Going the extra mile to make your site work, whatever, wherever!

You might not have thought it but half of Livetech’s work is managing existing sites on behalf of clients.

Clients are increasingly finding that moving parts of their traditional marketing spend e.g. on newspaper and yellow pages advertising, to online methods is paying great financial dividends.

Some of the services we provide in this arena are -

• Content update, news, latest products
• Search Engine Optimization
• Pay per click markekting
• Social Network Marketing
• Email Marketing
• Web Site Hosting
• Software Patching

Livetech are always happy to speak to people about how theycan make the most of their website and online marketing budgets.

Sunrise 24th October 2011 from Livetech Offices

Livetech have moved to the other side of Marina House at Deganwy Quay. Our new offices benefit from thier own entrance, via the Marina Reception. The move reflects Livetech’s commitment to offer the highest levels of customer experience and security.

Staff and clients alike are able to ‘rest their eyes’ by taking in the spectacular and inspirational views, returning invigorated and refreshed to create outstanding web experiences.

We left the webcam on over the weekend of the Conwy Feast and spectatular lightshow projection onto the castle, its a shame it is not higher resolution (to do) but great fun to watch the ebb and flow, night and day!

However this year like many of my friends I have decided to buy all my gifts online as it saves me a lot of time and stress.  My only issue is that I normally like to shop locally and help support local businesses so for this reason I will be shopping at local online stores that are based in the North Wales area.

If you are like me and struggle to find the perfect gift for certain family members every year then hopefully my blog will inspire you.

For the women in your life why not treat them to a beauty treatment or pamper day, what women do you know who doesn’t enjoy a bit of pampering.  TH1 Beauty Salon in Bangor offers a wide range of treatments at their stylish and contemporary salon where you can totally relax and enjoy the opulent surroundings. As well as a wide range of beauty treatments available they also have ‘Monday Pamper Days’ running throughout the year where you can enjoy any 2 treatments for £50.00.

If you have jewellery in mind for your special lady then you must check out Italian World in Llandudno. They have a wonderful selection of gifts sourced from Italy exclusively for Italian World including some lovely pieces of Murano Glass Jewellery, Tedora Bracelets and a wide selection of unique Tedora Charms to accompany the beautiful bracelets. They also have a great range of Masquerade Masks which are perfect if you are planning on going to a Masquerade Ball this Christmas or New Year.

Duckworths is another great online shop that stocks a wide range of Ladies Gifts including handbag mirrors, purses, lipstick cases and perfume bottles along with a great selection of Mens Gifts such as silk ties, cuff links, hip flasks and wallets. They also stock a wide range of Welsh souvenirs and smoking accessories.

Is anybody in your family thinking of learning to drive? Then why not treat them to some driving lessons. Glan Conwy School of Motoring is a local driving school offering Driving Lessons in North Wales at competitive prices.  They also offer Residential Driving Courses for those that live further away and fancy a nice break in beautiful North Wales whilst learning to Drive.

For the Gardeners in your home who enjoy pottering in the greenhouse for hours on end, how about some Greenhouse Staging.  Greenhouse Staging is a great solution for making the most of your space for potting plants.  Greenhouse staging comes in a variety of sizes and is a great way to keep your pots and plants organised in a safe and secure area. Great Garden Products are based in Llandudno and stock a wide selection of Greenhouse Staging and other Wooden Garden Furniture.

Wine…. I don’t mean to sound like an absolute Lush but I never get bored of receiving a nice bottle of Red Wine as a gift, especially a good quality Natural Wine. If you are not familiar with Natural Wines then check out Good Wine Online, this North Wales based online retailer stocks a wide selection of Natural Wines as well as other quality Red Wines, White Wines, Rose’s and Champagne.  They also have a wealth of information about Natural Wines on their site which explains the benefits of drinking Natural Wine. The great thing about Natural wines is the fact that you can drink more of the wine without suffering with a hangover headache the next day.

