--- title: Website Content & Design Finalization — 2026-04-05 type: article created: '2026-04-05' updated: '2026-04-05' source_docs: - raw/2025-11-25-vcedc-website-meeting-104341258.md tags: - meeting - vcedc - website - design - content-strategy - action-items layer: 2 client_source: Vilas County Economic Development industry_context: nonprofit transferable: false --- # Website Content & Design Finalization — 2026-04-05 Working session to finalize VCEDC website content and design before board review. Attendees walked through the content spreadsheet top-to-bottom, making decisions on homepage design, content consolidation, leadership bios, events page structure, and several supporting pages. **Attendees:** Melissa Cusumano, Isalia Ramirez (Asymmetric); Kathy Schmitz, Tracey Pilsner (VCEDC); kmitzie@gmail.com (external) --- ## Key Decisions ### Homepage Header — New Design Approved The original darker forest-green header was rejected in favor of a new lighter-green design featuring a subtle "V" watermark in the background. The designer's preferred direction, this was described as "fresh" and a clear departure from the existing site. The lime-green gradient variant was discarded. - Hero photo (Eagle River Animal Hospital) to be cropped to remove the back hallway visible on the left side. ### Leadership Bios — Revert to Live Site Content AI-generated bios pulled from SiteCast were found to be inaccurate or unedited. The decision was made to use the current, human-edited bios from the live VCEDC website instead. Isalia will copy these into the working document and notify Aki (developer) to update the site. - "Learn More" links on board member profiles will be hidden until bio content is confirmed and ready. - Board Chair title update (Jim Tuckwell → Kate Farrell) pending confirmation from Jim on timing; announcement planned for December 10th annual meeting. ### Content Consolidation Two pages are being eliminated to simplify the site structure: | Removed | Consolidated Into | |---|---| | Business Minute | Success Stories | | Invest | Donate (with Jim's Nov 2025 chair letter) | Annual Reports page will be stripped of all introductory boilerplate — only report title and PDF link will remain. ### Events Page Restructure The events page will be split into two clearly labeled sections: - **Upcoming Events** — CTA button: "Register" - **Past Events** — CTA button: "Read More" Tracey will populate event content after the page template is finalized and ConvertKit registration forms are linked. ### Success Stories Videos — Diversify Geography Current homepage videos are almost entirely Eagle River businesses. Kathy will provide a curated list of 6 videos representing businesses from across Vilas County. Advanced Welding will be replaced with Amanda Cowart. Developer Aki must suppress YouTube branding (logo, black bars) on all embedded videos. --- ## Action Items ### Melissa Cusumano - [ ] Crop homepage hero photo (Eagle River Animal Hospital) to remove back hallway - [ ] Add "Final Review" column to content spreadsheet for Kathy's sign-off tracking - [ ] Update Success Stories: replace Advanced Welding with Amanda Cowart; add 6 new videos; hide YouTube branding/controls - [ ] Hide "Learn More" links on Leadership board profiles until content is ready - [ ] Move Broadband page to Development section - [ ] Build Events page: split into Upcoming/Past sections; set CTAs to "Register" / "Read More" - [ ] Find and replace "overalls guy" photo on Lifestyle page - [ ] Remove "Invest" page; retain "Donate" page with Jim's November 2025 chair letter - [ ] Remove boilerplate copy from Annual Reports page; list only report titles and PDF links - [ ] Reschedule next working meeting to **Tuesday, December 2nd at 3:00 PM** - [ ] Follow up with developer Aki on homepage video player (still not working) ### Kathy Schmitz - [ ] Draft homepage Remote Worker section headline and copy; send to Melissa - [ ] Send list of 6 success story videos (with links) to Melissa - [ ] Edit Remote Work page third bullet point (re: remote-worker events); remove "Update" placeholder note - [ ] Confirm with Jim timing for updating Board Chair title to Kate Farrell; notify Melissa when ready - [ ] Email Melissa and Nina the Kate Farrell Board Chair news release (for December 10th) ### Isalia Ramirez - [ ] Copy leadership bios from live VCEDC site into the working document, person by person; ping Kathy when done - [ ] Task developer Aki with finding a new Success Stories page hero photo ### Tracey Pilsner - [ ] Email Melissa high-res Business of the Year winner logos --- ## Content Spreadsheet Workflow (Clarified) The team clarified the spreadsheet color/status system during the meeting: - **Green rows** = done; no further action needed - **Blue rows** = recently added notes/edits; still need to be implemented in development - **White rows (no KS initials)** = Kathy has not yet reviewed - **"Ready for Review"** = edits implemented; awaiting Kathy's final sign-off - **"Final Review" column** (new) = Kathy marks when she has completed her review pass --- ## Supporting Notes **Broadband page:** Copy edits only; moving to development. No structural changes. **Remote Work page:** Copy was written from an economic development perspective rather than a remote-worker audience perspective. Kathy will rewrite the third bullet to focus on remote-working events rather than referencing the (nonexistent) Entrepreneur's Toolkit. **Roger Wolff title correction:** Title updated from "Commercial Banker, People's Bank" to "President, Wolff Real Estate." **"Vilas Country" typo:** Found on multiple pages; flagged for global correction to "Vilas County." **Board member without photo:** Placeholder text updated to "Board Member (not pictured)" — note the corrected spelling. --- ## Next Meeting **Tuesday, December 2nd at 3:00 PM** — Review all updates implemented after this session. --- *Related: [[clients/current/vcedc/_index]]*