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yourboatholiday · 3 years

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Lesser Antilles Tour: What Are The Best Available Marinas?

Guadeloupe, Dominica, Martinique, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent. These 5 islands make up a large part of the Lesser Antilles and are the main tourist destinations for yachtsmen who love sailing, cruises, and organized trips.

In this article we briefly list the characteristics of each, highlighting the main marinas from which to set sail or find refuge during a boat trip.

Here, then, listed from north to south, each island, and its marinas:

Guadeloupe

Among the most popular Caribbean destinations, Guadeloupe offers a perfect balance between wild and unspoiled nature, the absolute protagonist, and magnificent beaches among the most beautiful of the lesser Antilles. Among the many, we point out La Caravelle, a painted landscape with crystalline and turquoise waters, typical of the Caribbean Sea, and sand that gives different shades from pure white to golden.

Today Guadeloupe is part, like Martinique, of the French overseas territories.

How to get to the island?

Being formally French territory, Guadeloupe is well connected with France through several direct flights to and from Paris. The island’s international airport, not far from Pointe-à-Pitre, the capital, also allows direct air connections with North America as well as with the other major Caribbean islands.

What marinas does it offer?

Guadeloupe is geographically and administratively divided into two areas, Grande-Terre and Basse-Terre, which meet at Pointe-à-Pitre, the largest city on the island.

Pointe-à-Pitre offers two marinas at its main port, Guadeloupe Port Caraïbes and Quai de la Marina. both with 50 berths.

In the Grande-Terre area, in the eastern part of the island, there is the Yacht Club de Saint François, located about 36 km from Pointe-à-Pitre and equipped with 50 berths.

Finally, the largest marina is located in the western area of Basse-Terre and is the Marina Rivière-Sens Gourbeyre. It is located in the village of Rivière-Sens and offers 340 berths with a maximum length of 18 meters and a maximum draft of 2.5 meters.

Dominica

The island of Dominica is the least frequented by tourists also and above all because it cannot boast the classic beautiful Caribbean white sand beaches that attract the attention of travelers from all over the world.

The island’s interest is linked to sports activities and makes it a suitable destination for those looking for sports holidays such as trekking, diving, and snorkeling.

Endowed with an enviable natural landscape, Dominica has a wonderful hinterland with rainforests, lakes, thermal springs, and more than 200 rivers, all to be discovered strictly on foot armed with boots and adventure desire.

How to get to the island?

Although the island has two airports, Canefield, not far from the city of Roseau, and Melville Hall, in the northeastern part, it is not possible to reach it directly from either Europe or North America. Therefore it is necessary to make a stop in one of the other Caribbean islands of the lesser Antilles.

What marinas does it offer?

Due to its very nature, Dominica is not provided by real marinas. Our advice is to plan your visit using the nearby islands of Guadeloupe to the north and Martinique to the south as points of reference for your stops.

Martinique

This volcanic island has always been a mixture of different peoples and cultures resulting from different occupations that have followed one another over the centuries. The approximately 400,000 inhabitants have European, African, and Indian derivations with their own ways of life very rich in diversity with many contradictions, but at the same time also joyful and very welcoming.

Today Martinique is part of the overseas territories of France, the official language is French and the Euro is its valid currency.

How to get to the island?

It is possible to arrive here by air with direct flights from Paris and North America. The island Lamentin International Airport is located close to the capital, Fort-de-France.

What marinas does it offer?

Marina du Marin, located in the south of the island, is the largest marina in Martinique and one of the largest in the Caribbean. It offers its customers 830 berths for boats up to 60 meters in length and a maximum draft of 4.8 meters. The property offers a complete package of services including restaurants, shops, and a team at your disposal 7 days a week.

There are two other small marinas, Marina Pointe Du Bout, located in the Fort de France bay on the west coast, and Marina du Robert, on the east coast which however have a limited number of berths for small boats.

Saint Lucia

Saint Lucia is one of the eight independent islands of the Lesser Antilles and among its countless points of interest, you can’t miss the Piton mountains. Located southwest, these two mountains have become the island symbol worldwide. Although roughly only 800 meters high, their triangle shape has become iconic and panoramic. If you are a trekking lover, you cannot miss a walk among their paths, winding through the jungle of these two peaks.

How to get to the island?

Saint Lucia has two airports. Hewanorra International Airport, located on the remote southern end of the island, and George FL Charles Airport located northwest in the more touristy area. International flights land in Hewanorra, while those from other Caribbean islands and charters usually stop at George FL Charles.

What marinas does it offer?

The main tourist ports of Saint Lucia are 3 and they are all located in the northwestern part of the island. Capella Marigot Bay Marina, near Castries, the capital, is a luxurious port with 40 berths also for large boats, up to 85 meters in length.

Further north, in Rodney Bay, Rodney Bay Marina and Island Water World are within easy reach, both with 50 berths available.

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

It is an archipelago made of 32 islands, most of which small and sparsely populated.

They are located between the islands of Santa Lucia and Grenada and are historically part of the British Empire as an English colony of the “Little Antilles”. They have been independent since 1961 but still part of the Commonwealth.

The official language is English but some local dialects deriving from French are also spoken.

How to get to the island?

The main airport is located on the main island, Saint Vincent, and is the Joshua Arnos Vale, located a short distance from Kingstown, the capital.

The airport serves international flights to and from the UK and North America.

What marinas does it offer?

The main tourist port of the island is located in its extreme south, not far from Arnos Vale airport. Blue Lagoon Marina is small (only 20 berths) but very well served with a customs and immigration office open 7 days a week. On request, it is also possible to stay overnight in the partner hotel.

Contact now YBH Charter Brokers:

You can contact us by sending an email at [email protected] or by phone, calling +39 33436 00997, available also on WhatsApp for both calls and texting.

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13thhr · 5 years

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Episode #207: “Empty Hands” Behind the Scenes Part 3

https://archive.org/download/podcast207_201907/Podcast%20207.mp3

This week, we’re discussing “Empty Hands” behind the scenes, specifically the 80s references, like films and cartoon shows (see some photos below) that influenced the writing of the novella. There definitely was a fair amount of emphasis on working together as a team that featured in a lot of 80s children’s programing, (which I wanted to give a nod to).

Though I didn’t specifically focus on it, I also thought it be important to feature a variety of ethnic backgrounds for the characters in the story. All you see is a variety of skin tones in the pictures as well as hints that the main characters are from various parts of the world, but although there was the start of getting more diverse faces out there in those 80s shows and movies, fantasy in general tends to have a more European look and feel – but why does it have to be that way?

Shows like GI Joe, Captain Planet, Voltron, and WMAC Masters all tended to not only work the teamwork idea (sometimes into the ground) but featured characters with unique looks, backgrounds, and talents that were important for the whole:

Some influential films:

—————–

In the meantime, this page formerly had what I affectionately dubbed a “starving artist” section on little side hustles you could do (mostly on the internet, often with a phone) to make a few bucks here and there, often in gift cards. Well, now you can listen to this show (as well as other podcasts) and get paid to do so! Check out https://www.podcoin.com/ to listen to the show and start earning points that you can redeem for gift cards (Amazon, Target, Starbucks, etc) or donations to a number of charities. Use the code “Thirteen” when you sign up to get 300 extra points. The Thirteen Hour Podcast is now on BONUS this week, so you can earn more than normal (1.5x).

Empty Hands, the synth EP soundtrack to the novella, Empty Hands, is now out for streaming on Bandcamp.

Follow along on Spotify! There is also a growing extended Thirteenth Hour playlist on Spotify with a growing number of retro 80s songs.

Check it out!

As always, thanks for listening!

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

Signup for the mailing list for a free special edition podcast, a demo copy of The Thirteenth Hour, and access to retro 80s soundtrack!

Have this podcast conveniently delivered to you each week on Spotify, iTunes, Stitcher, Player FM, Tunein, and Googleplay Music.

Follow The Thirteenth Hour’s Instagram pages: @the13thhr for your random postings on ninjas, martial arts, archery, flips, breakdancing, fantasy art and and @the13thhr.ost for more 80s music, movies, and songs from The Thirteenth Hour books and soundtrack.

Listen to Long Ago Not So Far Away, the Thirteenth Hour soundtrack online at: https://joshuablum.bandcamp.com/ or Spotify. Join the mailing list for a digital free copy. You can also get it on CD or tape.

Website: https://13thhr.wordpress.com

Book trailer: http://bit.ly/1VhJhXY

Interested in reading and reviewing The Thirteenth Hour for a free book? Just email me at [email protected] for more details!

#TheThirteenthHour #Podcast 207: "Empty Hands" Behind the Scenes Part 3 - #80smovies references and #teamwork Episode #207: "Empty Hands" Behind the Scenes Part 3 This week, we’re discussing “Empty Hands” behind the scenes, specifically the 80s references, like films and cartoon shows (see some photos below) that influenced the writing of the novella.

#80s #bigtoubleinlittlechina #emptyhands #martialarts #movie #ninjutsu #podcoin #rapidfire #sequel #teamwork #thethirteenthhour #voltron

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yezielmoore · 7 years

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Book design project

Shot out to all tumblr writers!!! Hi! I have a project I would (really) like your help with, so if you're curious and can spare me a moment, please keep reading.

Couple days ago my teacher of "Producción Editorial" (editorial production in English) set us a task: we have to design a publication, either a magazine or a book of some sort. It has to be original in format if not content. Now, there are a lot of ways I could go about this assignment on my own and get a good mark regardless, but the truth is I don't want that. Truth is, the world is a terrifying and deadly place to be nowadays for a lot of people. It makes me wanna grab my kendo equipment and bash some heads until it starts making sense again. I can't do that unfortunately, because my weapon of choice is not the sword but, cliché as it seems, the pen. I tell stories. Or in this case, I help people tell their stories. That's what I want to accomplish with this project.

Another thing before I go any further: I know how creators are with their creations (being one myself). They are our beautiful/ugly/weird babies and we're fiercely protective of them. So I want to reassure you guys that this is a legit assignment (I can probably get my prof to write something to that effect). I'm not going to steal your intellectual property. Each story will be preceded by the name/pseudonym/internet handle you give me. My job here is to compile everything, edit the stories for grammar mistakes and design the book aesthetically (unless I write a story myself, then I'll be included in the list of authors, like all of you).

And at the end of this road I hope to have a pdf or eBook or both versions of this book, that as collaborators you'll receive, and that can be shared around freely and for free.

That said, let's do a Q&A of some of the questions I'd ask if I wanted to join this:

So what, exactly, are you going to do?

As I said, I'm going to design a book as if it were to be printed. Which is the reason I have to use original stories and not, you know, fanfiction (much as I'd like that). I will also have to design the cover, any Notes or Warnings, Table of Contents, edit and organize the stories according to the rules and regulations of formatting we've been learning in class, etc.

Will it be printed? Will you make money out of it?

No and No.

