KANSAS CITY, MO -- (Marketwire) -- 10/01/09 -- After two years and two overhauls, the Kansas City Direct Marketing Association (KCDMA) has a new website, www.kcdma.org, designed and created by Kansas City-based interactive marketing and web design firm, emfluence. KCDMA Executive Director Jane Male acknowledges the impact of a newly designed and reconfigured website on the association's image, saying, "The new site and new features like the Online Directory elevated KCDMA's professionalism."

The new searchable online directory has been a key improvement, making roster updates significantly easier for the administrative team and providing value to the membership in exposure and as a resource.

"The enhanced online directory took the association to another level, by allowing us to have real time data that is accessible and searchable for the members and as a means for the public to see the quality of who our members are," says Male. "It provides value for our members that they can be found on the website and can list their skills."

The website got more than a face-lift and new features, though. The final revision, completed just a couple months ago, was to the back end. A new Drupal-based solution, tailored to the needs of the association, was rolled out, providing an intuitive, user-friendly way to edit and update webpages.

Male comments, "[The content management system] is now administrator-friendly. It doesn't take a lot of training to figure out -- for us -- how to use it. It saves me steps in logging in... I log in once and can see all listing info. We haven't had nearly the support need we had before the change over."

As a nonprofit organization, Male and the association's focus has to be on efficient tools that support the KCDMA's purpose and goals. Fewer calls to support makes the new www.kcdma.org easier and less expensive to maintain. When the old content management system wasn't working, emfluence offered an alternative solution. "They brought the new [content editing] platform to the table," says Male. "They're proactive about supplying what a growing association needs."

In the current economy, KCDMA is doing well compared to other DMA chapters around the country. Male says meeting attendance has continued to be strong this year and is more than double the attendance the association saw just 4 years ago. She attributes that in part to the relaunched website. "I feel that the website has put us out there and provided more prospects and more people in the DM community the opportunity to get involved and network or find networking events. We're communicating more regularly and it's a lot easier for members and prospects to get information and learn about the association. They have 24 hour access to the database."

About KCDMA

The Kansas City Direct Marketing Association is a local chapter of the national Direct Marketing Association. KCDMA focuses on educating the Kansas City community on all aspects of Direct Marketing, as well as connecting and recognizing direct marketers through events and awards. To learn more about KCDMA and to become a member, visit the new site at www.kcdma.org.