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Back To Living In Waitakere
October/November
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| OurWaitakere.co.nz - free local webhosting |
There is a free lunch (well, a FREE website anyway!)
Welcome to OurWaitakere - where you could qualify for
FREE web hosting and FREE website building tools!
Waitakere aims to be the most online city in New Zealand
and the Waitakere Online community project is designed
to help as many local businesses and community
organisations as possible to develop a web presence.
Free webhosting
To help you do this, OurWaitakere, as host, not only
provides you with 50 megabytes of disk space for your
web pages, documents and images.
Free tools training
OurWaitakere also provides the templates and modules
necessary to aid you in building your own website, along
with three hours of tuition from Waitakere Learning
Centres - all costing you nothing - nix, nada, zip, a
big fat zero.
This is a DIY project and your job is to maintain your
website and keep it up to date - and we provide the
tools you'll need to do that.
Choose from one of the professionally designed website
templates and use modules to load your content into your
chosen design.
All our pages are also ADVERTISEMENT FREE - which means
that your presence isn't shoe-horned in around somebody
else's ad.
Of course, conditions apply - but as along as you're
straight up, legal and serving the Waitakere community,
chances are you'll qualify.
So apply now to have your site hosted on
www.OurWaitakere.co.nz
So, how does it work?
When your application for a site is approved, we create
a blank site template. You will be issued with
information giving you a logon, URL, username and
password. FAQs and tutorials on how to manage your site
are also available.
As sites hosted by OurWaitakere are self-service, you
will need to spend a few hours getting to know your way
around the system.
The system is very flexible, allowing you to expand your
site over time as you learn to use it and to add extra
functionality such as surveys, forums, events calendars,
picture galleries, wikis, blogs and RSS feeds, many of
which would cost big bucks to purchase commercially.
We're able to supply this service as part of Waitakere
City Council's commitment to supporting businesses and
the community. We'd love to hear your comments.
Simply email us at waitakere.online@waitakere.govt.nz to
tell us what you think!
August/September
Focus on Fathering Week 2009
Monday 31 August to Sunday 6 September
Building on the last two years successful events,
Waitakere City is getting ready for another potent
Focus
on Fathering Week.
Fathering at all stages within the journey of being a
dad are acknowledged, from new-born dads to
grandfathers, as well as the diverse forms that
fathering can take.
Some of the events included:
- a week long photographic display of children's
images of fathering in the West City Mall
- midweek evening forums planned for new dads,
fathers of teenage girls and boys
- No sweat parenting seminars with Pio Te Rei
- a remembrance service for Dads no longer 'with
us'
- a series of talks at Unitec each lunchtime (Tues
to Fri)
- And lots more. drumming workshops, swimming with
your toddlers, exploring grandfathers stories
Most events will also have free health checks alongside
them for dads to ensure that their health is in good
nick too!
Many different agencies are involved in making this week
a great celebration of the joy of fathering.
The week's finale is the Father's Day event. Dads Day
Out and the Big Clean Up at Tui Glen.
You are welcome to use kayaks provided to help de-litter
the creek as this is a combined event with
Project Twin
Streams.
There will be fun and games for the whole family,
entertainment, pony rides and a barbeque.
Further details as they emerge are on
www.dad4life.co.nz
or you can call Violence Free Waitakere on 8374849
June/July
Kids just love to dance at Waitakere City School of Dance!!
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| Dancers from Waitakere City
School of Dance |
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We all know it's important for both the physical and
mental development of children to learn co-ordination,
and gross and fine motor skills from an early age.
Waitakere City School of Dance, whose website is hosted
by
Our Waitakere, is a dance school that does precisely
that - in the most fun, energetic and inclusive way
possible.
Established in 2007 by Natalie Sinclair, a dance teacher
whose infectious enthusiasm is taken up by all under her
care, Waitakere City School of Dance has grown from a
few pre-school classes in Oratia to six full days and
evenings at their studio in Glen Eden, with vibrant,
'out there' teachers with great personalities who really
get the pupils involved.
Natalie taught dance for 22 years in Waitakere before
venturing out on her own. She saw the need for a dance
school taking classes for people from 2½ years to adults
with classes from 30 minutes to an hour in Glen Eden, an
area with a lot of great children..
