Neo Client Snags State Award
Sanibel-Captiva Islands Chamber of Commerce Wins the Henry Flagler Award at Governor's Conference for its NeoReality-designed web site at sanibel-captiva.org
BOCA RATON, FL — Smiles abound as Chamber staff celebrate the 2000 Henry Flagler Award for Web Success, bestowed upon the Sanibel-Captiva Islands Chamber of Commerce this week by Visit Florida, the state's tourism promotion agency. Dr. Keith Trowbridge, Executive Director of the Chamber, received the award in Boca Raton this week at the Governor's Conference on Tourism where the site won First Place in the category of "Web Success: Sites developed for trade, consumer or media use" and took home the coveted "Henry".
Applicants in this category were required to demonstrate successful implementation of web strategies in terms of impact and results on their target market. The Chamber's application described its target audience strategy as "An increasing number of educated, high-income travelers make their travel decisions from web site research. To target a select audience of upscale and sophisticated visitors, the Chamber mounted a major web site revamp in 1999."
The award is named after Henry Flagler, an early Florida visionary who built railroads and tourism. The program is designed to recognize in twelve different categories "those whose skill, commitment, resourcefulness, imagination, creativity and innovative spirit contribute to the success of Florida's tourism industry."
The winning web site can be accessed on the Internet at www.sanibel-captiva.org by any web browser.
David Schuldenfrei, Sanibel Realtor and Chairman of the Chamber's Internet Committee during the site design project claimed success with "As predicted, it's become the one-stop place for any information you want on the islands. It is absolutely the portal of Sanibel-Captiva." Dr. Bob Lade, current Chairman, indicated his thanks with, "The committee is to be thanked for the time and effort it expended in making the site the success it is, and special kudos should go to David Schuldenfrei and Keith Trowbridge for their leadership during that period and to NeoReality for forging the concepts into actual html code."
Martin Flack, NeoReality's Web Development Director, attributed the success of the site to the planning phase. "When we planned sanibel-captiva.org, we quite literally involved hundreds of parties and allowed all the stakeholders some input. We gained an enormous wealth of information that set us on the right track from the get-go. Our Project Manager Dean Katocs did a great job of boiling it down and putting it all together."
"The Flagler award signals that we've reached a milestone of success," added Flack.
The Sanibel-Captiva Islands Chamber of Commerce provides services to visitors and business members of Sanibel and Captiva and the surrounding area. Visit www.sanibel-captiva.org or call 941-472-1080 for more information.
NeoReality is a local web firm that serves clients such as the University of California, Nature Magazine, and locally the Youngquist Brothers, Home-Tech, AccuData, and many more. NeoReality's web site at www.neoreality.com contains more information about the company's offerings, which include web design, animation, programming, database integration, consultation, production, management, security, and ecommerce. NeoReality can be reached at 941-561-5821 or toll-free at 866-NEO-SITE.
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Press Release Issued by the Chamber of Commerce on June 22, 2001Press Release issued by Sanibel-Captiva Islands Chamber of Commerce
Our www.sanibel-captiva.org will be recognized as a finalist in Visit Florida's Second Annual Flagler Awards, to be presented at the Governor's Conference on Tourism in Boca Raton in August. The site won in the category of Web Success: web sites developed for trade, consumer or media use and successful in promoting tourism.
The Chamber entered its new web site in the running for the Flagler Awards with a statement showing the site's effectiveness in reaching its target audience and meeting its objectives: "to become easier to use, more attractive, and more informative."
"We always knew our redesigned site was a winner, but it's rewarding to have it recognized with such a prestigious award at the state level," said Executive Director Keith Trowbridge, who will attend the conference to receive the award. "The continuous efforts of our Internet Committee to improve the site and increase visitations has paid off. Thanks to Dr. Bob and our designers at NeoReality for an award-winning job."
The Flagler Awards "honors those whose skill, commitment, resourcefulness, imagination, creativity and innovative spirit contribute to the success of Florida's tourism industry," Visit Florida, the state tourism agency, states.
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