Networking leads to Web site makeover
By Kevin Kelley
Fairview Park
Published May 7, 2008

Fairview Park's revamped Web site, at www.fairviewpark.org, includes a easier to navigate calendar of events.

Employment experts say most jobs are obtained through networking. The story of how the contract to revamp the city of Fairview Park’s Web site was awarded is a great example.

Dick Rose, a volunteer at the city’s senior center, had been the city’s webmaster on a volunteer basis for more than five years. But he was so busy running the senior center’s computer lab and teaching classes there that the time he could devote to the city’s Web site was stretching thin. And Mayor Eileen Patton wanted to add some new features to the city’s Web site — www.fairviewpark.org.

“He had done an excellent job,” Patton said of Rose’s Web work.

Around the time administration officials were contemplating an upgrade for the Web site, Bridget Hinkel, Patton’s administrative assistant, was called for jury duty at Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court. On the same jury was David Dressler, who runs Volt Innovations, a Web design company based in Parma.

“He was very professional,” Hinkel recalled. The two got to talking during court breaks, Hinkel said. When Hinkel, who was selected as an alternate, was released from jury duty once deliberations began, Dressler gave her his business card.

While the city obtained four other proposals for the project, Volt’s was determined to be the lowest and best of all the bids. The initial cost paid to Volt was under $5,000, meaning council was not required to approve the expenditure.

Volt’s bid was viewed as superior in part because the city was not required to purchase any additional software. In addition, Volt’s bid did not include any monthly maintenance fees.

Volt’s own Web site — www.voltnova.com — lists Fairview Park as a feautred client. Volt said it brought the city’s 1990s-style Web site into 2008.

“The site is database driven and client customizable with a client back-end to keep the site up to date,” Volt’s site said.

Hinkel and Traci Waldron, City Council clerk, are the two city officials who currently manage the Web site. Both say the database-driven site created by Volt is very easy to update.

“One of the benefits of this site is that it’s so easy to change,” Hinkel said. Waldron said the new site puts a lot of control in their hands.

“We were really interested in having a hand in it,” Waldron said.

“My department is one of the only ones with weekly agendas to post,” the council clerk said. “So I really wanted to be able to better help maintain the council pages for the residents.”

For the first time, the City Council page now includes photos of all council members thanks to Waldron and her digital camera.

Much of the content has been carried over from the previous version but is laid out in a more attractive format.

One example of the improved format is the city calendar of events, where users click on dates of a monthly calendar to see city or community events.

Both municipal and community events will be listed on the calendar. Organizations or residents wanting an event posted on the calendar should contact Hinkel at (440) 356-4411.

Hinkel and Waldron explored Web site’s from other cities for ideas on improving Fairview Park’s Web site. One city was Henderson, Nev., where Waldron’s mother works in the traffic department. From Henderson came the idea for the “How Do I?” tab, a catch-all category with answers for various questions residents may have.

Examples of such questions are “How do I pay for a parking ticket?” and “How do I apply for a building permit?”

The list of city departments adds Gemini Center to the Recreation Department category, Patton noted.

A few of the photos on the background slideshow were taken by Hinkel herself of her backyard flowers.

Hinkel hopes to add photo galleries of city events like the Memorial Day parade and Summerfest to the site in future months. Other planned  future features include enabling residents to make online payments for recreation department programs.

“Our main concern was getting a user-friendly, updated Web site online as quickly as we could,” Waldron said.

Patton said it’s great that Volt made it so easy for city officials to update the site.

“It’s the way of the world. People go immediately to Web sites,” Patton said of the way information is disseminated today. “We wanted ours to be attractive, and we wanted it to represent what the city stands for.”

On the Net:

• City of Fairview Park
• City of Henderson, Nev.
• Volt Innovations