Or, read one of these:

1. Wenatchee Valley Chamber of Commerce Website
2. AP College Football Website
3. Wenatchee Valley Sports Council Website

visit the website

The Wenatchee Valley Sports Council was in dire need of a new website.  The Council is a key resource for locals and visitors interested in any and all sports facilities and happenings in the Valley.  However their old site was hard to navigate, information was hard to read, and the updating process was not as quick and smooth as it could have been.  Eric Granstrom approached Apt Design to help rework their site, and I was excited to work with him.  The Sports Council’s new website organizes their wealth of information much better for their visitors and presents it in a much more readable format.  We added the ability to update the site with News articles, and even pull in the very latest news from Twitter.  Eric was thrilled to be able to update every part of the new site quickly and easily himself .

Or, read one of these:

1. Wenatchee Valley Chamber of Commerce Website
2. New Projects: Wenatchee Valley Chamber and AP College Football
3. AP College Football Website

For the past few months the Gold’s Gyms of the Wenatchee Valley have been doing a great job of connecting to their members in a variety of ways, and not only while they are at the gym working out.

The Gold’s Gyms have been updating their blog often with great fitness and nutrition tips, as well as lots of overall wellness advice.  But as the year began Melissa Schwab, a Gold’s Gym member, began blogging on the site about her experience trying to lose weight and get in shape as she participated in the Gold’s Gym Challenge.  Hits to the site and comments on the posts are way up as people are excited to hear about someone’s experience from the trenches.  They get to hear about the highs and the lows, the good times and the bad – told with the power of a personal voice.

At the same time Gold’s Gym staff ramped up work on the local Gold’s Gym Facebook fan page. And fan numbers and interaction there jumped significantly too.  Staff created contests like “Post a picture that best says Strength to you,” kept Challengers and members updated on important times and events, as well as just providing a space for members to interact and support each other online.

To top it off the Wenatchee Valley Gold’s Gyms cross-promoted the blog, Facebook page and corporate site – all linked to each other and displayed in-gym.  Members now have a great network online to get information about they gym, receive free fitness advice, hear about other’s experiences and get to know one another.

Your Person-ness

That’s one reason why writing a blog  can help your online presence so much. People get that personal voice.  They want to know that your company is more than just a big factory churning out goods. With a blog your personality comes through, and so does your person-ness.  That’s not the only reason for a blog, and they certainly take time and energy to do right, but showing customers who you are is important.

But maybe even better – what are you clients and members and customers saying?   That’s what people really want to hear about.  How often do you buy something online without reading at least a few reviews first (witness the power of sites like Yelp)?  Being involved in social media – having a Facebook fan page or Twitter account, allows for a centralized hub for discussion about your company.  Just like Melissa’s blog, that involves people hearing the good and the bad.  But it involves people, and it involves hearing – both of which are good for your company.

Take a minute to think about it.  How could a blog or social media help you say something?  Or, how can you use those tools to let others talk about you?  How could you harness the power of a personal voice?

Or, read one of these:

1. Gold’s Gym Blog
2. Inner Circle Gym Website
3. 4 Ways to get More Traffic to Your Blog

I’m thrilled to even be nominated, it is a great validation of the 4 major things I try offer my clients: great communication, unique design, professionalism and a personable relationship.  Plus it would be cool to win an award called a “Wenny.”

Local Chambers can be a huge help to any business, I know I’ve benefited tremendously from being a part of the one here.  They are a great resource, advocate and networking opportunity.  I’ll see you at the networking event of the year – the 2010 Wenatchee Valley Chamber Banquet.

Or, read one of these:

1. Best Professional Service Business Nomination
2. New Projects: Wenatchee Valley Chamber and AP College Football
3. Wenatchee Valley Chamber of Commerce Website

Visit the site

With spectacular outdoor settings and tons of great weather the Wenatchee Valley is a great place for running.  RunWenatchee was created to be a central portal for information about local running events and local routes, as well as for general training and nutrition advice that every runner can use.  Set up in an easy to read blog format the website easily lets readers find pertinent articles; while on the backend the RunWenatchee crew is able to easily administrate all aspects of their site, including ads, polls, videos and more.

Or, read one of these:

1. Wenatchee Valley Sports Council Website
2. Leavenworth Summer Theater Website
3. Patrick Ward PhD Website

Robot calligraphy

A robot that does calligraphy?  Affirmative.  This robot is rewriting the entire Bible, one character at a time.  Next up: outsourcing all things that take patience to robots.

ISO50

If you ever need to get that retro feeling just head over to the ISO50 blog.  They are masters at making the old seem new and the new seem old … making it all look good.  Take this photo for instance, shot on a recent trip to Norway.  Looks like it could have been taken 30 years ago.

Old Henson Creatives

Jim Henson was a super creative guy.  In the 1960′s he made some commercials for Wilken’s Coffee.  They precede the Muppets, and while they might not be ok to show on tv now, they are still brilliant.

This old barn

Here’s a great photo of an old barn in Waterville, Washington (very near my hometown of Wenatchee).  The barn still has an old advertisement painted on it and is really cool to see as you drive into town.

The Future

This video is a few months old but has some stunning discoveries about the future.

No related posts.

Unfortunately it was before my new sign went up here.

Have you found anything interesting on Street View where you live?  There’s lots of craziness on StreetViewFun.

Or, read one of these:

1. New Google Browser
2. New Projects: Wenatchee Valley Chamber and AP College Football
3. Wenatchee Valley Sports Council Website

Rotaract is a professional service, leadership and community service organisation for young men and women between the ages 18-30. Rotaract focuses on the development of young adults as leaders in their communities and workplaces. Clubs around the world also take part in international service projects, in a global effort to bring peace and international understanding to the world. (Wiki)

My presentation will be entitled, “Young Business” and will be both about having a new business and having a business as a young person.

I’ll be posting most of the presentation to the blog over the next week or so, but to hear the real thing make sure you come out to the actual presentation!

Or, read one of these:

1. Young Business – Part 7
2. Young Business – Part 4
3. Young Business – Part 3

gee whiz: the story of grady auvil is the story of local fruit innovator grady auvil. from the movie cover:

Guru, pioneer, saint, sage and pain in the rear – Grady Auvil has been called them all. Filmmakers Jamie Howell and Jeff Ostenson undertake an exploration into the life of the late, legendary fruit grower who brought the Granny Smith apple, the Fuji apple and the Rainier cherry, among others, into their own in the United States and around the world.

apt design has been working closely with howell at the moon during the project. we provided them with a design style to integrate throughout the video and across promotional materials. you can see some of that work in the portfolio.

Or, read one of these:

1. Gee Whiz: The Story of Grady Auvil
2. From the Window – Cherries
3. in the press

check the sites out at:
www.fathappy.com
www.writeontheriver.org

Or, read one of these:

1. Write on the River Poster
2. Write on the River Website
3. ted