Rooms and Sites Come True

Rooms Come True is more than a furniture store. In fact, as their name suggests, it is about making dreams come true for parents of infants, little girls and boys, tweens and teens. Whether the dream centres around an animal kingdom, a sport or superhero, a princess or hues of pink, Rooms Come True provides the design elements and furniture to make it happen.

Owner of St. John's children's furniture store, Michelle Collins, says: "At Rooms Come True we want customers to relax, enjoy and walk away with great ideas for a room that they are excited to create and the products necessary to bring it all together



Michelle's vision for her store became the inspiration for her new website that Applecore is pleased to have created in collaboration with Michelle. The challenge was to create the same feeling of excitement, adventure, design and magic that a visitor to Michelle's store experiences. The website offers only a taste of the in-store experience where friendly and knowledgeable staff wait to listen, provide advice and ideas and help to create the perfect room for kids, from infant to teen.

Visit Rooms Come True at 585 Torbay Road St. John's after visiting the Rooms Come True website, or call Rooms Come True at 709-722-7788.

Applecore Interactive is pleased to have collaborated with Rooms Come True on another successful web project.

Which Mayoral Candidate Gets Top Marks for Social Media?

by J. Butler, Content Development Specialist

Election fever has taken over St. John's, Newfoundland. With the St. John's mayoral election in less than two weeks' time, it seems like a great time to take a step back and assess how our local candidates are using social media to their advantage.

Let's see how the candidates for the St. John's Mayoral race shape up:

Dennis O'Keefe

Claim to Fame: As the incumbent, O'Keefe already has a significant head start over his opponents with the voters of St. John's. In addition, O'Keefe has a long record of service to the city, including a stint as a consumer advocate and tourism supporter.

On Facebook: No.

On Twitter? No.

Blog Status: None.

Personal Website: http://www.dennisokeefe.ca/

Google Results for "dennis o'keefe mayor": 70,000

Overall Social Media Grade: D+
While he does have a website, it seems mostly static and full of basic campaign rhetoric. With no Facebook, Twitter, or blog, there's no real online way to support him--voters will have to rely on the ol' standby: those annoying lawn signs.

Ron Ellsworth

Claim to Fame: City Council member since 2005 and an active member of the community.

On Facebook: Yes. His Group page, "Team Ellsworth," has 719 members and is active updated.

On Twitter: Yes.

Blog Status: No blog, but his website does feature a downloadable booklet called "The Ellsworth Essentials."

Personal Website: http://www.ronellsworth.com/

Google Results for "ron ellsworth mayor": 922,000

Overall Social Media Grade: B+

Making his campaign booklet "The Ellsworth Essentials" available for download was a great use of the wide reach of the web. His website also features a place online where interested parties can sign up for the campaign. Ellsworth is clearly making an effort, something that will surely mean come Election Day.

Mark Wilson

Claim to Fame: The lead singer for local band The Idlers, Wilson is currently trying to tap into a demographic that is often ignored in municipal elections, the young and tech-savvy.

On Facebook? Yes. His Fan Page is active and well-populated, with nearly 250 supporters. Plus, there are two unofficial groups for his campaign with 40 members between them.

On Twitter? Yes.

Blog Status: 5 posts. He's also been a popular topic on St. John's-focused SignalBlog.

Personal Website: http://www.mayormarkwilson.com/

Google Results for "mark wilson mayor": 843,000

Overall Social Media Grade: A-

His website is more or less an example in how to do social media right. From the forum to the Media sections filled with YouTube campaign clips, everything about Wilson's website is interactive and informative. He even walks voters through the steps to signing up to vote--very important when your vote may rely on young, not yet registered voters. But these social media ventures were somewhat underpopulated, with only 35 tweets and a handful of blog posts. Still, all these social media efforts are reaching out to young voters in the city--whether or not they'll show up to support him on election day is yet to be decided.

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When you think about it, it makes sense to see more and more social media creep up into our elections: it worked beautifully in the recent American Presidential race, helping Barack Obama spread his message of change to a wide, receptive audience. Social media, after all, is about participation, and one of the chief problems plaguing voter turnouts in recent is lack of involvement. Hence, involve people online and watch them tune in to the issues and ultimately, Election Day.

