Duane Hicks
There’s a new online community hub serving Fort Frances and Rainy River District.
Going by both fortfrances.com and rainyriverdistrict.com, the recently-revamped website–built and hosted by the Fort Frances Times–is a mobile-friendly portal that features a community event calendar where anyone can post their upcoming activities and happenings.
Times’ office manager Linda Plumridge said the idea of the calendar is to maintain a master schedule so the community can schedule events without conflicts, as well as to keep everyone informed as to what’s happening here.
This should benefit district residents, as well as tourists who want to know what will be happening before they visit.
“People who are travelling want to know events and they want to know far in advance,” said Plumridge. “If I’m coming to Fort Frances in September, is there something happening?
“They want to know, ‘Should I come this weekend or another weekend?'” she added.
“If people are coming here for the Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship, and then see the ‘Canadian Coasters’ are coming here, too, that’s a double draw.”
Likewise, the calendar should help local groups plan fundraisers and spread them out more evenly.
“There’s quite often a finite amount of money people can spend in one weekend,” said Plumridge.
“If we can spread those dates around, it would be more beneficial for everyone,” she reasoned.
Plumridge urged people to think ahead when adding to the calendar.
“We’d like people to post their events far in advance,” she reiterated.
“If you know your event is going to be next November, put it in now so 14 things don’t end up on the same day.”
Adding an event to the calendar is simple. Go to the site, click on the “Event calendar” button, then the “Add an event” button.
Then add an event title, event type (i.e., arts and entertainment, sporting, etc.), date and time, and event description.
Right now, the system is set up so events should show up on the calendar immediately after someone posts it.
But the Times will monitor what is posted to make sure nothing inappropriate is added to the calendar, noted Plumridge.
If there’s any problems, the Times will add an approval process in the future.
Plumridge hopes the community calendar is well-utilized.
“We really encourage people to post their own events,” she said. “It’s easy to do.
“We’ll all be better off if we all know what’s happening.”
Submit photos
Along the same lines as the calendar, the Times is urging the public to submit photos taken here in Rainy River District.
Just click the “Photo of the Week” button, then click on the updates@fortfrances.com link to e-mail a photo.
Be sure to add any relevant information, such as when and where the photo was taken, as well as who took it so they can be credited by name.
Plumridge said the photos can be of just abut anything as long as they’re taken locally.
“If you have a great photo, put it in,” she urged.
“We have so many great photographers in the area that take really great pictures,” added Plumridge.
“It says ‘Photo of the Week’ but it could become ‘Photo of the Day.’
“If people keep sending up photos, we’ll keep putting them up,” she pledged.
“It gives us a place to show off our whole area–an event that’s happening, whatever.”
Meant to be a resource for visitors as well as area residents, the site also features a directory of dining and accommodations in Fort Frances and other district communities.
The site also has links to the websites of district municipalities, as well as the Fort Frances Times’ website.
A major driver for the re-design of the website was to make it mobile-friendly.
Unlike the former version of fortfrances.com, the new one easily can be easily on any device, whether it be a desktop computer, tablet, or smartphone.
Its “responsive design” means the site scales its size to fit whatever size of screen it’s being viewed on.
“We’re really thrilled with the design,” said Plumridge, noting Leanne Spry and Cory Westover of the Times Web Design team designed it.
The site was programmed by Confederation College student Danny Miller, who did a co-op at the Times earlier this year, and Bram Van der Kroef of the Times’ Web Design team.