The Christmas break for many people is a great time to get on with DIY and a time to spend time with your family and discuss future projects including renovations to the home.  If you have some spare time over the Christmas period and want to move forward with your plans then why not have a chat with Barry Richards from BR Architecture. This North Wales based firm of architectural designers specialise in luxury house designs, extensions, garage & loft conversions and Eco Design Houses in North Wales.

For those that like to get away from it all at Christmas then why not stay in a wondel  Hotel Snowdonia.  Ty’n Rhos Country House Hotel is a magnificent 5 star hotel nestled between the foothills of Snowdonia and the Menai Strait.   They have some wonderful Christmas breaks offers on their website.

As it’s approaching the Christmas break many of us will be thinking about the Christmas parties and nights out.  The problem many of us have if we venture further a field is getting home after a drink. Well no need to worry any longer as Castle Mini Coaches is a local firm that caters for nights out. Their Minibus Hire North Wales service is fantastic for big groups, they will literally pick you up, drop you at your destination then wait around for you whilst you party the night away and then drop you all the way home again, talk about a stress free night.

Well I hope I have managed to inspire you with some gift ideas from the above list of reputable local businesses that trade online.  Now sit back relax and start browsing from the comfort of your own home, just think you could have all your presents sorted by the weekend!!

TH1 Hairdressing – Beauty Salon Bangor
Italian World – Murano Glass Jewellery & Masquerade Masks
Duckworths – Ladies Gifts & Mens Gifts
Glan Conwy School of Motoring – Driving Lessons North Wales
Great Garden Products – Greenhouse Staging
Good wine online – Natural Wines
BR Architecture – Eco Design Houses in North Wales
Ty’n Rhos Country House – Snowdonia Hotel
Castle Mini Coaches – Minibus Hire North Wales

Grand Canal Venice

I enjoyed a wonderful week with the choir in Italy, performing as part of the Merchatello festival. Where we sang in a number of outstanding venues.

Recent pictures show how the facility is developing. conference venues north wales

View through the window

Set up for Groups of Four

Stunning Marina, Castle, River and Mountain Views

We have also just launched North Wales Projector Hire to perfectly fit with the conference facilities.

Outlook Social Connector with Plugins

Merge your business life with your personal life. Link in your work/personal emails with your Social media networks such as Facebook, Linkedin, MySpace and MSN Messenger.

This little add-on available from Microsoft works with Office 2003, 200 and 2010. It’s simple to download, install and easy to use too.

The Outlook Social Connector allows you to synchronize your contact data from your social networks right into Outlook and obtain information about your friends and business colleagues.

Use the Outlook Social Connector to display a quick view of related Outlook content such as recent e-mail conversations, meetings, and shared attachments.

Even if you don’t want to use it to connect with Facebook and Linkedin it is a brilliant tool that allows you view contact related Outlook content. These include:

One tool that shows every email you’ve ever sent or received from a contact

List every meeting you’ve had with someone that you added in your calendar

View every attachment from a person that you’ve ever received

The ability to segment what you see, i.e. see everything or only certain things such as attachments, Facebook comments etc.

This tool combines both the business side and the personal side within Outlook. So, there’s no need to go anywhere else when you want to communicate with your business and personal contacts. You can do it all through Outlook.

with annotations

If you don’t want to see this extra information, a simple click of a button and it is hidden. It doesn’t yet link into Twitter, but this seems just a matter of time.

One thing you need to be conscious of is that even if you don’t have the Social Connector installed but you have your Facebook privacy set to open to everyone, then other people who are copied into emails and have the connector will be able to link straight into your profile and view it. It might be wise to consider what you want people to see and adjust accordingly.

Here at Livetech we keep on top of technology changes similar to this. If you like this, or would like some further advice then please give us a call.

Download it from Microsoft

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=b638cc14-11e5-448a-b5a6-4f553ce81b94&displaylang=en

Plugins

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/outlook-social-connector-partner-listing-FX102317540.aspx

Weekly News Article

SafetyMap is a response to the need identified for better public awareness of dangerous locations and the opportunity this presents for wider water safety education. The technology used is being applied from knowledge gained working with  online mapping technologies for agencies such as the Police.

