Now that the foundation is in place, it's time to do some framing.

 

Visitors land on the Greeting page, so that page deserves appropriate attention. I decided that each of the main groups that would (I hoped) be coming to the site needed a focal point... something that said "Hey! This spot's for you!". The default Nav Bar sections provide focal points for the public, including "Event Information" and "ACS Programs". To this I added a "Mission" section to house information presented by our Mission Delivery Chairperson at the monthly Relay Rallies. Together, these should give the public visitor some idea what a Relay and the ACS are all about. 

 

What I needed next were sections that target the folks actually working on the Relay, so I added "Team Members", "Team Captains", "RFL Committee," and "Calendar" sections. A "Let's Relay" section completes the Nav Bar as a catchall for items that don't fit in one of the above sections.

 

That takes care of the Nav Bar, but what to do with the big section down the middle... the main canvas? That's where the fun stuff can be... the things I want to really stand out. Right at the top, I put our goal for the year: $150,000. I think it's good to remind everyone of the challenge we have set for ourselves.

 

Next is a section labeled "Coming Up!" which consists of a bullet point for each event happening in the next couple of weeks (or so). These are fundraisers, meetings, or other events that we want the public or team members to know about. These are brief entries: date, time, and a short description of the event. For each one, I try to also include a link to more detailed information.

 

Below the "Coming Up!" section I placed a photo of the moment right before the start of the 2008 Survivor's Lap, with a link to a Photobucket photo gallery. Hopefully this strikes a chord in the Greene County participants and gives those that haven't yet attended a Relay an idea of what it is like. The photo has recently been replaced by a video slide show of the 2008 Relay, set to the wonderful "All Are Our Heroes" by David Greer and Rachel Farley. If you haven't seen the video or heard the song, check it out on www.relayforlife.org/greenetn or www.allareourheroes.com.

 

Additionally, I added two other sections that have persisted throughout the year. The first is labeled "NEWS! NEWS! NEWS!" and contains a sentence or two about recent happenings or announcements, with a link to more detail (if possible). I keep a half-dozen or so items there, and drop one off the bottom as I add one at the top.

 

The other section is all about recent fundraisers. This is a spot for celebrating fundraising successes (and any dollar raised for the fight against cancer is a success). It's very short and sweet: what team(s) participated, what it was, when it happened, and how much was raised. If some photos were made, I'll provide a link to our FUNdraiser Gallery, which houses a collection of shots from the fundraising events.

 

I did build a rotating GIF of logos for the Gold, Silver, In Kind, and Media sponsors. The www.quickanimation.com site is wonderful for this. If you haven't used it, check it out.

 

Everything I've described so far has stayed on the Greeting page all year (although the content of each section changes often). I use the remaining real estate on the main canvas to announce, celebrate, or otherwise highlight something about our relay. Currently, there's a section about our billboard, the results of our recent roadblock, and a section about Greene County's first-ever Mini-Relay. A last section advertises our "Fight Like A Girl" t-shirts, which have had great success. I kind of have fun here, and I hope visitors can find something of interest.

 

That's an overview of the main page... please take a look at www.relayforlife.org/greenetn and tell me what you think! I don't pretend to have the end-all approach (as if one could exist), but I hope that describing what I've done might help spark an idea for you. I'd love to learn about your own approach and what you've done.

 

I'll be back next time with some thoughts about promoting fundraisers...