CASE STUDIES

The Newport News Tourism Development Office wanted to do a complete overhaul of both the design and functionality of their website. Their old website was updated through Front Page which made changing it both tedious and time-consuming.

The staff of Newport News Tourism Development Office had a grand vision for their website. This vision included showing off rotating pictures of the city and providing details and search features for accommodations, attractions, events, performance venues, restaurants and sports locations. They wanted visitors to be able to easily request brochures or plan their entire trip online and save or print it. Meeting details were readily available for groups who were looking for an attractive and affordable location to hold reunions, weddings, conferences and other meeting types.

The Solution

First, a custom Content Management System was developed and implemented by Eyepinch, which allowed the staff to easily update their website by using a web browser. Content was now editable from home, the office, or the road. The system was specifically designed to remove Microsoft Word's excessive inline styles thus easing the publishing of web content.

Second, several custom online tools were built to manage the data for accommodations, attractions, venues, restaurants and sports locations. These tools allowed the ability to upload and crop an image, map the location and add details for meetings and other details that were used across various sections of the website.

Third, mapping was incorporated across the site via Google maps to allow visitors to easily find the exact location of an event or attraction. Locations were mapped automatically, but in case of error, had a manual override where a staff member could easily re-plot a point.

Finally, a Trip Planner was created so visitors could plan their trip, set the order in which they would like to visit each attraction or restaurant, save it for later, print it out, e-mail it to a friend and add custom locations such as a family member's house or something not already available on the website. Each location throughout the website has an icon that allows the user to easily add it to the Trip Planner without leaving their spot on the web.

With Eyepinch doing both the design and programming in-house, we were able to fulfill the vision of the Newport News Tourism Development Office and help them facilitate the needs of their visitors 24/7.