Microsoft is gradually introducing its new browser IE7. The current Beta release is version 3, and there are some known issues with this Beta release and the ability of users to view websites with it. Blizzard does not support Beta releases of browser software.

From the Microsoft Site about Internet Explorer 7 Beta 3 and Viewing Websites:

Q. My favorite websites don’t load correctly, or don’t seem to work at all in Internet Explorer 7 Beta 3. What should I do?

Q. My favorite websites don’t look right in Internet Explorer 7 Beta 3. What should I do?

Q. The website I’m trying to access doesn’t recognize Internet Explorer 7 Beta 3. How can I access this site with Internet Explorer 7 Beta 3 installed on my computer?

Answer to all of these website viewing issues . . . .

Some websites may work differently with Internet Explorer 7 Beta 3. To view a site that doesn’t load correctly in Internet Explorer 7 Beta 3, you can “spoof” the website to make it appear as though you’re in Internet Explorer 6 instead of Internet Explorer 7. Click here and use this tool to change your registry and allow you to view the troublesome website. Click “Run” to have the tool update your registry.

Want to undo the workaround?
Click here to change your registry back to working the way it was with Internet Explorer 7 Beta 3. Click “Run” to have the tool update your registry.

Denny Orr - Blizzard Internet Marketing, Inc.

Website photos are a critical factor in swaying prospective guests into choosing your property over another. Ambience has it’s place, but you must be careful to show people what they are most interested in seeing.

Please read Catherine Seda’s photo tips for marketing your resort online.

Mary Bowling - Blizzard Internet Marketing, Inc.

Understanding the value of the internet is at times daunting. As a still fairly new medium, and one that is in constant change, keeping an accurate perspective on the value of your marketing dollars can be difficult. Sometimes analogies help. Consider the following hypothetical situation:

Next month, an annual festival is coming to your town and you KNOW that 3,000 people looking for lodging will pass right in front of your property. How do you respond? Common sense would dictate that you paint the front door, mow the lawn, fix up your sign, sweep the sidewalk, and possibly even hire a landscaping company. 3,000 people is a lot of potential business and of course you need to make a great impression. To not do so would be foolish… right?

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Blizzard recently released a new website for the Casa del Sol Inn in Ajijic, Mexico

Cathy and Dick recently purchased this property and are completely renovating it and will reopen this beautiful Mexican vacation property in January of 2007. The needed a new webiste to more accurately reflect the elegance of the property. They wanted something that was both playful, warm, and evocative of the feel of Mexico.

Julia Baldwin, the designer assigned to their account helped the client select stock photography to complement some photos they had of their own. Julia also designed a logo for the customer. We wish this client success as they prepare to open their newly renovated inn.

We recently released a new website design for River Canyon Lodge, a new hotel in Moab, Utah. Blizzard’s designer on the project was Abbie Riordan.

Craig Davis - Blizzard Internet Marketing, Inc.

Blizzard’s Changes and Maintenance Team stays very busy with helping our clients keep their website content fresh and up to date. Typical change requests include, but are not limited to, updating lodging specials or packages, updating or adding seasonal rates, adding current events, and updating photos. The maintenance team also handles such things as adding a link to a third-party booking system, building new pages that don’t require extensive work to the navigation, and looking into broken links or other problems with the functions of a site.

Since the requests we receive can vary so much, yet still fall under the umbrella of “maintenance”, we would like to offer a simple set of guidelines for the types of work that should and should not be considered “changes”, and what kind of time total our clients in the hospitality industry can expect to have spent on various common tasks. Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee that all of a certain type of request will always take the same amount of time; the structure of a site, the type of content, and the type of navigation on the site are just a few of the factors that can lead to a change taking more or less time.

Some general information and time estimates:

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The Inn at Westwynd Farm Bed and Breakfast, of Hershey, Pennsylvania, is highlighted in a newly redesigned website at www.westwyndfarminn.com. Blizzard Website Designers on the project were Leigh Abbott and Brett Morrison.

Lindy Norris - Blizzard Internet Marketing, Inc.