I wouldn't know where even to start with that mess. But more important, this idea began with a class assignment (and still is about that, I want to pass that class) and grew from there. I'm doing this because it's a challenge and because I want to. I want to spread these stories. And I want them to be assessible to everyone. I want variety and diversity because I want so that everyone who opens this book can find at least a kernel of representation in them.

So yeah, this project is non profit.

What kind of stories will you include?

I have decided that the theme of this book will be Diversity. Understanding by diversity this: "the inclusion of individuals representing more than one national origin, color, religion, socioeconomic stratum, sexual orientation, etc"

Equally important: I want positive (nice or not is optional) and respectful (not optional) snippets or stories about this amazing, huge and diverse thing that is humanity. I won't accept blatant bashing or phobias here. There is a difference between creating a well-rounded interesting villain (grey/sympathetic/evil doesn't matter) and the more common moustache-twirling cackling caricature of a person we normally see as the enemy, that are usually there to demean a character and elevate another. That's lazy writing.

Genre i'll leave up to you. Could be realism, fantasy, sci-fy, humor, anything. Write about pirates, space explorers, elves and dragons, stay-at-home moms, superheroines, uni students, blue collar workers, thieves, assassins, superpowers, whatever, your choice.

Is there a character limit? Other limits?

Yes! Each story should be in between 500-5000 words. Why so short? Because I want to include as much variety as possible and there is a lot to cover. An example list of the characters I'd like to include off the top of my head:

a gay character

a lesbian character

a bisexual character

a pansexual character

an asexual character

a straight character

a transgender character,

a genderfluid character

a nonbinary character.

a black character,

a Muslim character,

an Asian, Latino, African, etc, character.

also a blind character,

a deaf/hard-of-hearing character,

a paralyzed character,

a mute character,

an autistic character,

a character with depression

a character with anxiety

etc

I want to include one (max two) stories about each of the bolded categories in the example list, or any other topic I didn't think of. Of course, you can write more than one character, but the focus should be on one of them or on a topic, idk, a protest in behalf of transgender people as a whole would go under the transgender character list.

The category I want to write about is not there.

Send me an ask and I'll add it (if it’s relevant to the topic at hand: diversity). The examples are not absolutes, I probably missed a few, some maybe didn't even occur to me. I don't have everything planned out, I'm still sorting out a lot of details in my head, so if I missed something, tell me. This will work only if we collaborate.

Will you include mature themes?

As long as it's not explicit I don't see why not. By explicit I mean, for example, a really detailed sex scene, a torture scene with all the gritty details, a blow by blow account of an abuse scene. You can reference these things and make it tasteful (for a meaning of the word) without getting into it too much. Also, there is a word limit, not really enough space for that kind of thing.

How will you chose which story to include?

First come, first served. Yes, really. I'll make a list of whoever signs up and when.

IMPORTANT: there will be a time limit though. Because I'm not pressed for time just yet, I'll give each person up to a week (7 days) to send me a draft of the story. Once that time is past, and unless you give me a really good reason, I'll liberate that spot and the person in question won't participate anymore.

How do I sign up?

Send me an ask telling me which category/focus you want and I'll add you to the list.

Can I sign up Anon?

Sorry, but no. If this works I'll probably have to share my email with those that participate in the project, which I accept; that, however, is not the same as sharing my info with the entirety of the Tumblr jungle.

Extra:

Why did you write "Producción Editorial" in Spanish?

Because physically I live in a Spanish speaking country (Hola!). Most of the time I live on the internet though. Also, the English language is a filthy thief that (after a decade of study, now 15yrs) managed to steal into my brain and rewrote it so now my internal monologue is always in English. Lucky for me my professor says he doesn't mind the language so that's another reason I decided to branch out with this.

I think I covered the basics at least. I'll anwer any questions and edit this as necessary. I hope some of you will want to help me on this. Even if you don't want to or can't maybe you can share this with someone who will. So Thanks!!

And now, Tag time!

@blackkatmagic, @redhothollyberries, @hiruma-musouka, @araceil, @esamastation, @helly-watermelonsmellinfellon, @roachpatrol, @definitelynotaminion, @tratserenoyreve, @loverofpiggies, @inukagome15

I tagged all of you because you're some of the writers/creators I follow and know best out of everyone around here. I'm not asking you to participate (although I'd be delighted if you wanted to, not gonna lie x3), but I thought that maybe you could share this or spread the word a bit if it's not too much of a bother.

Thanks everyone who reached this far! :D

#project #book project #book design #personal #my stuff #study stuff

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junioradventure · 7 years

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[FANACCT] IMFACT- Tension Up Fansign+Fanmeeting (IMFACTORY) 170521- PLUS tips for these events! (Fanboy)

Hi everyone~ I’m here to share my amazing experience at IMFACT’s Fansign + Fanmeeting Event! If you were looking for reasons to stan IMFACT, I’m here to help you. Simply put, IMFACT treats their fans very well, and especially care for their international fans, as they want to have many opportunities to perform in all the countries around the world.

I love this concept; it’s so bright, vivid, and screams energetic!

TIME TO START THE FANACCOUNT! Information about this event: - IMFACT has not had an actual fansign event in Korea for a really long time, probably since “Feel So Good” era. They had a CD signing event in Japan not too long ago, but they said it was not the same as a real fansign event. So this was a special event prepared for fans, and doubled as a fanmeeting (involves live performances). - The event participation was carried out first-come first-serve to 120 people. - To apply for this event, the process was different from the traditional fansign process. Instead of buying an album on-site or online, two requirements had to be fulfilled: * We had to send Star Empire Ent. an email with the appropriate information (name, account number, Daum fancafe ID, etc.) before the deadline * We had to send the money (20,000 won) through an account transfer at the appropriate time slot. In this case, when it hit 8pm on the day the payment period started, we could proceed with the account transfer. Because of this, having a Korean bank account was extremely helpful and made the process much easier. - The staff provided the CD on-site, which made sense because we had to do an account transfer instead of the usual process. The CD had no wrapper and might be a special edition for this event. Nothing seems different about this album than a normal one, except the fact that it seemed like it was opened (plus there was no photocard, idk if the actual album has one or not). I transferred my money right when it struck 8 and played the waiting game. After worrying about getting in, I finally found out that I had gotten in... Thank goodness. I was waiting for a chance to meet them since “In the Club” came out. ON THE DAY OF... Okay. So the event would start at around 2pm according to the post on the fancafe. I woke up at 10ish and left right before noon. The event was held at a Catholic Youth Center (of all places) in Hongdae. I knew Hongdae somewhat but not the exact whereabouts of this site, so I wanted to leave earlier just in case I wandered too much. It turns out, the location was very easy to find, so I grabbed a bite at the convenience store and then went to the Youth Center. I had to say, at first when everyone was lining up, things were a bit confusing. We were told to go down to the lobby floor (accessible by staircase) to check-in. Apparently, the staff were calling us in by numerical order, but on the fancafe post with the official list of participants, there weren’t any numbers by our names. Instead, we had to manually count down the list of people to find our number, and we would tell that to the staff. That must have been a bit annoying for the people who were farther down the list, especially in the 100′s. Luckily, I was only number 40. The order of our names was actually our seat order. That means I was in seat 40. The staff called us in by groups of 5-10. I confirmed my identity with only an ID needed to prove it. Once I was verified, the staff gave me a piece of paper with my seat number and a bottle of sparkling water (how thoughtful!) Then it was waiting time again.

Don’t lose any piece of paper, especially one with your seat number, given to you by staff at the event. They also gave us a complementary sticky note where we write our name. We would stick this on the inside of our albums, opposite of the photo pages for the members’ reference when they sign your album. I brought extra sticky notes to mark where each member would sign. You should always bring spare notes because you can use this chance to ask the members a question or write a lovely note for them. Note: Some groups do not allow questions, so always follow the rules and read the information carefully on fancafe updates. After a bit more waiting, we could go in! I should probably get started on the actual event and the members. OK! We were waiting when all of a sudden, THE LIGHTS JUST DIMMED AND TURNED OFF. LIKE WHAT THE. The room was silent until “Please Be My First Love” CAME ON AND IMFACT WALKED ONSTAGE, SINGING IT LIVE! My heart died for a little instant, as my brain struggled to comprehend and process what was happening. Everyone seemed to be shook because there was not a single noise from the audience when IMFACT began singing. That was such a nice surprise and ahhhh I just love that song so much. Listen and love it lots.

After that impromptu performance, the boys sat at the table for the start of the fansigning. They greeted us and said a few words, thanking us for coming to this long-awaited event. Jian tried to add some things, but he kinda hesitated and seemed so cutely awkward like awww it’s okay, you’re so precious!! ONE RANDOM CUTE NOTE: The members commented about how many people came to this event, specially international fans (there was a handful of English-speaking fans there, and a lot of Japanese fans ((yay!))) BUT SANG ACTUALLY ANNOUNCED, “There’s a male fan here too!” AND THAT WAS ME Y’ALL. I WAS THE ONLY MALE FAN THERE AND AHHH I FELT SO SPECIAL. I waved like crazy when Sang said that, and some fans laughed. Taeho and Jian seemed pleasantly amused at this. Soon, the fansigning portion officially began. Let’s move on to individual member interactions I had~ (warning: FEELS AHEAD!!) The order was like this: Jeup→Ungjae(bias!!)→Sang→Taeho→Jian HANDSOME MAIN VOCAL, PARK JEUP ★ Jeup was so friendly and talkative!! Even though my Korean isn’t perfect, we talked the whole time. What really makes me appreciate a group is when they take into consideration your level of Korean if you’re an international fan. Some groups (not going to name names) make the situation awkward for international fans because of the language barrier. I’m not bashing these groups just for that reason, but it still is disappointing when you want to be open and flexible to your diverse fanbase, wherever they may be from. What I mean is, I had an experience with an idol group or two where members did not talk to me much, in English nor Korean, even when I was trying my hardest to speak in Korean. Thankfully, Jeup complimented my Korean skills. Anyway, he asked when I became a fan of them. I told him ever since “Feel So Good” era, and that I especially liked that track. I asked him, what was his favorite song, and he first replied, “Tension Up”, but also added, “In the Club” and “Please Be My First Love”. I agreed, saying that the trio of songs were all great. I commented that I especially think of PBMFL as 강추 (strong recommendation). Jeup burst out in laughter and complimented me again, saying that I even knew slang like “강추". He also asked where I came from, which is like a customary question we international fans get from idols. I told him America, specifically Hawaii, and pointed at the post-it note for him.

