Enter in Esportsdesk.

Esportsdesk (and Esportsdeskpro) are an established service providing stats tracking and other important league/team software. I stumbled across them earlier in the summer when I was trying to update the original Blades website which was hosted on a competitors of there’s called Goaline. I haven’t had a lot of time spent on esportsdesk but it already seems to me like it’s the right solution, in fact I knew it must be earlier in the summer seeing that it powered the BCHL website and a number of it’s member teams websites.

It certainly was a little more time consuming then I had originally planned for, more so for errors on my part and getting used to how the system is implemented. Needless to say judging from feedback I’ve received early on things seem to be positive. Having only to focus on the design made things a lot easier and thankfully with other work commitments needing to be finished it didn’t distract away from some of my other bigger projects (that have been completed as well).

Unfortunately there is still a lot that hasn’t been updated, most notably statistics from the past couple months which may take a little while. The good news is the NWJHL is on board with esportsdesk and will be tying there site stats tracking in with ours which will make life easier only having to update one gamesheet.

Roster page, schedule, some results and box scores, and a couple other pages are the only ones with any information as of right now but we plan on having the website fully functional and complete over the Christmas holidays.

Until then feel free to check out the website and give me some feedback. I will warn you all right now I haven’t had a chance to test it in anything less then Internet Explorer 8 so if you’re using anything lower then IE7 I suggest you upgrade and start using Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, or Apple’s Safari. If not you’ll just have to wait until I fix any glaring issues there may with using that dump of a browser Internet Explorer!

Visit the website at www.beaverlodgeblades.com
And feel free to follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/blodgeblades. I’ll be posting updates throughout the games as the year goes on.

I have managed to sneak out some time to do some graphic and web design work away from some of the other things I’ve been pumping out at the Wapiti Road ESSO.

Beaverlodge Blades Website

Apart from coaching I decided to take it upon myself to relaunch to Beaverlodge Blades website. Not only to keep building my portfolio but to help give this team/league some exposure. This one is going to be a little different from what I’m accustomed to. As with most my designs I base them all around the wonderful program that is wordpress but this time I’ll have the privledge of working with a company called Esportsdeskpro.

The initial design I came up with was this:

While I was fairly happy with coming up with this in a couple hours I was forced to change it to match some of the guideline specs given to me by esportsdeskpro. I reworked it and eventually decided upon this (barring some little changes to the background graphics and logo tweaks).

beaverlodgeblades.com should be live and kicking in the next week (possibly two).

Wapiti World Escape Website

If you’re filling up at the Wapiti Road ESSO (by the Coca Cola Centre in Grande Prairie) and you’re not entering our contest, the Wapiti World Escape, then your foolish. Not to many other stations offer you the chance to win a trip for two anywhere in the world so I suggest you stop by, fill up, enter the contest, and if you’re really bored then pay me a visit.

The Wapiti World Escape Website is a mini site for advertisements promoting the contest.

Digital Ad Screen for Wapiti Road ESSO

I know I said it last time but I mean it this time. The digital ad screen is all but ready to go…all I’m waiting on is the arrival of a new computer so I can compile some 1080p HD video for it. I suggest any of you local Grande Prairie businesses looking for a whack of exposure to think about getting in touch with me to promote you and your business. Once the video is completed and running at the store I will be popping up a demo here on this website.

Digital Menu Board for Wapiti Road ESSO

On top of the digital ad screen I’ve been tasked with developing a digital menu board for the deli inside of the store. Out with the old chalkboards and in with the new wave of digital LCD televisions. As some may recall I did design some for Robins Donuts in the past but these should be a touch more sexier. As with the ad screen this as well is nearing completition and will have a demo posted on this website when it is hoisted into the store.

Upcoming

Including the above I have been working the phones to try and land 3 other website jobs for local businesses around town. If these companies are interested in hiring me for my work I’ll probably be spewing out a bunch more work over the next month or two. Oh and did I mention depending on how well this design with esportsdeskpro goes it may lead to more work with them as well?

If you’re looking for high quality work don’t hesitate to drop me a line by filling out a Contact Form on…yup you guessed it, the contact page!

Till next time.

Thankfully I’ve also been able to bring my “forte” (if you will) to this side of the work world as well. I’ve been fortunate to whip up a couple of posters and other various small assignments to help out in the Wapiti ESSO in Grande Prairie, Alberta. After browsing through the store and it’s computers and seeing what I have thus dubbed spreadsheet hell I decided it might be an idea to help spruce up the spreadsheets that were being used to display prices through the store and perhaps give them a little more of a graphic edge.

First up was the Wapiti World Escape promotion thats run in store. Now before I post the work I will suggest to all you living in Grande Prairie that if you haven’t fuled up here before make sure you swing by (yes I’m pumping the business tires) because just by fueling up you can enter to win a flight for two anywhere in the world. Better yet feel free to enter every time you fuel up. Best part about this promotion is its local and specific to this store alone making your odds of winning a lot better considering you dont have to deal with the 50 million other ESSO stores out there.

If you have fueled up here before maybe you’ve noticed these bad boys that we’re just recently installed.

Chances are if you’re making your way through this store you’ll be able to see a lot more of my handy work. I’ve made a lot of progress on the digital video screen I’m creating for this store (possibly all of them) and it should be finished in the next month or so. It’s taken me quite some time but considering this is my first major video screen development I think things are going smoothly with everything else taking place.

Now that I’ve moved and am once again settled and situated in Grande Prairie I plan to update this website with a lot more of the work I’m involved in. Stay tuned in the coming weeks for my digital display screen.

Walks