Why an Interview,,,

Over the years we have been able to meet and talk with some very interesting people. They have shared with us their knowledge and have provided us with a great deal of insight as to how and why festivals and events work and why they are so important to our communities and to the Province of Ontario. With this in mind, we decided that we wanted you to meet and hear from some of the wonderful people who work so hard to provide us all with such wonderful Ontario Festivals and Events! We are pleased and proud to present "THE INSIDE SCOOP"!

Monday, December 31, 2018

Building Your Website – Contact Information and Linking


11.  Contact Information
A number of the websites I have visited over the past year have had either no contact information or incomplete information. I believe that this is a real mistake! When someone visits your website they are looking for answers. Most websites are designed to give as much information as possible. However, there will always be someone who has a question that is not answered on the site. When this happens the person will want the question answered. If they don’t get it an answer they will likely become frustrated and not visit the site again. A lost opportunity! This is why I always recommend that a website contain complete contact information. For me this includes telephone numbers (phone, fax and, where possible, cellular), a mailing address and, most important, an e-mail address. An e-mail address is important because, after all, the question is coming as a result of your Internet website. Communicating via the Internet only makes sense! Finally, it is imperative that once a question has been asked, no matter what mode of communications, that it be answered as soon as possible!
12. Linking
When it comes to Search Engine Optimization (SEO), search engine companies (especially Google, Yahoo and MSN) are attaching more and more importance to websites having quality, compatible external links! Before search engines “smartened up”, Search Engine Optimizers use to “load up” websites with questionable external links. Most had no relevance to the sites they were linked to. This was all in the name of optimization! Fortunately search engine companies have become more sophisticated and are now recognizing when sites are trying to trick them. As a result, websites who use this practice can be penalized by Search Engines and have their rankings reduced or eliminated completely. When this happens it is very difficult to earn your ranking back! In a word, Search Engine managers don’t like to be tricked or taken advantage of! It is important, right from the start of Building Your Website, that you and your web designer create a plan for attracting compatible, quality external links. This process may be time consuming, but doing it right, from the start, will pay huge dividends in the future! Remember that the object of all Search Engines is to provide quality and accurate searches for their customers.  So if you plan your website accordingly, you can’t go wrong!



Wednesday, December 12, 2018

What Are They Thinking?


Sometimes you read an article and it really makes you wonder! That’s what happened to me when I read an article about a community stopping funding for upcoming events. I don’t know the whole story, but if it true, I think that it is a big mistake! Festivals and events are the backbone of any community. Making it harder for festivals to grow and prosper is “wrong” thinking. Consider, for a moment, what festivals and events mean to a community. First of all, they bring a community together. They give the community and its residents as sense of pride and purpose, a sense of community. They make residents want to reside in their community much longer and to give back to it! Successful, well-funded festivals bring new visitors into the community. If people are enjoying themselves, they will spend money, sometimes, lots of it. They go to restaurants, stay overnight in hotels and shop in local retail stores. If they really have enjoyed themselves, they might even want to move to the community and be part of it. Additionally, some visitors may feel that the community is a good place to invest their money! Some might want to relocate their business to the community. Anything is possible! All this means more wealth for the community and more taxes to the government. With healthy festivals and events, everyone wins! I hope that the community’s politicians and staff take a deep breath and reconsider their actions. The heath of their community depends on them doing the “right thing”!
Other communities who are considering similar actions should take note! This is not the time to cut back! It’s time to step forward and be bold. It’s time to make your community the best that it can be!