An innovative approach to community websites driven by the community in Nelson B.C.

By Daniel Betts

Copyright © 2010 All Rights Reserved

In 2004, Andrea Scholz and her partners conceptualized an idea regarding the structure of a community website. Chamber of Commerce websites tended to service the business community while city websites service the business of the city and are constrained by unrealistic budgets that cost them functionality. Andrea and her partners wanted to build a website that was easy to navigate, had great sources of information, looked amazing and that serviced both businesses and the community. Ultimately they also wanted a website which was community driven in that articles, events and classified ads were entered directly into the website by community members themselves. The result was www.ilovenelson.com, which has won the Kootenay Business Magazine’s Reader’s Choice award for “Coolest Website” four years in a row and which now enjoys monthly traffic of over thirty-three thousand visitors a month. Dubbed “Nelson’s community website”, www.ilovenelson.com is at the top of most Google “Nelson BC” searches. Few people in Nelson don’t know about the popular website; it’s biweekly Nelzine, reaches out to over seven thousand people which is half the population.

Reaching this goal required the rebuilding of the former www.nelsonbc.ca website, which Andrea and her partners purchased. With skillful innovation they gathered to them developers, graphic designers and content writers, which resulted in something they didn’t expect; the creation of a web development business that was aptly named “Smart Nuts Technology.” While www.ilovenelson.com grew and flourished the newly formed Smart Nuts Technology soon found a market for developing websites for small business, ecommerce websites and even a community futures website in Ontario. They realized that www.ilovenelson.com was only the beginning and that it was a model of success for the development of other community websites; this idea gave birth to the Far North project.

“For months, every morning at 3 am, I would wake because the Far North idea was dominating my thoughts. We had lived in Alaska for a long time and I realized that community websites was something that was missing in that region. Looking at a map of Alaska I could see that there were four primary regional locations in Alaska and the Yukon where community websites could be strategically placed for the maximum benefit of the population,” Andrea explained. After many early mornings and much discussion the Far North project got underway. Using new and improved technology four new community websites were built: www.farnorthjuneau.com, www.farnorthwhitehorse.com, www.farnorthfairbanks.com and www.farnorthanchorage.com.

Being the hub of the Yukon, the benefits of a community website for Whitehorse was very obvious. Having a reliable place to list community events and having another source of traffic for Yukon business would fill a sorely missed void. Recently launched, www.farnorthwhitehorse.com has already shown the most traffic of the four sites. Because all four Far North community websites network together, travelers and residents of the region, who tend to travel between all four communities, have the ability to access and share information about all four locations.

In recent months Andrea has made the business decision to buy out her partners and is now the sole proprietor of Smart Nuts Technology but still retains her talented web developers who are responsible for all the technology of her businesses attractive and functional website designs. Some of their recent developments include the creation of a complicated Ecommerce website, www.slipstreamathletics.com. Smart Nuts Technology is also developing a community website in Alberta for an entrepreneur wanting to duplicate the success of Nelson’s community website. For this new community website, “I Love Cochrane”, Andrea conceived of yet another innovative and improved template which has been named “HUB”. Andrea’s vision for the future is to market the “HUB” template to entrepreneurs wanting to develop their own community websites much as the owners of Alberta website has done.

Marketing and maintaining a community website is no easy task but Smart Nuts Technology, having a great deal of experience with this process has developed an easy to follow and straightforward manual which goes with every new community website her business creates and develops.

Recent innovative improvements to www.ilovenelson.com include the creation of a companion mobile site for smartphone users, which will allow people to find businesses, accommodations and restaurants while they are driving through town on their iPhone or Blackberry. Also the offering of monthly subscriptions for advertising space will allow businesses to have better control of their advertising budgets and increase advertising sales. As has been the trend, any improvement made to www.ilovenelson.com is applied to the other community websites, Andrea and Smart Nuts Technology operate, this opens up a tremendous potential for businesses to be seen by the increasing number of people using their smartphones to surf the web.

