During their talk, Holter and Fox will show examples of Web sites that work and ones that don't. One highlight will be the Cranston Print Works site. The company felt that the site shouldn't contain merely a list of its products and the retail outlets where they are available, but also interesting information, such as the history of printed fabric and how consumers can use materials today, said Neill, who is based in CPW's New York City marketing office. It wanted visitors to communicate with the company. The site, launched in late 1996, depicts a typical New England mill village, with a brick factory and various shops around a green.
Visitors can click on a shop for more information.
The Quilt Shop, for instance, features a history of quilting, project patterns, lessons and other news for quilting enthusiasts. The Village Herald has the latest on new craft products, fabrics and other company news. The Library is chock full of information, including a catalog of CPW's hundreds of colorful cotton print fabrics. From the start, the volume of responses was more that the company had anticipated, Holter said. Its small marketing staff worked overtime to answer the thousands of queries and set up better handling systems, he said.