SERVICES
· Core indoor services considered were an ice surface with change rooms, concession area, and stadium seating. Highly desirable services included non-ice (conversion) event hosting, and fitness facilities (particarly for altitude aerobic training). Consideration of a swimming pool was discouraged as expensive and labor intensive. This is borne out in a review of a comparable multi-use (rink and pool) facility currently operating in Grand Forks1.
CATCHMENT AREA
The catchment area was established as
the Big White region of Area E. The stakeholders include property
owners, the Resort, and the RDKB. Given distances, it was felt
that the facility would provide little benefit to other area E
communities. The facility was considered to be a positive
economic opportunity for all property owners in Big White regardless of
their residential status. Full time residents would appreciate
the recreation and employment opportunities, particularly out of ski
season. Part time residents would benefit from increased personal
use, and improved potential for 4 season rentals.
SITE LOCATION
It was generally agreed that strong
consideration be given to establishing the site at or near Happy Valley
Parking lot, and within walking distance of Lara's Gondola. This
area is described in the Big White zoning map at
http://www.rdkb.com/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=18f_tjUhrUQ%3d&tabid=118
, and as pictured below.
RINK CONFIGURATION
Rink size could be one full size rink surface (large format), or two
small rink format.
1. Large format (NHL size of 85 × 200 ft = 26 × 61 m; Intl. size 30 × 61 m = 98 × 200 ft). I doubt the latter is popular in this area and could be a selling feature as a preseason or training camp for international teams. 2
2. Small format (2 smaller sheets).3
Parking; per current RDKB zoning should require One space per 30 m2 of gross floor area or one space for every four potential players or participants (at capacity), whichever is greater. Assuming the facility footage is twice the area of an NHL rink, this would require 85 parking spots. Higher rates for mixed commercial use would likely raise this to 100. Happy Valley currently has over one thousand spots. Real requirements would likely be considerably less because seasonal clients can be served by the Gondola at hundreds per hour. There is ample free parking in Happy Valley during the off season.
FUNDING
It was felt that most taxpayers would prefer a model based on early ROI
(debt financing with an early build) rather than deferred
(accumulating a capital fund reserve before build). For
comparable facility funding analysis, the Grand Forks Arena (excluding
pool) costs local taxpayers about $250,000 annually. This would
represent a 5% tax increase after capital investments.
REFERENDUM PROCESS
This was explained as likely to be a two step process. Step one would be an Alternative Approval Process (see http://www.cscd.gov.bc.ca/lgd/gov_structure/community_charter/governance/alternative_approval_process.htm) where taxpayers could vote on the facility and be given an opportunity to be heard. If 10% of the electoral constituency (Big White propterty owners) vote "NO" to the idea, the propsal is defeated. It was concensus that the proposal should be well developed before formal this vote. Unless 10% of registered owners actively voted against the proposal (often done by mail), it could be brought to referendum by the area Rep (Bill Baird) with limited further consultation. The referendum itself would be a two step process, initially approval in priniciple to confirm support for the increased tax costs by voters involved. This is needed to secure goverment funds for any specific proposal, and would not need to be repeated with proposal revisions. The second step would be another refendum to consider a specific proposal to include financial projections. Both petition questions could be on the same ballot. For a list of qualificaitons for eligible voters see http://mybigwhite.com/government/rdkb/election-rules/eligibility/.
SUBLET POTENTIAL It was felt that the new rec site could provide a logical home for related public services, notably firefighting, and medical (transport and acute treatment).
Firefighting; Given the high previous volunteer support the Big White Fire Department has provided for the residents and community, and given the benefit of highly trained emergency personel in house, consideration for joint occupancy will be discussed with Chief Weddell (BWFD http://www.bigwhitefire.com/personnel.html ).
Medical; On site
medical service and transport at the rec location would offer
substantial improvement to the first aid center currently staffed by
Canadian Ski Patrol Association (CSPS http://www.csps.ca/eng/index.php3
) currently operates from the "Ski Patrol" hut. The BC Ambualance
Service (http://www.csps.ca/eng/index.php3) operates a service during
the ski season during the same period (under direction of the Armstrong
Station). More information on longstanding requests for the West
Kootenay Regional Hospital Board for better facilities (given our
$200,000 annual tax burden for hospitals out of our referral area), are
found at
http://mybigwhite.com/community-board/conversation-on-health.
