Cape Town | Western Cape | Gateway to Southern Africa
Warning: include() [function.include]: URL file-access is disabled in the server configuration in /home/capeinfo/public_html/news/capeinfo/feb07.php on line 32 Warning: include(http://capeinfo.com/nav/FrameLeft.php) [function.include]: failed to open stream: no suitable wrapper could be found in /home/capeinfo/public_html/news/capeinfo/feb07.php on line 32 Warning: include() [function.include]: Failed opening 'http://capeinfo.com/nav/FrameLeft.php' for inclusion (include_path='.:/usr/lib/php:/usr/local/lib/php') in /home/capeinfo/public_html/news/capeinfo/feb07.php on line 32		February 2007    BELOW: Maps for Africa Time to Crow Newsletters with a difference Want a free Events Calendar? Your newsletter control panel Change/confirm your preferences             Write to us                 Forward to a friend                 Subscribe             Unsubscribe from all lists We have been saying this in all our newsletters (of which there are now six) so if you subscribe to more than one, you may have seen this before:     We have a new newsletter mailing system.  If you haven't already done so, please click alongside to confirm and update your details. You may also wish to subscribe to other newsletters – see what they are below.     To make sure that our newsletters are not sent to a 'junk' folder, please add newsletters@capeinfo.com to your address book. CapeInfo has been looking for a really good mapping system for some while – one that is interactive, accurate, up-to-date, loads quickly and has the ability to locate the businesses that we have online in our directory.  Oh... and one that doesn't cost R200,000 per annum!  Wouldn't you like that on your website too? Simon Grindrod, Mayco member: OSM really does democratise information and will be supported by the City of Cape Town to increase our citizen and tourist offering. Cape Town needs to become a 21st century city. The Shuttleworth Foundation: Collaborating in this open manner ensures that you are empowered to make maps free, useful and relevant. The benefit you receive, benefits the community as a whole. Maarten Goos, farm 215: Rural areas are poorly served by most maps, but with OSM I can show visitors how to "discover the deep south on gravel", while locating the farm and our cottages. Maureen Thomson, V&A Waterfront: OSM ups the global offering that Cape Town offers tourists. Tony, Manuka Tokai: We'll host a mapping party (free pizzas) for a small group to map the main access routes to Tokai and our location in Steenberg Village. We have broadband wireless you can use. CapeInfo has decided to go the Open Street Maps route.  It is early days and Adrian Frith, a UCT student, has single-handedly started mapping Cape Town.  The small section of Pinelands, Cape Town, shown above is part of what he has already done, which includes the UCT main campus.  In Tshwane/Pretoria, Nico Roets has mapped most of that city's 200km² during his free time in one month. What is 'Open Street Maps'?  Click here to read about this global movement. Street Parties take on a new meaning Is it all serious stuff?  Certainly not – it is a global community and a great way to meet and make friends locally.  Here are some current events for the international OSM community. Feb 22 Southern England pub meet, Southampton Feb 24-25   Mapping party, Bristol Mar 3 Cartography Discussion Day, Oxford Mar 10-11 Mapping party, south London (pathways of desire) Mar 13 Mapping Techniques, Tips and Tricks Mar 13-15 FOSSGIS-Konferenz 2007, Berlin Mar 16-18 Mapping party, Birmingham Mapping Party Mar 17-18 Mapping party, Amsterdam Mar 24-25 Mapping party, Sheffield Mar 30-Apr 1    Mapping party, Karlsruhe, Germany Isn't it time to add Cape Town, Stellenbosch, Hermanus, Knysna, etc, to this list? For South Africa Click here to read about the fledgeling South African community.  We all have different skills and can contribute in different ways.  Look at the examples set by farm 215 and Manuka Tokai alongside.  Hotels, guests houses... everybody, really... stands to benefit through their involvement. New home page carries the countdown clock to the start of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.  Do look at the stunning photograph of Comet McNaught. It's been a busy few weeks... CapeInfo now operates off two servers with two capeinfo domain names, necessitated by a total revamp to the web site.  Because of the interconnected traffic between the two servers, we don't have accurate web stats.  But... the old server reached a new record recently when, in one day, it received 10,597 visits.  The new server has raised its Alexa page rank by 4,107,517 places since the middle of January and has a higher ranking than many full-blown websites.  