No More Press Releases

Well, not entirely. This week the News section of SDOC Publishing was converted to Blogger. I still plan to do press releases when the situation calls for it but I can get a lot more personal with you here.

When you have a lot of irons in the fire, it's easy to forget to write about them. Soon after Dunwoody officially became a city and the first council elections were underway, I became a Founding Sponsor of the Dunwoody Chamber of Commerce. SDOC Publishing is the only web development firm to carry this title and I continue to serve as the lead webmaster for the Chamber.

Last year I said that SDOC Publishing was interested in building up the business community of our new city. I said it, I meant it. Supporting businesses doesn't just involve building and promoting their website, although that is my specialty. For a business to thrive, they have to have advocates in their community. Non-business owners in this town are often suspicious of any commercial interest. But the reality is that without a community-based business organization, the homeowners and other residents won't have the goods and services they need readily available. Many won't have jobs to make a living. It is in everyone's best interest to have an open dialogue between the residential community and the business side.

I joined the Chamber and worked on its web presence from Day One and saw a bevy of growth and change in a very short time. The city is getting its feet under it, and the DCoC has had a hand in guiding ordinances that represent a compromise in many interests. I won't lie, it's chaotic sometimes. But there aren't many opportunities to watch a new city sprout from a seed. So it's worth bearing the chaos.

The Chamber website is a team effort. I work as the "architect" - determining what the information needs are and what goes where. I was able to delegate specific graphic elements to another designer so I can focus on that content. Then I'm going to train some of the office staff in keeping the site up to date. It's not difficult, but there are new skills to be learned. Server maintenance responsibilities are on the IT committee.

Take a look at www.dunwoodycommerce.org. Use the contact form to tell us what you need, what you want to see. Content and interactive features don't write themselves and priorities have to be organized, but if our local business community needs to be promoted, I'll be right there to make it happen.