Guam Business Internet Guide
By Jessica A. Marati

As Guam’s online presence expands, local businesses are learning that striking the right blend of form and functionality is the key to establishing a successful Web site. Below are several sites that incorporate useful features with snazzy design, changing the way Web users use the Internet to connect with Guam and the Pacific.

Guampedia
www.guampedia.com

After three years of planning and development, the long-awaited Guampedia is finally here. This comprehensive online encyclopedia, which launched last April, is the first of its kind in the region and features a wealth of information about Guam and Chamorro culture. The site consists of hundreds of locally-generated entries, written by some of Guam’s finest scholars and supplemented with high-quality images, maps and diagrams.

Guampedia’s home page is vibrant and user-friendly, and draws in visitors with prominent photographs. An embedded video recounts the Chamorro legend of Puntan and Fu’una, and hopefully, similar multimedia features are in the works.

Current encyclopedic subject categories are varied, and include Ancient Guam; Economics and Commercial Development; Health and Medicine; Interpretive Essays; Politics and Government; Religion; Sports and Recreation; and Villages, Historic Places and Island Life. The entries are cross-referenced, so it is easy to spend hours clicking from one page to the next.

Guampedia is a project of the Guam Humanities Council, in cooperation with the University of Guam, the Department of Chamorro Affairs, the Guam Museum, the Guam Library, the Guam Department of Parks and Recreation, Division of Historic Resources, the Archdiocese of Agana, Micronesian Seminar and the Richard F. Taitano Micronesian Area Research Center. The site is still in progress, with new pages being added as they are produced.

Cars Plus
www.carsplusguam.com

The Cars Plus Web site is built for speed... speedy connections, that is. Log on, and a speedometer pops up to display the load time until a flashy animated graphic, featuring slick vehicles zooming in and out of a simulated Cars Plus parking lot, appears onscreen. Cool mood music complements the cool blue-gray color scheme.

Luckily, the site offers substance in addition to its racy design. The “Inventory” feature allows users to browse Cars Plus’s selection of new and used vehicles, offering handy information like make, model, price, number of available vehicles and photo. With one click, the user can then choose to get a quote, contact a salesperson, get approved for credit or schedule a test drive.

The other tabs are equally useful. By clicking on the “Research” link, visitors can gain access to a number of handy tools, like a payment calculator that allows them to quickly view monthly payments for a vehicle purchase and a form for determining the trade-in value of a given vehicle. The “Finance” tab makes it easy to learn about financing a new vehicle, and the “Specials” tab delivers a list of current promotions. Users can also order parts and schedule a service appointment through the “Parts/Service” tab.

The “Company Info” section offers a wealth of information on the locally owned business, including a concise history of the company, a directory of employees, an image gallery, an events calendar, customer testimonials and an application form for employment. The Cars Plus motto is “Driven to Satisfy;” its Web site offers nothing less.

House of Brutus
www.brutus671.com

House of Brutus is still one of Guam’s hottest hangouts, so it’s fitting that its Web site reflects the bar and lounge’s hip atmosphere. With cool graphics, modern fonts and contemporary design elements, the Web site screams urban bistro, with a touch of island style.

The site devotes equal parts to Brutus’s dining and nightlife. Menus for breakfast, lunch and dinner are available through links in the header, and an online reservation form allows prospective diners to reserve a table. The “Happy Hour” section features information on Brutus’s famous nightly specials.

The site simplifies nights out with an events calendar that pays tribute to the birthdays of jazz legends like Louis Armstrong and Miles Davis. The weekly live-music schedule is available by clicking on the “Music” tab, and basic information on the venue is listed in the “About Us” section. Partygoers can also view snapshots from Brutus events on the “Photos” page. At press time, there were a limited number of photographs in the gallery, but Brutus invites customers to submit their own images by e-mail and offers free gift certificates for selected photos.

Guam Energy Office
www.guamenergy.com

The Web site for the Guam Energy Office is, well, energetic. Utilizing simple fonts and a bright blue and yellow color scheme, and abandoning fancy elements in favor of a clean design, the iCON-designed site screams modernity and innovation.

The content of the site is basic. An “About the Office” link offers a straightforward description of the Guam Energy Office along with contact information, an organizational listing and the office’s official mandate. Budget information and links to past audits help the government agency maintain its transparency.

