The new version of the community website, knowitall.ch, was launched officially on the 20th April at the Chateau de Penthes in Geneva.
Over 60 people attended the launch, which included a presentation of the website by Lisa Cirieco-Ohlman, editor of Know-it-all passport, and Jenny Jeffreys, freelance website designer.
Used in conjunction with the popular guide, Know-it-all passport®, the new website aims to keep the community up-to-date with the very latest information on a wide range of topics including schools and universities, winter activities, daycare facilities outings and trips, indeed anything that cannot be included in the guide due to its bi-annual publication dates.
A major addition to the site, which also reflects the design of the latest edition of Know-it-all passport®, is a new Events Calendar. Available by clicking on a mini-calendar included on every page of the site, the calendar includes details of events ranging from exhibitions and local fairs to sporting events and theater shows. Site visitors may also search on an event if they know its name but are just not sure of the date. Other new features include a Forum for visitors to exchange ideas on a variety of different topics. Links are also provided to several other forums in the region. A new, cleaner look has also been applied to the Classifieds section of the site, which remains free to any visitors wishing to advertise their services. Lisa Cirieco-Ohlman, who was responsible for setting up knowitall.ch says, "I was initially very nervous when we started making plans for the new site, in case it overlapped too much with the book. We had to be very careful to make sure the site complements the book in every sense, ensuring that customers have access to all the information they could possibly need!" She adds, "In some cases, we have made a positive decision not to include a section which we know is already well-handled by another site. In these cases, we provide a direct link to that site to ensure visitors are never more than a click away from the information they require. We hope these sites will also, in time, provide links back to knowitall.ch, providing the English-speaking community with one of the best networked information services in the area!" Jenny Jeffreys, designed the new site and will take over the day-to-day running. She says, "It is obviously impossible for me to keep track of every new initiative in the region, so we invite visitors to submit their contributions, free of charge, via the various channels provided throughout the site. Not only will this ensure we have the very latest information, but it means knowitall.ch remains true to its original philosophy, of providing recommendations from one friend to another." For further information please contact: Lisa Cirieco-Ohlman, 022 774 45 33
News Update is a new section designed to provide snippets of information on a variety of subjects covering anything from leisure activities and suggestions for walks, to newly-formed clubs or hot restaurant recommendations. The news categories have been chosen to reflect those which have been adopted in the new version of Know-it-all passport® (due out August 2010), and will be written in the style of “one friend speaking to another” – informal suggestions to help you get by in the region.
Also included in the site is a new section on local Cinemas and Theaters, which brings together, into one website, listings from all the local venues. So come the weekend, no longer will families need to trawl the internet to see where their favorite film or play is showing – all the information they need will be available in one drop-down menu on knowitall.ch.
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Jenny Jeffreys, 0033/450 20 44 34
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Note to editors:
First published in 1999 under the name Know-it-all parents®, then changed to Know-it-all passport® in 2006, this guide is an all-encompassing English-language guide for the Geneva, Vaud and neighboring France areas. The current 2009/2010 (6th) edition of Know-it-all passport® has 652 pages, over 40 chapters, a full index and maps. The new updated 7th edition of the book will be published in August 2010 with 700+ pages. Carefully updated by a team of 13 people, this edition promises to be the best one to date! It includes many new features as well as hundreds of new entries, all of which have been recategorized to help you look up information even more quickly than before! 6,000 copies are sold over the 2-year period that the book is available.
