Where oh Where has My Address Gone...

I am going to rant. I don't often rant but I am editing a 55 page document written orignally in the 80s in Wordperfect. Actually, it probably was originally written in the 70s on a word processor of some nature and before that typed on a real typewriter. Now, in the new millenium it is in Word, but has at least 20 years of various software and human formatting quirks. Needless to say, this project is driving me nuts. Of course, that is not my rant. As much as I may complain about incorrectly used tabs, spaces, and headers, I enjoy my job. Do save me from having documents with phone numbers formatted four or five different ways though!

Anyhow, what I am going to rant about is not normal printed document design. I am going to rant about web design. Why? Because of this: HOTEL FOX: The world's most exciting and creative lifestyle hotel. It is a lovely website. It looks like a fab hotel. I would love to go stay there I think. Of course, that is in the theoretical TW suddenly enjoys and has the funds, vacation time, etc... to schlep across the world in one of those flying tin cans to stay in a "creative lifestyle hotel."

I took a break from formatting to ponder the next step in this project. I opened my Bloglines. I clicked my Oishii feed. The Hotel Fox was on it. Hmmm...wonder what that is...click. I find this nifty hotel. WHERE is it though? I see the .dk. Hmm, maybe that is Denmark?(yes) I start clicking around. Obviously a hotel is going to have an ADDRESS right? Finally, in the contact area it does say that this hotel is in Copenhagen, Denmark. Lucky.

This still is a problem though. I see a cool place to go...I want to know WHERE it is. I don't necessarily want to click every link to find it. I also don't want to click all over the place only to find out there is NO address or just a street address. I can't tell you how many restaurants, clubs, museums I have read reviews of, or clicked some link to, only to get a 123 S Main Street type address. ARG. So hotels, bars, restaurants, museums: STOP ASSUMING everyone who ends up on your website will know where you are located. Stop thinking they are in the same city. The world is shrinking. If you want our business, you need to show us where to find your door.

A million Technorati Tags just because I rambled about all sorts of things: oishii, hotels, bars, clubs, museums, tourists, addresses, Hotel Fox, Denmark, Wordperfect, Word, rant, web design