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GRANDE PRAIRIE
ALBERTA, CANADA
FAQ's
Addressed to Ken Connors
Q:Why did you start this website?
A: I had this inspiration of taking a map and clicking anywhere on it and information would come up about that area. I didn't see anyone doing it, so I did it.
Q: What training did you have?
A: None. All the technical parts of doing a webpage was mostly achieved by trial and error and asking questions.
Q: How is this site funded?
A: For the first 2 1/2 years I spent my own time and money building this website. It wasn't until May 2003 when the website was officially launched that I was able to secure a sponsor to cover some of the material costs involved. The Daily Herald Tribune had agreed to host my site as well as put a banner to access my site on the front of their website, the Fairview and Peace River's newspapers websites, in exchange for the internet work I had done previously for their company.
Q: What are some of the material costs on doing a website?
A: Besides travelling costs (accommodations, gas, food) there have been the many long distance calls that were needed in doing research. There have also been computer and printer expenses as well as upgrades, software updates, as well as yearly costs for a domain name.
Q: Did it take a lot of time to travel to the areas?
A: I have taken many 16 hour drives to cover only 6 to 7 communities at a time. It takes a while to get to each community as well as driving up and down just about every street of each town. One of my trips to the High Level area, took 32 hours of travelling in 3 days.
Q: How much time have you spent developing the website?
A: In total, it has been 1000's of hours. For the first couple years I spent 20-30 hours a month. In the 3rd year that increased to over 100 hours a month of my spare time. Now that I have featured most of the areas in the Peace Country, I have reduced the time to 20-30 hours a month.
Q: Is the site now complete to your satisfaction?
A: It will never be complete. Things are constantly changing in each community and it will be a challenge to keep the website current. Also there are more things that I can always add.
ABOUT THIS SITE - News Release
Peace Country Website Climbs To The Top!
Discover The Peace Country
Grande Prairie May 2006 -
A ONE-OF-A-KIND WEBSITE that features the entire Peace Country has quickly become one of the most informative websites in the northwestern Alberta and northeastern British Columbia. www.discoverthepeacecountry.com has been online since May 2003, and has grown to include 70 areas of the Peace Country. This unique tourism website features cities, towns, villages, hamlets, parks and lakes, and networks them together for easy access. Each area of the Peace Country includes location, population, history, events, schools, accommodations, camping, golf etc. There are more than 1300 pictures on this website. There are also many links to hotels, restaurants as well as links to other informative websites.
Many communities and businesses in the Peace Country are referring newcomers to the site as a good source of information on the area. Even colleges in northern Alberta, are using this site as an educational tool for research on the area. The support of the many communities and media has been tremendous. Almost every community in the Peace Country that has a website has a link to discoverthepeacecountry.com. There are now 10 newspapers in the Peace Country that feature a discoverthepeacecountry.com banner/link on their "FRONT" page of their website.
In August of 2004, discoverthepeacecountry.com website was featured in the Vancouver Province Newspaper as one of the top 10 websites of British Columbia. "I am delighted that this site has reached this type of recognition", says Ken Connors developer of the website, pointing out that of the 70 areas on the website, 14 are from British Columbia.
What makes this website so unique, is that it is the inspiration and work of "one person". After approximately 3 years in the making, Ken Connors has donated 1000's of hours of his spare time travelling to each area, doing the research, photography and web-pages. "Years ago I had a vision of taking a map, and clicking on it.... and information would come up about that area. Many said it couldn't be done, so I ended up doing it myself", says Connors.
There are a number of clickable maps currently on this website which gives one a virtual tour of the entire Peace Country from Grande Prairie to Rainbow Lake to the north, and Chetwynd to the west, and High Prairie to the east. Many communities have never been featured on the internet before, and are very pleased that Mr. Connors has taken the time to visit their community and put them on the internet for free.
"I have thoroughly enjoyed travelling to all the communities, seeing many interesting sites as well as meeting so many friendly people". Mr. Connors' efforts of promoting the Peace Country has definitely made more people aware of the entire region especially those who travel northern Alberta or BC.
The Province of Alberta has denied funding for this website. (12 different levels of Government had been contacted) Funding has come from Grande Prairie hotels, restaurants and golf courses who advertise their business on this website and from Royal LePage Grande Prairie, Windsor Ford and City Furniture as well as from Mr. Connors himself. All funds are used in paying for material costs of keeping the website going while promoting the Peace Country. Discoverthepeacecountry.com is regarded as a not-for-profit website, as Mr. Connors has volunteered all his time on this website. ( a donated value that now exceeds $200,000)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -Disclosure of Financial Statements for Discover The Peace Country LTD as prepared by Friesen Bain Chartered Accountants: Year End 2006 a deficit of $3881 and 2007 Year End a deficit of $200. Since there were deficits and not any profits there were not any funds to pay any salaries or pay back financial contributions made by Ken Connors (Chernuka).
