Well, after some blood, sweat and tears - the new Fred Astaire Website is up and running.

Previously, we were using a simple template generated site on Yahoo.com and was put together very nicely by our Office Manager, Brentney. However, since I began working at the studio, I rapidly found a need for a much more comprehensive site - particularly to provide much value added service to our students, as well as the community - which was whole-heartedly agreed upon by Amy and the staff.

For the "techies" out there - we decided to use a "content management system" that I could tailor to our studio's needs. This allows us to continue to expand the site easily without the need to rewrite more pages each time that we wanted to grow it.

The Fred Astaire Westerville studio has been in operation for 10 years. The Fred Astaire Dance Studio franchise has been operational for over 50. In that time, there has been tons of information created and a wealth of data that just isn't readily available for students. As part of that, we'll be publishing that as we move onto making it into a digital format to place on the site.

There is much more to come, but let me give you a taste of what is available on the site presently...

• Basic information for the new and/or beginner student to find out about dance and contact us
• The Fred Astaire Guidebook, for students to get oriented to our school (previously only available in booklet format - now available to registered users of the site)
• Our Calendar of events (never miss out on what's happening at Fred's)
• As well as various information about the school, our staff and the man himself, Mr. Fred Astaire.

I am presently developing the following content...

• "How To" sections for both beginning and advanced registered users (students active in the school)
• Our Store (purchase shoes, clothing, etc.)
• Our on-line newsletter (never miss out on social and Fred's happenings again)
• Our very own "Brag Book" (a gallery of photos from our many, many events throughout the years, archived)
• A Press book, which itself is a gallery of articles and such for those needing information about the years the school has been active.
• A Forum dedicated to our students.

So, you can see, there is lots to come. So, put us in your bookmarks and we'll see you in the studio and on the web!