It’s always smile time when we get some good press.  There’s something though, about being selected for an honor by an outfit you truly respect that makes it all the sweeter.  We’re very honored to be ShoreBank Pacific’s Featured Story this month:

Read the story.

Why do we admire ShoreBank?

When Keith and I first came to the Peninsula, we ran a little motel and RV park in Seaview.  When it came time to refinance, we found ourselves intrigued by a new bank in town, ShoreBank Pacific.  This particular refinance was a bit tricky, and we’d heard they weren’t afraid of plans like ours that didn’t quite fit the traditional mold.  We were also aware of a few local projects the bank had funded managed by good, hard-working people making a positive impact on their world.  It sounded like it could be a good fit.

We gathered our paperwork, collated, stapled, color-coded and tabbed for easy reference, gave it to our loan specialist, and went back to remodeling cabins.  Little did we know how different a bank ShoreBank really is!  Before we knew it, we’d had an in-depth interview and assessments of our sustainable practices which culminated in a report of praises and suggested improvements.  Not that the loan was contingent on the improvements; it was just info to make us think and help us do better.  The property walk-through didn’t feel like an inspection so much as going for a walk with someone who genuinely wanted to know us, our business, and how we fit into, and supported, our community.  The experience was above and beyond expectations every step of the way.

After the refinancing was complete, we continued to receive occasional visits and phone calls from our new friends at the bank.  They’d check in to see how things were going and if there was anything they help us with and would comment on changes we made that incorporated sustainable practices and locally sourced goods.  An occasional plant or home-baked good found a new home…

So, when the time came to refinance our happy little beachdog.com building, guess who we called?  ShoreBank, of course.  And the experience has been equally challenging–for all the RIGHT reasons.  Who knew the money part of refinancing could be the easy part?  We really like working with a bank who cares about the success of our business and our community as much as the risk and margin on loan in front of them.   It feels like we’re cut from the same cloth.

Needless to say, when our friendly bankers phoned to ask if we’d be willing to interview for their feature story this month it made us blush and beam a bit.  We hope you’ll read the article and learn more beachdog.com, and click around the site a bit to discover ShoreBank.

We’re delighted to announce the arrival of this year’s Official Program for the Washington State International Kite Festival (WSIKF). We gave it a bit of a facelift this year and would love to hear your thoughts so we can make it even better in 2011.

Like most of the events produced here on the Long Beach Peninsula, WSIKF is 100% volunteer driven.  Still, the organization manages to stay in the black while producing a stellar week of events, including guests from around the world.

You can download a copy of this year’s program now, or pick one up at the Long Beach Peninsula Visitors Bureau, the Kite Museum, or the event’s information booth during the festival.

When you see someone wearing an official WSIKF ID badge, shake their hand and tell them THANK YOU for volunteering their time and talent. They don’t hear it enough!

I’ll bet you thought today was nothing more than a cloudy Wednesday in June… right? Wrong! Popular social media blog, Mashable, has officially declared June 30th as Social Media Day. Thousands are celebrating with meetups, tweetups, and more all across the globe.

“Social media has changed our lives. It has not only changed the way we communicate, but the way we connect with one another, consume our news, conduct our work, organize our lives, and much more. So why not celebrate?” –Mashable

Still think social media is just a trend? Please take a peek at this video… it is worth EVERY second and literally gives me chills.

Are you ready to CELEBRATE?

-Blair

SandSations Sand Sculpture Competition in Long Beach not only got a new Chair of the event this year, it got a new logo, brochure, website, and added three days of activities!

Chair Becky Johnson developed a logo for the event and designed this year’s brochure.  We took care of the printing (we’ve got the best color tri-fold pricing around, gang!) and then Keleigh used Becky’s brochure as a base for designing a website for the event. Here’s a little peek into our process:

• Ethan took the design and, quick as a dog can lick a dish, turned it into a WordPress-based shell of a site.
• Intern David (who left us last week and whom we already miss terribly) ported the event information from its pages on funbeach.com into the new site’s database.
• Keleigh went behind David, re-purposing elements and information, adding photos from prior years, and, in general, organizing the facts for a user-friendly presentation.
• Meanwhile, Keith did some research on long-tail key phrases for the site, which Ethan and Keleigh then ran through our proprietary process known as “Site Wide Level I Search Engine Optimization”, so the site should come up with a solid, organic, search result.
• While that magic was taking place, Wendy, Sue and Keith were clicking through things in general, looking for errors, points of confusion or any other items we could improve.
• Finally, it all came to the inevitable crescendo known as site launch!

That’s when we told Becky we had started work on her site.  Long Beach Merchants Association Event Chairs are volunteers here on the Peninsula, so we try to help them out when we can, and not add work to their oh-so-full-and-unpaid platters.  Becky’s just about done giving the site her thorough once-over so we can make requested changes.  In a few short weeks, it will be time to change all the information for 2011!

Take a look.  We’re pleased, and hope you are, too.

It has been an absolute delight to work with the Lewis & Clark National Park Association, which runs the bookstore in Fort Clatsop, the main visitor center of the Lewis and Clark National Historical Parks.  Not only do I love, love, LOVE the park itself, the people that work there are pretty spectacular.

If you’ve not been to the Park in awhile, take the time to make a visit.  Personally, my favorite days are summer, when the Fort Replica fills with the sights and sounds of a turn-of-the-century working camp and, in winter, when trails are quiet and imaginations can run rampant with what it was really like to winter over there in 1805-1806.

Lewis & Clark National Park Association is a private non-profit organization which supports educational activities at Fort Clatsop and offers an incredible depth and breadth of Lewis & Clark memorabilia and educational items in their on-site bookstore, as well as online.  They’re a hard-working lot that always has a smile, a can-do attitude, and a passion for history and the park itself.

Consider using our latest brochure for the group, to join and support the educational activities at Fort Clatsop, which you can pick up at the book store, or here at beachdog.com.  As I type, hundreds of schoolchildren are finishing up ranger-led field trips, a Youth Nature Writing Contest has just concluded, Nature Adventure Camp is about to put smiles on kids’ faces, and these are just a few of the many events and programs in store.  This is top-notch, family-fun, educational entertainment, folks.  And it is right here in our own back yard.

Enjoy!

~Keleigh