Andrea Scholz is another example of an entrepreneur whose innovation, vision and hard work has resulted in not only success for herself but has wide reaching benefits for the business while servicing the needs of the community.

Check out the Smart Nuts Technology website.

This season, Endless Adventure has had their best year yet with the introduction of new programs such as the Youth Kayak Development. This youth program worked tirelessly to train and support young paddlers wishing to compete in Canadian freestyle kayaking. This year Endless Adventure sent 4 juniors to the Canadian Freestyle Team Trials with one of their own youth developers, Nick Barisoff, placing 6th in Canada while Coach Chris Ryman placed in the top ten men’s division.

Endless Adventure have also seen growth in their women’s programs through their highly popular weekly female paddle nights; Women on Water and Women’s Week Kayak Course.  With the assistance of their mostly female kayak staff Endless Adventure has created a vibrant and growing women paddling community.  Way to go ladies!

Endless Adventure also experienced personal growth with addition of whitewater rafting tours which are an excellent compliment to their already popular inflatable kayak tours.
They also got on “THE BOARD” with the Stand Up Paddling craze renting boards and selling equipment to this popular activity.  Next year they plan on brining in a new line of SUP (Stand Up Paddleboard) and create innovative river clinics dedicated to this growing sport.

Although the season is coming to a close, Endless Adventure continues the water expedition in South America.  They will be in Ecuador for 3 months hosting an all inclusive kayak and beach tours, catering to all skill levels of paddlers. Escape the winter blues of the Kootenays and go kayaking the remote jungle rivers of Ecuador or learn to paraglide at one of the most beautiful beaches in South America.

“We are very lucky to be living in such a wonderful recreational community in the Kootenays” Says Andrea Owner of Endless Adventures. “With the support of so many wonderful people we have been able to grow our business during these fluctuant economic times.”

To show their appreciation Endless Adventure will be hosting a free multi media event featuring film and slides of their Crescent Valley location on Wednesday September 8th at 8 pm after the regular Wednesday night paddle.  There will be films about paddling in Ecuador, a slideshow and some local made kayak films.  Call to RSVP at (877) 386-8181.  Hope to see you at the show.

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Who- Endless Adventure
What- Slide show/ Film Premiere to Celebrating another successful season
Where- At Endless Adventure in Crescent Valley
When- September 8th. 8pm

Kootenay BC – September 8th, 2010 at 8pm. Endless Adventure is hosting a multi media slide show video party highlighting the events and adventures of their amazing 2010 season.

This season, for Endless Adventure has been their best yet with the introduction of new programs such as the Youth Kayak Development. their highly popular weekly female paddle nights; Women on Water and Women’s Week Kayak Course.

Endless Adventure also experienced personal growth with addition of whitewater rafting tours which are an excellent compliment to their already popular inflatable kayak tours.
They also got on “THE BOARD” with the Stand Up Paddling craze renting boards and selling equipment to this popular activity.  Next year they plan on brining in a new ling of SUP (Stand Up Paddleboard) and create innovative river clinics dedicated to this growing sport.

Although the season is coming to a close, Endless Adventure continues the water expedition in South America.  They will be in Ecuador for 3 months hosting an all inclusive kayak and beach tours, catering to all skill levels of paddlers.

To show their appreciation Endless Adventure will be hosting a free multi media event featuring film and slides of their Crescent Valley location on Wednesday September 8th at 8 pm after the regular Wednesday night paddle.  There will be films about paddling in Ecuador, a slideshow and some local made kayak films.  Call to RSVP at (877) 386-8181.  Hope to see you at the show.

In light of the upcoming Art Walk, we figured we would postpone our grand
opening until August 13th. There will be refreshments and goodies for anyone
willing to walk all the way down stairs at Kokanee Camera Co.535 on Baker St
Nelson, to come see us for a break during August 13th’s Art Walk.

The first twenty customers will receive a complimentary pair of earbuds as our
way of thanking you for coming to check out our little shop.