A sidebar provides links to various Guam Energy Office programs and projects. These pages offer most of the site’s multimedia content. The link for the “Edean Alentos Para Famaguon Energy Ideas for Children” newsletter features downloadable PDF issues of the publication, while the “Electronic Media Campaign” link offers a number of commercials for download in AVI video and MP3 audio formats. Visitors can also view recent winning entries from the office’s annual poster and essay contest; view photos from the launch of the “Change A Light, Change The World” campaign; and learn how to apply for a free household energy audit. The site excels at presenting the government agency’s activities clearly and effectively, without the burdensome bureaucratic nonsense we’ve come to expect from government sites.

Guam After Dark / ST Corporation
www.guamafterdark.com

Enter a birth date, click “Enter” and enter the world of Guam After Dark. The new site is the Web home of ST Corp., the local distributor of Corona, Smirnoff, Captain Morgan, Bailey’s, Cuervo and Jagermeister, among other liquor brands. The feel of Guam After Dark is sexy and alive, and the Web site is too. A funky animated header pulses with the beat of an unheard song, while a strobe light streams across images of a DJ and a spunky female.

The links are simple. The “What’s Hot” section lists several local hotspots, which at press time were limited to Club 7 Deuce, Ralphy’s and Club Pash. Clicking on the link for “In the Clubs” brings up a list of “where the beautiful people are” — more specifically, it lists the locations of weekly ST drink specials at bars and clubs around the island. “Recipes” offers a comprehensive collection of mixed drink recipes featuring ST liquors, with standards like the Alabama Slammer alongside concoctions like the French Coocoo and the Kahlua Surfer.

The real draw is the “Gallery,” which features photographs from ST sponsored events like the annual Bartending Competition and Pastries in Paradise. The photos are slow to load and do a distracting pop-out when they appear, but they offer a true taste of Guam nightlife, sans hangover.

Fish Eye Marine Park
www.fisheyeguam.com

The Web site for Fish Eye Marine Park is a fantastic example of how the local tourism industry can utilize the Internet to promote Guam’s natural resources. The site, available in English, Japanese and Korean, uses beautiful imagery and makes excellent use of multimedia to offer a preview of the marine park’s offerings to prospective visitors.

Photo and video figure heavily in the site’s design from page one, which features a prominent image header and an embedded video tour of the Asan attraction. Visitors can learn more about the Marine Preserve, explore the Underwater Observatory, check out the Visitor Center, get location information and find answers to frequently asked questions through a series of links on the left side of the page.

Site users can also browse through a number of “Optional Tours” by clicking on the tab above the image header. This section provides information on packages like the Bomb-hole Snorkeling Tour, the Dolphin-Watching Tour and the Polynesian Dinner Show. In addition to detailed descriptions and pricing information, the site also offers sneak peek videos for each of the tours along with quick and easy online booking capabilities.

Other highlights include a photo gallery featuring images from local underwater photographer Tim Rock; a special section showcasing Rock’s Marine Adventures around the world; and a Fish Checklist providing detailed descriptions of the marine life one can expect to find at Fish Eye. A notice on the home page declares that new features, including flash photo galleries, optional tour video clips and popup reservation screens, are in the works.

Guam Adventist Academy
www.gaasda.org

For a small school, Guam Adventist Academy’s Web presence is huge. The Yona school’s Web site is well-designed and offers a number of nifty, useful features for members of the GAA community as well as prospective students.

The Web site excels at incorporating various forms of multimedia. The home page features a video message from the principal, a personal touch that is rarely seen on school sites. Visitors can also access multimedia content from the Podcasting class, which spent the 2007-2008 school year learning about the multimedia recording and editing process. The students’ radio spots, which aired on Joy 92 in spring 2008, and school advertisements are available for download in MP3 format.

The site also aims for utility. A blog provides short news updates, while a notice about the upcoming parent-teacher conference invites parents to make appointments via e-mail. The staff directory provides parents with quick access to teacher information, including names, descriptions and photos of each staff member, along with the classes they teach, their special interests, their favorite quotes and, in keeping with the school’s religious affiliation, their favorite biblical texts.

