It's hard not to be overwhelmed by technology. Your cell phone likely can accomplish more than your first computer could. There is not only 'an app for that,' there are probably 1000 apps. Web sites have so many bells and whistles that, well, they're noisy. Has it made your life any easier?
I confess that I recently acquired a Blackberry and I love what it can do. I'm not addicted, but I appreciate its horsepower. Owning it confirmed to me what I already knew: the way we use the Internet has changed dramatically, and it isn't going back to the old way. Gone are the days of poking around entire web sites, looking at everything they have to offer. Now I want to get in, get out and get going. The full features may not even be available to me if I'm on my Blackberry, so I'll never see them anyway. Sites like Facebook can easily be clipped for mobile use, as can many of your favorite sites. Old, clunky web sites just don't make the grade anymore.
That's a long introduction into the beginning of an evolution for the TSL Events web site. Our old site had become too rigid, and with a push from our web developer, Kirk Hoaglund of Clientek, we've slimmed things down. Now when you go to http://www.tslevents.com/ you'll find a handy place for the information you want, including a new wave of widgets. For example, want a race map? We've embedded our map from the Map My Run site. Looking for results or photos? Kirk has created new widgets to easily display those in one spot. (Those clever widgets are also available for you on Facebook). Want to see what we're doing on Facebook? That's also available right on the home page. Soon we'll have a widget for race registration from our registration partner, ImATHLETE. The goal is to give you easy access to what you want, and ultimately to let you take it with you.
The new site isn't yet designed for mobile use, but we're headed that way. The old web model was to create 'sticky' sites that created multiple hits and clicks. Now, I'm only concerned that you can get what you want. If you want to do only one thing on our site, I want to make sure it is easy and accessible. It's still a work in progress, but I think we've taken some big steps.
As always, you'll be the judge. Let me know what you like and what you don't. The new format is much more flexible, so we can respond quicker to your feedback.
Less is the new more. Does it look good on us?