Translation- Q:This isn’t a question, but please come to Hawaii! A: All right. We’ll definitely go. (YAAAAAAAAAAAS PLEASE COME AND VACATION IN HAWAII!!) Jeup looked at the note and actually said he really wants to visit Hawaii. I advertised the islands to him, saying that the weather is nice, the sceneries are great, and he added, “the beaches are good too”. So, he expressed that he wants to take all of the members there to have fun. Please do, we’ll welcome you warmly~ Finally, I told him his hairstyle was really nice today. It was spiked up and it really suited him! He thanked me, and I asked what he personally thought of it. J: I like it. Styling the hair upward is very masculine. Me: Right, I agree. Do you prefer having your hair styled up or bangs down? J: *thinks for a bit* I think both is good, but now, having your hair styled up is rather cool now. So I personally like it this way. Me: Yeah! Especially since nowadays it’s quite hot, right? J: Right! Then I told him I’d continue supporting IMFACT in the future. Such a cool guy~ Gonna hold you to your words, Jeup. See you guys in Hawaii. A hui ho! BOYFRIEND MATERIAL/GENIUS LYRICIST/SHY CUTIE BIAS, NA UNGJAE!! ❤ Okay, I’m already dying of feels again and I haven’t even told you guys my interaction. So I can’t believe I was actually meeting Ungjae. I spazzed about him so much recently before and I had so many feels, but it’s always so different when you meet idols in real life. I told him I’m from Hawaii, like I always do. U: Hawaii? Wow. Me: Am I the first fan from Hawaii? U: *kind of confused* Sorry? Me: Am I the first fan from Hawaii that you’ve met? U: Ah, yes *laughs* Me: *proud* U: And you’ve come all the way to Korea. Me: Yeah, I’m actually an exchange student. U: Wow, really? *impressed* You’re really good at Korean. Me: Ah, thank you. I still got a long way to go. But I’ve been in Korea for around 9 months. And, since this was a golden opportunity, thanks to my friend’s suggestion, I decided to just wing it and see what would happen if I wrote my bias a cute joking question.

Translation: Ungjae-yah, I like you the best ㅎㅎ Wanna go shopping together later? (I’m older so I’m using banmal/informal language) Bottom right corner of signature: Thank you!! I WAS SO SHY WHEN HE KEPT LOOKING AT THE NOTE, I WAS LIKE OMG OKAY MAYBE I SHOULDN’T HAVE WRITTEN IT, WHAT IF HE REPLIES NEGATIVELY?! But that was just my panic mode. Most idols with a good heart would play along! But since this was the first time I met my bias face to face, I was slightly worried what he would think. This is how the convo basically went: U: Ah, shopping? *curious* Me: Yeah *laughs uncomfortably, shy shy shy af* U: *genuinely interested* What kinds of clothes do you want? Me: I like casual clothes U: *smiles* Ah, casual? Ah, I like hip-hop style so... Hongdae has a few places, not a lot. But for casual clothes... *recommends some stuff but I forgot what he said exactly, sorry bb* We talked a bit more about stores and things. It felt more like he was giving me recommendations HAHA but since he wrote, “Cool~!” on my note, then I’ll take that as a yes ❤ Anyway, I got pretty bold at this point and thought, well, might as well just go all out. Me: Actually, you’re my favorite member. You’re really handsome. U: *shyly smiles* *bows head slowly in appreciation* AHHHHHH HE WAS SO ADORABLE WHEN HE WAS SHY, SUCH A QTPIE I SWEAR. SUCH CHARISMA ONSTAGE BUT IN PERSON HE’S JUST A CINNAMON ROLL AHHHH STAN UNGJAE STAN IMFACT EVERYONE. Lastly, I asked him about his work as IMFACT’s lyricist. Me: So, you’re in charge of composing lyrics? U: Of course. Me: When you write lyrics, where do you usually draw your inspiration? U: *thinks* hmm... Well, I just draw inspiration from real life. When I’m thinking about something or when I watch a show or drama, I just get thoughts and write them. It was time to move on, so I gave him one last firm handshake and moved on. Thanks to his sunny smile, I was able to feel accomplished after talking to him. I officially didn’t mess up royally in front of my bias! THE SUNSHINE OF IMFACT, LEE SANG ☀ LOVE, LOVE, LOVE THIS GUY. HE WAS SO NICE!! He already pointed me out in the beginning but seriously, this guy is awesome. Right when I moved to him, he extended his hand out and gave me a big, friendly handshake. He greeted me, “What’s up?!!” in English. S: Ah, Hawaii~ my sister went to America. (I love that random transition of topics) Me: Really? Where in America? S: *says in English* America. For study. Me: *internally: I know Sang, I’m asking where* Where, in America? *says it again* S: *I think he didn’t specify, or he forgot, but he said she just studied abroad, and came back. I just accepted that answer lol* Me: You should come visit Hawaii!! And then he proceeds to tell me that he really wants to go. He looks at my post-it.

Translation- Q: Do you have a favorite Nine Muses song? (NM and IMFACT are same company) I told him that I really like Namyu and that they’re my favorite group, and since the two groups are the same company, I wanted to ask him what his fave song from them was. He wrote Drama, and ofc I love that song too. Darn, I forgot some other little things I might have talked to him about. But here’s another thing~ (I was just speaking my mind at this point) Me: Since there’s a lot I don’t know, who is the visual in IMFACT? S: Actually, we leave it up to the fans, who see members as visuals in their own viewpoints. Like, if a fan watches us, they’ll think “Ah, I like this one! He’s a visual!” These kinds of thoughts. So it’s an individual’s preference. *how precious is this* Me: Really? Well, honestly, I think you’re the visual. S: Ah, really? *short shy moment, gives me another handshake for the compliment* Me: Yeah, you’re really, really handsome. I can’t stress this enough, THIS GUY IS SO GREAT!! I forget what else we talked about, but at the end, I got flustered lol just.... ahhhhhhh > < NEXT, MAIN DANCER BUT TRYNA SNATCH DAT MAIN VOCAL POSITION, KIM TAEHO ♦ Taeho is really cool and just polite and nice~ I just loved his reaction when I said I was from Hawaii. He was like, “Wa, Hawaii?” like aw. And I had to tell him about how cool it was that he got more lines this comeback. Seriously, seems like all the vocals in this group can be main. Me: Also, I really like how you got a lot of parts this time around. T: Ah, really? *smiles* You like my vocals? Me: Yeah! Compared to the older songs, you got a lot of parts. Isn’t it nice? T: Yep~ *high-five* Thank you~ Me: Hm, how are the parts distributed, anyway? T: Actually, we each get together and divide the parts based on who fits the lines the most. We come to an agreement and split the parts that way. Like we say, “Oh, I think you would fit this part well”, and so on. Me: Wow, that’s nice~ What do you honestly think of the title track, “Tension Up”? T: I do like it. It’s really exciting. I also like In the Club and especially Please Be My First Love. That kind of style. *sly self-promo as always* Me; I agree! T: We have more songs in store, so please anticipate them. Me: Ah, could you give me a little hint about the next track? *COMEBACK SPOILER EXCLUSIVELY FROM TAEHO* T: Compared to “Tension Up”, the next one is a bit... slower tempo. It’s hip-hop, but more... relaxing? Chill? Me: Ah, really? Sounds exciting. I’ll continue supporting IMFACT in the future~

I don’t remember much else that we talked about, but that was still a lot~ Such a sweet guy. Really cares for his fans, like all of them. THE AWKWARD BUT SWAG RAPPER LEADER, LEE JIAN ♠ Last but definitely not least, I met Jian~ Awkward little greetings ftw. Me: Hi~ Jian-ssi~ Oh, where’d your note go? JA: Hi, it’s right here~ *looks at said note* Me: Oh *flustered af, drops head in embarrassment*

Translation- Q: Is an IMFACT X Nine Muses collab possible?? A: We’ve done one! On the picture: Nine Muses Noonas are coming back soon, so please give them lots of support, and if a chance for a collab presents itself, we’ll do it for sure! In response to my surprise at his answer, we had a convo. JA: We collaborated before. Me: Oh right, "Dream”, right? (referring to Sang x Keumjo’s duet) JA: Actually, during the Star Empire Family Concert in Japan. Me: Oh, really? JA: Yeah. It was me and Keumjo-noona, we did a collab. Me: Ah, which song? I didn’t know. JA: Taeyang-sunbaenim’s “Eyes, Nose, Lips”. Me: Oh, I’ve never seen it. Do you think it would be on YouTube? JA: I think it’ll come up if you search it there. I told him about Nine Muses being my favorite girl group, and he mentioned that they helped IMFACT a lot, and he really appreciates them. AND HERE’S WHEN I LITERALLY SAID WHAT HAS BEEN BOTHERING ME FOR SOME TIME LOL HEAR ME OUT, OKAY? Me: Okay, this isn’t an insult, but I have something to say... JA: Okay, what is it? Me: When I look at you, Jian, I think of Euaerin. You remind me of her a lot. Like your tone... And I remember when you impersonated her. JA: Ah, really?~ *smiling* Actually, I really look up to her. She’s helped me a lot. *I forgot what he said specifically, but he was really chill and nice about this LOL I hope it didn’t offend him cuz they could be counterparts! Killer rappers and amazing dancers.*

Like look at this goddess

And then look at this hunk! LOL. Their sharp features stand out, and they’re really charismatic. (God I miss Euaerin now). And then it was time to continue my attack on Jian. But this time, I wanted to give him a direct compliment~ Me: But Jian-ssi. JA: *interested* yes? Me:You’re really handsome. JA: *amused at my straightforwardness* Ah, thank you~ *laughs* Me: Yeah, especially this... *gestures at the amazing tie he’s wearing, bless his outfit and his whole existence* It suits you very much. Did you pick it yourself? JA: Actually, the stylists did it... Me: Oh, well it still looks good! Then it was time to go *sad face* Me: *reads Jian’s message on my album* Ah, but don’t worry~ I’m not just a Nine Muses fan, I’m also IMFACT’s fan~ I’ll support you in the future! JA: Thank you! See you! Me: Bye bye! JA: Bye~ Junior~~ Just the way he said my name at the end made me so warm on the inside hehehehe~ they are all sweethearts. It took a long while to go through all 120 fans, but it was great. They had a little game session with the fans, where they would draw something on a notepad and then the fans guess the answer. The ones who answered would get a chance to take a selca with them. *ahhh jelly* Honestly, during that game, I was confused AF about what they were drawing LMAO I did not know how the fans could get all the right answers! I was stumped. Then IMFACT performed some songs, as this was the “fanmeeting” part of the event. They performed some fan favorites- Tension Up (of course) and Lollipop. And during Lollipop, Sang was EXTRA and ran offstage momentarily and I GOT TO TOUCH HIS HAND AGAIN~! HE’S SO GREAT WITH FANSERVICE. LOVE YOU SANG!! Seriously, they know how to charm their fans and make them feel loved! It was almost time to go, but IMFACT asked the staff if they could do one more encore stage of Please Be My First Love. The fans were cheering, wanting it, AND SO WAS I, LIKE THIS SONG IS SUCH A TREASURE. BEST CHILL SONG RIGHT NOW. Refreshing like a breath of spring air~ Their vocals were on point and it was cute because in the middle, when Ungjae started rapping, his mic turned off for some reasons and had some difficulties but the members helped and lent him a mic until it started working again. So talented and thoughtful agh. Then, it was time to go~ they waved goodbye and the lights dimmed and turned off again, just like the beginning. Just as they had come. They all disappeared backstage, except Jeup who straggled and stayed back a little to say one last cute farewell to the audience. And that was it. A great day well spent. It was so worth the trouble of applying, even if it was a different format than I was used to. IMFACT is so underrated, and I think Star Empire is not doing the best that they can to help them succeed. Like, the members are all charming and talented and exceptional, but their title songs are not innovative, unique, or otherwise outstanding to really catch the public’s eye. Star Empire failed ZE:A and they messed up Namyu, and I feel so bad for IMFACT. But hope remains, and I will keep supporting them in their journey. I wish them all the luck for stardom. Please give IMFACT a try. Listen to their b-sides too, they have really good side tracks, which seem to be the real hidden gems of their music. RECOMMENDATIONS FROM ME: Woo Please Be My First Love (If I didn’t stress this enough) In The Club (an excellent r&b, more somber song of theirs) Mirrorz Feel So Good (a really underrated title track, really hype-worthy) And that’s it for my fanaccount!! It’s super long but it’s all my thoughts~ I’m going to make a video for this whole experience, hopefully by tomorrow. I spent so much time on this, hahaha. Until next time~

#imfact #fansign #fanmeeting #fanaccount #fanboy #tensionup #kpop

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zdotq · 8 years

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Show Notes: Melt Our Horseshoes into Swords

Hello Listeners! It’s episode four! I’m writing these notes before we have a show title, so I don’t have any jokes!

