The Branford-based web company with the funny name, Webbersaur.us,may have stumbled a bit in choosing a name so hard to spell, said co-owner Chris Hauman, but their tagline is spot-on: "Websites can survive extinction."
Hauman and his brother Bruce launched Webbersaur.us in November of 2007 with Chris stationed in Branford and Bruce remotely working as the tech-guy in North Carolina. Their idea was to create a content management system for a website that would allow a client to change content at the click of a mouse and keep product timely and fresh.
With websites having a tendency to be static, said Hauman, often times requiring the website builder to make changes, Webbersaur.us functions as a client- maintained system.
Hauman expounded, "We create websites for clients, make sure they are thrilled with it and then we hand them the keys and teach them how to drive." Gone are the days, said Hauman, of saying, "I can't find my web guy."
Webbersaur.us' sites are built with HTML and CSS code but the user never has to engage with the code if they don't want – the code is something Hauman usually tells the web inept not to touch.
Instead, customers can drag and drop photos to their site with ease. Text boxes can be added next to photos and coupons can be dropped next to the text boxes. In a matter of minutes, a web page can be custom built and ready for traffic (see video).
Sites powered by Webbersaur.us include the ability for clients to utilize email marketing.
"Our system," said Hauman, "empowers people to use their website as a marketing tool."
Webbersaur.us currently has a feature for clients to add a streaming Twitter feed to their pages and Hauman said Facebook feed is next on the to-do list.
Website creation usually takes about two weeks commented Hauman, but he also noted the Dockside Restaurant's website was created in seven days.
Once a site is created, the client pays for the initial product and then a monthly hosting fee begins. The hosting fee includes advances in CMS as new technology becomes available.
Currently Webbersaur.us has over 100 clients and Hauman can also now add the Town of Branford to the list. Hauman has built sites for the Parks & Recreation Department, which can now easily keep its pages updated with seasonal information.
Department Assistant Director Dale Izzo said she updates the Parks & Recreation's web pages, which is over a dozen, on a weekly basis. "We are totally satisfied," said Izzo, "and his [Hauman] customer service is excellent." Izzo commented that Webbersaur.us' tools grant her instant access to items that need immediate changes. "If there is a change in the basketball schedule," she said, "it can go up right away."Hauman is also proud to note the Branford Police Department as a client; its website launched in October. While the early success of a web start-up can sometimes go to an entrepreneur's head, Hauman is quite the opposite. He is a proud member of the Branford Chamber of Commerce and the recent recipient of their Volunteer of the Year Award. If you are curious as to how the CMS of Webbersaur.us works, see a video above, or visit the company's website.

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In November 2009, Webbersaur.us (pronounced "webbersaurus") co-founder Chris Hauman joined Branford Chamber of Commerce. One very busy year later, Chris will be honored, on Nov. 18, as Chamber Volunteer of the Year.

"I knew I was going to jump in full force, so that's why I waited a bit to join," says Chris, who started his web-based Branford business in November 2007.

To earn the recognition with such lightning speed is a testament to the energy and effort Chris contributes to Chamber programs and events.

"One of the reasons I'm so involved is how much I enjoy working with [Executive Director] Ed Lazarus," Chris says.

A member of the Public Relations and Marketing Committee, Chris says, "We have a lot of fun and get a lot of stuff done."

To help other Chamber members as well as community members, he's given Chamber seminars on how free Internet applications can increase the bottom line for small businesses. On the Chamber's Men of Branford Calendar Committee, Chris went the extra mile, becoming "Mr. October." His page's play on the Webbersaur.us dinosaur logo has Chris dressed à la Fred Flintstone, encountering a full-scale dinosaur statue.

In addition to his Chamber volunteer work, this Branford resident's branched out to support other hometown groups. Chris is on committees for Blackstone Library's annual Books, BBQ, and Blues (he designed and donated its website), Branford's 2010 Animal Awareness Day, and donated designing Dan Cosgrove Animal Shelter's 2011 fundraising pet-photo calendar.

As an active member of the Sound Network Group, Chris joins his network team at community service events like Community Dining Room's annual fundraising walk-a-thon. He dished out pasta at the network's Sauce for Singers fundraiser last spring to help defray unforeseen costs hitting the Branford High School choir after a volcanic ash cloud stalled its return from Italy.

With family ties to North Branford, Chris grew up in Guilford and moved here a little more than 12 years ago. He runs the marketing and sales end of

Webbersaur.us and his brother, North Carolina resident Bruce Hauman, is its programming mastermind.

"He created a system that allows anyone who can operate a mouse to edit their own website. We create the website, then we give the owner the keys so they can operate it and update it on their own," he explains.

It's such a cool tool, even some Town of Branford departments have signed on to spice up their sites.

"Branford Recreation has 30 pages on their site," says Chris, adding Branford's Police and Economic Development department sites also are revving up with help from Webbersaur.us.

If there's one question Chris gets asked most, it's about that cuddly-looking orange dino tracking across his website. The answer to "Why the dinosaur?" is the company's original tagline, "Websites can survive extinction," he explains.

"People who run businesses are really good at what they do," but they're usually not webmasters, Chris says. "This is a tool that allows them to try all kinds of different things by just dropping and dragging. It's a really strong business model that's finding a lot of happy clients."

Clients dot the eastern seaboard and one's even based in Chile, but Branford's where

Webbersaur.us will continue making its home, says Chris.

"I love the town. I don't see Webbersaur.us going anywhere else," he says.

Chris looks forward to assisting the Chamber in the future. He was recently elected to the Chamber's Board of Directors and will chair the Chamber's Expo site at the 2011 Branford Festival.

"After being with the Chamber for almost a year, it's such an honor to be recognized as Volunteer of the Year, to be voted on to the board, and named chair of the 2011 Chamber Expo," he says.

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