 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi all,
This winter me and the good lady are doing our first season and staying in the 3v. We won't be working but will be taking an 8 week gap course for BASI L2 snowboard. I had a thought about doing a blog while away to document the experiences etc. I also thought about documenting what it is actually like taking an exam in the mountains as well as the training. I've looked on the net before and there seems to be very little on people doing this while taking exams.
So my question are:-
what sort of things would make it an interesting read to you?
what content gets you reading/following blogs?
Do you like video content?
Is it a waste of time and effort doing this?
Thoughts please....
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I keep a blog - it's nice just to have as a record for yourself - doesn't really matter if nobody else reads it, though friends and family back home may be interested .
Personally I avoid video like the plague - too time consuming to produce anything good.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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@telford_mike, Good point about the video stuff.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@chrisrawles, there have been some comments on here about folk doing similar things wanting to hear about experiences, etc.
I'm generally a blog fan, myself, although I really don't like any video content unless it's essential.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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I suspect people start with good intentions but when push comes to shove with exam courses getting through the exam is all that matters and most people are sufficiently neurotic that they realise documenting every insecurity isn't something they want to do.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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It's tricky trying to find something to say everyday on a blog. Try to remember however that your readers don't know a single thing about living in a ski resort, so mundane things like how you get a haircut or do your laundry can make good content. Almost certainly your audience won't be interested in the technical aspects of your course.
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| chrisrawles wrote: |
....We won't be working but will be taking an 8 week gap course for BASI L2 snowboard..............
Is it a waste of time and effort doing this?
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Possibly 
On a more serious note many on here are not of the FaceBook / Social Media generation and simply don't get how "kids" (sub 25) communicate it seems, so you really have to ask yourselves who is going to be the end user of your blog?
People do love daily weather updates vs the forecast - our cam weather page in the season does at times do huge traffic!
RE video, FB actively encourages video in postings now and my daughter (27) works for one of the leading digital agencies (content & SEO) and is always bemoaning how our content in our blogs is too targeted to "old farts" .
And she has a point in that when we look at the analytics the pages she wrote on her seasonaire blog are still the most read having been found organically via Google and not through the site.
And then that raises another point, how are you going to get people to actually read it, which is what @telford_mike, alludes to in that it could be a record for yourself.
And then will you have the "time" when my daughter was working doing a blog got in the way of all the other stuff.
For me and my Mrs we're working on web based content all the time so for us it's relatively easy to "knock" out content, plus we used good CMS tools and image manipulation inc videos are all within our remit, so it's no big deal in terms of time as we're used to it. For most video editing is a massive undertaking that's why so many GoPros only ever see a couple of days use!
And further irony in that the Blog I'm doing in the summer is doing really well traffic wise* and ranking better on SEO purely because there are not that many cycling blogs out there, and Serre Che tourist office now promote it on their English pages on their site
http://www.stylealtitude.com/the-bike-blog-june-2017.html
*also helped by having 20k cyclists visiting the valley for the Etape du Tour and Tour de France
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First pic is a cracker
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Wow some great responses here. I think for us a daily update is not going to happen. We are thinking more along the lines of a weekly post and just put some quick notes about what has been going on, how we are finding being away from home etc. Video content will likely take up too much time since this is not something we do all the time.
As for updates during the exam, Again similar to above and any tips to help people in the future on what to prepare for etc.
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| telford_mike wrote: |
| It's tricky trying to find something to say everyday on a blog. Try to remember however that your readers don't know a single thing about living in a ski resort, so mundane things like how you get a haircut or do your laundry can make good content. Almost certainly your audience won't be interested in the technical aspects of your course. |
I think that depends on your audience. I wouldn't be the slightest bit interested in how someone gets their haircut in a ski resort - personally, I just went to a hairdresser?! I would have been interested in the exam stuff, and in fact in the run up to my L2 I looked on here for reports to have an idea of what to expect. Having said that, I definitely didn't feel like writing a report after doing it, despite passing. Quite a few people come on here each year asking about the gap courses, so I suspect people would be I interested in that too.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I post something on the Les Deux Alpes thread most day with a few pictures etc. I think it helps anyone with any interest in the resort.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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| Gämsbock wrote: |
| telford_mike wrote: |
| It's tricky trying to find something to say everyday on a blog. Try to remember however that your readers don't know a single thing about living in a ski resort, so mundane things like how you get a haircut or do your laundry can make good content. Almost certainly your audience won't be interested in the technical aspects of your course. |
I think that depends on your audience. I wouldn't be the slightest bit interested in how someone gets their haircut in a ski resort - personally, I just went to a hairdresser?! |
me too - if you are going to blog about mundane events either you are suggesting you want some sort of achievement badge OR you need to be funny. That kinda goes for ski blogs generally - unless you are doing something out of the ordinary you need to make a reason for people to read - there's only so much you can write about got up, had breakfast, thought I might have a bit of a sniffle coming on, went skiing, left apres early, made dinner, early night. Steve Angus's blog works because lots of us know him and it is a fairly comprehensive view of the life of an instructor ( and make those of us who don't get to ski every day feel a bit better that it's not all charging to the max every day).
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| Gämsbock wrote: |
I think that depends on your audience. I wouldn't be the slightest bit interested in how someone gets their haircut in a ski resort - personally, I just went to a hairdresser?! |
Hairdressers? You must be posh in your village. Mrs t_m does mine and pretty much everyone else's!
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You know it makes sense.
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@telford_mike, definitely wasn't posh!
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