Haitian Embassy Website In Serious Need of InnovationBy Bryan Schaaf on Monday, December 17, 2007.
see more topics in:
With all the problems facing Haiti, why harp on this website? Because it could be a useful portal for people interested in investing, for Diaspora interested in re-engaging, for individuals who want to learn more about and either visit or lend a hand somewhow.
What we intend to do is list some ideas that we have for improving the website, add your ideas to them, and then provide them to the Haitian Embassy. We'll do this at the end of Jan.
Concerning the featured links, Haiti's participation in the Smithsonian Folk Life Festival has been there for several years now. While it was a great awareness raising event, and a lot of fun, it is time to move on. Take it down and start planning some new events. The staff is small and doing so is a lot of work - so work with Embassies from other Carribean, Latin American, and African countries. Bring in artists, authors, business people, etc. Have the media present, record it on the website.
Video would be excellent, as they would reach more than just the people who physically attend the event. Reach back to Haiti and have footage of concerts and other noteworthy events such as the Jakmel Film Festival which may be of interest to people. Footage of the countryside would be great - most people don't realize just how beautiful Haiti can be. If people can click on Cap Haitian, Jacmel, Jeremie, and be connected to videos concerning these areas, this would be impressive.
On Haiti's history, it would be useful to add a prominent link on the front, or even include on the front page, vivid information about Haiti's history, what it means for the United States and the World. Haiti's history if one of its best assets, yet remains little used.
According to the Tourism section, "Haiti’s tourism is unlike any other in the Caribbean because this industry is slowly moving towards the bridge where the island’s charm, with a taste of the colonial past, meets the paradise forged under the Caribbean sun". I'm not sure what that means but my kaka detector just went off. Our advice would be to level with your readers - be honest about the difficulties, but also be clear about the benefits of visiitng Haiti. We think the latter outweighs the former.
The business section needs some work. There is so much information on the web about how long it takes to start a business and how difficult it is to deal with corruption. That's what Haiti is up against. If the Haitian government is serious about bringing in foreign direct investment, this is a good place to start advertising. It will take more than posting boilerplate - the website must address the concerns of entrepeneurs who would need to take out loans and take risks in order to start small businesses in Haiti. Fundamentally, the website must answer why it is better to invest in Haiti than the Dominican Republic. The Diaspora already knows the answer to this question and special efforts should be made to reach out to them. Lakay se Lakay.
I did find the section on business oriented organizations in Haiti useful though. By clicking here, you can see a range of Haitian Business Associations including the Haitian Association of Travel Agencies, the Association of Haitian Coffee Exporters, the National Association of Petroleum Product Distributors, the Franco-Haitian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and others.
Speaking of reaching out, it would be useful to have the option of viewing every page in Kreyol, French, and English. Why not reach out to as many people as possible?
Also, the website is sorely in need of updates. According to the website, Haitian History stopped in 1996. The latest economic and social information is from 1995. When you click on "Prime Minister' or "President" the website crashes - the last thing the website should do is suggest a coup took place.
Finally, it would be useful to have email links to the staff of the Embassy. This will help to create the impression that the staff is accessible. We hope they are accesible.
And hey, why not a blog?
These are our immediate thoughts on how the website of the Haitian Embassy in Washignton DC could be improved.
We welcome and will include your thoughts.
Bryan |
Search
Blogroll
Subscribe to our News
 Subscribe to the RSS feed for the site and receive the latest updates directly from our blog. |
Agreed, and more . . .
Great point. The site doesn't even provide a biography of the current ambassador, and many of the links don't work. Perhaps these ideas could be pushed down to the consulate level, too, to generate more localized diaspora activity.
Let's hope somebody from the GOH reads this post and takes some action.
Benefits of the internet and computer literacy
I actually found this site via a google search for a construction company in Haiti and I wholeheartedly agree with this post. Its very unfortunate because they (gov't) really haven't embraced the power of the internet. An updated website can certainly do its part in attracting visitors and much needed income to Haiti. In fact, its the cheapest form of advertisement in my book!
People are becoming more aware of the internet over there. My parents are from Nord-est and when I went Summer 07, a relative and I went to a preacher's home, paid a fee and got to surf for 30 minutes. True the speeds were less then stellar, but the point is, the internet is available to the public and that's a good thing.
However, my only quarrel is the lack of computer literacy. That same relative was studying a book that he got from school which were instructions on using a computer with a WINDOWS 98 operating system! I was floored.
Wylcef and Akon Perform in Port au Prince
Wycelf and Akon just performed a free concert in Port au Prince - the crowd was enormous, went well, and noone was hurt. Wyclef used it as an opportunity to invite other musicians to Haiti. He will perform in Senegal next year to thank Akon, who was born in Senegal. This is the kind of information I would love to see on the Embassy website - with video footage!
Post new comment