This week, we talk about video games. Where Quinn and I differ, why Quinn and I differ, and why we’re both definitively wrong. We ramble a bit, which is what we do best, and then I try to make Quinn look like the fool he isn’t. I fanboy over some stuff, Quinn over modulates, and we go on a big ol’ diversion about horses.

I don’t link to everything we mention in the show, since I figure you can use Google just as well as I can, but I link to things we think are particularly important, or if there’s a specific version of the thing we want you to look at.

Also, we have an email ([email protected]) in addition to our tumblr (if you’re reading this you’re already here) if you want to reach out to us or to suggest topics! Our soundcloud (soundcloud.com/zdotq) is where we post all of our shows.

As always, thanks for listening, and don’t be afraid to recommend us to every single person you know.

Best,

Zero

The Weekly Round-Up

Iron Fist

MBMBAM: The McElroy Shows and the first episode.

The Last Jedi Europe

CONTENT

We reference this Zero Punctuation episode.

The Fallout: New Vegas DLCs, if you’re unfamiliar and would like to actually follow that conversations.

I got my list of terms from Wikipedia, so you know where to look if you’re interested.

CoolGames Inc.

Ride to Hell: Retribution

Touch the Skyrim

Door Closing Simulator

#podcast #show notes #Z.Q #video games #Melt Our Horseshoes into Swords

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yeskraim · 5 years

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Dungeons & Dragons had fallen on ‘troubled times.’ The role-playing game’s fifth edition changed everything

Nathan Stewart had a tall task ahead of him when he and others first looked to revamp Dungeons & Dragons. A tarrasque-sized challenge, indeed.

Nearly eight years ago, the game’s accessibility had come into question ahead of the release of the fifth edition, its current iteration. When Stewart joined D&D publisher Wizards of the Coast, the strategy was to “reinvigorate the tabletop game.”

Their efforts have paid off in almost unimaginable ways. D&D’s fifth edition, released in 2014, isn’t just a success. It’s revivified the franchise, with 2018 and 2019 – the 45th anniversary of the game – consecutively marking the best years for D&D sales.

That’s not all.

“Beyond the sales, there’s a lot of other ways to look at it, too,” Stewart told USA TODAY. “I think we’re seeing more players than ever. We’re seeing more mainstream mentions and more exposure, impressions, if you will, in terms of the number of references and times D&D comes up in a pop culture TV show or movie, or even just someone’s Twitter.

“It used to be, ‘Oh hey, cool, D&D got mentioned.’ Now it’s like, ‘Yeah. It’s a weekday.’”

In an age where screen time is synonymous with free time, tabletop gaming surrounded by friends is making a comeback.

At the forefront is D&D. Thanks to live-streaming services, celebrity endorsements, frequent pop culture references and – above all else – an accessible game, the D&D community is thriving and eager to roll initiative again.

Dungeons & Dragons: Go on an adventure in a ‘safe, controlled space’

Dungeons & Dragons certainly isn’t new. The game’s first edition launched in 1974, and groups of friends have been led through adventures by storytelling Dungeon Masters (DMs) ever since.

At its heart, D&D is simple. DMs create and guide players through worlds filled with monsters, treasure and intrigue, with dice rolls deciding key outcomes.

Some tables take on psychic fish-monsters from the dawn of time. Others prefer political debates.

Coming in 2020: ‘Dark Alliance’ video game features iconic Dungeons & Dragons characters, location

But, at its core, D&D is about collaborative storytelling with friends. That spirit was captured in the creation of the fifth edition following a slump brought on by previous editions that led to in-community fighting, Stewart said.

This time, he said, the team focused on cutting out “complexity for complexity’s sake.”

“I think everybody who works here at Dungeons and Dragons take the role of steward really seriously,” Stewart said. “It was such an old, beloved brand at the time, and it was kind of falling on some troubled times.”

Rules were added and scrapped and tweaked to make sure the game was approachable for newcomers but also engaging for longtime players.

“Every time you put in a rule that took away from friends getting together and telling stories, we were kind of going against the core ethos,” Stewart said. “We play-tested the hell out of it and, also, when we were looking at things, we said, ‘Is this really making it more fun for everybody or this just for one group?’

“Whenever it was just for one group, we tried to find a better way to do it.”

D&D’s principal story designer Chris Perkins said D&D allows people to tap into the “human need to escape the confines of our reality and experience other worlds in a safe, controlled space.” D&D’s universe is vast, with pantheons of gods, devils and demons, established villains and heroes.

And there are always DMs willing to create their own worlds while taking cues from D&D’s preexisting library.

“The game allows us to be ourselves and someone else at the same time,” Perkins said in an email. “D&D is also a great creative outlet, allowing us to craft our own fictional characters, worlds, and adventures, and that’s very appealing when the real world is quickly burning to a cinder.”

Still, despite streamlining, D&D can be intimidating for new players. It’s not easy to pick up the fifth edition’s “Monster Manual” – a book that has a monstrous floating eye with teeth on its cover – and simply dive into the game. Not everyone can pick up the Player’s Handbook and immediately choose if they’re going to be a barbarian or a sorcerer, either.

That’s where the established community comes in.

A ‘diverse’ community of players bolsters Dungeons & Dragons

D&D’s community is multifaceted.

There are new players and players who grew up with the game. Young players and old players. Parents teaching their children. Children teaching their classes. The list is endless.

Satine Phoenix, a storytelling consultant and founder of collaborative art studio Gilding Light in Los Angeles and a host of a popular series that provided tips for Dungeon Masters, said the community is more diverse than ever. She’s been playing D&D since 1988, when she found a beginner’s box in her parents’ basement at 8 years old.

Phoenix is writing a book about how D&D helped her through PTSD and childhood trauma.

“Throughout that trauma, I held on to my character, I held on to these stories, so D&D is in my veins,” Phoenix said. “It helps me understand the world differently. It helps me escape. It helps me attack problems.”

From Barbie to Matchbox cars: Here’s every toy in the Museum of Play’s Toy Hall of Fame

Eventually, Phoenix started a D&D group at Meltdown Comics, an iconic L.A. comic shop that closed in 2018.

“People came out that I didn’t expect,” she said. “There were women and there were professionals. The fascinating thing was they thanked me for providing a space. Suddenly, we had Sundays with six tables and six to 10 people at each table. There wasn’t a space and, suddenly, there were people like me in all the major cities going, ‘I’m going to make a space,’ and people just flocked to it.”

Humans are social creatures, Stewart said. D&D just provides an excuse to come together – like a poker game or a movie night, only with dice and maybe a few kobolds.

“These stories are the ones that stick with us,” Stewart said. “When you think about some of your best friends, at least in my world, half the people tell the story about their best friend and they met them playing D&D.”

David Price, store manager at Game Theory in Raleigh, North Carolina, told USA TODAY that D&D’s popularity has surged in the five years he’s been managing the store. There was a time when there are only two tables reserved each week for D&D.

Now, he said, there are “at least 15 to 20.”

“If I had to pick a community that is the most diverse, it’s the role-playing community in general, and the D&D community specifically,” said Price, 47. “We have kids 10 years old and up, all the way to people who are close to retirement age – actually, we probably do have a few retirees.”

The digital age has helped ‘demystify’ Dungeons & Dragons for new players

Some of the most recognizable players in D&D put their faces alongside the game on a regular basis.

According to a D&D fact sheet, more than 7,500 unique broadcasters streamed live games for more than 475,000,000 minutes watched in 2017. And, D&D’s official Twitch channel streamed about 50 hours of content weekly.

Shows like “Critical Role” – which recently raised more than $11 million on Kickstarter to back an animated television show – draw thousands of viewers per week.

“What all of those are showing people is this game is for you,” Stewart said. “I look like you. My group is made up like you.”

The online shows – and in some cases, live shows played in front of sold-out theaters – lower the barrier of entry for D&D, Stewart said. Interested viewers get a chance to see what a game is like in real time – a table of friends goofing around – instead of worrying about the game’s complexities.

“Technology has helped demystify the game by showing that you don’t need to be a rules expert to have a good time,” Perkins said, and added, “All you need are some dice, a good imagination and some friends.”

Outside of live broadcasts, the digital age has provided new ways for players to get involved with D&D. Meetup.com is a good place to start for anyone looking to join a game. DND Beyond is D&D’s web-based service that provides digital rulebooks and can even create a character for free. Looking for new content? Try the Dungeon Master’s Guild.

What’s next for Dungeon & Dragons?

So, after back-to-back years of top-tier sales, what comes next? How does the D&D franchise build on its momentum?

“I think if you just ask people what they want, you’re never going to get an answer that leads to the next product or the next popularity wave,” Stewart said.

“But, if you’re asking all of the people and you’re really listening and you’re really triangulating in terms of the different ways they’re getting their opinions out there, whether it be on Reddit or Twitter or different surveys … then you can kind of stay ahead of the curve that way.”

“Dark Alliance,” a video game featuring one of the series’ most popular characters that’s set to launch this year on PC and consoles, is one project deemed integral to D&D’s future strategy.

Why?

“When someone comes in through a film or a video game or through a YA novel, they’re getting an experience of D&D, that whets their appetite and then they want to go search out more of the gaming experiences we have,” Stewart said.

This week, D&D also announced a new sourcebook in collaboration with “Critical Role,” which is set to release in March.

“Dungeons & Dragons has had such a massive, positive impact on nearly my entire life, and I am ever inspired by the endless creativity I see it spark in so many others across the world,” Matt Mercer, DM for “Critical Role,” said in a press release.

Whatever comes next, the storytelling consultant Phoenix is excited for it.

