When asked about whether to hire a photographer for a recent event, I responded, "Yes, by all means, people love good photos." But I had a caveat: "We have to make strong use of them." Too often I've seen valuable initiatives—photos, articles, websites—crafted excellently but then not get pointed to enough.

So when I saw that HCPro ran a 10-email welcome series last year in support of their Credentialing Resource Center's clean and formidable new website, I applauded. For their efforts, HCPro won a 2017 third place SIPAward in the category of Best New or Relaunched Website.

The emails were triggered when someone purchased membership. Here is a rundown of the focus of each email:

1 – Start enjoying your benefits at credentialingresourcecenter.com

2 – Need help navigating?

3 – Have a question? Visit our FAQ page

4 – Access the CRC member forums

5 – Visit CRC's news and analysis

6 – Take $100 off the upcoming CRC Symposium

7 – Visit the Career Center

8 – Need a definition? Access our encyclopedia

9. – Access our white papers and privileging tools

10 – Take advantage of all your membership benefits

As for the site itself, key upgrades included an engaging homepage with a photo-driven carousel, snapshots of CRC's latest content releases, retooled content categories, site markers, and search sorting criteria that support speedier, more precise site queries.

Here are more benefits offered on CRC's SIPAward-winning website:

1. A "My Content" element that allows members to cultivate a personalized library of the CRC offerings that matter most to their professional endeavors.

2. Members gain exclusive access to two or more brand new articles and resources per week online. Previously, print and digital issues of CRC publications were released on a monthly basis.

3. The site's seamless integration with HCPro's e-newsletter creation tool allows CRC editors to alert customers to newly available content in near–real time through HCPro's newsletters.

4. Each month, weekly articles are rolled into redesigned, full-color digital issues of HCPro's two flagship medical staff and credentialing newsletters, available for download on the CRC website.

5. The new CRC site allows editors to embed media directly into site pages, providing new benefits across all three CRC membership levels (Basic, Platinum and Platinum Plus).

6. A feature called "Heard this week" starts off each week's News & Analysis. This week's quote is "Aside from the humanistic reasons, we're also trying to make a point that organizations should invest money into preventing burnout ... If they don't do that, it can have a significant financial cost associated with it."

7. The CRC e-library features an evolving collection of best-selling e-books featuring how-to guidance on medical staff governance, peer review, credentialing and privileging, which Platinum Plus members can read online.

8. The Credentialing Encyclopedia is adapted from the popular HCPro book, Credentialing A to Z. It's "perfect for new entrants to the medical staff services and leadership fields and for those who simply need a refresher."

9. The CRC Forums allow members to "swap field-tested tips, tools and lessons learned on a range of hot industry topics." The platform replaces Medical Staff Talk, a members-only email listserv. Access is more direct, navigation faster and eight timely content categories promote better exchanges and searches.

10. A rotating collection of embedded site ads featuring relevant HCPro products make for an improved user experience.

11. Besides the above-mentioned, email welcome series, members can learn about all the features through a series of demos that visitors can stream directly on the CRC site, in addition to an FAQ section and a starter kit of helpful links.

12. The social buttons are more attractive and there's an embedded feed for CRC's growing Twitter account.

13. The 2018 CRC Symposium Case Study Competition and the 2018 CRC Achievement Awards are two application-based contests that showcase excellence in the medical staff services and leadership fields. Winners receive free admission to and recognition at the 2018 CRC Symposium in Las Vegas.

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Ronn Levine began his career as a reporter for The Washington Post and has won numerous writing and publications awards since. Most recently, he spent 12 years at the Newspaper Association of America covering a variety of topics before joining SIPA in 2009 and SIIA in 2013 as editorial director…