Indelible Adventures: Week of firsts

It’s been a week of firsts with two exciting milestones to share with you. The first is that the website (www.indelible-adventures.com) is finally operational. Like many thing in my life, I expected that I would just figure it out and be able to build a solid site with everything that I needed, however the more I delved into the inner workings of the functionality and capabilities required I soon found myself completely out of my depth… Not easy for me to admit this, but ego aside if I wanted a professional website I was going to have to outsource it.

Fortunately for me I’ve worked in an outsourcing model before so I’m relatively comfortable with the concept. Next was finding a credible and reliable web developer that could be both timely in the development and build to the specs that I wanted. After some conversations with a number of local web developers it was clear that the price point was also out of my reach. After a conversation with an ex-colleague who had contacts in India he introduced me to a company that turned out to be a great fit.

My initial development timelines were completely unrealistic, which is a tactic I’ve used successfully to see if my new potential partner understands what is really required to build, test and deploy this type of technology successfully. So when they were polite but clear that my expectations were completely unrealistic I got a lot more comfortable with their experience and knowledge and agreed to move forward.

And as with all technology projects there was scope creep, albeit this time it was me who was pushing the envelope in terms of requirements. Trust me the irony of this wasn’t lost on me, normally in a technology situation I’m the one trying to reign in the client on requirements and scope and here I was being the testy client myself. Oh how the worm turns! Just sayin…

From the initial meeting with my development team it took just over two months to lock down scope and get my website into production after a series of prototypes were developed. To be completely honest its still not 100% of where I’d like it to be, but I decided to employ the 80/20 rule as I felt that it was important to get it live and operational for the start of 2015 vs. waiting to get it perfect.

So still to come are eCommerce capabilities that is critical to get up and running as soon as possible, along with a more robust travel concierge capability in terms of content and possible offerings.

And although the concept of a Travel Concierge has a slew of potential meanings, initially I’m looking to be the home of customized travel for business, personal or groups. Now I can hear you thinking, “yeah but what does that mean exactly?”

Let me give you an example, I’ve had a number queries from a host of professionals and various speakers who are interested in developing and conducting a retreat for their clients and potential clients, but not in the traditional sense. They are looking for a unique and “indelible” wrapper to embrace their content so that the experience compliments and enhances the overall event.

One of the groups is interested in going to Italy. Now we’re talking! Not only are they looking for a great venue to host their clients, but also an experience the compliments their event, and this is where the stars align. They believe that the experiences around the event are as important to the overall experience as the content itself…can you say perfect fit?

After in-depth phone interviews I now have a good idea of what they would like to include, as well as a some ideas about what might make it a truly special and life altering experience for them and their clients. In addition, I’ve also had queries asking me to help organize and manage events right here in North America, but again with the Indelible Adventures “special sauce” cocooning the event to make it truly memorable.

Over the next few weeks you’ll get more insights into this type of offering on my website, as I continue to fine tune the content and begin marketing my services more extensively. As well, stay tuned for some great photography tours and dates across North America that will be coming up for the spring and summer.

While we’re on the topic of photography, my other big first this past week was that I had number of my photos posted to National Geographic… yes, you heard correctly, National Geographic! Wow, not in my wildest dreams would have I ever have imagined that I would have published photos on such a prestigious site.

However, not to be outshone by my National Geographic photos is the fact that last Sunday Zach asked me if I’d like to do a photo shoot with him, with him as the main subject. Don’t ask me to rate which I was more excited about cos’ I think spending a couple of hours with Zach planning the various shots, looks and locations that he wanted as part of his shoot would win hands down every time, no matter how prestigious the magazine!

In all we took over 200 photos, and after a careful review and audit with Zach settled on 30, and for all those playing along at home that’s a 15% keep rate…yes, down on my average but I think I need to perhaps up my game and be more critical as that’s a rate that’s probably more realistic. J

After our culling of the photos down to 30 I forwarded the link to my friend Heidi who’s been a model and in the fashion industry for much of her career. After her careful review she felt that in reality seven of the 30 could form the basis for a portfolio if he wanted to pursue something, although that wasn’t Zach’s intent but it was great to get the thumbs up from an industry insider.

Can you tell I’m excited about the endless possibilities?

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This weeks photos are from an afternoon shoot I had downtown last weekend, it was -14C outside and frigid. Enjoy!