For those of you that have not had a chance to stop by; we offer a range of
services such as: cinematography (event video editing and shooting), graphic
design, web design, computer repair and custom desktop building, virus and
malware removal, photograph restoration and editing, and video restoration and
transcoding. Our shop fees are very reasonable because the nice people at
Kokanee Camera Co are giving us a great deal and we can pass our low overhead
savings on to you; why should you have to pay for our rent?

Come browse our retail space, we have a number of personal audio, PC, video
game, software, and electronics based products to suit all your technological
needs. If we don’t have it, we can get it, and at a great price, so feel free
to ask.

If you are a local business owner let us know we give great rates to local
business, and we are not adverse to the barter system. As part of the Nelson
Business Association we know the importance of supporting local business and
welcome collaboration, cross promotion, and co-operation with just about anyone.
We also plan on having several customer appreciation days in the coming months
because I believe that anyone willing to support local businesses deserve a
thank you.

So if you have the time come on over on the 13th and check us out we are
looking forward to meeting you.

The facility offers 11 private bedrooms, each with its own 3-piece bathroom, and two modern gathering rooms – a dining area with expansive views of the lake and an entertainment area featuring a billiards table, piano, television, fireplace and stereo. Outside, the property features mature trees, a quaint chapel, well-groomed lawns, benches, resident songbirds, a stream and an exquisite sandy beach.

Lakeshore’s owners and staff emphasize the area’s ideals of enjoying an active lifestyle in a safe, natural environment. They provide three healthy meals a day, cleaning and laundry services every week, as well as a selection of recreational pursuits. “Our Activities Coordinator will plan weekly events and activities according to the physical and social needs and requests of each of our residents,” says owner and manager Lisa Trainor. “Our beautiful grounds are a perfect environment to inspire healthy, active living.”

A few of the activities that will be offered at Lakeshore include scenic walks and hikes, swimming, horseshoes and bocce ball, card playing and tournaments, bingo, fitness and stretching programs, yoga, gardening and computer training.

“When my family and I made the decision to share our unique property on Kootenay Lake with seniors in the Nelson community, I immediately knew I wanted to provide a facility with a home-like atmosphere that inspires,” Lisa says. “Lakeside Retirement Homes is the type of place I want my own mother and father to live in – one I’d feel great about every time I visited them.”

The facility’s relatively small size allows Lisa and her staff to be more attentive to clients’ needs while ensuring they continue to enjoy their independence. “Our core values are wellness, respect and personal fulfillment,” she says. “We also place a high priority on security and have ensured the entire facility has an automatic fire protection sprinkler system as well as audible and visual alarms and emergency call systems in every room.”

Should you like a tour of Lakeside Retirement Homes, or if you’d like more information, please contact Lisa Trainor at 250-352-6511 or e-mail lakeshorehome@shaw.ca.

The company is owned by Craig and Jane Courtney who have over 20 years experience in the moving industry. Together they owned a storage and relocation business before moving to the area and are experts at using their experience and ingenuity to come up with creative solutions that minimize expenses while maintaining a high degree of care by attending to all the details.

According to Craig, their previous moving and storage company’s reputation was built on three ideals: “upbeat attitudes, taking precautions to avoid damage to walls and furniture, and working at a brisk pace – these are the things we have control over as individuals and they’re the things we thrive at.”

Jane, a native of Alberta says, “It feels great to be back in Canada, especially in Nelson where our two boys have such opportunity to expand their education and artistic talents and interests.”

Both Jane and Craig are happy to help clients plan the various stages of their move and provide clients with details about everything from insurance to load size to effective packing, crating and moving techniques of valuable or fragile items.

Kootenai Storage and Relocations proudly represents Great Canadian Van Lines and look forward to being able to provide a second alternative in the Nelson, Castlegar and Trail area for your local, long distance, North American and international moving and storage needs.

For a helpful packing video, moving tips, free estimates and an online coupon, please visit us at www.kootenaimoving.com. Or call Jane and Craig directly at 250-354-8402 or 1-877-955-2795.

Local Whitewater Kayaking Festival