COMPANY: Providence Warwick Convention & Visitors Bureau
WHERE TO FIND IT: www.pro-videncecvb.com
CRITIQUE: Although relatively simple, Providence Warwick Convention & Visitors Bureau presents an informative web site to lure visitors to the Ocean State, and keep residents abreast of upcoming community events. Visitors to the site can obtain information from the online events calendar, print maps to restaurants, hotels and attractions, view photos, check the weather, or even fill out an online “Request for Proposal” form to bring a convention to the area. The only problem is that the site seems to be spread a little thin.
NAVIGATION: Viewed on Internet Explorer version 4.0, providencecvb.com is a pleasure to navigate. A Java navigation bar is located on the left margin of every page. Upon clicking on one of these topics, specific sub-headings will bounce out from under the words. Clicking on one of these sub-headings will most often take you to a page that has even more specific options.
Upon clicking on the “Entertainment” heading of the menu, “Shopping”, “Gaming” and “Nightlife” slowly spring forth from the heading. Clicking on “Shopping” will present options such as “Galleries”, “Malls/Centers”, “Antiques”, “Pianos”, “Outlet Shopping”, “Liquor Stores”, “Other Retail” and “Specialty Gifts”. Clicking any of these will display the list of area stores that fit the heading. There are more than 50 of these sub-headings on the menu bar.
The on-line calendar was not working properly at press time.
CONTENT: The site is obviously a tool to attract tourist and convention business to Rhode Island, but it also functions as a guide for visitors who are already here. Picture a businessperson in his or her hotel room after the convention, trying to figure out an enjoyable way to kill time. Providencecvb.com should be the website for him or her. With this situation in mind, one must understand that this site does not have time to be the most thorough guide to Rhode Island. It is simply an overview. The skeleton of information is all here, but one would hope that with time, this site will have a little more muscle.
There are only twenty pictures in the “Photos” section.
The “Historical Highlights” area shows a timeline of RI history from 1636, when Roger Williams founded the first permanent English settlement to 1952, when John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Bouvier were married in a Newport church. There are only eleven “highlights” in between these two events.
The “Members” section of the site includes a members-only business directory with links from the PWCVB to the member’s own site. Business owners seeking membership in the PWCVB can also complete an online membership form and e-mail it to the membership department.
USEABILITY: The site runs quickly and effectively, using Allaire Corporation’s ColdFusion cross platform web application server. This technology does not prevent bum-links, however, which this site is not without. One can imagine that CVB members entering in an incorrect web address would be the cause of this.
DESIGN: The combination of background colors and pictures here are very easy on the eye. Lush photos of the Convention Center, waterfire, lighthouses and aerial views of the city fill a circle in the top left corner of the page at all times. Against a periwinkle and deeper blue background, the words Providence, Rhode Island stand staggered friendly in gold at the top of each page, like a welcoming committee.
Simple and pretty, the design, like the other elements of this site, will engage its proper audience efficiently.
WHO CREATED IT: NetSense Internet Solutions