“Over the past 10 years, America has just embraced Dungeons & Dragons,” she said. “Over the past couple years, Europe has and so has Asia-Pacific, and it’s really going to make a huge difference when we can get all over the world playing together.

“That’s going to be one of the next big, positive changes, is going global and going global together.”

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michaelfallcon · 5 years

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A Fond Farewell To Cherry Roast

Some sad news coming out of Denver. Cherry Roast, the “platform and coffee competition to support and provide visibility for womxn/trans/GNC/gender queer coffee professionals” will shutter after four seasons. Founder and Amethyst Coffee owner Elle Jensen made the announcement via social media, published originally via the Coffee People Zine’s Instagram and reprinted below in full.

In it, Jensen recounts the early days of Cherry Roast, which launched in 2015 as a competition for “female baristas.” The competition soon expanded to prioritize inclusivity for trans, gender non-conforming, and gender queer individuals. Across four seasons Cherry Roast saw a lot of growth in both who it served and how it was able to serve them: 2018 champion Simone Rodriguez, for instance, will be attending the World Barista Championship in Boston next week as part of the winner’s bounty.

Ultimately, 2018 would be the last chapter in the Cherry Roast story, and for Jensen, the timing was right. The burden of running an organization can often be overwhelming, especially when you are busy opening new cafes. And instead of handing off the reins to someone else, Jensen opted to put an end to the competition, while questioning the nature and necessity of competition within coffee itself.

Cherry Roast was part of a wave of local, DIY, community-driven coffee competitions for people who, for a variety of reasons (often relating back to inclusivity), didn’t have the interest or resources to in compete on a national level. We covered Cherry Roast frequently over the last four years on Sprudge, and watched as it became a bellwether for what coffee events can be and mean today: diverse, inclusive, community-minded, and above all else, fun.

The full statement from Elle Jensen is reprinted below.

Dear Friends of Cherry Roast-

This is not an easy letter to write, and I will try to fit all of the pertinent information into the first short paragraphs so you need not read further if you don’t care to. The short of it is that Cherry Roast has seen its last year. In the coming paragraphs I will explain my position, give my reasons, say it’s not your fault (robyn, anyone?), and try to leave the jokes aside, but #copingmechanisms, amirite?

Yes, you read that correctly. The last Cherry Roast is in our past, and will not be continued into the future. I am beyond thankful to everyone who has supported this event in it’s 4 years, and I think that for a moment we did a lot of good in our community. I think Cherry Roast did what it was meant to do, and now I think it’s time to let it go. That’s the gist of it, so please feel free to walk away now, before I get emotional.Cherry Roast will always hold the most special of places in my heart. From that first year of rickety tables set up in a space that was too small to hold everyone who came out to support, to this past year figuring out a way (with so, so much help) to send our champion to Boston for WBC. That’s a pretty fucking cool glow-up in 4 years. However, it has not been 4 years of triumphs. It has been 4 years of sleepless nights, giant missteps, and harmful mistakes on my part. I had no idea what Cherry Roast was going to become when I started it, I didn’t realize how big the hole was that it filled, and I didn’t realize it would then create other holes in our community. To best organize this, I’m going to make a list of reasons why Cherry Roast was a great stepping stone, and it is now time for us to step to the next one.

1. I started Cherry Roast as a competition for ‘female baristas’ in 2015, the same year I opened Amethyst Coffee. I now cringe at the word ‘female’ when trying to reference a specific group of people, but you can’t hide from the past. Due to my positions of privilege, I didn’t understand why this verbiage was harmful and why creating a competition like this also created an othering of already othered baristas. I am so sorry for the hurt that choice caused. I am sorry that my responses were not always graceful. I am thankful to a community who held me accountable, because that in itself is a lot of work. Cherry Roast was not only a lot of work for me, but also a lot of work for our community in a way that I did not foresee. In 2017 we made Cherry Roast more inclusive. We worked to make sure that our language was inclusive and that this wasn’t just a competition geared toward cis white women baristas. We stumbled over our inclusive language more than once. White cis men sent me angry emails more than once. Policing gender identity and trying to create a box in which certain people could fit became unhealthy and caused more hurt. I think in some ways this shows that our community is growing and getting better. I think more of us understand how our privilege presents when interacting with our community, and how sometimes the best thing we can do is just be quiet and let the voices who should be heard, be heard. I think Cherry Roast played a part in that, and that is part of the good that came of it. However, like I said, I think that we can grow beyond this, and that we have grown out of Cherry Roast.

2. We don’t need another competition. We don’t need another reason to create animosity, and even though Cherry Roast has never felt that way, in 2018 the disappointment I felt was palpable and I don’t think that serves us. I’d like to see us create things together; build things together. Competition is born from toxic ideas as it is, and we don’t need it in this context.

3. I always wanted Cherry Roast to be a come-as-you-are and see what happens sort of thing, but the community wants something else. The community wants education, spaces to taste coffee without fear of judgement, and tangible professional development. Those are all incredible things to want, but that was not the space that I intended to create. When an organization ceases to serve the people it set out to serve, then what is it doing? Cherry Roast started to lose it’s identity as an entity, which, again, I think is good. I think it shows growth as a collective group, and also speaks to what the community needs. I’m hoping in the coming months to address these needs, so we’ll see what happens!

4. ‘If you’re tired of doing it, why not just pass it off to someone else?’ I thought long and hard about this. There are leaders in our community who would love to step up, but I don’t think that’s the point. I don’t think some regeneration of Cherry Roast is what we need, I think it just needs to be let go. I think it should live in it’s moment in time as a reminder of growth and change. Not preserved in a strange way, just there in it’s own moment in time.

5. To state the obvious, I am also tired. Running a platform like this is more than I anticipated in so many ways, and though I am thankful for the personal and professional growth, I need to do more of this work on my own time and from my own emotional bank. I’ve unknowingly asked a LOT of the marginalized people in my community, and it’s not fair. I’ve done my best, and I now better understand what we actually need. What I can promise you from myself moving forward is more work toward inclusive legislative change, more work toward holding other business owners accountable and making sure our spaces are actually safe and not just advertised as safe, more work done to highlight marginalized voices in our communities, and more work towards cafe transparencies.

As I close, I have one thing to ask of you. I’ve spoken to many people who run platforms focused on uplifting marginalized voices and bringing to light the harmful aspects of our community. I’ve asked what they do to take care of themselves and a lot of them say ‘I don’t know… if you think of anything please let me know’. These people run these platforms because they care. They are people, they are not perfect. I see baristas playing call-out wars and, honestly, it sucks. It’s gross. Yes, it is SUPER important to hold people accountable, but you NEED to check in with yourself and say ‘am I holding this person accountable for their own growth and the good of my community, or am I just trying to be the first person to call them out?’. I’d like to see more privileged people reaching out with offers of help for these platforms, rather than call-outs. This will be more appreciated than you probably know.

This news will come as a surprise to many of you. There are those of you who will be sad, angry, confused, and I hope you know that I am always available to talk. Ultimately, I had to make this decision on my own. I’m sorry that strips some of you of a voice in this, but I really do believe this is for the best. I have so much love for everyone who has ever supported and been a part of Cherry Roast. You are seen, loved, and valued, and I promise to continue working hard for you.

cheers,

elle

Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.

Top image via Cherry Roast

The post A Fond Farewell To Cherry Roast appeared first on Sprudge.

A Fond Farewell To Cherry Roast published first on https://medium.com/@LinLinCoffee

0 notes

epchapman89 · 5 years

Text

A Fond Farewell To Cherry Roast

The full statement from Elle Jensen is reprinted below.

Dear Friends of Cherry Roast-

cheers,

elle

Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.

Top image via Cherry Roast

The post A Fond Farewell To Cherry Roast appeared first on Sprudge.

seen 1st on http://sprudge.com

0 notes

mrwilliamcharley · 5 years

Text

A Fond Farewell To Cherry Roast

The full statement from Elle Jensen is reprinted below.

Dear Friends of Cherry Roast-

cheers,

elle

Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.

Top image via Cherry Roast

The post A Fond Farewell To Cherry Roast appeared first on Sprudge.

from Sprudge https://ift.tt/2YI7sDs

0 notes

dawnparker · 6 years

Text

How We Topped Product Hunt (Overnight)

Nothing summons the old imposter syndrome monster quite like the moments before a big project launch. All at once, you begin to question every decision you’ve made along the way — from the name of the project down to the comma placements.

For me, these nervous feelings are still fresh. Back in August, my team and I released a totally revamped version of our buyer persona tool, Make My Persona.

We’d been hard at work on the project for months and were all in agreement that it’d shaped up to be something uniquely valuable — something different than we’d worked on before. Nonetheless, I proceeded with caution as I began green lighting the promotion plans we’d put together.

Email? Check. Social media? Check. Blog post? Check.

The feedback started to roll in almost instantly … and it was positive.

Users loved the tool. And that’s when I knew it was time to spread the word a little further. So I pulled up Product Hunt, spun up the tool details, and set it free for the community to have at it. I gave the listing a courtesy upvote from myself and closed my laptop. It has been a long few months — and even a longer few days.

What happened next? Something special.

Make My Persona: The #1 Product of the Day

The great thing about having team members in Dublin is that they are up and at it hours before we’ve had our coffee here at HubSpot headquarters in Cambridge, MA. This means I often wake up to surprises from the designers and developers I work with — from updated wireframes to development progress to reimagined solutions for project blockers.

Though, I can confidently say that the Friday morning after our launch brought about my favorite surprise yet: A Slack message from my colleague claiming that Make My Persona had been featured as the #1 “Product of the Day” on Product Hunt.

I rushed to the site to confirm and was delighted to see that my single upvote had grown into nearly 200 upvotes overnight. We were topping the charts and new upvotes were being tacked on by the minute.

In an attempt to understand exactly how we landed ourselves in this situation, I started reading articles from other teams that had seen success on Product Hunt. From what I could gather, this wasn’t something that was supposed to happen by accident. People had calculated plans. They’d researched the best time and date for launching. They’d done their homework.

I’ll be the first to admit that I wasn’t as strategic about the launch as I could have been. I’d launched a couple of lead generation tools on Product Hunt in the past, but our strategy still needed refining. I was learning. Though, the listing did check a lot of the launch “best practices” suggested by Product Hunt:

We had a great explainer video heading up the gallery   An animated thumbnail   Quality screenshots of the tool’s experience   A clear and concise description   Links from features around the web  

But I also missed a lot of opportunities:

I hunted the tool myself   I didn’t have all of our Makers in order before launching   I failed to have one of the Makers post a comment to invite feedback   I didn’t arrange any reviews   I asked no one to upvote it — in fact, I didn’t even tell anyone I’d posted it yet  

Suddenly, I could feel the imposter syndrome monster bubbling up again. Did we deserve this recognition? Was this a mistake?

