Vermont Retreat Web Site
Emilio Gomez
egomez@palomar.edu
October 15, 2009
EDTEC 541, Thursdays, 7pm
Problem, Need or Opportunity
Recently, my wife and I purchased a vacation home in Vermont. The home is located inside the Moosalamoo National Recreation Area which is located in the Green Mountain National Forest of Central Vermont.
The home features 10 private acres surrounded by National Forest land with immediate access out the front door to many trailheads for both hiking and cross-country skiing, hiking access to spring fed mountain lakes and waterfalls, as well as close proximity to downhill ski resorts. In addition, access to Vermont's hundreds of miles of VAST trails (snowmobile trails) are also available from the property.
We are frequent visitors of Vermont because we attended college in the area. We return, as many other visitors do, because of its natural beauty and New England charm. However, we consistently find that vacation rentals are difficult to acquire and are very expensive, especially during the summer season.
With our website we intend to draw potential visitors to Vermont and offer them an authentic New England experience as they unwind in our home. In addition to offering our Vermont home to visitors, seeking a complete Vermont experience with an abundance of nature and charm, we seek to use it as a base to gather with family who already live in New England, but for distance reasons, we don't frequent as often.
Audience
The intended audience of our website are those seeking to vacation in Vermont. More specifically, it is targeted toward the metro populations of Boston, Hartford, New York and other metro areas in New England who seek a country get-away at any season of the year.
In addition, our alma-mater - Middlebury College - is located 10 miles away. Due to the numerous events that transpire throughout the year at the college, including parents' weekends, the prestigious Summer Language Schools and Breadloaf Writer's Conference, there is a consistent demand for additional housing outside of college resources.
Aside from presenting our property as a potential rental, our website will also feature the many outdoor activites that visitors can engage in if they stayed not only in the area, but especially from the property itself.
Users' Needs
The following categories represent menu items from which website users can choose from:
Environment
Users will be accessing our website at home and at work. On one hand, the content will contain many photos and images which will require a fast connection, as well as a computer that is not sluggish. On the other hand, much of the relevant information will be text available and will not require too much computer memory to download.
Resources & Limitations
The images and text for our website will be developed by us. All the pictures are exclusive of the property and of the natural surroundings. The descriptions of the property, surroundings and activities will be our own. We will also provide many links that will direct users to the many places and activities that they wish to engage in.
General Solution
When users first visit our site, they will be greeted with an image of the property nestled in the woods and surrounded by evergreens, maple and birch trees. Depending on the season, they will be drawn in by snowy woods, by an emerald forest or by the blazing colors of fall foliage.
A menu button linked to google earth will allow them to zoom out and view how the property is located within the Green Mountain National Forest.
Although we feel that users to our website are already knowledgeable of the area and the amenities offered by the region, we intend to highlight many of these amenities as services and activites that are at the users' disposal immediately "out the front door" of the property.