Waitakere City School of Dance features Jazz, Hip Hop,
Ballet & Lyrical classes and all pupils get the chance
to shine on stage at their annual shows. Pre-Schoolers
have their own show in September and parents are just so
proud to see their little ones strutting their stuff.
Dancers from 5 years up take part in a professional show
with a different theme each year, this years November
show being "Movie Mania". And it's not only the children
who get to be stars in the shows, mums and dads also
have items.
"We are quite a multi-cultural dance school with pupils
from several nationalities which is important in a city
whose citizens are from many cultures and countries"
says Natalie, the principal and founder of the school.
"We are all born with dance in our souls and people have
danced since the beginning of the human race. I just
love helping children to express themselves in dance and
that is what Waitakere City School of Dance is all
about".
Waitakere City School of Dance just loves being on the
Our Waitakere site as we are an integral part of
Waitakere.Sign up for your own free website - Visit
Our Waitakere
now!
March/April
Waitakere onlines speaks to another satisified customer...
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| Esquires Henderson |
Just off from the main road of Henderson situated within
sight of the Council buildings on Henderson Valley Road,
lies Esquires, a hip and happening coffee shop
specialising in gourmet coffee and food. Our Waitakere
talks to Kathryn Pretorius, owner and operator, about
her experience with our free web hosting service
provided by Waitakere Online.
Kathryn, what did you think when you first heard
Waitakere Online was offering a free hosting service?
Awesome! There are so many sharks out there ready to rip
you off and sometimes it's hard to see the genuine
businesses from the sharks. I also thought, what a great
opportunity for local businesses and community groups. I
can't believe there are so many businesses out there
that still don't have their own websites!
Was it easy setting up your website through our
Waitakere hosting?
I found the whole process user friendly and was able to
load images very quickly. In fact, it's so easy that
anybody off the street can do it. My husband is a
software developer and he was really impressed with it!
How long did it take you to build your site and
is it easy to maintain?
From start to finish it only took a few hours to do. I
tend to do all of my maintenance on the site at home and
have found it to be extremely easy to do. During the day
I am rushing around serving people, so I wait until I go
home to relax before opening up my laptop to make any
changes. I received some help from the Council and also
attended the free workshops at the Libraries Learning
Centres. Their help was invaluable. It didn't take long
to figure out how the templates worked, and before long
I was doing it like a pro.
What would you like to all those businesses out
there that haven't yet signed up?
What are you waiting for? It's free, and there isn't a
lot out there these days that is. Local businesses
struggle at times and networking can help. Once you sign
up we can work together and promote each other. It is a
fantastic opportunity, and will save you lots of money -
not only that but you will have control over what it
looks like.
What can we look for in the future with your
site?
I am going to concentrate more on weddings - as you may
know we are situated right next to the Japanese Gardens
which is a popular venue for weddings. I also have my
eye on intimate events. Watch this space!
Sign up for your own free website - Visit
Our Waitakere
now!
February
Our Waitakere Site Owner praises Waitakere Online
free website hosting offer
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| Mantra Restaurant - Simple
Indian Dining |
We spoke to
Mantra Restaurant owner, Rohit Handa about his
experience using Our Waitakere's free website hosting
courtesy of Waitakere Online.
Rohit, what were your initial thoughts when you
first heard Waitakere Online were offering a free
hosting service?
I was surprised and a little unsure about the offer and
also about heading down the free website hosting track.
It seemed strange that Waitakere Online, a website owned
by Waitakere City Council would be offering such a
service for free. After giving it some thought it just
seemed silly not to give it a go.
And now that you have given it a go?
I'm really glad I did! The software I used to create my
website was really easy. All I had to do was log in
using my web browser and then edit the templates. It
took me about 2 - 3 days to set up the Mantra website,
and to get my head around how the templates work. I got
lots of help and advice from Council and went to a
couple of courses which were available for free from
Libraries Learning Centres. Another big plus for me is
the way I have been able to easily maintain my site
using a laptop.
What would you like to say to all local
businesses out there that haven't yet signed up?
Go ahead - sign up, it's free. You'll get free training
from
Waitakere Learning Centres, you'll save money, and
you'll get to make your website look the way you want it
to.
How are you going to develop your website
further?
I'm building up content on my site by adding more
pictures, sections and by adding a comments and customer
feedback form.
Sign up for your own free website - Visit
Our Waitakere now!
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