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May 2006 - discoverthepeacecountry.com has officially become a corporation. Ken Connors (Chernuka) is now the CEO of Discover The Peace Country LTD.
| Ken Chernuka was born and raised in the Peace Country. Born in Sexsmith, he received his education at Rycroft Alberta, and attended SAIT College in Calgary. (Radio, TV and Stage Arts). His alias became Ken Connors and was an on-air Radio Broadcaster in Grande Prairie (CFGP, now SunFM) and Fort St. John, BC (CKNL) as well as other Radio/TV Stations in Alberta and Saskatchewan. (630 CHED Edmonton, CKXL Calgary, CHEC & CJOC Radio/TV Lethbridge, CJME Regina) After 10 years in radio and television, he switched to newspaper advertising sales (Daily Herald Tribune in Grande Prairie.) Developing this website is not his only internet accomplishment. In 1999, he came up with more "original ideas" that bridged the gap between newspaper and the internet. "A Shopping Mall" and "How to put newspaper promos on-line" won him a National Award. His picture appeared in the Toronto Sun Newspaper June 24. 2001. (pictured right) Grande Prairie became one of the first newspapers in Canada to take this new internet direction. He was asked to speak to 130 newspaper publishers across Canada about his ideas, and at a seminar with 250 newspaper sales people. |
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For comments or further questions pertaining to this website contact kenconnors@excite.com
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Parks and Lakes of the Peace Country, is a 28 page glossy brochure that features pictures and camping information on over 20 major campsites of the Peace Country. It also includes a map of the region and valuable information. This brochure was produced from cover to cover by Ken Connors of DiscoverThePeaceCountry.com (pictures, information, design and typsetting), who donated his time on this project. Printing of this brochure was made financially possible with the support of Leisureland Camper Village in Grande Prairie (14320-100 Street) . 10,000 Copies of this brochure were printed and distributed in 2006. |
Legal: Discover The Peace Country Ltd makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information on discoverthepeacecountry.com, but cannot be held responsible for any consequences arising from errors or omissions. Errors will be changed immediately with notification to this website by e-mailing the website contact.: kenconnors@excite.com. All pictures/images posted on this website have been taken by Ken Connors (Chernuka) , unless otherwise stated, and is owned by Discover The Peace Country Ltd and is protected by Copyright law. Material cannot be reproduced in any form. It is illegal to use pictures from this website on another website, including forums or blogs without written permission. Warnings of copyright are posted on every page of this website as well as the consequences of copyright infringement.
(Names not published)
Congratulations on a job well done! It is great to read up on the histories of these small towns, parks, etc. Maybe it will entice people to do some day-trips to some of these areas and check out the history in our own backyard.
-Grande Prairie.
I have looked at your web page, you have very nice photos of our area and the write up is very good. We appreciate your work to promote the Peace Country and the communities within. -Hythe.
Can you answer some basic questions about your new website, discoverthe peacecountry.com? I would like to include it as an addition to another story about a website for the Grimshaw area?
-Mile Zero News, Grimshaw.
I appreciate the information you have on your website and will be a great tool when sending my employees to work in your area. I have book marked it.
-Edmonton.
Great work, this looks great. I think this is a great idea.
-County of Grande Prairie Council Member.
Congratulations on the sites success thus far and the news coverage by local media is exciting. It must be quite rewarding for you to see the success of your hard work.
-Grande Prairie.
I viewed your website shortly after the launch on May 1, 2003, was very impressed, and have recommended it to people making enquiries about the Peace. You have provided a much needed service to the Peace Country and an invaluable aid to development and tourism. Congratulations on a job very well done!
-Fairview.
Great website. I've passed the link on to my associates at my bank
-Grande Prairie.
Greetings! I looked up your new website and it looks really good. How industrious of you! It looks like it probably was a lot of fun to do, too. It is a good idea.
-Maple Ridge, BC.
We will be linking our website to yours. I will arrange for your site to be included under "Helpful Links"
-Peace River.
You've done an excellent job on your site -Peace Wapiti School Division.
I'm impressed with your website. With this new knowledge, I will make other agencies involved in business development in the region aware of your site.
-Representative of the Government of Alberta, Grande Prairie.
Hi Ken; We have added the link to your website to our External Links page under the category "Other External Links in our Community".
-City of Grande Prairie.
Legal: All pictures, images and information on discoverthepeacecountry.com are protected by copyright which means it is unlawful to reproduce any picture, image or information in whole or part without written permission. For those who wish to use a picture/image from this website on another website can do so by signing a licensing-use agreement contract for a minimum cost of $10,000 per picture. Using pictures for any amount of time without the licensing agreement will result in legal action taken to recover the costs of $10,000 per picture.
ABOUT THIS SITE, COMMENTS, FAQ.S / EXTERNAL LINKS © Copyright 2003-2008. Contact: kenconnors@excite.com