower bid, but we have the capability to deal just with companies that we can tell by looking at other of their pieces of work that they would achieve the level of quality that we were seeking.

Is that the main trait that set Webtivity apart was the level of quality along with the price?

No. I would say that we definitely were confident that they could achieve what we wanted to achieve.

SOLUTION

Could you tell me a little bit about the scope of the project?

We did a bunch of research to determine what type of site that we wanted before we started working with them. Before we sat down and said this is the look that we want when we presented that idea to them, it was a collaboration between us and them – the whole process. We gave them ideas, and then they were able to guide us as to what other possibilities we could do, and what things we could achieve within the budget that we were allowed.

Did they do any backend development work, or is it all just visual?

They did the whole site for us. We don’t necessarily have any IT people here. In our department, we’re just from a communications background, so they did all of the work for us. There are certain things on our site –one of the main things that we wanted was to be able to change – we wanted to be able to manipulate and update anything on our website by ourselves within our knowledge base. There are certain things on our website that we cannot manipulate on our own, and we have to ask them for assistance with. But, for the majority of it, we can do by ourselves, which makes it really good for us because we want to be constantly changing the content, and we don’t want to have to wait for someone else to do it.

Do you think you could give me an estimate, a general cost range of the project?

Yeah. It might’ve been a little more than $10,000. I probably have it here. I don’t know if I have it here. I can find it out if you need me to, but it was definitely something less than $50,000. It’s definitely, it was under $20,000.

How long ago was the development completed?

2009.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

How happy are you with the results?

I would say very happy.

Have you received any feedback from employees or visitors?

Yes. We get a lot of feedback, not only from employees, but from customers and tenants, too. It’s all been positive. I know right after we launched the site, there were some customers that came for with certain things. Feedback that was very helpful to us to make minor changes, and to make it more user friendly. Overall, we’ve received very positive feedback, and we submitted for various awards throughout the year for the website and other things that we do. For us, the gold standard is an award you would get as a deepwater seaport in the United States would come from the American Association of Port Authorities. They have 160 member ports and it’s the national organization that supports all the deepwater seaports and not only in the United States and throughout the world essentially. We’ve received an award of excellence. We just found out last week that we received an award of excellence from an AAPA for 2012, and we also have received awards from AAPA in other groups since the launch of the new site. People tell us that the content is not too heavy. It’s easy to navigate, and we update a lot of stuff.

Compared to other developers you may have worked with in the past, do you find anything special or unique about Webtivity?

I would say the thing that makes me the most happy with working with them is their accessibility to us and their willingness to work with us to get things done in a timely manner. I’m sure that a lot of businesses have the same types of issues, but we have things that need to be done right away that we can’t necessarily do on our own, and they always get it done for us in a timely manner.

Do you see any area that they might be able to improve a bit or do slightly better in?

Based on the amount of money that we had to work with, I think they’ve done a very good job at meeting all of our requests so it would be hard for me to say anything really negative at all because they’ve helped us a great deal.

BACKGROUND

What is your position within the chamber of commerce?

I’m the office administrator. I do all the IT, all of the website updates, that sort of thing.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was your goal going into the project?

Well, our website had been designed, I guess, in 1991, so it really needed some freshening. It was using old technology. The design specs weren’t modified for upgraded technology, so you had some issues when pages were loading.

What were you looking for in the new website?

Most of our visitors actually come from search engines. They’re people who are looking for information about our area. We actually needed a website that would serve both our chamber members and also prospective residents and visitors.

SOLUTION

What was your process for selecting a developer for the site?

In general, our process for selecting any developer is to send out a bid request to every company that is a member of our chamber. We narrow it down to the top two or three, and then we enter into checking references, speaking with the company, and making sure that it’s a personality mesh.

What set Webtivity apart from the other developers?

Honestly, the quality of their work was just really excellent, and I haven’t found anybody there that I don’t just love. Personality wise, they are responsive, they understand even when I’m not sure I understand what I’m trying to ask them to do.

What stages of the project were they involved in?

They were involved in it from day one – from design through implementation. They had to deal with my boss, of course, who had a very clear understanding what he wanted – a hideously ugly idea. So, that was a lot of fun. If given a choice, he would have 897 things on the home page, and each one would have a picture attached to it or cute graphics. There was a lot of fun involved there, but they’ve been involved from day one from design through implementation. Now, obviously, we retain them and they work with us on any new features or additional areas of the website.

How long ago was the website created?

I think it was created in 2005, so about seven years. We updated continuously, and they’ve added some new sections and new information for us, but the overall design and navigation was created about six or seven years ago.

Do you happen to know the technologies involved?

I know that it’s ASP.NET, but that’s probably stretching about the extent of my knowledge.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

How satisfied are you with the results of the project?

If I had to give you a one to ten, I’d say I’m a ten.

Have you heard any good feedback from members of your chamber or people checking out the site?

Yes. Especially when we first launched because, at that point, we asked them, “What do you think?” We have a select group of chamber members who went through it to make sure that there were no errors or anything on different systems. Everybody loves it.

Was there anything that stood out as being special or unique about Webtivity compared to other people you know?

Probably the response time is what really worked for us because you ask for change, and with our old company, you might or might not ever get it but you certainly didn’t hear back until you call them four or five times. With Webtivity, I make requests, then if they have questions, they call me and then it’s done.

Do you think there’s any area that maybe they could improve or do slightly different?

Not really. If I had anything to change about the process, I would’ve taken my boss out of it obviously. As far as from their end, no. Everything was tested, using different Web browsers, different types of machines, different ages of computers and, when it launched, we had zero errors from day one, so I can’t really think of anything that they could’ve done differently.