The purpose of myGettysburg.net is to provide Internet users an
easily located one-stop spot to access anything and everything
they would ever want to know about our charming town and
Adams County. myGettysburg.net is not simply a list of links
to other web site, but an association of community groups and
business that have come together to create a truly unique ad
free web presence. A presence were visitors can get the
very latest news, learn of upcoming events, and explore the rich
history and culture of Gettysburg and its surrounding country.
A web site, by its very nature, focuses on a specific topic,
much as a business does. But to truly experience Gettysburg and
its local area, one
does not simply go to one store or talk to one person, but
visits many stories and talks to many people.
Unlike many portals, which are
simply web pages with links to external sites, myGettysburg.net, allows visitors
to experience Gettysburg as if they were being escorted by five
knowledgeable town residents. Called Knowledge Pathways, articles and web pages
are heavily interlinked allowing users to follow any topic or path they
choose. The path one takes to
experience Gettysburg on-line can be as individual and unique as
one’s time and interests allow.
The Benefit of Being part of an Integrated Portal
You hear it everywhere today. It’s the opening
comment or the closing comment for every chance meeting: "Check
out my web site at www." Well the truth is, yes, its fun to have your own site, but
the down side is that you're out there all alone. As any firefighter will tell you,
Strength is in numbers. When you work as a
team you win. Individuals might accomplish something, but not as
much as a team will.
If you're a member of the Lions’ Club, you know what they are doing,
but if you’re not, chances are you're knowledge of their
activities is limited. The same is true with the Ambulance
Company, the VFW, and the Moose Lodge, etc.
While each of these organizations has good intentions,
lacking any central clearinghouse to coordinate their
activities, their impact is not as great as it could be if they
could join forces. As a member of a community information portal
like myGettysburg.net however, a visitor to
one part of the site is exposed to the presence of the whole
group. The greater the exposure, the greater the chance people
will visit any particular site. This is known as ‘exposure
multiplication.’
A perfect example of exposure multiplication is the
"Upcoming Events" section. A visitor looking for
activities in the area can log into it and discover what all
of our organizations have to offer. If they had been required to
find each site, who knows which site they may have missed. To
make it even more user-friendly, instead of going to a new home
page, viewers instead are taken to a page inside the
organization’s site that contains all the details on the
event. The more we can offer visitors, the more they will come
back.
Where do we go from here?
If visitors find it hard to quickly find what they want,
they'll rarely come back. myGettysburg.net is designed to allow
visitors to explore all of Gettysburg and the surrounding area and all it has to offer.
But while we’ve made great strides in the past few months, we
still have a long way to go. If we are to accomplish a truly
integrated presence for Gettysburg on the net, community groups
and organizations will have to step back from
identifying with only their site and, instead, embrace a more
corporate or community vision of Gettysburg.
What can you do? If
If your a community group or church, join us - its free. If you’ve
never toured the full site, do so. Tell us what you think. If you
like what you see, spread the word whenever and wherever you
can. It’s your web site. Support it, and it will support you
and your community.
Epilog
The Internet is today's Wild West and the rules of the game
are changing almost every day. Yesterday’s unknowns are today’s
billionaires. Why shouldn't Gettysburg be a leader in how a
community presents itself on the Internet?