BERKELEY SPRINGS, WV ---- The Morgan Arts Council (MAC) recently released its latest web-based creation: the Berkeley Springs Virtual Creative Community portal. Designed by MAC board member, Michael Dennis, the single page is a combination of advertisement for Berkeley Springs as a creative community and a handy visual directory and direct link to important segments of that community.
"We partnered with Travel Berkeley Springs (TBS) and the Morgan County Economic Development Authority (MCEDA) on the technology grant that funded the project," explained Mary Hott, MAC's Executive Director. "This partnership underlines the importance of the arts for both tourism and economic development."
MAC and its partners received a $5000 grant to construct and maintain the portal. "Anyone can go to www.virtualcreativecommunity.com and find the page," said Hott. "They can use it as their homepage and be just one click away from more than a dozen of the most comprehensive community webpages." The list of connections on the portal includes the partner organizations, newcomers information from the Chamber of Commerce, county government, the Farmers Market and War Memorial Hospital. Links are also there for the Morgan Messenger and various community calendars. The page also changes photos and general message every season.
Hott explained that the local audience using the page as a quick way to track key local websites is only one option. The second and more expansive idea is that the portal enhances Morgan County's global appeal as a hot spot for creative economic activity. "It will make it easier for Morgan County's Economic Development Director, Bill Clark, to tout Morgan County as a place for new economic activity when a prospect can see all the parts in one attractive location," said Hott. "Branding ourselves online is the most cost effective marketing tool available."
The next step in the process of the virtual creative community is for local segments of that community to link themselves with the brand. "We make available the sunburst logo and web address so that every business, organization or individual in the county can put it on their own website as a link to the bigger picture," said Hott.
The Virtual Creative Community was one of 41 projects statewide funded by the Alliance of West Virginia Champion Communities with support from the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation. To ask further about the portal page, email contact@virtualcreativecommunity.com.
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