LAWRENCEVILLE — When Gwinnett Technical College student Erica Cooper was given an assignment to use Web media to market six Lawrenceville restaurants, she created a blog of information about the establishments.

The blog had brief descriptions of Dominick’s of Lawrenceville, Jack Brown’s Café, McCray’s Tavern on the Square, Oyster Bay Seafood Café, Sperata on the Square and Sweets on the Square, including menus and contact information.

While each of the restaurants has a Web site, Cooper said there wasn’t a place online that focused on dining in downtown Lawrenceville.

“There was nothing that tied them together,” said Cooper, a student in the hotel, restaurant and tourism management program.

Cooper’s idea prompted developer Emory Morsberger to create a Web site about the restaurants, www.lawrencevilledining.com.

Morsberger, who is revitalizing downtown Lawrenceville, has partnered with Mark Newton, Gwinnett Tech’s hotel, restaurant and tourism management program director, to develop a marketing campaign for the six restaurants.

“This has been a great win-win relationship,” Morsberger said. “We are learning together.”

Thanks to social media like Facebook and Twitter, Morsberger said, students are “tuned in much better than I will ever be.”

The partnership started with students in a food and beverage management class, but Newton said he plans to continue it in a marketing class.

“Visible students are successful students,” Newton said. “You never know when something like this opens up an opportunity for them.”

Cooper said she learned a lot in the class, which gave her the opportunity to meet the managers of the different dining establishments. She said she plans to continue working with Morsberger and the restaurants.

Morsberger said he’s open to any ideas the students have to make downtown Lawrenceville successful.

“People are seeking community,” he said. “A community is not centered around Wal-Mart, it’s not centered around the Mall of Georgia, and it’s not centered around some strip mall on Lawrenceville Highway. This is the center of the community. ... That’s what we’re trying to do here in Lawrenceville is build that sense of community, and the restaurants are kind of the focal point of the community.”