I silenced that internal dialogue quickly. Of course we deserved this. This tool was unique, helpful, and visually stunning. I was proud of it for a lot of different reasons, so I decided to focus on that instead. And after tracing back the steps we’d taken to get here, it became clear why we’d been so successful. Allow me to explain …

The Hidden Success Ingredient: Over-Investing in the User Experience

We had a kickoff for the project back in May where we drew up this list of improvements we wanted to make to the existing tool:

Offer a solution for everyone Reduce friction in the conversion process  Make the experience more engaging  Encourage collaboration and customization  Make the avatars more diverse to better represent all people 

We referred to this bulleted list as our “rebuild objectives” and they all had one thing in common: they solved for the user. That was the hidden success ingredient. It suddenly felt so obvious. People were upvoting this tool because it was simple and engaging and entirely free. We over-invested in making it the best it could be for the end user and it was starting to show.

Here’s how each of those rebuild objectives shook out within the tool itself:

Offering a solution for everyone.

Make My Persona was a tool that we launched several years ago and made the decision to update this year. When we took a look at the tool’s organic performance, we found it was ranking for a variety of buyer persona-related terms — from “what is a persona” to “buyer persona templates.” To ensure we met the needs of everyone that discovered the tool, regardless of their intent, we split the tool into two parts:

Path #1: This conversion path was designed to help those who were just getting started with personas. Here we provided a brief intro to what a persona is, followed by a beginner’s guide to walk them through how to conduct persona research. Path #2: This was the main conversion path that walked visitors through the creation of an actual persona. Visitors that chose this path would have already completed their persona research and be ready to document it.

Reducing friction in the conversion process.

Persona creation requires a lot of information. And in most cases, the more detail you can provide – the better. With that in mind, we set out to balance the need for context with the even greater need for a simplified user flow.

To do that, we combined similar questions to form seven steps. In each step, we incorporated sliders and dropdown menus to help users input information faster, with less typing.

We also introduced a CTA that allows a user to skip the step-by-step process entirely and head straight to the editable template for an all-in-one view.

As a result, the new version of the gives users the freedom and flexibility to input information and work through the creation process on their terms, without restrictions or roadblocks.

Making the experience more engaging.

There are a ton of lovable “micro-moments” throughout the tool that are intended to make the experience more engaging – and more human.

For example, your avatar reacts to your inputs in the walkthrough mode (giving a thumbs up, winking, etc.) and confetti falls from the screen to help you celebrate when you complete your persona.

All of these gamified elements create an experience that is fun for the user, encouraging them to continue through to the next step.

Encouraging collaboration and customization.

Buyer persona creation isn’t always a one person job. And persona documents are not one size fits all. With these two things in mind, we introduced shareable links that users can send along to their colleagues to make edits to the persona and collaborate on the positioning.

This shareable link creates a copy of the master persona to ensure nothing gets deleted, while still providing the flexibility for others to rework the persona data.

To provide greater control over the actual look and feel of the document, we made the persona editor full customizable: users can drag, drop, resize, and reorder the modules to ensure the information that’s most important to them is front and center. They can also adjust the color scheme to align with their branding.

Making the avatars more diverse to better represent all people.

The stock photo selection within the old tool was not a good look. There was only one-person of color represented – and an uneven amount of men and women.

In the 2018 version, we made the conscious decision to remove gender from the equation by introducing avatars that represent people – plain and simple. We also aimed to include a variety of skin tones, hair types, and age identifiers. While these were small acts of inclusion, they went a long way in terms of ensuring that everyone felt represented.

The Results: What Happens When You Top Product Hunt

At this point, you’re probably ready for me to skip ahead to the numbers. What impact does getting featured in the #1 slot have on the performance of your project?

Well, the Product Hunt win helped to shape our numbers in a few different ways:

Our upvotes skyrocketed. Being featured on the Product Hunt homepage = visibility. As a result, we ended the day we got featured with 600+ upvotes, though that number continued to grow over the next few days as we remained on the homepage. We also saw a second wave of upvotes from an inclusion in the daily digest email that followed. As it stands, the tool has 1.3K+ upvotes, making it the most successful HubSpot Product Hunt launch in history.  

We saw a big increase in traffic. All said and done, we generated roughly 10K views from Product Hunt. Again, these numbers climbed steadily days after being featured thanks to continued homepage visibility and subsequent emails. We also saw an uptick in traffic from social media, as the listing spawned a lot of love on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.   

We generated some leads. While the conversion rate from the traffic was nothing to write home about, we did pull in some leads from Product Hunt. Note: Because these people likely stumbled upon the tool on the homepage without searching for any terms, there’s no guarantee they actually have a need for it. We’re keeping this in mind as we evaluate the quality of those leads and expect that those who find us through a deliberate search in the future will have more intent.

We got a lot of shout outs. As I mentioned before, the uptick in traffic from the feature earned us recognition via the Product Hunt email and on social media. But there were a few other unexpected surprises. For example, the tool was also picked up by InVision’s design inspiration extension, Muz.li. This extension curates content from hundreds of sources, including Product Hunt, which is where I suspect we got on its radar. This brought in another 7K+ views.

Setting the Flywheel in Motion

If you think about these wins in relation to the flywheel, it all adds up.

By investing in the delight stage — the overall user experience of the tool — we were able to build enough momentum to set the rest of the flywheel in motion.

Delighted users shared and upvoted the tool

↓

Those shares and upvotes helped us attract a larger audience

↓

Drawing in a larger audience gave us more people to engage and convert

So while we enjoyed basking in the our fifteen minutes of Product Hunt fame, we’re excited to watch this tool continue to build momentum. If you haven’t already checked out it out, you can give it a spin here.

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If i accidentally knock over my bike, will insurance cover that? if so, which coverage covers it? I have Comprehensive and Liability""

Young Pre-op MTF Transgender and car insurance in New York State?

Ok, this question may sound odd, but I could use an answer. As I'm MTF (Male-to-female) Transsexual, have been on hormones for several years and will probably go for SRS (sex reassignment surgery) in the future, I could easily get a letter stating that my predominant gender is female. In New York State, this is apparently all that is required to change the gender marker on one's driver's license. http://rnytg.org/dmv.html Now my question is the following; I just haven't bothered with changing the marker on my license yet as it seems like a hassle and I don't think it's really necessary at the moment. However, my dad wants to gift me a car at the end of the week. For this car, I'm going to want an insurance policy. I'm currently 20 years old, and I'm very much aware that insurance policies are MUCH more expensive for young male drivers as opposed to young female drivers . Thus, I ask, is the gender the insurance company uses linked to my driver's license or some other form of ID (as I really can't change anything else, save my passport on a temporary basis yet). If I got the marker changed, would my quote decrease (I would probably go with USAA as I'm eligible given my dad is a Navy Vet)? Thanks!""

Car insurance estimate for a 2006 BMW 325i for a 17 year old guy?

My mom is being stubborn about getting a quote because she wants to wait until i'm 18, but i don't. I live in Louisiana if that helps. Thanks a lot.""

What is the best insurance company for a 21yr old with a bad driving record?

car insurance for nj drivers

Where can I get a cheap insurance for a new bussines?

Im about starting cleaning houses but i need an insurance

compare cat insurance quotes

Does a car need insurance if it isn't being used?

My mam bought me a car as my test is in a weeks time, but im trying to tax the car as it has been declared as off the road. When i try to tax it, it is asking if the car has valid motor insurance, it doesnt as nobody is driving it, should it have insurance if it isnt being used?""

Are Honda's usually expensive on insurance?

Also what are some good looking cars that arn't to bad with insurance (I know that it all depends but still) oh and we have geico, thanks!""

Estimated teen car insurance in NY?

I know that there are a lot of things that factor into how much insurance will cost a teen but i just want an estimate. I have no clue will it be $20 a month or $200 a month... Someone help I have a 2002 toyota camry and took drivers ed so have 10% off insurance.

Quick Car Insurance Question?

Would it be cheaper for me to add onto my parents insurance, rather than have my own policy? I'm a 20 year old male by the way and currently have a quote for $115 a month.""

My insurance quote on a 2SS 2010 Camaro?

I just wanted to get an estimate of what my insurance cost would be for a 2010 Camaro since I'm 16 yrs old. In the quote I put my mom and dad also as drivers of the car and I told them I took a driver's ed course and that I had a really good gpa (which I do). My quote was $186 per month on a 2SS Camaro and I'm 16 yrs old. That thing has freakin over 400 HP. I was just wondering if I'm getting a good deal or a bad deal. Thanks for all the help everyone

Car insurance question....?

I had full coverage on my 01 honda civic coupe. Fixed up but i know insurance wont give a rats. ***. My question is, if it is totaled and my car had full coverage. How much would i get from them? i tried going to kelly blue book. But i don't know if insurance goes by retail, or dealer quote or what... If u can answer give u all the pnts for best answer.""

Can I be primary driver on my insurance on a car that my daughter and my ex-wife are financing?

My daughter would like me to be the primary driiver on a 2010 charger with a V6 on my insurance, so it will be cheaper payments for her. She and my ex-wife will be financing the car.""

Can my car and I be added to my boyfriends car insurance policy?

I'm buying a car tomorrow and insurance for myself only is going to be over a $100 a month. If I get added to someones policy its wayyy cheaper. My boyfriend has progressive insurance. Could my car and I be added to his policy?

How much would it cost to have insurance on your license?

I live in Washington state. I was wondering how much insurance would cost if it covered my licenance so i can drive any vehicle.

Can I get one day car insurance?

Hello, I have a car that has a problem and need to take it to my mechanic but I got a new car so have no insurance on it anymore. I have State Farm and was wondering if I can get a one day insurance to drive it to the mechanic and about how much that would be, it's an oldie '91 but I will not risk driving it without insurance....thank you.....""

Renters insurance?????

My landlord is asking me to get insurance for my dog but its not for like health and stuff its for something else. She told me about renters insurance. And i don't know what to do. Plz help

How much will my insurance go up with getting 4 points on my license?

I live in Pennsylvania. I got a speeding ticket today going 17 miles over the speed limit. I looked it up online, and I think this will put 4 points on my license. I have Nationwide insurance, and I'm 24 years old. How much will this most likely raise my insurance and for how long? This is my first time getting any points on my license. I have gotten 2 previous speeding tickets without acquiring points. One was 5 years ago and the other was 2 years ago out of state (in New Jersey). I don't remember how much over the speed limit I went on those occasions. Thanks for any help!""

How do I get my AARP auto insurance rating report?

Can a non driver licensed person buy car insurance?

I transfer my car to under my grandma's name. She's the owner of the car now. But the problem is the apartment where she lives requires the car must have an insurance policy that has her name in it? She lives in California and doesn't have a driver license (she is really old). Do you know any insurance company that sell insurance to a person that doesn't have driver license or i can buy insurance as a primary driver and add her as a non-driver?

Can I be under my parents' insurance under a different state?

I am a college student with a permanent address in Illinois, but I am in California for college. I am planning on getting a car in California. Can I get insurance under my parents' policy? What is the cheapest way of doing so? Should I register the car under their name or my name?""

