The Detroiter Online - Detroit Regional Chamber's New Online Voice Revealed
Troy, MI; May 20, 2008 -- After a joint study with Detroit
Regional Chamber, the largest chamber in the United States with over 22,000
members, Media Genesis saw a huge opportunity to go beyond a more traditional
informational web site. The hundred of thousands of site visits at www.detroitchamber.com could be
turned into a vibrant virtual community of Chamber members. Over the last 12
years, Media Genesis has helped Nonprofits, foundations, academic institutions,
hospitals and others redefine their web strategy and execute it online.
"We
selected Media Genesis as our design vendor because of a demonstrated high
level of expertise in delivering all aspects of a website project
-artistic design, infrastructure,content management, navigation and
business process," explained Hans Erickson, Senior Vice President and CIO of
Detroit Regional Chamber. Erickson
further stated, "Media Genesis understands the strengths of the web and how
that power could most effectively be leveraged for our purposes."
Media
Genesis began the process by analyzing site traffic patterns, noting the
significant traffic garnered by The Detroiter magazine. From there, Media
Genesis captured video experiences of users and watched them interact with
various features of the web site. To supplement this primary user experience
research, Media Genesis collaborated with Detroit Regional Chamber IT and
marketing staff and coordinated a series of meetings to involve all major
constituents in the redesign process.
The first
part of this endeavor is the launch of the newly redesigned Detroiter Online (www.detroiteronline.com). The web
site is full of Web 2.0 features, allowing members to participate in editorial
ahead of print, see behind the scenes, talk about upcoming or past events. At a
launch party held at the Tiger Club in Comerica Park,
the site was revealed to a few hundred Chamber members, and over 200 people
registered on the first day of launch. The site now features current events
such as Southeast Michigan sustainability,
economic development and regional cooperation projects.
"As the
voice of the business community, The Detroit Regional Chamber plays a vital
role in the shape and direction of our collective future in the State of Michigan"
explains Brad Frederick, Media Genesis CEO, "we are happy to present the
collaborative vision of The Detroiter Online to the business community
regionally and internationally and look forward to the launch of The Detroit
Regional Chamber main site later this year."
