Get local Auckland Project Sandringham, Auckland An Online vs. Onsite Experience
Outline Overview Web presence: -National Portal -Regional Portal -Community based portal, Social Media and others Onsite Visit Recommendations
Introduction Overview How is Sandringham community s sense of place understood and related to through an online experience? How do National/Regional portals present and represent Sandringham? How easy or frustrating is it to access information on the local level to plan visits and actually get there? How do the local businesses/attractions in Sandringham link and network among each other? How can an onsite visit to Sandringham be related to its web presence.
Sandringham Web Presence Presentation and representation of Sandringham www.newzealand.com The homepage of this site is very catchy, attractive and a good insight into NZ. Nothing on the page gave me any information about the town Sandringham. A basic search reveals only six results to accommodation establishments and tour companies. some of which were not located in Sandringham. In searching for Things to do in Sandringham, there were no positive results.
Sandringham Web Presence www.auckland.nz.com The site gives a gives an incredible insight into Auckland, its historical past, the Maori culture and villages, etc Going through the main categories on the site such as places, activities and tours, locations, only popular places such as Epsom, Manakau, Mont Eden were mentioned no direct links as to what one can do in Sandringham At the events column though, only two events were scheduled to happen on the 12 th and 13 th of October No more information about Sandringham is displayed
Sandringham Web Presence www.eventfinder.co.nz Event finder had the same event s as told on the Auckalnd.nz.com. Links were provided in the Auckalnd.nz.com. It also portray only four attractions in Sandringham ( St Martins Church, Freyberg Field, Sandringham Christian Family and Eden Rugby Club)
Sandringham Web Presence
Sandringham Web Presence A YouTube video on the Sandringham Yellow page advertising Papa s pizza which in fact is located in Kingsland.
Sandringham Web Presence
Sandringham Web Presence Google gives links to Wiki, map of the area, directions Wiki gives an extensive description of Sandringham, its history, Landmarks e.g. the community centre, recreational activities in the area such as bike rididng, walking, shopping and sport. Sandringham was virtually invisible on the Facebook site and there was nothing compelling from the people or the event in the community. Information given by facebook was same as provided by wiki.
Sandringham Web Presence Sandringham is virtually invincible on the web. It has a very poor web presence that does not convey information about the community to the visitor who is planning to visit the place. The National portals do not give any plausible information about Sandringham. There are also no local initiatives or sites on the web that gives an insight in the community. From the web presence, Sandringham seems invinsible and definitely not an enticing place to visit.
Onsite Visit Transportation to Sandringham was online obtained from Maxx Journey Planner. With the aid of Google maps, it easy to navigate through the community. The bus arrived on time. I boarded it from Victoria Street and it was heading to New Lynn via Sandringham. I alighted on the Sandringham road, 628. The bus stop from Sandringham on the return was easy to locate.
Onsite Visit The community really seemed multi cultural, just as I had gathered from Wikipedia. Walking through the neighborhoods, the place seemed rather quite, serene and people seemed not to be outside their homes. There was a nice park located in the neighborhood. It was a solemn place to sit and reflect and spend time with family too.
Onsite Visit Local information was hard to come by initially upon arrival in the town. Community notice board for the area seemed inactive at the time with only two posts. At the community centre there were other posts on a Spring festival to happen soon in the vicinity (this was not found online). There were other events of the community that many others were excited about and looking forward to.
Local businesses: -bars -Indian restaurants, -Indian movie rentals - souvenir shops, -post office, etc. Onsite Visit Businesses were owned and managed by foreigners (most of which were Indians) Most of these businesses I had absolutely no idea about before I got to the town. locals in the community had much information about events happening in the community which is not well conveyed to visitors coming from the outside of the town.
Recommendations... Locals can be encouraged to come together and put up webpages that will tell stories about their place, range of activities that visitors can do, events and other exciting attractions they can see. Social Media should be employed as another tool to promote the area. You Tube videos, Face book pages, to enable others to get connected with the community online Local businesses in Sandringham need to have a vibrant web presence. They also need initiatives that will promote networking, interaction and growth amongst them. National and regional portals must portray a lot more information and direct links to Sandringham, to make the community visible enough for visitors in Auckland who may want to visit surrounding suburbs. As discovered form the onsite visit, there were some activities and events scheduled in Sandringham (e.g. 29 th October Spring Festival), known by some locals but no information about it could be found online. The Event Finder which is a popular medium used in search for event happening in New Zealand can be strongly adopted by the community to adversities there events, making it more widely known hence a better way of effectively (and efficiently) attract visitors to the community.
Conclusions... Sandringham is nearly invisible when it comes to a strong online web presence. Whiles the national and regional portals do not provide insights to the community on their sites, the local community itself do not have any local initiatives that strategically positions them on the internet visible to potential visitors. None of the websites also gives the visitor planning to visit the town a means of how to get there if not for a prior knowledge of New Zealand s transport network Maxx. The community does not have a lot of opportunities put in place that can attract and retain visitors in the area. Though the local residents seemed to happy to receive visitors and give them directions, the community as a whole has not done enough to make the town a visitor s hub.