Well, here we are. The website for Together Portishead is live! …ish. It’s been a journey getting this all set up, so I thought I’d take a moment to share a bit about what’s gone into it, what’s coming next and how you can help to shape it.
What We’ve Built So Far
From day one, the aim was to create something genuinely useful for local business owners; not just a pretty digital front but a place where our members could actually do stuff. Here’s what we’ve got so far:
- Member Dashboard: Once you sign up and subscribe, you get access to your own dashboard. From there, you can edit your business listing in our Directory, suggest events, and even write blog posts. All front-end – I know many of you don’t share my appreciation of WordPress and its nether regions.
- Business Directory: It’s simple, clean and designed to help people discover who’s doing what around Portishead. As a member, you control your own listing.
- Events Section: We’ve got the framework set up so it just needs more content plugging into it, hopefully from our members. Think networking meetups, local events, and anything that brings the business community together.
- Voice: This is our blog-slash-content-hub, where members can share insights, updates, and tips.
What’s Next on the Roadmap
Now that the core of the site is in place, here’s where we’re heading next:
Surveys
One of the big things we want to develop is our Surveys area. The goal is to let members (and sometimes non-members) help shape what Together Portishead focuses on and to provide government bodies and everyone else for that matter some insight into what local businesses are prioritising. We could do that purely by reading out emails in committee meetings, but what could beat good, representative data.
As a first step, Rachel’s put together a short survey to help us understand what support local business owners actually want.
It’s open to everyone, whether you’re a member or not. Please take a couple of minutes to fill it out and share it around. The more responses we get, the better we can serve the local business community.
More Events
The Events section is about to get a lot more love. We’ll be adding upcoming meetups, local business workshops, and ways for members to suggest their own events right from the dashboard.
Voice
Plus, we’re experimenting with some clever stuff like pulling in local news (hello Portishead Town Council) and letting you comment on it.
Member Offers
A new section is in the works that will allow members to post member-exclusive offers on the website.
Growing Our Members
Now that the site’s up and running, it’s time to spread the word. We’ll be focusing on bringing more members on board, so we can grow the directory and build that thriving community we all want to be part of. If you know someone running a business in Portishead, send them our way!
Thanks for Being Part of It
Creating this site has been part coding, part problem-solving and part head-scratching. I sincerely hope you can get something out of it, and can use it as a vehicle to give back to others. And with your feedback, we can keep making it better.
