Long Beach is a kitschy town.  We’ve got pinball machines, laser tag, mini golf, go-karts, old-fashioned-and new fashioned-bumper cars, bumper boats, candy, ice cream, elephant ears, kiddie rides, a carousel, real horseback and horse-drawn carriage rides, clowns, face painters… the list goes on.  So when Dennis Company wanted to add an interactive game to their site, an old-fashioned shooting gallery seemed, well, the obvious choice.

The game’s been online just over a month now and is already the second most popular page of their site.  After playing, site visitors are sticking around to look at other pages, and they’re sharing the site with friends – our two goals for the game.  We’re planning the next game already, and this time we’re going to let Keleigh do the graphics.

Winning the game nets you a nice coupon.  Winning level two nets an even nicer coupon.

Have you played yet?

I happened past Baker Bay Mobile Home Park the other day.   It’s such a beautiful spot, I almost wish I wanted to go back into the RV Park business.  Let’s face it, RV owners are a great group.  They’re either on vacation and enjoying the heck out of themselves, or they’re full timers, most of whom are ready to hang a flag to welcome guests and get some chat going.  I do miss our little park sometimes, especially seeing friends return year after year and hearing of their travels since we last saw them.

Baker Bay Mobile Home Park is a great opportunity for a couple or family who want to live and work at the beach. Karl did a nice job of building their site quickly and inexpensively using an “out of the box” theme for WordPress and the current owners’ text and photos.  It really expresses the feel of being on Baker Bay, one of my favorite Peninsula locations.

Another park for sale here on the Long Beach Peninsula, is the larger and more active Andersen’s RV Park.  Just a footpath to the beach, Andersen’s is the closest to oceanfront an RV Park can get here.    Owner Lorna Andersen Follis learned the business from her father, who built the park.  Maybe that’s why her team is constantly getting positive reviews, especially about their customer service.  They put in a new septic and completely redid the sites just a year or so ago.

We first built the Andersen’s RV Park site back in 1996 and, while it’s been updated regularly, it has stood the test of time very well.  Lorna gets so much positive feedback on it, we’ve been unable to convince her to update the visuals.   We listen to that; while we pride ourselves on our knowledge of marketing, particularly in the tourism niche, you ALWAYS know more than we do about the specifics of YOUR business.

Lorna’s most recent projects are a re-make of a card she hands out during check-in, and a custom-illustrated map of the park.  Her casual, friendly style, and her sense of humor come out in her collateral, don’t you think?

 

 

Keith and I are proud members of Rotary International, the world’s largest service organization, and are active in our local club. the Rotary Club of SW Pacific County Peninsula.    Not only does it feel good to make a difference in our community, and our world, it’s a heck of a lot of fun.  Along the way, I’ve gotten to work on a number of posters, flyers and programs for events like Oysters & Art, and Christmas Angels.  I’ve also had fun designing a club logo, website, pin and handbook.

Last year, I had the privilege of working with the Rotary Club of Seaside on their club pin and we’re working on a new website for them now.

In fact, getting involved in Rotary at the District level was something I really enjoyed as I got to meet, and work with, a lot of passionate people and learn more about Rotary and the good it does in the world. We just launched the website for our District Conference coming up in May, this year in Seaside, Oregon.  I was honored when asked to design the logo for the conference and a variety of collateral materials, including the registration form, flyers and swag.

Watch for Rotarians all over the Pacific Northwest on September 11, 2010, as we panhandle for Polio eradication.   While I have your attention, how about a little info on this crippling disease we are SO CLOSE to kicking off the planet?

Why should I care about Polio? I live in a certified Polio-free country.

• If Polio isn’t eradicated, the world will continue to live under the threat of the disease. More than 10 million children will be paralyzed in the next 40 years if the world fails to capitalize on its US$5 billion global investment in eradication.
• The life time care of one child with Polio will cost more than one and half million dollars in the USA.
• “Polio is just a plane ride away.”

What is Polio?

• A crippling and potentially fatal infectious disease, Polio (Poliomyelitis) still strikes children mainly under the age of five in countries in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.
• Polio can cause irreversible paralysis, breathing difficulty or even death. Because there is no cure for Polio, the best protection is prevention. For as little as US$0.60 worth of vaccine, a child can be protected against this crippling disease for life.
• The Polio virus is only found in human hosts, making it possible to eliminate the disease.
• Historically, Polio has been the world’s greatest cause of disability.

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How is it spread?
The route of infection is people to people contact. The virus is found in the feces of infected individuals. Hygiene is a factor.

How is it prevented?
The primary prevention method is vaccination. There are two primary types of vaccines, inject-able and oral. Because the route of spread is oral-fecal, the oral vaccine is effective. The cost of the oral vaccine is less, the oral is easier to administer and better accepted so the oral route is preferred in much of the world.

What has this got to do with Rotary?

In 1985, there were 350,000 cases in 125 countries around the world. When it was obvious that the USA was close to eliminating Polio within its borders, Rotarians made a pledge to eradicate this disease. Rotary’s vast network of 1.2 million members have contributed money, volunteer time, and networking expertise to the Polio eradication effort. Rotary’s leadership, beginning in 1985, inspired the World Health Assembly to pass a resolution to eradicate Polio, which paved the way for the formation of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative in 1988.

How much progress has been made?
Polio remains endemic in only four countries: Nigeria, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. As of April 20, there have been 2 cases in Nigeria, compared to 193 in the same time last year. There have been 19 cases in India compared to 32 last year. There have been no new cases in the following 5 weeks. A country must be Polio free for 3 consecutive years to be considered eradicated. If one case is reported, the clock starts over for a country.

Interested in reading more, getting involved or making a donation toward this work?  Visit rotary.org/endpolio.

Thank you.

Keleigh

On Wednesday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that the site hit a half-billion active users.

That’s nearly five times as many people as watched this year’s Super Bowl — the most popular television broadcast ever — and about four times as many people as voted in the 2008 U.S. presidential election.

People spend more than 700 billion minutes per month on the site and, according to Facebook, 400 million of them have logged in during the past month. Keep in mind there are only 309 million people in the United States — total.

Source:  CNN.com

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.