Using Flash to create a better website for a music group

Hi everyone,

I created a Flash portal for a multi-talented music group and just recently they’ve received many requests for performing, and this has prompted me to find ways that I can improve on the Flash homepage.

When I first began to work for the music group, the Flash portal was functional in only two ways: An animated introduction to the group, and a news slideshow. News slideshows such as the one on Comcast.net are Flash movies that link to HTML pages. That’s fine for right now, but we’re living in a Web 2.0 world and I’m excited to learn what I can do with Flash to satisfy the user’s experience and promote the content of the website better.

So far the only idea I’ve come with is to create some kind of contact form in Flash (if that’s possible) and add the form to the homepage. What I really want to avoid is the flashy, gimmicky uses of Flash. I don’t want people to wonder “why do I need to watch this animation for?”

Thanks!