Yesterday, we launched several new enhancements to the Dell Event Community Site. We originally launched the Dell Event Community Site in August of last year and it has served as a central repository and user view for all Dell events since then. The goals of the most recent launch were to 1) position the website as more global, appealing to users in different regions and 2) overall, enhance the functionality on the website to optimize the website for Dell customers browsing events.

Enhancements to the website include:

Optimizations to the "Filter Events" Tool

Events are catalogued on the Dell Event Community Site based on "Event Type" and other taxonomies.
This update included the addition of new categories for Event Types, Topics, and Industries and a new taxonomy: Content Focus.

Past Webcasts

Visitors to the website and Dell customers can now view past webcasts and register to watch specific webinars.

"Browse by Location" Tool

To appeal to visitors from all over the world, we implemented a "Browse by Location" tool powered by Google Maps API v3.
Zoom in/out or use your cursor to navigate the map and see where Dell events are happening. Click on a pinpoint to drill down into a specific region and get more information on the events happening in that area.
In order to keep page load down, we needed to store the latitude and longitude of each event in WordPress. We looped through each event and used Google's Map API to search and return the latitude and longitude for that location. We then used those values to map our custom markers on the map.
Due to the large amount of markers on the map, we utilized a custom Google Maps utility called 'MarkerCluster v3'. Using this, we were able to group events based on their reference to each other. We also customized the pin icon to give it a better user experience.
To give it more of a custom look and feel, we customized the pop-up window information to give the user an easy-to-use reference to the event's details.
Finally, we wanted to give the user a way to reset the map back to its original state. No matter what map setting or zoom level, the map will return to its original settings if the user selects "Reset Map".

Later this summer we'll be launching more updates to the Dell Event Community Site. Stay tuned!

More Ways to Browse Dell Events!