Community Blogging

Congratulations to The Welwyn Festival Group on another successful week of events. This was the 40th consecutive festival in its current format and the 13th year that The BPc has produced the full programme, as a community project (free) since we used to be based in Welwyn.

We also help to maintain their blog www.welwynfestival.blogspot.com. It is difficult for some voluntary committees to update their own websites or blogs as committee membership is often transient and the skills and available time required are inconsistent, typically when the focus group is linked to children of a certain age group, such as primary school, guides and scouts; as children move on, so do their parents.

Increasingly, though, people are able to manage blogs and social media. We are happy to help them acquire the appropriate skills and support them, as we have done with a number of organisations. However, our time is also limited as we have to fit in such projects around paid work, primarily: website design, website optimisation, blogging, social media management and pay-per-click ads management. Maybe, if we stopped getting involved in the fun stuff, we'd get round to our own website!

Re-rendering of old Logo for Client

Clicking on the logos to see their larger versions will emphasise the difference between the old gif and the re-rendered, editable, scaleable version we have just created.

The client, SunHat France, wanted to keep the established logo but needed it to look smarter. The BPc is happy to improve (or redesign) your logo at a very reasonable cost.

Just add your enquiry as a comment and we'll get back to you!

p.s. we've since removed the ugly blue lozenge and added some more rays to the sun because we were asked to re-design the whole website! You can see the splendid re-designed logo on the new SunHatFrance website - and book a touring holiday of Provence while you're there!

First Novel from Local Author

It is said that we all have a book within us - the real difficulty is getting it out! Plotting a story, committing hours to writing it, having it proofread, considering any feedback, finalising the manuscript and then publishing your work can take weeks or years.

As hard as it is to create a good book, traditional publishing methods can mean than most potential writers' books will never be printed. For would-be authors who have a very limited budget, self-publishing via e-books provides opportunities that many would otherwise never have.

The growing number of readers who have already discovered kindle and similar devices understand the advantages of keeping 1000s of books on a device the size of an extremely thin novel. A double-edged sword for book readers is that, although there is a wide choice of books costing very little money, there is virtually no quality control over novels that are published. For this reason, it is important that everyone who downloads and reads an e-book should take a few minutes to leave an honest review (note that a review may include an opinion but should not be comprised wholly of an opinion - well, that's my view!)

Approached by local first-time author Colin Lord, a self-confessed "non-techie", to design a cover then prepare and upload his novel to Amazon's e-book section, we are pleased to report that the task was not too overwhelming and "When the Odds are Evens" is available to download for (currently) £2.99 including vat.

Colin is writing a sequel to the book and working on a script for an unrelated radio play.

A Beautiful Site for the Bereaved

We have been helping a client ready the Cremation Urns Company  website for its recent launch. It features some beautiful memorial keepsakes and ashes urns.

In addition, the News/Blog menu on the website links to posts sharing other people's stories plus a Poems section that may be helpful when planning a service.

www.cremationurnscompany.com

Catering: Royal Tea with Royalty

Our client, Hanson Catering of Watford, recently catered for an unveiling of a plaque, with guest of honour Princess Eugenie, daughter of the Duke of York and grand-daughter of Queen Elizabeth II. The event was to commemmorate the opening of the Children's High Dependency Unit at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in Stanmore.

Hanson's cater for businesses, weddings and events within the London, Hertfordshire and the north-western home counties. They have an impressive client list and a delicious selection of suggested hot and cold menus; they also specialise in hog roasts and barbecues.

A hard-working, friendly and professional team... if you're looking for a caterer, call them!

Psst! take a look at their client feedback.

Caffè Nero Opens its UltraSlim Doors in Lymington

Grade 2 listed, Georgian façade

Caffè Nero has become well established in Lymington over the past eight years. The popular high street café has a large window frontage but the rear of the building was a little gloomy on a nice day. It was often crowded, too, as a number of 'regulars' used to vie for seats.

Planning permission was sought to build an extension that would extend the ground floor area and open up to a new south-facing patio area, by installing a bank of glass doors across the back of the building. This would this provide more light and easy access to additional outside seating.

SunSeeker UltraSlim, fully retractable slide-and-turn patio doors, were chosen by the owners of the Grade 2 listed building and "provided a cost effective, attractive solution". Building work was recently completed and a selection of photographs taken.

UltraSlim sliding doors pictured wide open

Natural light streaming in through the UltraSlim patio doors

Taken from the front of the café, showing brightness at the back

Thanks to Toadhole Investments Ltd., owners of the building, for supplying photographs and additional information.

The Year Of The Horse

The Chinese Year of the Snake began on 10th February 2013 and will be superseded by the Year of the Horse on 31st January 2014. Not only that but the Chinese calendar is heading towards the year 4712.

Hmm, not a 365-day year then. This is because the Chinese calendar is based on lunar cycles of 28 days, rather than the time it takes the Earth to orbit the sun.

People born in the Year of the Horse are "Very hardworking and independent. Will work on and on until a job is finished. Very intelligent, ambitious and expect to succeed. Can cope with several projects at once. Easily fall in love." You can work out your Chinese animal characteristics here.

In China, red is considered lucky and gold represents prosperity, colours that feature in Chinese New Year festivities, which last for fifteen days. Dragons are also considered lucky, friendly creatures, representing long life and wisdom.

Our client, Novelties Direct, can supply a range of items for Chinese New Year celebrations from lanterns, dragon decorations and flags to Mandarin/Coolie hats and Giant Panda cut-outs. Some items are ideal for primary schools wanting to engage children in a lesson about Chinese culture.

"Kung Hei Fat Choy!" (Happy New Year)

Searching for Commercial Property to Rent in London W1

The Langham Estate - a prestigious address in London's West End, is home to a number of companies: UK head offices, restaurants, bars and retailers.


Commercial properties in the boundaries of The Langham Estate are available to rent via www.langhamestate.com

Another Website Launched, Another Happy Client, Yay!

For over 20 years, our business has grown by referral and recommendation. Our most recent 'website-requiring' client, Estacchini Architects, contacted us based on the website we produced for a similar company in the area. We developed this CMS* website for the Hertfordshire-based architect who has worked on buildings in a number of countries.

Visit the website's portfolio page to see projects in London, Milan, Athens and Singapore.

*CMS stands for Content Management System and enables website owners with some basic internet skills and word-processing knowledge to add, edit and update the general content - including images - on their website. Anyone who has used WordPress to write a blog will feel instantly comfortable with our WordPress-based CMS websites.

We are working to launch our own redeveloped website before the end of the year. Follow The BPc on Twitter to be amongst the first to know!