Another nice touch is the “Back to School” section, which provides tips for student success along with links to articles on subjects like “The Role of Sleep in Memory” and “Exercise and Grades.” The site could benefit from replacing its generic stock imagery with photos of the actual students and school, but on the whole, it is one of the more useful and attractive local school Web sites.

Government of Guam Employees Federal Credit Union
www.ggefcu.com

When the Government of Guam Employees Federal Credit Union opened its services to the local community, it changed its Web presence to match its level of accessibility. The new GGEFCU Web site is attractive and userfriendly, with simple lines and an island-inspired color scheme.

The site’s home page focuses on functionality. The main bar flashes current promotions, while a sidebar prominently displays current interest rates. The main sections of the site are accessible through tabs running along the top of the page, which reveal time-saving drop-down menus when scrolled over with a mouse. Or visitors can explore the site through another set of drop-down menus on the left side of the page, which offers options like “Apply for a loan,” Access member services” and “Log into …,” “Sign up for …” and “Learn more about …”

The site offers all the services users have come to expect from an online banking system. GGEFCU customers can log in and have immediate access to their account information in real time, while prospective customers can explore GGEFCU’s credit card, loan, saving and checking options. The site also offers loads of information about the bank’s history, community partners, boards and committees. Users can download PDF versions of the credit union’s quarterly newsletter or sign up for e-news updates for information on recent developments. “At GGEFCU, we make decisions together – like a family,” reads an open letter in the “About GGEFCU” section. The site’s extensive, accessible offerings are proof that the credit union takes its commitment seriously.

Sam’s Tours Palau
www.samstours.com

Sam’s Tours in Koror, Palau, is one of the most well respected dive operations in the Pacific, and its Web site reflects its commitment to quality. The site opens with an aerial image of Palau’s Rock Islands, over which flashes the company logo and motto: “A Reflection of Excellence.” The site features an overwhelming number of pages and information on everything from the company’s history to Palauan culture to accommodation options.

Naturally, the majority of content relates to Sam’s Tours offerings, which range from basic scuba diving excursions to certification courses. Interactive maps allow visitors to explore Palau’s most famous dive sites, like Turtle Cove and Shark’s Hole, through photos, diagrams and written descriptions of the site and the marine life one can view there.

Information on Sam’s other operations, which include the Royal Belau Yacht Club, Bottom Time Bar and Grill, and Sam’s Logo Pro Shop, is easily accessible on the site. Visitors can also learn about taking tours of the Rock Islands with Planet Blue Kayak Tours and going on multi-day dive excursions with Eclipse Live-Aboard Diving.

Sam’s Tours prides itself on its global community of clients, and the Web site offers a special Customer Corner where guests can write comments for the guest book, send photos for the galleries, submit trip reports and share other personal experiences. Sam also maintains a personal blog, on which he posts entries about diving, marine life and issues facing Palau.

Marianas Visitors Authority
www.mymarianas.com

On first load, the Web site for the Marianas Visitors Authority presents the Northern Mariana Islands as a slice of paradise, complete with lone palm trees, blazing sunsets, crystal clear waters and dozens of plumerias. While the rest of the site doesn’t offer the snazzy design of the home page, it does present basic visitor information in a clear, straight-forward manner. Links to the home page correspond to the core sections of the site: Our Islands, Golf, Dive, Activities, Events, Accommodation and Trip Essentials.

The “Our Islands” section allows visitors to delve into the culture, history and environment of the Northern Mariana Islands. Individual pages describe the main attractions on the islands of Saipan, Tinian and Rota, but the capsules of information are disappointingly short. The highlight of the section is a set of interactive Flash maps allowing users to explore the islands through a series of mouse clicks. Information is available on key points of interest throughout the Northern Marianas. For instance, click on the location of the Taga Stone Quarry on the island of Rota and a small box containing a brief description and photo will pop up.

The other sections emphasize the Northern Marianas’ golf and dive offerings. Web surfers can also learn about other recreation options, upcoming events and accommodations in the islands. Under “Trip Essentials,” prospective visitors can learn all about planning a trip to the Northern Marianas, including information about entry requirements, flights and currency. The site offers everything one needs to know about the Northern Marianas.

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