Katrina Owens
Lakeside Leader
An ambitious tourism promotion project that just might revolutionize the way people look at, plan and carry out visits to northern Alberta is moving closer to its launch. It’s called ‘History Check,’ and it is the brainchild of Sheila Willis of Smith.
The Leader recently asked Willis, local history buff and Executive Director of Friends of Historical Northern Alberta Society (FHNAS), how the much-anticipated History Check app is coming along. She says it was a rocky start but in the last few weeks the development team has brought on a new team lead and has made some great strides.
“The design and development teams have been having daily conferences reviewing videos of the app’s functions and answering questions submitted through documents,” she says. “The design team is very happy with daily improvements on function and appearance. Both teams are shooting for a beta-test copy for April 15th and it is looking like they will make it!”
However, Willis adds that there is still much work to be done.
“There are still thousands of ‘Points of Interest’ to prepare for display on History Check,” she says. “I am getting a trickle in from outside sources and encourage people to submit their stories about local area history and any sites they know about from the Yellowhead Highway north.”
Businesses can get involved by sponsoring Points of Interest, which will allow the project to be self-sustainable.
“Businesses are encouraged to sponsor these Historical Points of Interest for either $100 or $350, with a renewal date of September 30, 2018,” Willis says. “These sponsorships will allow the History Check project to be self-sustainable and promote northern Alberta for years to come.”
Willis says she’s predicting that once the app is launched, and people can finally “see it” there will be a flood of submissions and sponsorships.
“The daily videos are a great presentation of how History Check will work and once a good visual display is achieved they will share on their social media feeds,” she says. “I hope this will encourage people to be more proactive in sending in their stories. These Points of Interest are necessary to show Northern Alberta as the place to explore in the summer of 2017, especially with the focus on history during Canada 150.”
For more information, contact Willis at 780-805-1390.