1 COST ANALYSIS OF THE GRAND FORKS COMBINED ICE RINK AND POOL
Comparable facilities in the
area include Grand Forks Rec Complex (see
http://www.rdkb.com/Services/RecreationCulture/GrandForks/GrandForksAquaticCentreandArena.aspx
) and the Castlegar Rec
Center ( see
http://www.rdck.bc.ca/community/recreation/castlegar/meeting_facilities.html). This public facility is funded
by From a review of the respective service budgets (see aquatic budget
at
http://www.rdkb.com/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=G3Gwln6Et4Q%3d&tabid=75
; rink budget at
http://www.rdkb.com/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=rPjGg2SXOjo%3d&tabid=75
). Currently each
component (aquatic and arena) have an annual budget of approximately
$400,000. Local municipal taxes pay about 60% of these costs
(with a substantially lower real tax base than Big White). The
balance of costs is recovered from user fees and community
contribution. It was recognized that the demographic of Big White
would likely have high demand for recreation services during the ski
season. Given the infrastructure asset mix of the Resort,
potential for destination sports during the off season is also
high. This includes team training, high altitude conditioning,
curling bonspiels, and summer hockey camps. This was recognized
as an attractive financial argument for financial benefits to property
owners interested in rentals during the 7 month off ski season.
2 Conversations with area hockey camps confirm one sheet should service about 100 skaters when combined with dryland training in a “summer hockey camp” scenario. Most come with parents as singles. Aside from ice, you’d need a large flat dryland area, and a fitness training area indoors. Programs cost around $100 per day, and economic benefit to local commercial interests (accomodations and food) should double this. That is an potential local economic of $100,000 per week.
3 Two half sheets with mixed or various use. A comparable self funded facility is Excellent Ice (see http://www.excellentice.com ). This facility runs 14 hours per day with 10 kids per side. This means a program with 100 kids could expect 20% ice time (about 3 hours per day).
September 03 2010
Take it from those of us who know: An easy way to ruin your relationship with the news media is to send a bad press release.
Newsroom fax machines and reporters' inboxes are flooded on a daily basis with press releases from companies, government agencies, non-profit groups, and even average citizens trying to get their neighborhood plight noticed. If you send in a press release that's riddled with grammatical errors, buried in a convoluted e-mail, or completely irrelevant to the reporter's coverage area, you might as well be tossing your press release down a sewer drain. If you deluge a news organization with unprofessional or uninteresting releases, your chances of ever getting favorable news coverage are zero-to-slim.
But when done correctly, a good press release will grab a reporter's attention and force their curiosity to want to learn more about your announcement.
"I want to be a trusted resource for that media so I'm trying to give the journalist all the information when they need it so they don't have to go anywhere else," says Gillian Pommerehn, director of public relations for Crosby Marketing, which is based in Annapolis, Maryland, and whose clients include the U.S. Department of Agriculture and DuPont.
The trick, professionals say, is knowing how to format a good release, where to send it, and what information to include. The release is the face of your company that you're sending out into the world, so it's not a task to be taken lightly. Don't forget: With most press releases now available online through wire services or your company's website, customers or clients may also be reading them, not just reporters.
"Really good, clean, crisp, grammatically correct writing is so important in creating a positive impression of your company," says Lauren Selikoff, chief marketing officer for Allison & Partners, which works with Samsung and Michelin and is based in San Francisco. "This is not a task to turn over to the intern."
Here's some tips to help you craft your message.
Writing a Press Release: Mind the Message
One thing comes to the mind of any good journalist when they receive a press release: Why would I care? The "news" in your news release has to be obvious, or else your notice will be on a fast route to the recycle bin. The first step is figuring out exactly what message you are trying to get across, and how it qualifies as news.
"The hardest thing for people who are new to PR to grasp is you really have to take your ego out of it when it comes to finding something the press is going to write about," Selikoff says. "What's newsworthy to a publication's readers is often completely different than what you are trying to get across."
That means your release needs a good headline. That can be something saying how your new product is going to make life easier, or how it relates to a news event. Your headline should be an attention-grabber, so reporters can see right away how the announcement affects their audience.
Writing a Press Release: Seek out Examples
If you've never written a press release before, you're in luck: The Internet is chock-loaded with examples and models you can use. More than likely, someone has already composed a press release on the same topic that you can use for inspiration. Don't copy - but do soak up their style and manner of ordering the content.
PR professionals recommend checking out press release distribution services such as PRWeb and PR Newswire to find a model on which to base your release. Searching Google for announcements related to your business - promotions, new product launches, new branch openings, etc. - is also likely to produce an example you can copy.
