Where to Ski And Snowboard -

Webtastic editing .. or not?

13th May 2010, by Wendy King

Spot the off button ...

Grrr, some resort websites are just so infuriating to use, aren’t they? All I want to do is check some restaurants, and I get an irritating blast of animation with the ‘off’ button neatly tucked away in some obscure corner; sometimes when you turn it ‘off’, hey presto it starts up again. Then, when you get to the (say) dining page only half the establishments are listed and there may be anomalies in spelling or facts. So it’s back to the tourist office with a query, who promptly refer you to their ... er ... website.

Actually, I have just spent a relatively ‘easy’ day in Utah, not literally in Utah but immersed in my various North American chapters. With over 450 chapters to ‘sign, seal and deliver’ to our editors in a tight schedule, the team has already been through Italy and Switzerland in the past couple of weeks – checking that establishments still exist, have the correct details, updated news and can be included in the new edition. So easily navigable, useable information on a resort website is really important when updating the book.

A few years ago we had big paper files, stuffed full of brochures that I would spread across my desk, study intently then wonder where I had put said previous leaflet. Now we check most things online, to speed up the process. The surfing has its niggles, well quite a few actually with some resorts. Utah was fine, but don’t mention certain Italian sites to me ...

Why don’t these places display all their facts, figures and news at a glance? Rather than tucked away beneath heavy marketing-led material. I’m actually quite attached to some printed brochures but, for webtastic editing, the St Moritz site is a perfect model.

 

What’s yours? (and the worst!)

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