How much more will my insurance cost go up with a careless driving ticket?

I'm 16 and totaled a 18,000$ car and the insurance company will probably have to dish out at least 30,000$ in costs for hospital bills and so on. I know I wasn't driving safe and now i'm paying for it so don't heckle me. I have Triple A insurance if that matters, I might go to another company idk.""

Minor accident no insurance ?

I got in a minor accident I'm 17 my dad has insurance but I'm not under that insurance the cop showed up and just told me I had court there was no injuries what am I facing ? My car got chipped the other car was only paint scratches

Is it easy for a new driver to get car insurance?

I just recently got my license im 21 would it be easy for me to get insurance what are they going to look at.I dont want to use my parents car insurance i want my own for indep reasons.Is it true they look at education

Battle of the car insurance companies?

There has been TONS of commercials of car insurance, its practically a car insurance battle lol. Who will win? Progressive State Farm Nationwide Allstate General Geico 21st century who are you rooting for? Lmao! xD""

AAA insurance question.?

I signed up for insurance for a home when I bought it 7 years ago. I told them I wanted full replacement which is what you have to have in order to get a mortgage. 7 years ago when I went down there to sign papers I specifically told him that I wanted to make sure everything was at full replacement value and my husband wanted to make sure the roof had full replacement value. I told the insurance guy that he is a roofer so that was a main thing he wanted me to make sure we had. The insurance guy laughed and made a little joke about it. So now, 7 years later we had hail damage and guess what.. my house does have full replacement value and all our property inside has full replacement value everything but the roof. Hmmm..imagine that. So I am sure I signed papers without reading the contract, I just took his word for it. Is there anything I can do? I am going to report this to the local new station. The insurance guy out right lied to me. This is in oklahoma. Is there a district office in oklahoma? I googled it and couldn't find anything. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.""

NO INSURANCE and pregnant how much was it?

Only answer if you didnt have insurance for a pregnancy

""For my first car i want a jeep wrangler1997, im 16 will the insurance cost more than a 2005 ford fusion?""

i'm a guy, lives in tx""

Teen car insurance in Las Vegas?

I'm going to be 18 in January, and I'm moving out and going to be having to pay my insurance on my own and just wanted an estimate of how much my car insurance will be. I don't have my license yet (because I currently live in the Bahamas) but I'm getting it the second I go back to Las Vegas. How much do you think my insurance will be? I'm just going to have a simple little car, nothing big. But what's the best insurance to use, for one, and two how much will it be a month? And do you get student discounts or anything like that? Any information will help... thanks""

How can a 21 year old male get lower insurance on a sports car?

Currently, My Insurance is 98$ a month and I am insured on my Dad's 2012 BMW 328i and as a secondary driver on my 2012 Camaro RS, my lease is up and I am hoping to lease the new Corvette and go on my own insurance plan when I move away for work. However, my quotes so far are really high, like $200 a month high. I was wondering if there was any way that I could bring my insurance rates lower. Thanks! Additional Details- I got a speeding ticket when I was 16 but does not reflect my payments No Wrecks or claims I usually drive over 15k miles a year I Live in Tennessee""

Is it illegal to drive without insurance?

I got my G1, and you allowed to drive with an adult in the car. But i don't yet have insurance but my mom does, if she has insurance can i still drive the car? She wont let me because i don't have my own insurance yet. Is it legal for me to drive?""

compare cat insurance quotes

Auto insurance claim?

I was backing my car up and hit a light pole. If I file a insurance claim is this considered Collision or Comprehensive?

""Without health insurance, what is the most direct way to get ssi disability?""

unemployment has run out, how can i receive help from social security without going into massive debt?""

""Car insurance, help please?""

I'm 18 years old & looking into buying a used 2011 nissan Altima from a dealer soon. My mom will be a cosigner for it & I was wondering if I would be able to insure that car under her name as the primary & me as an additional driver? Insurance rates are just too outrageous & unaffordable for my age & for new cars with full coverage so I'm really hoping that it would be possible for her to insure it since she'll be a cosigner. Thanks for all the help & answers, greatly appreciated!""

How much would insurance be for a 16 year old with a 2008 G6?

Me and my dad went looking for cars and he said that he would buy me a 2008 G6 but I have to pay for insurance, with full coverage. Any idea how much it would be? And if so, where can I get the cheapest insurance.""

I need 3 insurances anyone know good insurances?

I need three insurances. Does anybody know any very good insurances? The insurance I have is freaking crap, so I want to change everything, so I need 3 insurances. I want the best ones but I know those ones are high price that's what I was told, so I just need 3 very good ones with a reasonable price. The 3 insurances I need are cosmetic dental, pet insurance, sports insurance. Went to the dentist and found that I need little work and all of the work is cosmetic. Insurance that I have doesn't cover cosmetic things. I have 3 pets and I need pet insurance. The last one I need is a sports one. My insurance won't cover sports or fitness. I need sports insurance that is great. The sport that I'm trying to get into is wrestling yes professional wrestling like WWE type. I need sports or extreme sports insurance that will cover on those type of extreme sports. I was told that There is a insurance that covers everything sports, cosmetic and pet insurance but I don't know how true that is, but if there's a one please tell me. Anyways anybody let about these 3 insurance that I need. Thank You so much to whoever read and answers my question and helping me. Thank You.""

Car insurance for a new driver?

i want to buy a small car, but im worried that the insurance will be expensive what company sell cheap insurance? how much about did you pay? i want a small car, like a 1 litre engine thank you""

Buying Insurances with a G1 licenses in Ontario.?

I recently just bought a car. Its registered to me. Although it does not have any insurances right now. I have my G1, but I want to insure this car now, so I can drive it. (obviously with a licensed driver). I think I read that I can purchase insurances as a G1 driver, and just list someone else as the primary driver, until I get my G2. Does anyone know how expensive this might be? If I had my G2, the lowest insurance quote for my car I could find is about $450 a month. However, since I will be listing someone else as a primary driver, like my dad, would the price be significantly cheaper?""

Is there any way I can avoid paying car insurance for 2 months?

I'm going to the east coast and my car is just going to be sitting in my garage for 2 months. Is there any way I can avoid paying for insurance? I live in CA.

How much would my car insurance payments be?

I'm thinking about getting a 2011/2012 Hyundai Elantra and was wondering how much would my car insurance payments be with Geico, Allstate, or Statefarm? Also what would you recommend?""

How much does it cost to insure this car?

Im 17 years old and im planning on buying a car soon and the car i want is a 2002 Acura RSX, but i heard it expensive to insure? I havent been in any accidents no tickets. Iv had my license for more than year. And I live in the state of IL. My dad is planning on putting my name in his insurance as well and i just want to know how much it would cost to insure this car? We have state farm. Oh yeah another question since we are talking about insurnace do they give you an option to pay every month or every six months?""

Can someone help me get a insurance quote ?

im 16 and my mom said that if i wanted to drive, i would have to buy my own insurance. but the thing is i cant find any sites that tell me how much i would have to pay as a starter , and then pay monthly. the car that i want to drive is my stepdads 2000 Bonneville. idk what else it is but it looks just like this. VvV http://www.autoworld.com/news/Pontiac/2000Bonneville.jpg i just want to know how much i would have to pay (:""

Who has best price on motorcylcle insurance?

I have a harley davidson ultra - its 800 yearly - my cars cost less. I am with geico

What is more important? Health Insurance or House/Car Insurance?

If you could only afford one. Which would you pick? Health insurance or House and Car insurance.

Will it be more expensive to get health insurance in January?

When I did my income tax they said starting 2014 there gonna start charging a penalty fee for not having health insurance I'm looking for some right now but I'm not working right now and my employer dosent provide insurance so I was thinking in January when I start working Will it be more expensive because there's like a lot deadlines for insurance right now in December

Can i get insurance on my name...but my boyfriends car?

Registration is coming up, for my boyfriends car. He has a DUI on his record, so he's unable to drive as it is, I'm the one who drives his car. I was wondering if I could get my insurance to cover his car since I'm the one who drives it even though I'm not the registered owner. And would DMV (in california) acknowledge it?""

Car Insurance Estimate?

I'm 19 years old. I've had my license since December 2008. I've never been in an accident. The car would cost around 5000$ It's a silver 2002 Saturn Vue AWD V6 With around 100,000 miles on it. Used obviously. It would be bought with a loan from a bank, so financed. I make around 1000$ a month, working 32 hours a week. Lame work for now, but hey. I can easily pay for the insurance. I also have good credit history. Any ideas on what insurance would cost.""

""After car insurance expires, how many days do you have to renew it?""

My friend just got his car towed for no insurance, I thought you have 30 days after the effective date. Can someone please tell me so I can help him get his car back. SERIOUS ANSWERS ONLY!""

What insurance license allows you to sell insurance to businesses?

How much does it cost to see a gynecologist without health insurance?

I live around the Chicago suburbs, and I don't have health insurance at the moment. I just want to get the regular check-up and pap smear. Anyidea how much it would cost?""

Arizona Law on insurance pulling your driver record ?

does anyone how long (in term of years) can an insurance company pull your driver record? i know here in Arizona i can pull my record from servicearizona.com for 39month. but some people tell me they can pull up to 5 years from your record.

How can I get cheap car insurance when I'm 17?

Soon I will be 17 and I want to get a car, and I have to insure it. I'm looking at a Vauxhall Corsa as I have read on a couple of websites that the insurance should be quite cheap, around 1500, but when I go on various insurance comparison websites, the cheapest quote I have got has been 4500!? I can't afford this, so could someone tell me how I can reduce this? I don't care about the cover, I just want to be on the road legally. Thank you.""

Is comprehensive car insurance cheaper if you own the car?

is it cheaper than if you had a loan out on it? why is this? thanks

Is athem blue cross a good insurance?

Is it really a good insurance?

Help with finding a good honest health insurance provider?

I am a college student looking for affordable insurance with decent coverage. (it's like a needle in a haystack, I know) I don't have any major health problems, so that wouldn't be an issue. I'm already looking into state regulated programs, but I was wondering what privately owned companies might have to offer. What companies have you had a good personal experience with? Or what companies have given you the run-around? What companies should I avoid? P.s. I live in central minnesota if that makes a difference.""

Suspend my insurance without it lapsing?

Im having some mechanical problems with my car that Im financing, and I am too young to rent a car while its in the shop, so Im considering buying a cheap car to get me by until I can fix it. Unfortunately Im still financing the first car and want to know if there is any way to put a hold on my insurance so im not paying $200 a month to insure a car Im not driving. I will still be making the car payments but it would make it a lot easier for me to afford the repair bill if I could skip on the insurance without the bank I finance thru getting upset.""

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https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/cold-brook-new-york-cheap-car-insurance-quotes-zip-13324-john-burch/"

0 notes

dillenwaeraa · 6 years

Text

5 Digital Marketing Tips for Local and Small Businesses

Let me start off by saying that digital marketing for local and small businesses does not need to be difficult. Many of the companies I’ve worked with in the past see it as a daunting task that is going to take too much time, money and a team of people to do. Sometimes they are right, but a majority of the time they are just trying to do too much at once. Internet marketing as a whole encompasses a broad set of activities, but local and small businesses do not need to do all of them. They just need to find specific strategies that work for them and capitalize on them.