Writing a Press Release: Mastering the Structure
Experts say press releases should be no longer than one page. Every press release has a basic structure:
Top:
Put the words "For immediate release| at the very top of the page. The
headline - the key to grabbing attention - should be centered on the
page, and usually written in bold or capital letters. Under that, put a
subhead, often in italics, that elaborates on the headline.
The headline and subhead are the prime places to work in keywords that will help search engine optimization and draw traffic to your release once it's online, says Leyl Master Black, managing director at San Francisco's SparkPR, whose clients include Bing and Barclays. For instance, she says, if you're launching an e-commerce platform, you want the words e-commerce, platform, and software to appear in your headline and opening paragraphs several times.
First paragraph:
Black and others say you should assume no one is going to read beyond
the first paragraph, which makes it the most important. Many releases
also take up a journalistic style, beginning with a dateline, or the
city and state the news is coming from.
"You need to have the theme and anything that is newsworthy summarized very concisely and neatly," Selikoff says. "The remainder of the press release is kind of fleshing out the story. But the main story has to get across in the first paragraph."
The old standard is that a release should be similar to a story the journalist would write. Reporters often stick to a structure known as the inverted pyramid, which means the most significant parts or the story should be at the top, with everything getting less important as you go farther down the page. This ensures that even someone who just reads the top of the release will get the most important information, and makes it easier to cut text from the bottom for space.
Quotes:
Experts recommend that your release should also include at least one
quote in the body. The quote should come from someone knowledgeable
about the announcement being made, such as a product manager if you're
announcing a new invention, or a top executive if announcing company
wide changes. The quote can also be used to explain how your
announcement makes you stand out from other competitors, even if you
don't mention them by name.
"The quote is where you can add context to your announcement and offer an opinion about it," Black says. "The quote is where you can talk about why this is important to the industry."
Selikoff also warns against using a canned quote talking about how great your company is. Use a quote that provides some insight instead. It's also helpful to know some publications' standards on using quotes from a release. While blogs and very small publications will often use information directly from a release, and re-use quotes you include in the release in their story, major publications most often will not.
Boilerplate information:
The last paragraph is typically a standard set of information about
your company, including your mission, when the company was founded,
awards it has received or other achievements. This provides basic
background information the journalist or the public can use to put the
release in context and understand more about who you are.
Contact information:
You don't want to pique a journalist's interest only to have that
person scrounging and searching to find who to call for more
information. Contact information can either be at the top or bottom of
the page and should include the name, e-mail, and title of whomever the
media contact for the story is. Usually, it will be your company
spokesperson or a dedicated staff person familiar with the topic who
can answer reporters' questions.
"There is a certain format for press releases that media are accustomed to getting," Pommerehn says. "It's Important to kind of keep that format."
Multi-media:
You'll most likely be sending out releases through e-mail and posting
them on your company's website, so experts say you should consider
including some digital features, such as video and audio. It's also an
opportunity to link back to other company information available online
- previous press releases and related matter such as customer
testimonials or performance reports - that will give the news media
additional context.
Writing a Press Release: Target Your Distribution
The first rule of sending out a press release to know which reporters you're trying to reach.
"Not only is the press release itself important, but who you're communicating with is very important," Pommerehn says. "It's a major pet peeve for journalists when the PR person or the person doing the press release does not do their homework."
If it's a local news event, find out who in the local media covers your neighborhood or issue. Do some research on bigger news organizations to find out which reporters or producers cover your industry. Some media organizations have designated e-mail addresses or fax numbers to which all releases are directed.
Professionals say to be mindful of what kind of organization you're reaching out to as well: a reporter at an environmental magazine, for instance, might be turned off by a flood of paper-consuming messages coming from the fax machine.
Most journalists expect press releases to arrive by e-mail these days. Put your document in the body of the message because most reporters won't open an attachment from someone they don't know.
If you have a public relations budget, you can also send your release to a wire service for broad geographical distribution. Small companies can distribute through PRWeb.com for as little as $80, Black says. Other services such as Businesswire.com and PRNewswire.com are pricier but will expose your release to a broader audience.
Don't forget that media organizations run on tight deadlines. Pommerehn says the morning is typically the best time to send a release for most publications while late morning or early afternoon is better for television and radio outlets.
