The Port Cities Dining Guide was created as a local/regional smartphone application to assist users with searching and locating area restaurants and eateries. It also host the Louisiana Food Prize.
The project was created as a partnership between Praeses Business Technologies and The Times - Times Media. The Times would provide and manage content and promotion, and Praeses would tackle the creative and development of the app.
There was a dual purpose in creating and developing the Port Cities Dining Guide app: to give local and regional users, and guests to the Shreveport-Bossier City area, the ability to search and find good eating/drinking experiences; and to create an environment that would nurture and host area food contests, like the Louisiana Food Prize.
Praeses Business Technologies examined all the dining guide apps out in the app stores to assess what name and what functionality would assist with creating a popular and user-friendly app. With further examination and some brainstorming sessions with The Times staff, the Port Cities Dining Guide was born.
The other major challenge was to create an app with active GPS functionality, allowing users to search for restaurants nearby or to be able to locate the directions to a certain restaurant. The GPS functionality would also assist in hosting the Louisiana Food Prize competition, giving them the ability to limit voting for a restaurant to proximity of the user.
Another interesting challenge was to have the Port Cities Dining Guide host food contests in the area, starting with the Louisiana Food Prize in September 2015. Giving the contest owners the ability to limit voting made the app a true success.
Praeses Business Technologies designed and created initial layouts for the app along with a comprehensive database of local restaurants. The Times provided input as well as Times review links to the database. Finally, the Louisiana Food Prize was added to the app as the first contest. After a short six-week work period, the app was pushed out to iTunes and Google Play stores.
“Too few know you can just walk down the block in Shreveport to one of the top technology teams in the country to get something built to spec. Their customer service, updating, brainstorming, and designing solutions to what was invaluable to us and to the end result.”
“We partnered with Praeses because we know their talent, know we can trust them, and they aren’t afraid to break a sweat if needed in order to make a deadline.”
Alan English
President and Publisher, Times Media & The Times