Social Media for the Cottage Associations Part 3

I have been cottaging pretty much since I was born. I have great memories of events organized by the Clearwater Beach Ratepayers Association when I was growing up. Since about 2000, I have had the pleasure of serving my cottage association. First as a volunteer for a number of years at our Fun Day/BBQ, then joining the board in a number of capacities, Secretary, then Vice President and now President. Part of the job of the board of a Cottage Association is keeping your members informed. Social Media can give you a great tool kit for both getting information and sharing it to your members.

This is the third of several posts on using Social Media for a cottage association. This post is the 2nd one focusing on the kinds of information you may want to pass along to your members.

The idea behind this series is that it is not so much a "this is what and how to do it' manual, but more a here are a bunch of ideas/tools you can pick and chose from. You need to figure out what works for you and your association. I will be using the sources that I use for my association as examples, you should be able to find similar sources in your area.


This will not be a static post, I will update it as errors are found or when someone sends me information that fits in. If I have missed a tool or source that you use, please let me know. I am always looking for ways to better serve our association. 

Information

There are many of kinds of information that you may need to or want to pass on to your members. This is part 2 of a quick list and overview of information you might want to share with them:

Local events

One of the comments I hear from time to time is "there is nothing to do at the cottage". Well there are many local events to enjoy around the cottage area all year long.

For a lot of cottage country there are a large number of festivals within about 1 to 2 hour drive of your cottage. 2 Festivals within a 20 min drive from my cottage are Ontario's Best Butter Tart Festival http://bit.ly/1Tt2jIR and Festival du loup http://bit.ly/1os4lMq . In the spring the are maple syurp festivals like Elmvale Maple Syrup Festival  http://bit.ly/231MyyD There are lots of fall festivals to enjoy too. 

Many villages, towns, and cities have summer concerts, these can be part of a fun evening out. These are usually listed on the community calendar and/or put out on social media. Near by in Midland they have the Midland Cultural Centre http://bit.ly/1Tt4ooj part theater and part miusic venue. They keep a scheduled on their web site and put reminders out on social media, I republish as much as I can, because you never know what someone in your association may like.

Local attractions
Throughout cottage country in Ontario there are lots of great local attractions. 

National Parks are located all across Canada. When at the cottage I get to look at
Georgian Bay Islands National Park every day.
http://bit.ly/1Vg34XC Parks Canada

Provincial Parks are are a great local place to go and have a day hike. 
http://bit.ly/1XplP8i Ontario Parks

Museums, lots of great local museums in my area with lots of fun events all year long.
Huronia Museum http://bit.ly/1Uqs6BW
Penetanguishene Centennial Museum & Archives http://bit.ly/1VGkeNU

Historic Sites are a great place to spend a day. There are many all accross Canada, here are 30 that are in a 30 dirive of my cottage.
Discovery Harbour http://bit.ly/1WALo7X
Sainte-Marie among the Hurons http://bit.ly/1pWk1by
The Huron/Ouendat Village at the Huronia Museum http://bit.ly/1WALD2D
Boat Cruises, being on the southern end of the 30,000 Islands boat cruises are fun afternoon out. Here are 2 close to my cottage
Miss Midland  http://bit.ly/1VGkxZg
Serendipity Princess  http://bit.ly/1X2HXqW

Local Companies
    Any companies that sponsor your association should be kept in your members minds. Boost your sponsors as much as you can, but do not overload your members... 
    
    Great restaurants in the area, because sometime you just want eat out.

    Any good bars in the area? Sometimes you just need a night out. But remember do not drink and drive. 

    Is there a local store close to your association that is great for picking up that one food item you forgot and does not charge an arm and a leg for it?

    Is there a sidewalk sale in town? Is the local mall having an event?
      
Elections
    Local elections, who is running for what. Is there a cottager running?
    Provincial elections, which party's platform is cottage friendly?
    Federal elections, which party's platform is cottage friendly?

Association History
     We have a good history of our association and we have a member who is working with a number of members to get the history of their cottage written down.  http://www.clearwaterbeach.ca/?cat=3

Clearwater Beach Ontario Fishing Contest

We have just created a new Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/clearwaterontariofishing/ it is a public Facebook page for our fishing contest. This will allow members who are not on Facebook to see what is going on.

Social Media for the Cottage Associations Part 1

I have been cottaging pretty much since I was born, at our family cottage on Georgian Bay. I have great memories of events organized by the Clearwater Beach Ratepayers Association when I was growing up. Since about 2000, I have had the pleasure of serving my cottage association. First as a volunteer for a number of years at our Fun Day/BBQ, then joining the board in a number of capacities, first as Secretary, then Vice President, and now President. Part of the job of the board of a Cottage Association is keeping your members informed. Social Media can give you a great tool kit for both getting information and sharing it to your members.

This is the first of several posts on using Social Media for a cottage association. This post is just an overview. I will be going in to more detail in future posts.

The idea behind this series is that it is not so much a "this is what and how to do it' manual, but more a "here are a bunch of ideas/tools you can pick and chose from". You need to figure out what works for you and your association. I will be using the sources that I use for my association as examples, you should be able to find similar sources in your area.

This will not be a static post, I will update it as errors are found or when someone sends me information that fits in. If I have missed a tool or source that you use, please let me know. I am always looking for ways to better serve our association.

Information

There are a many of kinds of information that you need to pass on to your members:

Taxes
     Are they going up, by how much, and why. Where is the tax money being spent.

