February 5, 2016 Seaside Signal seasidesignal.com 5A
How a new home page reaches around the world
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Downtown Development Associ-
ation breakfast meeting that I was
starting to sound like a broken re-
cord with some of my reports. It’s
not that I’ve been repeating my-
self, rather that I’ve been sharing
updates on the same topic. And
that topic has been a very import-
ant one for the City of Seaside
Visitors Bureau.
As I discussed in my Decem-
ber column, the Visitors Bureau
is working through a complete
rebranding of our communication
materials (logos, print ads, web
ads, business cards, etc.). Current-
ly, our website has been the prior-
ity. In some ways it’s become like
moving into a new house. When
you move into a new home, you
are suddenly faced with empty
rooms. Sometimes it’s obvious
where the furniture is going to be
placed, while in some rooms it’s
not so clear. You might need to try
the couch against the window be-
fore you realize it’s better against
that wall over there. A new home
is also the opportunity for a fresh
start.
In a lot of ways, the Visitors
Bureau is going through some of
those same options, only all of
our furniture is brand new. En-
ter our new website. Earlier this
week we unveiled this brand new
information source (seasideOR.
com) and touch point that reach-
SIDE RAIL
JOHN RAHL
es more people annually than any
single advertisement or Seaside
Visitor Guide does. For example,
we print 100,000 copies of our
Visitor Guide, but our website
had 311,000 unique visitors in
2015. Our website is an extremely
important asset.
When the rebranding was tak-
ing shape last fall, we put into
motion the plans to start anew
with our website. We did a re-
quest for proposals and decided
for the direction we were head-
ing that a small digital agency,
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us. So now what? Using a newer
philosophy for building websites,
we based everything around the
principals of growth-driven de-
sign. There are great articles on
this process, but I’ll try and make
it simple. Rather than building
this big elaborate website at the
onset, you shorten up your time
to launch the website. You do not
build everything all at once but
build enough for launch that your
site accomplishes key priorities.
To do this, we analyzed the
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the past 12-24 months. What we
New sales rep was
inspired by a mentor
Stewart is longtime
Seaside resident
The “Events Calendar” of the new Seaside website.
learned was that 80% of our visi-
tors focused most of their time on
about 15-20 percent of our con-
tent. This critical content would
become the basis of our launch
site. If you visit our site today,
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egories: our home page, things to
do, an event calendar, tide tables
and our visitor guide. That’s it.
It’s thoughtfully put together with
the things that visitors have told
us with their clicks that they want
Seaside Signal
Seaside Signal
Brandy Stewart
“I managed the Warrenton
sales area, and bits and piec-
es of Astoria.”
Among her achieve-
ments is “Everything Auto,”
a sales guide going into its
third year.
Stewart
said
she’s
worked on “all aspects” of
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the tax pages, the Cinco
de Mayo pages — but I’ve
been a key player in every-
thing we do.”
Stewart went under
“Wendy
Richardson’s
wing,” and learned to de-
velop a “more business and
professional side.”
“I was shy,” Stewart
said. “The biggest thing
I learned from Wendy is
when you conduct business
it’s all about cultivating re-
lationships and caring about
the outcome.”
Stewart’s son, Derek, 13,
starts high school in the fall.
Her husband of 13 years,
Brian, 41, works for Reed
and Hertig Packing Co.
Stewart said her goal as
South County Sales Repre-
sentative is to “get integrat-
ed with the Seaside commu-
nity and become a valuable
resource for the area’s busi-
nesses and their marketing
needs.”
more than anything else.
Don’t worry, the website is still
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phase one. Phase two will include
incorporating all of our business
listings, historical information,
and a blog. Generally speaking,
we move into a house and want
that bed, couch, microwave and
maybe a TV in place. Next comes
all the other stuff. It’s the same
for the website. We’ll now begin
the decorating process and like al-
ways, I’ll keep you posted on the
progress.
Have a thought or a question
about tourism in Seaside, or
maybe an idea for a future
column? Drop me an email at
jrahl@cityofseaside.us. Jon Rahl
is the director of tourism for
the Seaside Visitors Bureau and
assistant general manager of
the Seaside Civic & Convention
Center.
New branch of Seaside’s STUFF
focuses on used clothes and more
By Katherine Lacaze
By R.J. Marx
Brandy Stewart likes her
new commute — about two
minutes from her home in
Seaside. But don’t expect
Stewart to remain stuck at
her desk. The new South
County sales rep for the
Signal plans to make her
rounds in getting to know
the community better.
Stewart moved with her
family to Clatsop County
from Utah when she was
12. The 20-year Seaside
resident graduated from As-
toria High School and took
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at Seaside Providence Hos-
pital.
“I was there for 11
years,” Stewart said, work-
ing in the hospital’s ad-
missions department, as an
emergency room technician
and physician’s assistant.
Stewart later worked
part-time as a bookkeeper
before applying for a part-
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uary 2009.
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was Wendy Richardson,”
Stewart said, referring to
her predecessor, who died
in December. “We hit it off
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In May 2009 Stewart
was transferred to the Daily
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worked in the accounting
department before becom-
ing a sales representative
in 2010. “I worked with all
the auto dealers in the area,
as well as in Longview,
Washington,” Stewart said.
SUBMITTED PHOTO/SEASIDE SIGNAL
The owners of Seaside’s
STUFF have expanded their
presence in town by opening
a second store with a simi-
lar theme, called Seaside’s
Clothes & STUFF.