This blog will be most helpful for local and small businesses such as electricians, plumbers, heating & AC Services, house cleaning companies, restaurants, lawyers and other small business types.

My goal is that you get at least one takeaway that will help make a positive impact on your business's digital marketing efforts. If you still have questions, feel free to ask them in the comments section.

OK? Here we go...

Tip #1: Your Website - Keep it simple

Your website is the face of your company online. It’s a marketing brochure for your brand, services, what your company stands for and the kinds of clients you work with. It should contain all the most important things about your business. This makes it easy for someone to find the information they need before making the decision to contact you.In regards to creating a website, there are plenty of great companies out there that will outline and build a site for you. Just make sure you do research before contacting them so you know what to expect. The best tip I have for building a site is to... keep it simple.Keeping a website simple can be very good for user experience, website upkeep and management, and especially SEO (search engine optimization). Here is an example of a basic outline that will encompass everything a viewer should know about your company. This outline will still leave room for you to expand your site and create more content with SEO in mind.

Homepage

Individual Service Pages (including pictures and/or video of past work - if applicable)

FAQ Page

Testimonials / Success Stories / Reviews

Resources (if applicable)

Could be used as a “self-help” or “how-to” section for certain business types

About Us

Blog

One thing to keep in mind is the kind of imagery and copy on your site. A lot of companies decide to use stock imagery and fairly generic copy. I would recommend going another route because this is a big opportunity for local businesses to show that they are human and their company has personality. This is where you can beat big brands for new business. To break this down a bit:

For imagery, use images from real projects or services you’ve done in the past. Spend some time ideating what kind of imagery you want to show on your website. Then hire a photographer (yes definitely spend money on these) to get the pictures you desire for your site.

For the copy, hire a copywriter who has done work previously for businesses in your industry. Make sure you give plenty of input so they know exactly what you are looking for and they stay in-line with your brand voice. And be sure they are experienced in writing copy with SEO in mind -- that is very important. ;)

One local site that has done well in both categories is Johnson Roofing & Gutters (the name is just a coincidence and I have no affiliation with them).

Last but not least, make sure your website works on all screen sizes so people can view it on all devices (computer, tablet and smartphone). A responsive design or having a separate mobile-specific version is a must. Also, If you already have a website, I highly recommend going through the Technical SEO Audit Checklist for Human Beings to ensure it is healthy and will perform well in search engines like Google and Bing.

Tip #2: Reviews - Your customers are your biggest advocates

Reviews are VERY important for your companies reputation, especially online. Positive or negative reviews and how you handle them can be a customers deciding factor when it comes to their decision to contact you. This is why it is a good practice to respond to every review you can.

Similar to using real images of your work and developing copy that gives your site personality, replying to reviews shows people that you are human. Local and small businesses need to show they care about the customer. If someone gives you a positive review, say thank you. If another person gives you a negative review, respond like you would if someone gave you negative feedback in-person. This shows that you care about what people are saying about your company and you want to engage with your customers even after working with them.

Here is an example of a company that does a good job replying to reviews on Yelp.

I would like to highlight two things here:

This company replies to all review types. Even 5-star reviews get attention, which is important because it shows the customer you care about their feedback and their business is important to you. This is a tactic that can help you get a customer for life.

The response to a bad review doesn't just stop at an explanation. It goes one step further and asks the person to get in contact with the general manager (contact info included), so they can learn more about the experience. This is a good tactic to (hopefully) change someone's opinion after a not-so-great, or misinformed experience.

Along with the above, reviews can be very helpful for SEO and your company's ability to rank above the competition. Be sure to ask for reviews on site like Google, Yelp and Facebook so you have a diverse review profile on a number of websites. Once you receive reviews, monitor them on a weekly basis so you can reply to them and engage with past customers. A good resource to learn more about why reviews are important is MOZ’s resource on Local Reviews and Ratings.

Tip #3: Social Media - Own your channels and grow your audience

Businesses of any size should be using social media. Create a company page, update it with all necessary information and use it on a regular basis. Social media sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter can be very helpful when marketing a company. Plus, they are great sites to promote your services and post original content such as blogs and video. Use them correctly and you can find and engage with your target market (aka customers) and grow your following. Social media signals are starting to have an effect on SEO, too.

Some websites may have already created a generic page for your business. It’s good to do a sweep of all the main local and small business profile sites and check to see which ones have done this. Once you’ve identified the sites with your profile you can simply request to take ownership of the page and update it with all the correct information. Here is a small list of sites to check:

Google

Bing

Yahoo

Facebook

Yelp

CitySearch

Better Business Bureau (BBB)

Angie’s List

Merchant Circle

YP.com

See more on this comprehensive list from HubSpot

Now that you’ve taken time to create and/or round up your company profiles, update them with the most accurate data and include photos if possible. Then identify the ones that will be the most effective and start using them to your advantage.

Tip #4: Email Marketing - Keep them short and sweet

Email marketing is one of the best ways to market your services and content to a quality audience. People who sign up for your emails are asking you to communicate with them. You can do this by highlighting specials and deals you may be offering, letting them know about new blog posts or resources on your site, or just sending a monthly update on what your company has been up to and what’s ahead. One easy tip to keep in mind is to keep them short and sweet.

When used correctly, email marketing can be one of your highest converting marketing channels. Keeping your emails shorter is a good way to keep people engaged, while still getting your message across. People can get overwhelmed when presented with too much information. If the goal is to get someone to click on a link, write an enticing description and present an appropriate call to action (CTA). If your business has a new deal or promotion, tell them exactly what it is and how to get it.

Example email opener from Flatstick Pub that covers that month’s events

One more thing to keep in mind is to not overdo it with email marketing. If a company sends too many emails people could become uninterested or annoyed. This can cause people to unsubscribe from your mailing list, which is counterproductive to your goals for doing email marketing in the first place.

Tip #5: Content Marketing - Find your audience and plant some seeds

While content marketing is not always the most ‘important’ online marketing task it can be very helpful for many reasons:

Building thought leadership by answering questions around the web

Growing your online footprint by being active on Forums and Q&A sites like Quora, Reddit, and industry-specific sites such as AVVO (lawyers and attorneys) and HOUZZ (all kinds of home and garden discussions)

Both organic and paid social promotion of services and original content

Link building by creating relationships with bloggers and online influencers

Content marketing for local and small businesses can definitely take time to get right. It’s one of those tasks that’s easier to do when you have some spare time to spend on it. You need to identify “where to play”, meaning you need to find the right websites that have the discussions and content for you to engage with. This is also a very good way to identify new blog and page topics for your website. If someone has a question that requires a longer answer, write about it and post the full answer on your site. Then, you can answer the person on the site you found the topic on and refer them to the full answer on your site. Chances are that same question has been asked elsewhere, and now you have the “answer” on your site that you can point them to.

Final Thoughts

A couple things to keep in mind before embarking on any of these tactics are to:

First, make sure you have specific goals. This could include obtaining more organic or referral traffic, growing your social media following, or getting more qualified leads. Each of these tips can help you meet your goals and succeed in the ever-changing digital space.

The second thing to remember stems from my note in tip #1 about websites. Keep it simple. Don’t overthink things, which can cause less action to happen. Don't be afraid to dive in and get familiar with each space. The sooner you start taking action, the sooner you will start finding digital marketing success for your local or small business.

from Marketing https://www.distilled.net/resources/5-digital-marketing-tips-for-local-and-small-businesses/ via http://www.rssmix.com/

0 notes

heavenwheel · 6 years

Text

5 Digital Marketing Tips for Local and Small Businesses

This blog will be most helpful for local and small businesses such as electricians, plumbers, heating & AC Services, house cleaning companies, restaurants, lawyers and other small business types.

OK? Here we go...

Tip #1: Your Website - Keep it simple

Homepage

Individual Service Pages (including pictures and/or video of past work - if applicable)

FAQ Page

Testimonials / Success Stories / Reviews

Resources (if applicable)

Could be used as a “self-help” or “how-to” section for certain business types

About Us

Blog

One local site that has done well in both categories is Johnson Roofing & Gutters (the name is just a coincidence and I have no affiliation with them).

Tip #2: Reviews - Your customers are your biggest advocates

Here is an example of a company that does a good job replying to reviews on Yelp.

I would like to highlight two things here:

Tip #3: Social Media - Own your channels and grow your audience

Google

Bing

Yahoo

Facebook

Yelp

CitySearch

Better Business Bureau (BBB)

Angie’s List

Merchant Circle

YP.com

See more on this comprehensive list from HubSpot

Tip #4: Email Marketing - Keep them short and sweet

Example email opener from Flatstick Pub that covers that month’s events

Tip #5: Content Marketing - Find your audience and plant some seeds

While content marketing is not always the most ‘important’ online marketing task it can be very helpful for many reasons:

Building thought leadership by answering questions around the web

Both organic and paid social promotion of services and original content

Link building by creating relationships with bloggers and online influencers

Final Thoughts

A couple things to keep in mind before embarking on any of these tactics are to:

from Digital https://www.distilled.net/resources/5-digital-marketing-tips-for-local-and-small-businesses/ via http://www.rssmix.com/

0 notes

davidrsmithlove · 6 years

Text

5 Digital Marketing Tips for Local and Small Businesses

This blog will be most helpful for local and small businesses such as electricians, plumbers, heating & AC Services, house cleaning companies, restaurants, lawyers and other small business types.

OK? Here we go...

Tip #1: Your Website - Keep it simple

Homepage

Individual Service Pages (including pictures and/or video of past work - if applicable)

FAQ Page

Testimonials / Success Stories / Reviews

Resources (if applicable)

Could be used as a “self-help” or “how-to” section for certain business types

About Us

Blog

One local site that has done well in both categories is Johnson Roofing & Gutters (the name is just a coincidence and I have no affiliation with them).

Tip #2: Reviews - Your customers are your biggest advocates

Here is an example of a company that does a good job replying to reviews on Yelp.

I would like to highlight two things here:

Tip #3: Social Media - Own your channels and grow your audience

Google

Bing

Yahoo

Facebook

Yelp

CitySearch

Better Business Bureau (BBB)

Angie’s List

Merchant Circle

YP.com

See more on this comprehensive list from HubSpot

Tip #4: Email Marketing - Keep them short and sweet

Example email opener from Flatstick Pub that covers that month’s events

Tip #5: Content Marketing - Find your audience and plant some seeds

While content marketing is not always the most ‘important’ online marketing task it can be very helpful for many reasons:

Building thought leadership by answering questions around the web

Both organic and paid social promotion of services and original content

Link building by creating relationships with bloggers and online influencers

Final Thoughts

A couple things to keep in mind before embarking on any of these tactics are to:

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