Chamber Sports New Site

Local web firm NeoReality creates new online presence for Sanibel-Captiva Chamber of Commerce; adds to Chamber's unusual business strategy.

SOUTHWEST FLORIDA — Today is the first day that visitors to the Sanibel-Captiva Islands Chamber of Commerce web site will completely access the Chamber's new web site, unveiled earlier this week by local web design & development firm NeoReality Design Technologies.

The new web site, available worldwide on the Internet at www.sanibel-captiva.org, incorporates ideas from Chamber executives, staff, the Internet Committee of various local business leaders, NeoReality consultants, and community business members of the Chamber of Commerce. "We aim to lure in prospective vacationers with a shortlist of vital travel information about the Islands, incorporated right here into the site's navigation," said Martin Flack, NeoReality's Web Development Director, speaking at a packed luncheon last month to Sanibel & Captiva businesspeople previewing the site now finished. The feedback garnered from these Chamber members went straight to NeoReality's development team for last-minute review before site launch.

Other key benefits of the site, received well by Chamber members, include the simpler and more straightforward directory-style access to member businesses, the light and breezy tone of the site's design, and the many more photographs displayed throughout the new site — many provided by the Lee Island Coast Visitor & Convention Bureau.

The new web site represents a key component of the Chamber's overall business strategy. Unlike many Chambers of Commerce who focus on membership fees to make ends meet, the Sanibel-Captiva Chamber creates approximately 70% of its revenue from non-membership sources, according to Dr. Keith Trowbridge, Executive Director. Naturally, this translates to excellent services available back to members. Trowbridge already reports impressive results from the Chamber web site, driven by a high volume of visits for a niche site — try almost 1000 people a day — leading to an easily-leveragable business tool.

Part of NeoReality's strategic services on the Chamber project led to the creation of comprehensive Planning Documents early on, a tool detailing recommendations and plans to advance technological services provided by the Chamber, increase efficiency within the Chamber's daily operations, and to maintain the best online presence possible. With the new web site designed, constructed, and launched, the project now moves into a second phase of implementation incorporating many of these ideas.

NeoReality Design Technologies has provided strategic Internet consultation, professional web site design, web programming, and related services since January of 1997. Visit www.neoreality.com or call 941-561-5821 for more information.

The Sanibel-Captiva Islands Chamber of Commerce provides services to visitors and business members of Sanibel and Captiva. Visit www.sanibel-captiva.org or call 941-472-1080 for more information.

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