By Lisa Lochridge, director, FFVA Public Affairs Division

FFVA.com has a bold, bright design, with easy-to-navigate features. In addition to managing their account information online, members can locate contact information in the online member directory as well as access rosters of FFVA’s functional committees and the board of directors. Members also will be able to use the site to sign up and pay registration fees for FFVA’s annual conventions, and eventually pay dues online.

“In today’s constantly changing online world, a Web site can’t be static. Organizations must continually evaluate their online presence to make sure a site is current, relevant and easy to use, and that it conveys the desired image to its audiences,” said Lisa Lochridge, FFVA’s director of public affairs.

Here’s an overview to key features of the association’s site:

Home page:

Visitors to the home page can quickly get a digest of the day’s headlines. The site is updated weekday mornings with a sampling of agriculture-related news stories.

Buttons in the green boxes on the right side of the page are designed for quick navigation to key members-only areas, including the Member Resource Library. To see this exclusive content, producer members must log in. Other content can be viewed by all visitors to the site.

Red buttons in the center of the page link to popular resources. “By setting FFVA.com as your home page, you have a portal to a wide array of other often-used sites,” Lochridge said. For example, the Quick Links button takes visitors to an array of links for other ag-related organizations, agencies, tools and resources. Clicking on the Weather button sends visitors to a selection of weather sites for up-to-the-minute forecasts, watches and warnings.

In conjunction with the Web redesign, FFVA also has revamped its weekly newsletter for producer members, now called The FFVA Voice. The bottom half of the home page shows the headlines for the current issue of the Voice. The newsletter also is distributed by e-mail every Friday.

Member Resource Library:
This member-exclusive area is a repository for documents, background materials, links to other key Web sites, materials from FFVA committee and board meetings, and more. “We want the site to be as interactive as we possibly can make it, so we encourage members to tell us what else they would like to see on the site, particularly in the Member Resource Library,” Lochridge said.

Membership:
This area includes membership information as well as a summary of the services and programs FFVA offers. Members also can update their FFVA account information, change their login or password, view committee and Board of Directors rosters and contact information, and write their legislator or daily newspaper editor.

Events:
In addition to the FFVA and Ag Institute calendars, visitors to this area will find an at-a-glance look at all upcoming FFVA events. Clicking on a specific event will display a detailed description.

News Center:
The News Center is designed to be a resource for news media and the general public looking for information about FFVA or the produce industry in Florida. It includes links to FFVA’s publications as well as trade publications that report on agriculture. Reporters or bloggers looking for agricultural photos will find a wide selection of pictures in the Photo Gallery. Plans call for content to be continually added to the News Center.

Publications:
Member bulletins published by each of FFVA’s division can be accessed here. Members must be logged in to see the bulletins. This area also includes all of FFVA’s publications: The FFVA Voice, Harvester online and the annual report.

In addition to the updated Web site, FFVA has some other new tools to allow it to communicate with members. “We now have the ability to reach out in a targeted way to our membership with relevant information and news,” Lochridge said. “If there’s an issue relevant to growers in the Everglades Agricultural Area, for example, or maybe just sweet corn growers, we can target our information specifically to them.”