Well, it looks like I have gotten a few blogs up and running. Of course, there’s this blog: Getting to Know Joe (I’ve been putting things out on this blog since I think around Thanksgiving 2007). Then, there’s the Your Town Alabama blog: mostly, that blog’s about grant opportunities around Alabama, information for the planning community, news about tourism and byways and the like. I really enjoy doing that blog–it gets pretty decent readership, too. And the newest blog is all about rural southwest Alabama called Alabama’s Front Porches (where I grew up). It is particularly targeted towards attracting tourists to the area, so I’ll be highlighting festivals, fun, food and all those types of things along the way. There will, hopefully, be a mix between personal writings about the things to do while in my neck of the woods along with the more standard press release type information. There’s not a lot of information on the blog right now, but I plan to update it regularly, so keep an eye on it!
Websites
The Week Ahead: September 2, 2008
Wow, this is shaping up to be a crazy week. I just wrapped up my monthly newsletter for the AIA Birmingham and I’m gathering information together to get going on the Sierra Club’s Alabama Sierran. My friend Vance is planning to come over to discuss the Alzheimer’s of Central Alabama 2009 calendar and their fall newsletter on Thursday. I just stopped by the printer to look over a proof for Alabama Communities of Excellence’s (ACE) September workshop (yes, that’s next week!). I’m in the middle of gathering together a group of folks to work with ALDOT’s sign department on a signage policy for tourism in Alabama, particularly as it relates to scenic byways, but I think it will have broader implications. So much to do, so little time to do it.
On top of that, I’ve gotten interested in Twitter (you can find me at www.twitter.com/joewatts/). It seems to hold some real promise for good marketing. We’ll see. I’m hoping to use it for the alabamafrontporches.com website.
New Website: Aztec Construction Company
I’m just about finished with another website, this time for someone who found me through, as usual, another client. My friend Laura Nichols at Tyler Eaton (whose website I did several years ago) suggested that the folks at Aztec Construction contact me. They did and the result, still in draft form, is below.
AIA Design Awards Updates
Wow, I had no idea just how much work I was getting myself in when I suggested to my friend Rhea that we do a “Special Edition Newsletter” for the AIA Design Awards this year. The design awards are one of the biggest things AIA Birmingham does each year (well, they really do a lot, but awards ceremonies are popular). They have a jury of outside experts review submissions of area architects (there were 37 submissions) and give awards in several areas, including residential and commercial. One submission was an alpaca shed–fun stuff.
Anyway, we finished up the section of the website this morning. It managed to grow dramatically. From what I imagined as a one page event, the section turned into a separate slideshow for each entry along with a slideshow of winners and another slideshow of the event itself. Huge…
Cool stuff, though. Check it out at http://www.aiabham.org/2008designawards.html
Up and Running: AIA’s New Website and more
After a month of testing and review, the AIA Birmingham office’s new website is up and running officially. There are a few holes to plug, but overall, pretty much complete. We finalized the website along with their June 2008 newsletter so members would get the new website along with the most current newsletter all at the same time.
The website turned out just as I had hoped, and, as best I can tell, everyone is very pleased with it.
Also, completed the upload of the Alabama’s Front Porches website, alabamasfrontporches.com, yesterday. It has a good many holes, but is substantially stronger than their previous website and built for expansion. Soon, it will have over 100 great attractions throughout the Black Belt. I’m getting ready for two trips next week–on Wednesday, I’m heading to Tuscaloosa to meet with some Appalachian Regional Commission folks to discuss potential scenic byways in the ARC portion of western Alabama. On Friday, I’m off to meet with the board of the Rural Heritage Center to discuss a possible website, marketing materials and to just give them a general overview of some tourism opportunities that they might be missing. Looking forward to that as well.
What a Week
This has been one of those non-stop weeks. Can’t believe Monday was Memorial Day. I’ve worked all week on a website for the Alabama’s Front Porches website I’ve been working on for the last 3 months for Southwest Alabama Tourism with the University of Alabama Economic Development Institute. www.alabamafrontporches.com.
I just got back from a long day in Thomasville meeting about the website. So far, so good. More later!