GILROY
– The Gilroy Chamber of Commerce recently unveiled a new Web
site that’s remarkably different from its last, but the intentions
for the site remain the same.
GILROY – The Gilroy Chamber of Commerce recently unveiled a new Web site that’s remarkably different from its last, but the intentions for the site remain the same.
“We want this to be a resource tool for anyone who’s interested in learning more about Gilroy,” said Susan Valenta, the chamber’s executive director. “We just wanted to make things a little easier to navigate and give it a sharper, cleaner look.”
The site’s design takes on a newspaper-like flavor, with a banner headline decorating the homepage and content divided into various sections. The site’s address is the same at www.gilroy.org.
Although the redesign made its debut last week, a few features have yet to be completed. Future additions include direct links to member sites, job postings, advertisements, event registrations and coupons. Additionally, residents soon will be able to obtain a sample letter to fill out and send to legislative bodies regarding issues of concern.
The site’s official launch date is set for Sept. 1, in conjunction with the 13th Annual South Silicon Valley Business Showcase and Mixer on the same date. By then, Valenta said, the site should be complete.
Revealing the revamped site before its full completion allows the community to watch the site’s development and growth over the next few months.
“We want people to be able to have some fun poking around and seeing what it has to offer,” Valenta said.
Although the chamber’s previous site was still functional – it received roughly 3,000 hits per month – Valenta said she suspects the makeover will serve the community in ways the old site did not. She hopes chamber members, Gilroy residents and potential tourists will take advantage of its offerings.
“We’re sort of like a portal in that you can link to so many different places,” she said. “You’re one click away from a number of different sites.”
The chamber began discussing the site’s redesign in March and had a specific plan in place by May. Parrotworks, a local husband-and-wife Web design team, took on the project.
“The design was really their ingenuity. We told them what we wanted to accomplish, but they put it all into the actual design,” Valenta said. “They’re a great couple. They’re so creative.”
Sherry Allen, owner of Baskets by Design at 8021 Carmel St., said she hopes the new site will increase traffic into her store. A handful of customers who stop in say they discovered the shop via the chamber’s site, Allen said.
Like many retailers, the holiday season is beginning to creep into Allen’s mind. She plans on posting jobs and coupons via the site before the shopping rush begins.
“I’m definitely looking forward to the convenience of that,” she said.
