The City of Great Bend has finished the first phases of its website revision, and is now developing a template for the new site, Public Relations Director Addison Crites told the City Council last week.

The City of Great Bend and the Convention and Visitors Bureau are both busy getting ready for the Home for the Holidays celebration and other holiday events. Crites and CVB Director Amanda Gaddis gave brief reports on other activities at the Nov. 14 Great Bend City Council meeting.

The website’s homepage will have an interactive video with different views of the city.

“We’re pretty excited about how that’s going to turn out,” Crites said. The project is on track for a launch date in May.

Gaddis noted that the Great Bend Events Center continues to attract conventions. Back in October, CVB hosted the KanSPRA (Kansas Schools Public Relations Association) conference at the Events Center, with about 80 people attending.

“We had an Explore Great Bend night, where I made a little passport,” Gaddis said. She contacted local retailers to create the passport. Visitors went to those stores, got their passports stamped, and were entered in a drawing for an Explore Great Bend basket. They ended their night at Dry Lake Brewing.

Last week, CVB hosted the Kansas Museum Association Conference, with about 150 in attendance, in partnership with the Shafer Art Gallery at Barton Community College, Gaddis continued. They attended a traveling reception on Nov. 14, visiting the Barton County Historical Society, the Kansas Oil and Gas Museum and then ended the day at the Shafer Art Gallery, where they had dinner.

The Shafer Art Gallery celebrated the unveiling of its “Museum Exchange” exhibition with music, light refreshments, and a gallery discussion. The collaborative exhibition unites 11 art institutions and four community partners in a shared celebration of creativity, cooperation, and community spirit. The show will run through Dec. 13.