PLSO The Oregon Surveyor Mar/Apr 2019

6 The Oregon Surveyor | Vol. 42, No. 2 PLSO Begins Website Redesign Process From the PLSO Office Aimee McAuliffe PLSO Exec. Secretary W hen the Board first began discussing rebranding and mar- keting about four years ago, I don’t recall if we knew how long the pro- cess would take. The beginning was slow while surveying and researching mem- ber expectations and opinions, which also included a separate survey on how members currently used our website and what they felt should be improved. One of the main things we learned from our younger members was that they often access the site through mobile devices, and ours wasn’t particularly mobile friendly. Many people noted that they didn’t find the navigation intuitive as it currently was laid out. From a pure- ly functional stand point, any redesign needed to work with our current plat- form Wild Apricot, which integrates its website builder software with member- ship management, event registration, online invoicing and payments. During the earlier rebranding steps, we clearly identified the three demographics that PLSO should always keep in mind: Professional Community, Property Own- ers, and Students. The site needed to be a resource for members, as well as a source of information for property owners and a recruiting tool for possible future land surveyors. Knowing what our organization functions are, we laid out the following when talking to possible web design companies: 1. Professional Community: This demographic is split further into members and non-members. The site needs to be a resource for events and benefits, but also provide research links, such as county records. It is also a key promotional tool for professionals to join the association. The site has a Members Only section that requires a login. 2. Students: An important part of the site promotes land surveying as a profession and provides information on educational programs, mentorship programs, study tips to pass the licensure steps, etc. 3. Public: The public will often use our Find a Surveyor Directory and use our site as a resource for hiring a land surveyor, identifying types of surveys that are done, etc. Our overall top priority for the site is to maintain PLSO as a credible source for During the earlier rebranding steps, we clearly identified the three demographics that PLSO should always keep in mind: Professional Community, Property Owners, and Students. The site needed to be a resource for members, as well as a source of information for property owners and a recruiting tool for possible future land surveyors.