Advance notice helps too. If you have an event you are trying to get covered, waiting to send notice until editors are rushing out of the door on Friday evening could lead to a missed opportunity for media exposure. Editors will have to scramble to fit it into their story budgets for the weekend, leaving a bad taste in their mouth about your company.
This article was written by Tim Donnelly and originally appeared on Inc.com
An eligible fitness expense must be for the cost of registration or membership of an eligible child in a prescribed program of physical activity. Generally, such a program must:
For more information, see Canadian Goverment Fitness Credit Website.
Let's get moving!
Where a program is for a mixed use pass or facility (such as the ski pass), the cost qualifies "
"In circumstances where the participant in the program can select from among various activities, the full cost of a child's registration in a program offered by a club, association, or similar organization will be eligible for the credit if (in addition to being ongoing, supervised, and suitable for children):
| Action | Performed by | Date and Time | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Publish | Mike Figurski | 2008-09-29 08:42 | No comments. |
Immunization reduces Risk and Severity of Influenza
The Whitefoot Clinic (250 765-0544) will begin offering the vaccine
on Nov. 1st (by appt only). Cost is $20 unless you are covered by
BC Health Insurance (MSP) as below.
In B.C., the following groups are eligible for the free annual vaccination:
| Proprioceptive training decreases recurrent ankle sprains |
| Clinical Question |
| Do male soccer players with previous inversion ankle sprains have fewer sprains if they engage in proprioceptive training, strength training, or if they use an orthotic? |
| Bottom line |
| In this small unblinded study, male soccer players
with a previous ankle sprain experience fewer sprains in the subsequent
season, compared with untreated control patients, if they are treated
with proprioceptive exercises. The study didn't have enough power to
tell whether proprioceptive exercises are better than orthotics or
strength training. 2b- |
| Reference |
| Mohammadi F. Comparison of 3 preventive methods to reduce the recurrence of ankle inversion sprains in male soccer players. Am J Sports Med 2007;35:922-926. |
| Study design: |
| Randomized controlled trial (nonblinded) |
| Funding: |
| Unknown/not stated |
| Allocation: |
| Uncertain |
| Setting: |
| Outpatient (specialty) |
| Synopsis |
| Eighty male soccer players with a prior history of inversion ankle sprain, the most common type of injury in many sports, were randomly assigned to proprioception training, strength training, the use of an orthotic (ankle air brace), or a control group. The main outcome was a recurrence of the sprain during one soccer season after the index sprain. The author doesn't describe using an intention-to-treat approach. The number of practice sessions and games for each group was the same (90 and 30, respectively). Eight of 20 control patients experienced a subsequent sprain compared with 1 of 20 treated with proprioception, 4 of 20 with strength training, and 2 of 20 with orthotics. Compared with the control condition, the only statistically significant difference was seen in the soccer players treated with proprioception. The study was too small to tell whether proprioceptive exercises are better than orthotics or strength training. |
| Back to Daily POEM archive | Go to InfoRetriever |
Before hitting the slopes where there is any possibility of an avalanche, fasten all your clothing securely to keep out snow. Loosen your pack so that you can slip out of it with ease and remove your ski pole straps. Make sure that your avalanche beacon is on and switched to "transmit" rather than "receive." Cross the slope one at a time to minimize danger.
If you are caught in the avalanche yell and let go of ski poles and get out of your pack to make yourself lighter. Use "swimming" motions, thrusting upward to try to stay near the surface of the snow. When avalanches come to a stop and debris begins to pile up, the snow can set as hard as cement. Unless you are on the surface and your hands are free, it is almost impossible to dig yourself out. If you are fortunate enough to end up near the surface (or at least know which direction it is), try to stick out an arm or a leg so that rescuers can find you quickly.
If you are in over your head (not near the surface), try to maintain an air pocket in front of your face using your hands and arms, punching into the snow. When an avalanche finally stops, you may have only a few seconds before the snow sets up and hardens. Many avalanche deaths are caused by suffocation, so creating an air space is one of the most critical things you can do. Also, take a deep breath to expand your chest and hold it; otherwise, you may not be able to breathe after the snow sets. To preserve air space, yell or make noise only when rescuers are near you. Snow is such a good insulator they probably will not hear you until they are practically on top of you.
Above all, do not panic. Keeping your breathing steady will help preserve your air space and extend your survival chances. If you remain calm, your body will be better able to conserve energy.
References:
www.wikihow.com/Survive-an-Avalanche
www.secretsofsurvival.com/survival/avalanche.html
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