Back to the November 2007 issue.

State of Connecticut’s Office of Culture & Tourism

(by Peter Bohenek, President)

The State of Connecticut – Office of Culture and Tourism has been a client of Rhythm Interactive for over four years. During that time we have implemented and managed their bi-annual email and web sweepstakes programs and managed the primary website for the tourism department (ctvisit.com).

Our most current effort, which was just completed in October 2007, involved the complete redevelopment of the database structure of CTvisit.com - Connecticut’s primary support site for tourism promotion and marketing.

The scope of the project included the implementation of several new functions as follows:

Content Management System: The site was equipped with a detailed content management system that enabled Connecticut staff members to easily update all sections of the website. The system was built with various administrative levels of access. This approach enabled a queuing system where updates could be made and then temporarily suspended until the entries could be reviewed and approved. This functionality has created value, as site viewers now have access to frequently updated content that is accurate and resourceful. It also helped reduce CT’s administrative costs, as updates could easily be made by staff members rather than outsourcing the work to third party vendors.

Property Records: The property records that contain the information that comprises the attractions information on the front end of the site were expanded. Newly added records now provide detailed information about pricing, specials and attributes, which are displayed in a tab-based system. This approach precludes viewers from clicking through to new pages. The tabs allow for different views within the same page.

Regional Landing Pages: Regional landing pages were added to the site, which enabled viewers to start their experience on a regional page and drill down to attractions and points of interest that are regionally based. This also provided regions with a means of advertising specific events and happenings more efficiently.

Improved Mapping of Points of Interest: A detailed mapping system was added to the site that enables viewers to quickly and easily see the locations of points of interest and attractions. This makes it very efficient for visitors to research and plan trips to various areas within Connecticut. The website has a function that enables viewers to create and save an itinerary that they can access through a login function.

During the year we also assumed the role of hosting provider by setting up and managing two dedicated servers for Connecticut. The servers are located in our first class hosting facility located in Seattle, Washington.

At this point, after the launch of the enhanced CTvisit website, we are just finishing up the fall tourism sweepstakes campaign(ctfoliage.com) and looking forward to beginning Phase II of the CTvisit.com improvement project.

For questions about this article or about the services that we provide to Connecticut, please call us at 949.215.1250.





Statistics Corner

A recent study by OneStat found that 31.9 percent of Internet searches worldwide were two word phrases, and three word phrases accounted for 27 percent of queries.

According to a study by Ipsos, 61 percent of Internet users would never give up email regardless of spam, phishing and virus risk.

In August of this year, approximately 750 million people worldwide over the age 15 conducted a search on the Internet according to ComScore.

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