Any verdict on whether or not social media will have a huge impact on the St. John's voters will have to wait until September 29th--the day of the elections. For the full, official list of candidates, visit the City of St. John's website.

Agree or disagree with the grades? Speak up in the comments!

Using Flickr to Promote Your Small Business

by J. Butler, Content Development Specialist

Here's a great idea for local businesses around Newfoundland and Labrador--and even beyond: get yourself a Flickr account. Flickr is a popular website for users to pool photographs in one convenient online space. Long used by bloggers as a photo repository, now you can learn to use it as a low-cost, simple way to build on the web presence your company already has.

It's as easy as 1, 2, 3, 4!

1. Open a Flickr account.

It’s quick and easy. Each photo in your Flickr pool will have its own web page; it will be up to you to provide clear titles, descriptions and tags. The trick is to fill your Flickr space with photos that really capture the heart of your business.

2. Figure out why your business needs Flickr.

Are you a tourism operator with lots of beautiful pictures of your destination but nowhere to put them? Are you a small crafts store with lots of product images? Or maybe your business is known for being a fun, social place to work and you want to show it off! Whatever your reason, figuring it out will save you a lot of confusion and second-guessing in the long run.

3. Tag everything properly.

Organize everything very clearly—don’t assume that your customers will have the patience to sort through 200 pictures before getting what they want. If you’re sharing this on social media, keep all your links and redirects straight. Giving your photos plenty of relevant keywords will also make it easier for search engines to find, improving your ranking on search engines like Google and Yahoo!.

4. Just jump in and get started!

Find out if any of your customers or fellow businesspeople are on Flickr and link to them. It’s a great opportunity for networking and spreading the word about your business. Provide plenty of ways for your customer to get back to your website. And most of all—be creative and have fun.

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If a picture is worth a thousand words, get ready for your business to write a whole novel!

AI Supports TA!

Just another adventure for Applecore’s longtime friend TA Loeffler. Starting at 12 noon on June 24^th (which just happens to be her birthday) TA Loeffler will be climbing Signal Hill 10 times to raise funds for prostate cancer research. In addition to spreading awareness, this is also the final preparation for TA's forthcoming effort to summit Mount Elbrus (Europe's highest peak) an adventure that will be beginning in July. You can read all about that particular adventure at TA’s website.

If there’s one thing Applecore can get behind, it’s a good cause, so the entire office will be joining her on the last leg of her climb. We’re excited to play even a tiny part in such a useful, awareness-building cause… and we’ll definitely be snapping a few pictures after we’ve finished the climb!

TA is inviting us to join her for a leg of the walk or two (which takes about 20-25 minutes) and wear sky blue (the awareness colour of prostate cancer). TA is also asking well-wishers to consider making a donation to the Canadian Prostate Cancer Network in lieu of a gift or card.

As extra incentive, birthday cake is waiting at the top. Check back here for the wrap-up!

Join the Facebook event.

Learn more about TA Loeffler.

Donate to Canadian Prostate Cancer Network.

Launch of the Canadian Breast Cancer Tour for the Cure

At ten o'clock this morning, our own Deborah Bourden will be kicking off the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation Tour for the Cure on the steps of the Newfoundland House of Assembly in St. John’s. Joining her will be the Hon. Danny Williams, Hon. Ross Wiseman (Minister of Health and Community Services), Nancy Margeson (CEO, Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation – Atlantic Region) and emcee Betty Ann Vater.

The Tour's goal is to raise awareness about something that affects a large portion of women and their families --a problem that's largely preventable. Screening rates in Atlantic Canada are at a low, something that's true of Canada at large, but the reality is that early detection is a woman’s best defense against breast cancer.

The Tour for the Cure hopes to spread awareness about that and wants to have 85 percent of eligible women in Atlantic Canada screened regularly for breast cancer by 2010. Head down if you get a chance, or even just check out the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation website to see how you can make a difference.

Best of luck to a wonderful cause!