Greater Pinnacle Peak Association Friends of the Scenic Drive
8711 East Pinnacle Peak Road, #123
Scottsdale, Arizona 85255
Ph: (480) 361-6498 E-mail: thepeak@gppaaz.org Website: www.thepeakaz.org/www.scenicdrive.org/www.gppaaz.org
January 2017
Dear Peak Reader,
“Saguaro Sunset” by Tom Morris
Thank you for your interest in A Peek at the Peak (The Peak), the Greater Pinnacle Peak Association (GPPA), and Friends of the Scenic Drive. Your interest is appreciated. Please consider supporting our publication and mission by becoming a member of our association.
40 Years of Continuous Community Service
In 2017, GPPA will celebrate its 40th birthday. Â As usual last year, 2016)Â was a busy year. Our members helped our nonprofit reach two enviable milestones: the 53rd and 33rd anniversaries of the establishment of the Desert Foothills Scenic Drive and A Peek at the Peak (The Peak) magazine, respectively. 2016 also saw the strengthening of vegetation and enhancement of intersections along Scottsdale’s Scenic Drive, part of City of Scottsdale Bond 2000 enhancements that we helped initiate, and “motivate” for 16 years.
Also in 2016, The Peak celebrated its first anniversary as an online and social media publication, enabling us to deliver much more content to a steadily growing audience. That audience will exceed 13,000 visitors for the month of January and approximately 50 percent of those were repeat visitors.
Helping to Preserve the Natural Environment & Quality of Life
For as little as $50 for annual fee, you can join GPPA. Since 1977, GPPA has helped to preserve our community’s Sonoran quality of life, and worked to lessen development’s impact; in 2015-16, our “Save the Scenic Drive” campaign helped convince the State Land Department that is should drop its plan to add more than 40 acres of new commercial zoning on the Scenic Drive. By continuing your GPPA membership, you’ll be directly supporting your community and ensuring a unique quality of life only found here.
Please consider becoming a member today so that we can continue our education, quality of life, and environmental initiatives that benefit current future generations.
Monument South of Happy Valley Road
Membership Benefits
 By purchasing an annual membership,
- You will keep updated on current activities, events and meetings through monthly issues of The Peak, an online, award-winning magazine filled with interesting local information (one year subscription), and bi-monthly issues of The Peak Newsletter via e-mail.
- You will be recognized as a supporter in the magazine and newsletter.
- You will receive benefits and special offers from local non-profits supported by GPPA and local businesses who understand the importance of our work.
- You will receive invitations to events sponsored by GPPA and a letter acknowledging your tax-deductible membership.
Thank your for your time and consideration! Keep enjoying The Peak.
T
T
March 7, 2017
Wonderful blog! Do you have any tips and hints for
aspiring writers? I’m hoping to start my own site soon but I’m a little
lost on everything. Would you suggest starting with a free platform like
Wordpress or go for a paid option? There are so many
choices out there that I’m totally overwhelmed .. Any recommendations?
Thank you!
March 8, 2017
Thank you. The best place to start is at Amazon.com or the library and do some reading. Here are two suggestions, “Blogging for Dummies” and “How to Write a Great Blog”. I read these books several years ago and there are probably others that you will find very helpful. Before you select a platform you really need to decide what the objective of your blog is? Today, there are blogging platforms that support everything from you posting articles that others can have the option of commenting on, to platforms that support the production of sophisticated on-line publications. Usual, the more capabilities that a platform provides the more functionality there is to learn and the steeper the learning curve. So, what are your short and long term objectives for your blog?
Years ago, when I wanted to know more about blogs, I opened a free account on blogspot.com and wrote a few posts, just to get some experience. Years later, I wanted to add a blog to our association’s website, i.e. ability to post articles and have readers respond. This time I used WordPress because it offered capabilities that we might be able to use in the future to publish our magazine online, rather than printing the magazine. Also, it would enable us to include content, then in our emailed newsletter, online. Today, have an online “magazine,” or “blog,” using WordPress and supporting publishing capabilities that incorporates our two original websites, magazine article content, email newsletter content, and basic blog capabilities, in in one website.
Bottom line. Try to keep it simple and economical, if the result meets your objectives.
Les