motorcycle Prince Edward Island media

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

www.motorcyclepei.com Award of Excellence Winner

At Toronto’s North American International Supershow

MotorcyclePEI, a web site designed to attract tourists to Prince Edward Island, was the recent recipient of one of the top awards in this leisure travel category. The publisher and editor say they were thrilled to receive notification that they won the "2007 Motorcycle Award of Excellence (MAX) for Riders" in the website category.

MAX awards, considered Canada’s motorcycle ‘Oscars’ were presented in the ‘Touring & Cruisers’ Hall at the North American International Motorcycle Supershow held at the Toronto International Centre in Mississauga, Ontario. Debbie-Gamble Arsenault, editor, and Julie V. Watson, publisher, of Motorcycle Prince Edward Island won a previous MAX for the print version of their guide for enthusiasts visiting the province.

"Its really exciting for us to win this award for our website," says publisher Julie V. Watson. "In the motorcycle touring community it is prestigious of course, but, its also a reaffirmation that we made a good decision. We started the guide because PEI is a great destination for those who share a sport we love - touring by motorcycle. Our roads are less busy, we have great scenery, all of the amenities, and the welcome is warm."

"We had published three annual printed guides, but it was an expensive venture. Our objective was to get the information into the hands of potential visitors to the province. That meant high print and mailing costs which we had to pass on to advertisers. And, the guide was outdated within a short time of being published. We couldn’t add coming events, news or any new content until the next year."

Now, they say the website is updated often. "As well as motorcycle events like rallies, fund-raising rides, or moto-cross events, we list festivals, concerts, all kinds of events. We also put up reports and photographs of events taking place on the Island, news about riders and so on," explains the editor. "What we try to do is personalize the Island and the motorcycling community. It is our hope that local enthusiasts of the sport use the site as much as potential visitors. Club meeting dates and such are listed as long as we know about them and the site is great for linking people with common interests."

To that end the editor of the site, Debbie Gamble-Arsenault of Alexandra is currently developing a blog which will be linked to the site. Anyone is invited to participate by visiting the site at www.motorcyclepei.com and watching for the blog which will be launched in late February.

"Since winning the award we have noticed an increase in visitors to the website," says Watson. "Its an effective way of spreading the word that this is a great place to visit."

Established in 1976, the SUPERSHOW is North America’s largest consumer motorcycle show. Produced by Bar Hodgson Productions Inc, the SUPERSHOW is dedicated to presenting the finest the motorcycle industry has to offer for every type of motorcycle enthusiast, in seven halls of the Toronto International Centre. Show dates for 2008 are January 4–6 at the Toronto International Centre.

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For more information contact:

Julie Watson 566-9748 b iz@seacroftpei.com

BIKERS SUPPORT CHARITIES IN A BIG WAY

Motorcycle Prince Edward Island sends out congratulations to Island clubs, their members and the motorcycling community for the work being done to support local charities.

“Motorcyclists are great at supporting events designed to raise money for good causes,” says editor Debbie Gamble-Arsenault. “Its pretty amazing when you consider what relatively small numbers of people can achieve with some determination and hearts that are in the right place.”

She cites as examples the success of the Harley Owners Group based in Charlottetown, who joined forces with the Cymbria Lions Club in Rustico to put on the double-headed Run for the Dogs / Run for Camp Gencheff.

The event was a howling success. Approximately 119 bikes and 150 participants set out on the designated route after torrential rain forced cancellation of the event the day before. Co-Chair Alan Peters of the Cymbria Lions was “blown away” by the great results of the ride. "With about 800 tickets sold, we were able to give each charity a nice cheque: $4300 to the Guide Dog School, and $4300 to Camp Gencheff," he said proudly.

The event was such a success, the planning for "bigger and better" next year is already underway. In fact, about 85% of the planning is already done. "There will be bigger prizes and more early-bird draws," explains Peters, "and the tickets will be less expensive - only $20 next year, instead of $25."It looks like it's shaping up to be the premier event of the season, so keep your eyes peeled for notice of the 2007 edition of Run for the Dogs / Run for Camp Gencheff, around the latter part of June.

Another club that does great charitable work is the Prince Edward Island Motorcycle Touring Club. They raise money for a special fund maintained to assist those who need to travel off Island for medical treatment.

“This money is given directly to individuals in need,” says Gamble-Arsenault. “Having help with the cost of gas or motels, the bridge toll, or even just being able to enjoy a good meal out can mean so much when people are under the stress of coping with illness or injury.”

Motorcycle Prince Edward Island, a guide and information source for local and visiting motorcycling enthusiasts would like to pass along its thanks and acknowledgement for a job well done to all who support these charitable endeavours.

Reaction to the Motorcycle Prince Edward, a digest size guide book published annually in Canada’s smallest province, has been so positive that its producers have been forced to take action.

“We receive a very high number of requests for our guidebook,” says publisher Julie V. Watson of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. “In fact we can’t keep the books in stock where visitors pick them up and our mailing costs flew out of control.”

While Watson says she and editor, Debbie Gamble-Arsenault are gratified at the great response their free Guide has received over the past few years they had to take steps to deal with the high demand, to both serve their readers better and to get control of costs.

“Essentially this project was a labour of love for us. We are both motorcycle lovers. We are also writers by profession so it was natural for us to want to tell people about our province. We didn’t envision the high volume of mail or the high printing costs that would result from our project. Costs were exceeding revenue - when you pay almost $2 to send a copy to the United States and are getting thousands of requests a year, well..........!! Since 98% of requests for the guide came via e-mail the decision was obvious.”

The dedicated duo didn’t want to give up telling the world about their favourite biking region - their home province - so the decision was made to set up a comprehensive website, and team that with a smaller printed document which could be made available once people arrive on the Island. The decision had some more important benefits than cutting costs and labour.

“One of the things that always bothered us was the fact that once you print an annual publication that is it for the year. You hear about a neat event, or something special that is about to happen, but you have no way of getting that word out in time for people to take advantage of it. It was frustrating to have our calendar out of date so quickly. Now we can update as we hear about activities or events taking place.

“ We set up the web site so that we share good news with the biking community at large, tell them about special people; all manner of things relating to touring motorcyclists. As time goes on we will be able to report on readers favourite rides, reviews of things of interest and what the local dealers are up to. The site is designed like a magazine so will be constantly offering something new and interesting.”

The dynamic duo behind Motorcycle Prince Edward Island say they are fortunate to be able to live on one of the world’s great islands, and happy to share their knowledge with visitors from “away” through www.motorcyclepei.com