Park benches will soon return to Selby Five Points Park, and city officials say they may even bring in more seating connected to local cafes. Sarasota city commissioners on Monday voted unanimously to reintroduce benches, more than four years after the last ones were taken out in an effort to deter vagrants from congregating there. “Just get the benches back,” said Sarasota City Commissioner Suzanne Atwell, “and we will see what happens.” Atwell, who was part of the vote in June 2011 to remove the last of the benches, said the decision was made then because individuals using the benches made it impossible for other residents to enjoy the park. Now, the city has several projects in the works aimed at activating the park with greater pedestrian activity.

City Manager Tom Barwin said he has already spoken with some adjacent businesses, notably a Starbucks location facing the northeast corner of the downtown park, about bringing tables and seating. That’s a very different approach than the city has taken on such issues in the past, not just in terms of treatment of the homeless but also when expanded al fresco dining generated controversy of its own. Barwin asked that the commission allow time for city staff and private sector partners to experiment with different uses of the park.

The decision to restore seating comes as opinion among some neighbors living near the park has also shifted. Peter Fanning, chair of the residents’ committee for the Downtown Sarasota Association and former president of the Downtown Sarasota Condominium Association, said the benches have stayed out longer than anyone anticipated. Meanwhile, homeless individuals have continued to use the park, but instead have laid on and trampled upon the grass there instead. “We need to reassert the rights of taxpayers who want the park for something more than dogwalking,” he said. Fanning also felt a greater way to deter problems was to have law enforcement present more often.

But much about the future of Five Points remains up for debate. Commissioner Susan Chapman said what parks throughout the city truly need is more planned positive uses. “This is not just about benches and just about seating,” she said. “The problem with the parks is there is no recreation or activation programming.” Having that sort of use, she said, will deter illicit activity like drug transactions and loitering. But Commissioner Shelli Freeland Eddie said some residents may not welcome the noise and environment of constant programming either. “Some people just want a place to sit and read and don't need activities,” she said. “They just need peace and air. I hope that is part of the equation.” 

Get your website ready now for 2016‑before you head out of the office for the holidays. Here are 10 tech tips to get done this December: 

1. Check your domain name(s) renewal dates and set a calendar reminder in advance of the expiration date to ensure you retain those critical URLs.
2. Review your website hosting package and backup strategy. Have your business needs changed? Do you need to update your plan? How frequently is a full backup of your website being completed?
3. Run a website statistics report and examine the results to evaluate where improvements can be made. Do your users only visit certain web pages and not others? Are any of your web pages displaying errors?
4. Perform and review SEO [search engine optimization] reports. Are your organic or paid efforts giving you the results you desire?
5. Adjust your website to be mobile-friendly and responsive. View your website from your mobile device(s) and see what it looks like. Does it load properly?
6. Download all current website content and posted documents. Is all content up-to-date? Do you need to make revisions to freshen up images or enhance new services or offerings?
7. Take the time to act as a customer and complete each online form on your website to see the process through to completion. Are forms easy to fill out? Once completed, are you directed to the appropriate thank you page? And, did you receive an accurate and timely response once the form was sent? Make sure to check your business email accounts set-up to receive the form to ensure your “test” was received.  
8. Review all e-mail addresses associated with your business. Delete old accounts, ensure your forwards are working and test each of these on your mobile device(s) as well.
9. Change all of your passwords to help protect the security of your accounts for the coming year.   
10. Add a blog. A simple authoritative post about your expertise to share with customers is a great way to create new content on an ongoing basis and boost your search engine ranking.

Performing these top 10 steps before the end of the year is a great way to wrap up your digital presence to hit the ground running in 2016. Happy New Year!

Pedro Pérez is a founding partner of Nuevo Advertising Group, and an adjunct professor of Global Brand Strategies at Ringling College of Art and Design. For over 17 years, Perez has offered clients his knowledge and expertise. Perez has always demonstrated a keen analytical sense combined with a good dose of common sense in crafting digital and online marketing strategies as part of an integrated marketing plan. 

Dream Sporting Trips announced Jillian Hollywood as the company’s director of Sales and Marketing. Hollywood will be responsible for all inbound and outbound marketing, search engine optimization, budget management, advertising and original content creation. She holds an master’s in Business Administration from Argosy University and a bachelor’s from the University of South Florida. 

Dream Sporting Trips

The Education Foundation of Sarasota County has opened a Texcellence Digital Learning Lab at Lamarque Elementary School in North Port. The grand opening was held Monday afternoon. 

The Education Foundation of Sarasota County

At the annual reorganization meeting of the School Board of Sarasota County Nov. 17, members of the board elected Shirley Brown as chairwoman. Brown succeeds Frank Kovach and will serve until the board’s next annual election of the chair in November 2016.  Caroline Zucker was elected vice chair for the same term. 

Sarasota County School Board