Harbor Country®
Hot Deals, Packages, Last Minute Specials
Guidelines and Policies
Enacted November 10, 2005
Updated February 25, 2008
 
These policies have been updated to reflect the newest upgrades to the interactive Hot Deal Posting application on the web site which includes new features such as images, improved posting schedule, review processing, expanded description length, and login security.
 
1.

This is a FREE service only to In-Area Chamber members, for promotion on harborcountry.org.
   
2. Hot Deals postings are intended as promotions for discounts, special offers, or exchanges for products and/or services (such as tickets to entertainment/events). Hot Deals postings are not to be used for lodging availability, news updates such as business hours, changes in phone numbers, addresses or promotion of an event that offers no monetary discounts, etc.
   
  Your Hot Deal posting must state a specific discount or cost savings, percentage off a total purchase price, or a package that offers your customers value or convenience.
   
3. Packages (e.g. lodging with dining and a movie) do not have to be discounted offers, as long as they offer visitors convenience and value at a set price. Packages may include lodging plus dinner, a gift certificate for shopping, entertainment, winery tours, massage therapy, games, etc. at a set price.
   
4. Last Minute Specials This feature allows members to promote a last minute cancellation/vacancy at hotels/rentals, retailers who want to unload excess inventory, or even a last minute sale you want to announce. In the case of a listing for a lodging cancellation, it is advised to contact the Chamber office to remove the listing as soon as the vacancy is filled.
   
5. Placement. You must specify a firm Start Date and Ending Date for your Hot Deal posting. Hot Deals, Packages, and Last Minute Specials will be placed on the list in the order received (not alphabetically or any other order). The system automatically date stamps each posting and inserts them chronologically within each Business Category (Accommodations, Dining, Services, Shopping)
  Images. The Hot Deals postings will insert an image of your business that is imported from your member profile. Each member is entitled to a 1-time free image posting for their profile. There will be a surcharge for changing or updating this image. If your Hot Deal does not display an image, it means that there is no image in your profile. To arrange insertion of this image, email: webmaster@harborcountry.org with attached image in .jpg or .gif format. If you have an image editor, please resize image to 120 px wide by 90 px high.
   
6. You may submit multiple Hot Deal postings, Packages, or Last Minute Specials as long as timeframes do not overlap. The system will detect overlapping dates and display an error on the posting page. Each posting will appear on the beginning date(s) you have specified, and will be removed automatically at 11:59:59 PM on the Expiration date. Expired postings are automatically purged permanently from the database. You may however post multiple listings within the same timeframe as long as there is one of each category, Hot Deals, Packages, and Last Minute Specials.
   
7. All postings will be reviewed by HC Administrative staff for policy compliance. Any submissions that do not comply with these policies will be not be published.
   
8. You can post your Hot Deals at any time 24/7. They will be queued for review and once approved will be "published" to the site within 3 business days. Every effort will be made to publish your Hot Deal, Package or Last Minute Special on a timely basis, however there may be other priorities, particularly in the busy season, that may cause unavoidable delays. For this reason we ask members to make every attempt to plan ahead and submit Hot Deals well in advance of your target publish date.
   
9.

TEXT COPY & MAXIMUM 75 WORD DESCRIPTION Postings will include a 75 word maximum text description of Hot Deal or special offer. We MUST limit the description to no more than 75 words to keep Postings brief and to the point. Descriptions exceeding the 75 word limit will trigger an error message on the posting page and prompt you to revise your description.
Tips: Numerals count as words, punctuation marks and special characters such as @#$%^&*+ - [ ] ( ) do not. The Business Name, City Location, Phone, Email and Web Address are included in your listing but not counted as part of the 75 word text description. Therefore it is recommended to leave out contact information in your description, as it would cut into your 75 word count, and would be redundant, since it is already part of the header in your Hot Deal listing.

Suggestions:
If you wish to provide more detail on your Hot Deal, Packages, Last Minute Special, you can create a Hot Deals page on your own web site with as much detail as you wish. Be sure to list any limitations, deadline dates or restrictions. Just type in the URL (web page address) of your own Hot Deals in "Web Address" field on the posting form, and it will automatically link to that page on your site.

Editorial Style
All Hot Deal posting requests are reviewed for content and editorial style before posting. The USE OF ALL CAPS or Use Of Proper Case Words In A Sentence (First Letter Capitalized) is not an acceptable content style for Hot Deals postings, and is limited to use in places where appropriate, such as editorial column headers, events promotion, collaboration and copyrighted press content, press releases or visual graphic effects. In order to maintain a professional and consistent look to our pages, the Chamber reserves the right to edit postings to comply with this editorial style.

   
10. Hot Deals, Packages & Last Minute Special postings are only available to in-area Chamber & HCLA members in good standing.
   

For prompt processing, you can submit your Hot Deals posting on our online form. You must Log In using your “Membership Number” to access Hot Deals posting form in the member login area: www.harborcountry.org/login If you have forgotten or do not have your Membership Number, contact the Chamber and Lodging Office: 269-469-5409 or email chamber@harborcountry.org

If you do not have Internet Access, you may send your Hot Deal by fax to 269-469-2257. However it is not our preferred method. Please provide the following details for your listing:

Your Business Name
Name of Town/City
Phone Number (with Area Code)
Email address (if applicable)
Web Site address (if applicable)
Specify whether it is a Hot Deal or a Package
Specify the Starting Date and Ending Date for your posting to run (max 31 continuous days)
Specify Offer Expiration Date. (Your ad may run 31 days but your offer may extend further out)
75 Word Text Description of your Hot Deal/Package
   
Updated Feburary 25, 2008