The Alaska Small Business Development Center will host a two-day workshop on how to build a website next month.
The fee is $50 and the online registration deadline is on Aug. 10. Prepayment and preregistration is required through an online credit card system or by submitting cash or check at Alaska SBDC. There is no webinar option for this class, and seating is limited.
Sign in on the first day of class, Aug. 19, is at 8:30 a.m. The class begins at 9 a.m. It will be at the Homer Chamber of Commerce. There will be a break for lunch at noon, then the class resumes at 1 p.m. and runs until 4 p.m.
No experience is necessary. The workshop will walk participants through the steps necessary to build a website.
The first day of this workshop is lecture based. Participants will learn about website design, including picking colors, graphics, fonts, navigation, content and more. Participants will learn how to set up their own e-commerce, online store to make online sales. They also will learn some key tips for making a website that markets a business effectively.
On day two, participants will begin designing their website and get hands-on experience with the design tools and creative process. By the time participants leave class, their businesses will have a fully functioning website, ready to “go live” with all the knowledge needed to maintain it.
Participants are asked to bring a laptop computer. Those who do not have one should notify the ASBDC when they register. A limited number of laptops are available. Participants also should bring any business logos and graphics they would like to have on their website.
“Imagine walking into a workshop with just your laptop and leaving with an amazing, professional website that you’ve designed yourself,” say organizers in a press release.
For more information, call Bunny Kishaba at 907-260-5629.
Two Alaska lodges part
of Nat Geo program
Within The Wild Adventure Company’s Tutka Bay Lodge and Winterlake Lodge have joined National Geographic Society’s Unique Lodges of the World program, a prestigious collection of boutique hotels in remarkable destinations throughout the globe, according to a press release.
Tutka Bay Lodge and Winterlake Lodge are among the collection’s 14 newest members, announced on July 1.
“Each lodge demonstrates a commitment to authenticity, excellence and sustainability, while offering outstanding guest experiences that support the protection of cultural and natural heritage,” according to the release.
The Unique Lodges of the World program was launched in January 2015 and now includes 38 properties on six continents. Billed as some of the most authentic, sustainable and luxurious lodges in the world, Winterlake Lodge and Tutka Bay Lodge are two of only three U.S. lodges included. Other properties are located in Canada, Mexico, Botswana, Peru, Zambia, Australia, Mongolia, Bhutan and several other countries.
“To be a part of such a group is an immense honor,” Within the Wild Adventure Company’s co-owner Kirsten Dixon said. “My family and I are proud to be recognized as one of National Geographic’s Unique Lodges, but more importantly for our dedication to authentic and responsible travel.”
Every lodge is evaluated through a comprehensive vetting process in which they are judged on property, guest experience, quality of service and sustainable tourism practices. The process includes an on-site inspection by an expert to assess hotel operations, to meet staff and to evaluate the lodge’s sustainable tourism practices.
“Our growing collection of Unique Lodges of the World offers a wide range of meaningful travel experiences to all kinds of explorers,” said Lynn Cutter, National Geographic’s executive vice president for Travel and Licensing. “We are thrilled to bring on these extraordinary new members, as they embody the values National Geographic and our travelers hold close.”
National Geographic Unique Lodges offer travelers a full-service experience from booking to check out. Travelers can browse all of the properties on the Unique Lodges website <http://www.nationalgeographiclodges.com> and request a reservation at a lodge. They can join a National Geographic Expedition that features a Unique Lodge or book one of National Geographic’s new Private Expeditions, offered in partnership with Virtuoso®, the leading international luxury travel network.
Open seasonally from May through September and located near Homer, Tutka Bay Lodge consists of a main lodge and six guest cabins connected by a wooden boardwalk raised above the beach and ocean. Guests can go bear viewing, beachcombing or hike trails through the old-growth forest; trek to glaciers; or kayak and fish on the ocean. The lodge also offers guests the opportunity to participate in the food gathering and preparation processes of their own meals, with access to the adjacent Cooking School at Tutka Bay. All food ingredients used are grown, foraged and bought locally. Guests who book their stay through National Geographic Unique Lodges will get an exclusive look into the Dixons’ culinary world during a private dinner in the Wilderness Kitchen.
Winterlake Lodge, located at mile 198 on the Iditarod National Historic Trail, is a fly-in only retreat with a main lodge and six guest cabins. With no roads or neighbors in site, guests can immerse themselves in the surrounding nature on guided adventures, including hiking, fishing, rafting, wildlife viewing, dog mushing, glacier trekking and other helicopter-assisted excursions in the summer. Winter adventures include dog mushing, cross-country skiing, snowmobiling, snowshoeing and heli-skiing. Guests who reserve their stay through National Geographic Unique Lodges enjoy the exclusive opportunity to join a guide for an afternoon dedicated to the Iditarod and its history — no matter the season.
Luxury amenities at both lodges include complimentary massage treatments, Frette robes, L’Occitane amenities, hot tub, mediation and yoga room, nightly wine and cheese tastings and gourmet meals.
Within The Wild Adventure Company is a partnership, in existence since 1983, between Carl and Kirsten Dixon and their daughters, Carly and Mandy Dixon. The family owns and operates Winterlake Lodge; Tutka Bay Lodge; the Cooking School at Tutka Bay; a home goods boutique, RusticWild; and La Baleine Café, all in Southcentral Alaska. Both Kirsten and Mandy are Le Cordon Bleu-trained chefs, who have cooked and studied with chefs as far ranging as Julia Child and Thomas Keller. They are co-authors of the award-winning The Tutka Bay Lodge Cookbook: Coastal Cuisine from the Wilds of Alaska. Carl Dixon is Outside magazine’s “Best Guide: Wilderness” and Carly Dixon, the company’s health and wellness expert, is a certified personal trainer, massage therapist and yoga instructor. For more information on the Within the Wild Adventure Company¹s remote wilderness lodges and the Cooking School at Tutka Bay, go to www.withinthewild.com.
