We are really looking forward to getting rolling on this one!

In 2007 OncouRSS was mandated by the World Kayak Federation to create a place where paddlers could blog.  Tired of trying to find kayaking conversation in the vast outreaches of cyberspace, the directors of World Kayak wanted to provide a single place for whitewater conversation.  OncouRSS created www.worldkayakblogs.com out of WordPress MU.  This groundbreaking content publishing system allowed us to instantly create a network of blogs… complete with simple registration system, custom layouts folks could select from (150+ now) and the ability to point a domain to the blogs so they can be used as web sites.  The end result for World Kayak has been that the market literally gathers around them and hangs out!  This provides a simple means for World Kayak to market its programs.  Today worldkayakblogs.com is the single largest private WordPress MU!  With over 5500 members and an average of 500 posts a day, this site is the core of the boating community and its #1 trafficked site.

In 2008 the Art of Being Green festival approached OncouRSS for a strategy on how to keep content fresh on their ’socially pertinent’ web site.  They were also trying to find ways to attract exhibitors and attendees.  OncouRSS suggested the creation of a blog network for ‘green minded’ exhibitors.  Again with WordPress MU, OncouRSS built a full network of blogs for their exhibitors and friends.  Each ‘green’ exhibitor now has a blog spot at the site and all posts go to the main screen of Artofbeinggreen.com … keeping the mainscreen fresh with socially conscious thought and news!

There are other great applications to these tools.  The good news is that they are continually improving and creating more and more opportunity to engage your market by literally hosting them and providing a means for them to converse.

With a simple WordPress web site, they have ensured that their content is pertinent, timely and interesting.  From there they connected to a growing number of Friends via Facebook and the word of mouth process began.  Continual updates to the facebook page and the blogspot ensure that all who are subscribed to the feeds are being updated… along with their friends, and their friends… and so on.  Google provides the complex calendar they have for their month long events and Google Analytics oversees the statistical reporting on their marketing efforts as they convert to traffic.  In addition, the MM Bicycle Month folks are reaching out and involving their markets with online surveys (Survey Gizmo - a WordPress plug in) and are using a customizable forms system to track folks activities in their Community Challenge system.

June 2010 is Mississippi Mills Bicycle Month… join us in the valley!

With a combined 40+ years in managing and marketing festivals, Shelley and James are on site lending some insite as to how finance-conscious event managers can deliver a big bang for few dollars.  The topics will review all the free social networking options out there as well as some cutting edge ‘open source’ and on-line web options available out there.  If your around, join us!

Event is being held March 3rd to 6th, at the Crown Plaza in Ottawa, Ontario.

The first step was to have a place on the web where ‘ambassadors’ could log in and download event kits.  These kits gave event planners and volunteers an entire event outline in a box.  It handed them sponsors, municipal event application forms, waivers, step-by-step instructions on how to host an event and, more importantly, it gave them the marketing plan.  The marketing plan included the following:

• a web site where event managers could profile their event and list it among all others
• a web screen participants could register online for any of the events
• a system that allowed for scores to be entered for any competitive events
• a tool that allows for immediate results posting
• a blog that hosted event blogs showing the true colors of the event (text, photo, video)
• a live streaming toolset to be used to stream any event live on the web

One such event series is the Hometown Throwdowns… a grassroots whitewater series spanning the globe.  Organizers have the above mentioned tools and more and garner a growing amount of traffic to each event due to the coverage and services they provide via the system OncouRSS has developed for organizers.

Check it out: www.worldkayakblogs.com

We have currently finished the design phase and are in the process of populating the Board site.  This one is going to be A++!

To login: https://www.cgis.com/CommunityPALmanager/Login.aspx

1. Enter your Username and Passoword

Login to CGIS Community Pal Manager

2. Click the “Proceed to Search Form” button.

3. Search for any record in the database - you need to open a record in order to modify the categories.  You can search on a word that STARTS the phrase / business name or a word that is IN the phrase / business name.

4. Open a record by selecting the one you want in the drop-down and clicking the “Select” button.

Select a business / record

5. Click the Categories button at the top of the screen.

Go to the Categories section

6.  This will display the primary category/s that relate to the business you have selected.  To see the secondary category/s click the primary category - to see the tertiary (third level) category/s click the secondary category.

View the record categories

7. To add a new Secondary or Tertiary category (Primary categories need to be added by CGIS) enter the category name underneath the appropriate category level and click “Add New Secondary / Tertiary”.  This will add your new category name to the drop-down list.

Add a new category

8.  To add the new category to your selected record use the drop-down field and select it.  Click the “Add Secondary / Tertiary Category” button.  Whether or not you add this category to the current record, it will be available to assign to any other record in the system.

Assign the new category to your record

9.  To delete a category from a record or in other words to un-assign it, highlight the category, check the “Delete Category” box and click the appropriate “Delete Category” button.

Delete the category from the record

10. To delete a category from the system, or in other words to purge it from the system, it needs to be listed in one of the three category windows (Primary, Secondary or Tertiary) of the record you are in.  If the category you want to delete does not relate to the record you are working in then assign the category in question to the open record temporarily, highlight it, check off the “Purge Category” box and click the “Delete Category” button.

Purge the category from the system

11. You will get a warning when you want to totally remove a category from the system.  If you are sure you want to proceed then click OK.

Purge warning

Purge confirm

1. First go to Google and click on the Images link.

Open Google Image

2. Click on Advanced Image Search

Select Advanced Image Search

3. Input image description, file size (select medium if you don’t want to have to resize the image after download) and user rights - labelled for reuse means you can re-publish the image.  Click the Google Search button.

Set the advance image search options

4. Select the image that suits your needs re: content and size.

Select the image that best suits your needs

5. Click on the image you are interested in. For a thumbnail size image you can right-click on the thumbnail, select “Save Picture / Image As” and save it directly to your working folder.  For the full size image left-click the link “See full size image”

Download your image

6. Right-click on the full-size image and select “Save Picture / Image As” and save to your working folder.

Save image to your working folder

This site was designed based on their most recent visitor guide parameters and allows visitors to post events to the calendar and to search tourism attractions by category, search word or map.

Here is how to download and install it:

1. Visit the Irfanview website and download the software from one of the mirror sites listed (I like to use Tucows, they are reliable and fast). http://www.irfanview.ca/

Download Irfanview from one of the mirror site links on the download page

Download Irfanview from Tucows

2. Go to the downloaded, saved file and double-click to install the software.

Double-click saved, downloaded Irfanview file

3. Select where you want to install the program - keep the default settings unless you feel it is necessary to make changes.

Install the Irfanview software

4. Click “Next” through the setup screens.

Stop when you reach a screen asking you if you want to install a Google Toolbar. This is totally optional but you should be aware that it is not necessary for the software to function. Uncheck this box if you do not want to install this function.

Decide whether you want the Google toolbar.

5. Click “Next” through to the end of setup and finish by clicking the “Done” button.

Complete Irfanview installation

6. Launch software:

When you are done the Irfanview software will launch and you can begin working. If you are online the frequently asked questions page from the Irfanview web site will open in your browser as well.