(Simon's Version)
Sometime the Summer of 2000 John had this brilliant idea to create a website for his small band of “Artisans” as he called them. As a fairly new web designer it seemed like an ideal way of learning more about my craft in a practical way.
Those initial seven people really took a leap of faith, they came on board willingly and we suddenly had a small core of members. I don’t think any of them had a computer at the time, let alone an internet connection. It was amazing really!
John and I struggled to recruit new people over the coming year or two, and we gave as much time as we could to promoting the site. This really took the form of 'networking' and putting small ads in the Sussex Express. By the end of 2001 we had just over 50 members.
It was not until Robin contacted and joined us in the spring of 2002 that the promotion of the site stepped up several notches. Robin breathted new life into LA, and her effort and creative marketing ideas have been invaluable.
Over the next 4 years we increased our presence in the town by appearing at Farmers’ Markets, local events, as well as keeping up the advertising in the local press. We began to produce printed directories, realising that although Lewes was dragging itself into the 21st century technologically, there were a great many townsfolk who still didn’t have an internet connection.
Recently the site has been a success at every level. Once we reached the critical mass of over 100 members, there seemed to be no stopping us. At the peak we had over 130 signed up members. A great many artisans have had a lot of work through us, and are very sad that we are "closing down".
However, what started out as a non-profit enterprise was suddenly competing with other local directory-type websites and free printed directories where people were making it their business. We had a decisions to make, we either had to change the nature of LA, or do something different that set us further apart from the "competition". As we all have day jobs (albeit in my case not unrelated to LA) we collectively didn't have the resources to turn LA into a real profit making business. Eventually, and reluctantly, we decided that 6+ years was great while it lasted and we should quit while we were ahead.
Although the site has gone through a few design changes in the last 6 years, including this version, the distinctive colours have remained almost the same throughout (although various printed material has differed wildly, especially the 'brown' colour) giving an instantly recognisable look.
