HomeMy WebLinkAboutCAO-05-035 - Downtown Kitchener Micro Website
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Report To:
Date of Meeting:
Submitted By:
Prepared By:
Ward(s) Involved:
Date of Report:
Report No.:
Subject:
Finance and Corporate Services Committee
September 26, 2005
Rod Regier, Executive Director, Economic Development
Silvia Wright, Manager, Downtown Community Development
Ward 1 and Ward 6
September 21,2005
CAO-05-035
DOWTOWN KITCHENER MICRO WEB SITE
RECOMMENDATION:
That Council accept for information purposes a preview of the new Downtown Micro web
site, featuring City investments such as the Centre Block initiative, urban lifestyle
elements, and information for doing business in downtown Kitchener.
REPORT:
As part of the overall communication strategy for public involvement in the Centre Block and
other projects related to EDIF, it was determined that a dedicated web site for Downtown
Kitchener would be an effective and time-sensitive vehicle to reach the maximum number of
interested citizens, stakeholders and investors.
In cooperation with the KDBA, the new downtown web site is developed to provide information
for all stakeholders and businesses in downtown Kitchener. This includes frequent updates to
highlight project status, urban lifestyle, business investment opportunities, as well as dining and
retail listings. Categories of web content have been organized to allow for maximum flexibility
for future growth, as well as contextual project updates which are organized from web visitor's
needs, interests and point of view.
Development of content, visual design and communication strategies has been achieved
through the services of Corporate Communications, in cooperation with Economic
Development, Downtown Division. The consultative process has included interdepartmental and
external stakeholder input in all steps of design and content generation.
The domain name has been registered as and is expected to be
live October 6,' 2005. This web address marketing materials and
publications related to the downtown in order to direct traffic to the site. Cross-links to business
and government sites will also be developed.
In order to accommodate rapid updates from external stakeholders, especially for the KDBA, it
will be hosted on a server which is external to the City of Kitchener servers and secure
information systems. Various levels of permissions will control access to different sections of
the site, allowing for flexible, timely and relevant content changes.
This micro site will not duplicate the City of Kitchener's current web site content, whereby
contextual links to www.citv.kitchener.on.ca will allow for access to important content,
documents and contact information already found in various sections of Kitchener's official web
site.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
Funding for this site is included as part of the communication strategy within the Economic
Development Investment Fund. Within that fund, a development fee of $7,000 has been
invested. Subsequent to launch, a content management system will be built, and system
updates and expansion are estimated at $6,000 per year for maintenance is included.
ATTACHMENTS:
A digital preview of the micro web site will be presented at the time of committee meeting.
Silvia Wright
Manager, Downtown Community
Development
Rod Regier
Executive Director, Economic Development