1. The site Warren browsed through prior to 4/21 was *not* the site that was
reviewed for the Times. Caramoor's site underwent a complete restructuring
and redesign during April, and re-opened on April 22 with a new look,
detailed Spring and Summer Festival Box Office information, and a ton of
additional material.
2. Text choices have always been provided in the form of "alt" tags (for
both navigational and illustrative images), for users of text-based
browsers, and/or those who have opted to turn in-line graphics off. The
Virtual Tour component of the site is heavily graphics-laden, and an
explanatory comment exists at the beginning of the tour. It was our choice
to use the wonderful old photographs in grayscale in order that browsers
might enjoy them to their fullest. We opted not to reduce them to
thumbnails, but to use them in a moderate size, so that they could be
properly rendered and enjoyed.
3. The site as established last year was admittedly lean on content - and no
effort was made to update it until this season rolled around. Caramoor's
administration wasn't always so open-minded about the potential value of a
Web presence. This spring, a major investment was made in restructuring the
site so that it would be easier to navigate, and so that it would have a
great deal of useful information to offer.
4. It ought not to be assumed that 'money doesn't matter.' The initial site
was built with seed money provided by a member of the Board of Trustees, who
saw the potential for generating revenue that would hopefully replace some
of that lost to the cutbacks in funding experienced by all cultural
institutions. And a major component of Caramoor's ongoing costs, along with
a major chunk of the funds required for the relaunch are supported in a big
way by NetSurf Technologies. It's our way of contributing to the arts,
giving back to the Net, *and* supporting public access. Without these
supports, Caramoor's web site would never have happened, and it would not be
what it is today - an interesting, informative, useful and beautiful web
presentation that can be enjoyed by people who will never be within 1000
miles of Katonah, New York.
>In a bit of interesting reporting, it is twice noted that Caramoor's is an
>'award winning' site; but it never says what award. On a final note,
>WATPA's story is a completely different perspective on the WWW in
>Westchester. That's a different 'angle' or 'slant' in news parlance, which
>is a msut when covering similar ground...
>
Caramoor's Web site is the winner of a Clarion Award, Gold Commendation.
Don't know why that info was cut from the article, it's a prestigious award,
and is a competition that draws lots of participation from Ad Agencies, PR
Firms and the like. As for angles - that's what makes news news. :-)
Cheers!
/Christine
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___________________________________________________________________
Christine Klauberg Paustian ckp@westnet.com
914/941-4586 ckp@cloud9.net
74403.701@compuserve.com
http://www.netsurftech.com/