The store, located on
South Roosevelt Drive,
opened in September 2015.
The stores are owned by Val-
erie Watson and her son, Tim
Meyer.
Watson’s brother, Dan-
iel Osborn, runs Seaside’s
STUFF; Watson manages
the new store; and Meyer is
the buyer, who goes to stor-
age auctions, estate sales and
other venues throughout the
state, stocking a warehouse
with items. He does “all the
wheeling and dealing,” said
Watson. She grew up Clats-
kanie and moved back to the
area more than four years
ago.
Seaside’s STUFF opened
in 2014. The store did well,
but soon grew a little short
of space. The owners were
“donating so many clothes to
Goodwill,” Watson said, be-
cause they did not have room
to display them all. Without
space to expand Seaside’s
STUFF in its current build-
ing, the family decided to
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the used-clothing niche, Wat-
son said.
The new store features
mainly clothes and other per-
sonal accessories, such as
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elry and shoes. Brands include
some that are upscale, like Gu-
cci, Coach, GUESS and Mi-
chael Kors — nice products
“at reasonable prices,” Watson
said.
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HV DUH XVHG EHOWV DUH
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who bring in items can trade
them for store credit.
Watson said they try to
bring in new products ev-
ery week, since several of
their patrons return often to
check for new deliveries. If
an item doesn’t sell after a
few weeks, Meyer will re-
turn it to the warehouse, sell
it on the Internet or donate
it. With all the leftover items
they still generate, Watson
Valerie Watson
said she would like to see
someone set up a community
clothing bank, where those
Both stores have Face- arrive. To contact Seaside’s
in need could get the clothes book pages that are updated Clothes & STUFF, call 971-
for free.
with new products as they 704-4163.
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Providence Seaside Hos-
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the American Lung Associ-
ation, is offering a monthly
Better Breathers Club to se-
nior members of the com-
PXQLW\ZKRKDYHGLI¿FXOW\
breathing. Attendees will
meet in the education cen-
ter of the hospital from 1:30
to 3 p.m. There is no charge
to attend, but registration is
encouraged.
These sessions will pro-
vide an opportunity to learn
ways to cope with COPD,
DVWKPDSXOPRQDU\¿EURVLV
and other respiratory issues
while getting the support of
others who share the same
struggles.
The Better Breathers
Club’s monthly meetings
will feature educational
presentations on a variety
of relevant topics including
breathing techniques, ex-
ercise, medications, home
healthcare, lung trans-
plants, pollution, smoking
and more. Caregivers are
also welcome to attend all
meetings.
Monthly meetings for
2016 will be held Feb. 11,
March 10, April 14, May
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11, Sept. 8, Oct. 13, Nov.
10 and Dec. 8.
To register for one or
more sessions, call 800-
562-8964. Providence Sea-
side Hospital is located at
725 S. Wahanna Road.
as that. Because our com-
munity relies so heavily
on the service industry and
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— like my husband — are
IRUFHG WR WDNH MREV ZHOO
below their experience or
skill level. If they were
SDLGEHWWHUHYHQMXVWDIHZ
dollars more an hour, they
would be able to feel the
dignity of providing for
their family after a hard
day’s work.
It’s far past time to raise
the minimum wage.
'awn *reen¿ eld
Seaside
LETTERS
School changes
There are somethings I
would change about Broad-
way Middle School in Sea-
side. I would allow students
to use their cell phones in
class, and a longer passing
period time between class-
es, and have longer lunches.
First, I think students
should be allowed to use
their cell phones in class. If
students need help spelling
a word they don’t know,
they will be able to use their
cell phones. Also if students
QHHGHG WKH GH¿QLWLRQ RI D
word, a cell phone would
be good. Another thing is
if students need to research
information, the students
can use their cell phones.
Second, I think students
should have a longer pass-
ing period time between
classes, because if some
students can’t open their
lockers, they won’t be late
if they had more time. Also,
if students need to go to the
bathroom they won’t be
late to their class. Anoth-
er thing is if students drop
their stuff, and pick up their
papers and spirals, they
won’t be late to their class.
Finally, I think school
lunches should be longer.
Students who are in last
in line don’t have much to
eat. Also, if you’re last in
line you don’t get what you
want to eat. Another thing
is to have a longer recess. It
should be like an hour.
As you see, I would make
some changes to the school.
I would allow students to
use their cell phones in
class, have a longer passing
period time, and have a lon-
ger lunch time.
Ezequiel Lopez-Mota
Seaside
Time to raise
minimum wage
My family and I have lived
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have watched our communi-
ty grow and change, and I’ve
also watched it fall behind.
My husband is 63 years
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work that will pay him a de-
cent wage, even though he
had a long career as a man-
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an hour as a maintenance
man, and I am on disability,
so our small family strug-
gles. And, we aren’t alone.
There are people in our
community who work full
time, but can’t afford to pay
their rent on time. There are
parents who skip a meal or
two so that their kids don’t
go hungry. There are people
who don’t get essential med-
ical care because they can’t
afford it.
Out here in the “season-
al communities” that rely on
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about how much you’ll get
paid, but whether there will be
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most everyone I know has two
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Yes, Seaside isn’t Port-
land. But, it’s not as simple
ROBERT CAIN LD,
45 Years of Experience
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