The Chelsea Blog was created in 2007 as a sidekick to the Things To Do In Chelsea website which was launched in 2005 and active until 2012. Things To Do In Chelsea was the primary online resource for residents and visitors in and around Chelsea Michigan. It was a busy hub of current events, information for visitors, lists of places to take classes, local groups to join, and contact information for community organizations, and a directory of businesses and more. Here's a walk down memory lane .. and oh-so-2006:
It was one of the first comprehensive community websites in the area, and was actively maintained and updated daily -- definitely a labor of love. I have many fond memories of those days! It gave me the opportunity to meet some amazing generous people in the community who not only wanted to share their own information, but help to share all other the great things Chelsea has to offer.
In 2010, I was asked to join a new committee of community leaders who were initiating the launch of a distinct city wide brand and marketing campaign. The spirit of the project to was to band together as businesses, organizations, government, and residents to collaboratively promote our city and help boost economic growth. We all benefit when the city is active and vibrant.
The new community website and marketing campaign was launched in 2011 as chelseamich.com, with a vibrant new brand, website, social media, ads, billboards, and more. It was a very exciting time to have so many people collaborating toward the same goals.
In 2012, I shut down the Things To Do In Chelsea website to focus my time on the chelseamich.com website and digital marketing, as I continued to grow my own web design and consulting agency (surelutions.com).
I was very proud to work on both Things To Do In Chelsea and later the ChelseaMich project with that amazing team. By 2017, unfortunately the financial support from the City of Chelsea and DDA was cut, which meant that instead of a dedicated team of three paid contractors working a collective 40 hours per week to connect, grow, and manage the marketing and website, we were down to just one paid contractor working 2 hours per month. I stepped down from the project in 2018.
These days, I still have fond memories of that original Things To Do In Chelsea website which sparked a community wide initiative. You can find remnants of that old site all over the internet -- like this super old blog that you have discovered. It was the first calendar and directory website I built, and I still love designing websites with those features. It's funny to recall how massive of a project that was back in the early 2000's, and how much easier it would be to create with today's technology.
If you'd like to connect, have questions, or have an idea for a resource website, feel free to reach out. Visit my website at surelutions.com or email me at leslie at surelutions dot com.
