Flash Tours, the Dogwood Village Experience

Connie Parsons

 “We use our Flash virtual tour to show our website visitors around our new assisted living residences, conveniently from the comfort of their own home.  The pictures are worth a thousand words, but combined with descriptive captions and a tasteful background music, we have created an online experience that represents the lifestyle we offer.” 
 
- Patricia Talley, Director of Customer Service, Dogwood Village

 
Dogwood Village of Orange County was excited to open their new assisted living building, and even more excited to invite the community into the building for a tour.  To make it easier for community members to see the new building, they wanted to add pictures to their website.

By using Flash animation, they were able to enhance the user’s experience.  Let’s see how to do it…

First, you can work with a professional photographer to take high quality pictures of the building.  You could also use pictures you have taken yourself.  If you are an inexperienced or novice photographer, we recommend a couple of things: 1) review our article on Photography Tips; and 2) take your time, on the initial shots, and budget additional time to retake photos that are not quite right.

Then, choose your best 15-25 photos, and organize them in a manner that tells a story…entering the building, visiting various rooms or spaces as one might during a tour and highlighting the areas of particular interest to new residents and their families.  Create captions for the photos you choose that support the story.

Finally, the finishing touch will be audio. The simplest solution is to purchase a song from a royalty free music website. Tracks start at around $30. Another option is to record a voice narration for your tour. You can do this with a microphone and appropriate computer software. Your computer may even already be equipped for recording. You can also combine some narration with background music.
 
A Flash tour is a lovely way to feature a building or facility, but might also be used to highlight a service or program.  For assistance in planning your tour, please contact us.