Background

Often there are hidden dangers in a location that some people, especially young people, are not aware of. The resource will be the central point and database for a network of resources that will particularly appeal to young people – website, mobile phone app, social networks, signs with bar codes that can be scanned and an online mapping and alert system. There will be a section where it will be possible for the public to generate a printable sign with warnings and safety information. There will be an emphasis on education, to help young people make good decisions.

Safetymap Homepage

The Plan

Livetech along with River and Sea Sense are currently developing an innovative water safety resource tool, ‘SafetyMap’ . The tool links locations where there have been water safety incidents together on a map for the first time, allowing the public to see where areas for concern are and be educated on the potential dangers at various locations. Full use of social networking techniques will be made to collect up to date  information and relay this on to the users who will benefit most from it.

Further information

www.riveranseasense.com

www.safetymap.co.uk

Coop Support Opportunity for Safety Map

We are working with Debbie from River and Sea Sense to create a badly needed online resource to alert the public on dangers associated with various locations.

Sometimes there are hidden dangers in a place that some people, especially young people, are not aware of. The resource will be the central point and database for a network of resources that will particularly appeal to young people – website, mobile phone app, social networks, signs with scannable bar codes and an online mapping and alert system. There will be an emphasis on education, to help young people make good decisions.

Debbie has the opportunity to get funding through the Cooperative £5000 to change the world scheme, but needs as many people to support her with this initiative by simply filling in a short voting form at this website

http://www.co-operative.coop/join-the-revolution/river-and-sea-sense

Please consider visiting this site and sharing your support, by doing so you will be showing you support for a highly relevant,  innovative and efficient way for educating and safeguarding young people at an impressionable & possibly vulnerable stage in their lives.

Many thanks for your time in considering this.

Paul

Google Streetcar at Deganwy Quay, North Wales

Spotted the Google Street View car in North Wales this afternoon at 12.30, two years after the Streetview Car was last in town!

Going off the last Street View North Wales visit we can expect the images to be live in around twelve months.

Measuring time according to Google Street View visits is interesting, two years ago Livetech (Web Design North Wales) were operating  from Central Colwyn Bay, now were are based at the exclusive Deganwy Quay development.

It’s interesting to see how people react to the privacy issues highlighted by publishing  images of everyone’s homes, from a household security, home kerbside appeal (when selling), and whether you washed your windows that week.

Would you for example want a picture of your child on the camera going home from school? Not an unusual occurance on the service.

Google Street View Man is he coming to shoot you?

All interesting questions, I wonder how camera shy this particular chappy (featured left) is?

View the full series of photos here http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=352449&id=789157111

New Training Rooms with Stunning Location

This week I’m busy putting together a new training venue here at Deganwy Quay, Conwy, North Wales.

The Marine Rooms are a exceptionally well situated training rooms based at Deganwy Quay, within Marina House, part of the marina complex.

The rooms are available for hire for training events, corporate use, venue north wales etc.

The main room is 9.5m x 5m with the use of a smaller side room 3.1m x 4.1m

The facility has its own kitchen and toilet facilities and its own secure access.

Views over Deganwy Marina looking East

Featured here are some views of the rooms under preparation.

The rooms are available as follows

8.30 AM until 5.30 PM Day session

6.00 PM until 10.00 PM evening session

Rates are currently being finalized.

The venue provides a really nice feeling as soon as you enter, views over to the castle, a world heritage site are really inspirational and are bound to set the right tone for your event.

View of decking area from the main training room

Enjoy a break from your training by taking a stroll on the decking and enjoying some fresh air. View shown is looking South from the main room.

The Marine Rooms | Promote your Page too

Website under construction for this Venue North Wales at www.marinerooms.co.uk

Other businesses at Deganwy Quay

Quay Marinas – http://www.quaymarinas.com/Marinas/DeganwyQuays/

Network Yacht Brokers – www.nybconwy.co.uk

The Quay Hotel – www.quayhotel.com

Coast and Marina Properties – www.coastmarinaproperties.co.uk

Livetech – www.livetech.co.uk