And it only handles our newsletter subscriptions! "Ecstatic about search rankings" Email received: "I have searched Google for "cape town self-employment" and ... I got a number two spot via your advert! Thanks VERY much. :-D"  (And that was for CapeInfo's free classifieds!) More emails last week: "It is one one the best sites I have seen." — John Spiers, CEO, Backsberg Wine Estate. "We get many enquires from our site on CapeInfo – many thanks!" — Volmoed, Hemel-en-Aarde Valley Apart from CapeInfo news (click here to read back issues), we now publish several other newsletters.  Have a look below if any of the others interest you.  You can subscribe to them by editing your preferences.  Click on the links alongside each newsletter to read back copies. Each issue generated more traffic than SA Tourism's entire Sho't Left campaign. With adquate bandwith, they will be back soon.  Ecotourism, Constantia, Gansbaai Sheryl Ozinsky is known as a fearless campaigner for tourism and Cape Town as a world-beating destination.  She shares her thoughts on what makes destinations great in this new newsletter:  Feb07 Wines Online itself is all about great wines at great prices, delivered to your door. The newsletter tells you more about the estates & producers that are worth visiting. Jan07, Dec06, Nov06 Oct06, Sep06, Aug06 This new newsletter covers the area to the south of Table Mountain (including Hout Bay) – a fascinating part of Cape Town.  We partner with a range of organisations to bring diverse news.  Feb07 Chris Wright publishes the Riebeek Valley Handbook and probably knows the area as well as anybody else.  His monthly newsletter gives more local insight.  Jan07, Dec06, Nov06, Oct06 Further titles will be added and if there are towns or regions that would like their own newsletter, please contact us. CapeInfo's events calendar is one of the most comprehensive and most used around.  But there's more to it than that.  You can use it on your own website. Show just your own events on your website If your events are included on CapeInfo and you would like them included on your own website too, you can do this with no extra effort, and no worrying about removing events when they are over.     We provide you with some code to add to your website and only your events appear.  Click on Manuka Tokai and scroll to the bottom of the page to see it in action. Include the whole CapeInfo events calendar on your own website, with your branding As a service to visitors to your website, you can include the whole events search and listing facility, but using your own brand identity.  Visit IT Emporium for an example.  Click here to see the 'original' events calendar on CapeInfo. The advantage of this system is that you can add events online once and they will appear on your own site as well as CapeInfo and other sites that use the events calendar.  Events are automatically removed at midnight on the day they finish. Want to promote South African wines to your guests and earn commission?  Click here to find out more. Is your content on CapeInfo & does it work for you? We sometimes want to weep when we see the photographs and copy submitted.  If you're serious about your business and take pride in it and how it portrays you, make a real effort when it comes to the content that you use in directory listings and everywhere else.  You're not preparing it for yourself, who knows the product, you're presenting it to a stranger who views many competitive offers.  So BE competitive!     If you don't have creative skills, a good camera or the ability to write, get help!  This doesn't have to cost you much, if anything.  Invite talented friends to stay for a weekend in exchange for a great selection of pics or some great copy.  And if you have friends who are good at thinking out of the box, invite them for an "ideas weekend", to come with ideas on how to position your product differently and gain that competitive advantage. Please ensure that events in your area are added to the Events Calendar – it's free and draws visitors to your area!  Click Add an event on our home page. If your business is listed in our Directory, please ensure that your information is correct and up-to-date.  You can update information by emailing changes/additions to us. A full web page in the directory, which links to your own website and email address, costs R450 a year, with a one-off additional fee of R100 for new listings.  See Add a business.     Basic listings (name, address & telephone) are free, but do not show email or website addresses, or any description.  Free listings are not allowed in all categories and advertisers shoud rather make use of the Free Classifieds.     Click here for more information on directory, banner and newsletter advertising. © 1997-2007 CapeInfo  All rights reserved. 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