By-law's
     Proposed by-laws, new by-laws and changes to by-laws that affect your members. 

Road construction
     Road work affects all of us... 

Safety
     Police, Fire, Coast Guard, weather alerts, weather forecasts

Local events
    Festivals
    Concerts

Local attractions
     Museums
     Historic Sites
     Boat Cruises 

Local Companies
    Any companies that sponsor your association
    Great restaurants in the area, because sometime you just want eat out
    Is there a local store close to your association that is great for picking up that one item you forgot?
    Is there a sidewalk sale in town?
      
Elections
    Local elections, who is running for what. Is there a cottager running?
    Provincial elections, which parties platform is cottage friendly?
    Federal elections, which parties platform is cottage friendly?


Sources

There are a number of great sources for information. Plug in to as many sources as you can, but watch out for information overload,

Your members are a great source of information.

Government at the  Local, Regional, Provincial, and Federal levels
     Web Sites
     Twitter Accounts
     FaceBook Pages

Shows/Expositions 
     There are a number of cottage shows/expositions, 2 of ones that I love to go to are the Cottage Life shows (they have a Spring and a Fall show) and Ottawa Cottage and Backyard show

Associations
     Cottage related associations like FOCA
     Local business associations

Police
     Many local police forces have a web site, Facebook page, twitter stream. The OPP is a great source of info in Ontario.

Magazines
     Magazines have great information, in the magazine, on their web site, Facebook page, Twiter stream

Newspaper
    Local newspapers have great information, in the paper, on their web site, Facebook page, Twitter stream...

TV
    Local TV stations have great information, in the news cast, on their web site, Facebook page, Twitter steam.... 

Web Sites
     There are a lot of great websites on cottaging. 

Blogs    
     There are number of great blogs focusing on cottaging and cottage related things.

Books
     There are a lot of great books out there on cottaging. 

Facebook
     There are a number of Facebook pages that are cottage related or cover the area your association is in.

Twitter
     There are a number of Twitter feeds  that are cottage related or cover the area your association is in.

Google Plus
     There are a number of Google Plurs feeds  that are cottage related or cover the area your association is in.


Tools

There are a lot of tools for getting information to your members. This is a quick list of 


AGM
     Great for face to face communication but they happen once a year.

Newsletter
     Great for putting out a lot of information but they are a lot of work to write and there may be a cost to produce and/or distribute a physical copy.

Email
     Lots use, from single focus emails to long rambling updates. Downside we all suffer from email overload....

Web Site
     Great for putting out lots of information, but your members have to want to check up on the site. Depending on how your site was set up, posting quick updates may not be that easy. 

Blogs
     Great for putting out lots of information. Blogs are designed for quick rapid postings, but your members will have to want to check up on the blog. 

Facebook
    Great for putting out lots of information. You can share posts from other Facebook pages/accounts to your groups page very easily. Depending on how your members have set up their Facebook accounts, they may get notifications of new posts.

Twitter
     Great for putting out lots of information. You can easily share tweets from other Twitter accounts to your groups account very easily, but your members have to want to check their twitter stream.

Google Plus
     Great for putting out lots of information. You can share posts from other accounts to your groups account very easily. Great tool for photos. Every one who has a gmail account can every easily have a  Google Plus account. Your members have to want to check up on their Google Plus stream.

Instagram
     Great for putting out lots of photos live from an event. Great tools for photos from a smart phone. You can set your account up to cross post to a number of other social media sites. Your members have to want to check up on their Instagram stream.

Pintrest
     Great for putting out lots of photos. Great tool for photos you can set up your account to cross post to Facebook and/or Twitter. Your members have to want to check up on their Pintrest stream.

Welcome to the 2015/2016 Clearwater Beach Fishing Contest

Welcome to the 2015/2016 Fishing Contest

Sam Sapiano will again coordinate the Clearwater Beach Fishing Contest for 2016

Prizes will be awarded for the largest fish by weight, in each of the following classes: Bass, Pike, Trout, Pickerel, and Odd Fish.

The Contest runs until to midnight August 28th 2016. The contest is open to all Association members and their guests. Each fish entered must be weighed with in 8 hours of being caught, and the weight, measurements and all other details must be confirmed by a Director of the Association. Pass the details to Sam Sapiano 1549 Champlain Road by August 29th. In the event of a tie by weight, the largest fish dimensionally will be declared the class winner.

All decisions of the Fishing Contest Committee will be final. Sam is in charge.

You can post a photo of your entry in to 2016 Fishing Contest album on our Facebook page. Please make sure you put your name and the length of the fish. If you are not on Facebook you can email it to clearwaterbeachratepayers@gmail.com and we will post it for you.

For those not on Facebook you can see the photo's here http://clearwaterbeachontario.blogspot.ca/p/clearwater-beach.html it may be a day or two behind.

Sam, Anthony, and I are working on adding Catch and Release to the contest. We should have the new rules ready to be added to summer newsletter so we are all ready for next years contest.

Want to keep up on issues affecting Cottages in Ontario?

Want to keep up on issues affecting Cottages in Ontario?

For 50 years, FOCA has been dedicated to supporting the interests of Ontario's waterfront property owners. This is accomplished by providing assistance and leadership to Ontario's cottage associations and to our individual members, and through advocating for the long-term interests of our communities.

The Clearwater Beach Ratepayers Association is a member of FOCA. You can help us help FOCA, buy liking their facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/foca.on.ca  Facebook

If you have a cottage in Ontario, consider joining FOCA