My New Favorite Websites

In the last week there have been a few new river related websites to pop-up. Here they are:

Salmon River Trips - SalmonRiverTrips.net : Information about rafting trips on Idaho's Main Salmon river with Idaho River Journeys.

Rogue River Hiking - RogueRiverHiking.net : Information about Rogue River hiking trips on Southern Oregon's Rogue River trail with Rogue River Journeys.

Rogue River Camping - RogueRiverCamping.com : Information about camping along Southern Oregon's Rogue River.

Cool New Shirts on the way!

Well hot damn, look at this. OregonRafting.org is coming out with some stylish shirts to light up your life. They also have a beer koozie and bumper sticker coming out - all of these are supposed to be available sometime next week. Check out their Facebook Page for more beta, or check out the Oregon Rafting site sometime next week to purchase your cool new shwag!

Illinois Rafting this weekend

Flows are looking great for the Illinois this coming weekend. Should be a good time. Predicted flows are at 3500 CFS! Whoohoo - it's stompy. Illinois River Rafting in Southern Oregon... it is hard to beat.

The Illinois is a tributary of the Oregon's Rogue River, which is one of the original 8 Wild and Scenic Rivers. It's a class III and IV river, but at high water definitely gets a class V feeling.

Rivers to the web – whitewater rafting outfitters use online social networks to fill their boats

PRESS RELEASE:

Two whitewater rafting outfitters explain how they are using social media tools to help sell their rafting trips on the Kern River, Rogue River, and Middle Fork of the Salmon River.

WOFFORD HEIGHTS, CALIF - On Monday after a day of guiding an Upper Kern River rafting trip, Ryan Guy, a guide for Kern River Outfitters based in Wofford Heights, California, sits at a computer inside the company’s warehouse and logs into Twitter. The computer is located immediately below an enormous calendar dotted with whitewater rafting trips to come, the number of customers per trip, and spaces available. Guy, glancing up briefly, begins to type a “tweet” – the short messages that the popular social network is know for – as he reads aloud, “Our one-day Upper Kern rafting trip on June 12th has some space available.”

The notion that computers and the internet do not have a place in the outdoors may be a diminishing belief, at least in the sense of attracting new-age customers. As leaders in the outdoor industry look for ways of finding new customers they are turning to an unlikely source for outdoor-minded individuals – the internet.

Will Volpert introduced Kern River Outfitters to Facebook and Twitter last Fall. He says that online networks have increased the company’s visibility where it matters most: their target market of families in the Southern California region. Most online social networks make reaching your target market easier than in traditional media advertising. On Facebook, for instance, one can target ads to specific age groups, genders, marital statuses, and interests. For businesses in the outdoor industry, being able to pin-point exactly who sees their advertisements not only saves marketing dollars but increases conversion rates from prospective clients to real-life customers.

When every dollar counts, online viral marketing seems to be the trend for small and big business alike. In an effort to increase their number of followers on Twitter, Idaho & Oregon River Journeys, an outfitter specializing in rafting trips on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River in Idaho and the Rogue River in Oregon, set-aside a specific rafting trip as a “Twittertrip” just for Twitter followers. According to Jim Ritter, Idaho & Oregon River Journeys’ manager, “We thought it would be something that people would talk about. It’s been mentioned in a few other social-media networks.” That “buzz” is a key element in viral marketing because “it’s always better to have someone within a social-circle introduce your business rather than opening the door yourself,” Ritter adds.

“I really believe that our social-media presence will someday be more important than our actual website,” says Guy, who now shuts down the computer and leans against a stack of inflated whitewater rafts at the Kern River Outfitters warehouse. “For people who enjoy being outside so much, we sure spend an awful amount of time on the computer.” He adds, “and what we believe is that our customers do too.”

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To view the original press release, click here.

Rogue River Kayaking

Rogue River Journeys and Adventure Kayaking is once again offering their DeRiemer Rogue River Kayaking trips in 2009. Learn how to kayak by seasoned professionals Mary and Phil DeRiemer.

The Rogue River is considered by many as being the best multi-day kayak trip for beginners through intermediate. The Rogue's mild gradient, fun and safe rapids, and wonderful scenery and camps makes it an absolutely wonderful learning experience. Furthermore, Rogue River Journeys' guides carry all of the bags and and food necessary to make the trip not only easy on you but delicious as well!

For more information about these trips, please visit their Rogue River Kayaking trip page.

More Costa Rica Stuff...

I was browsing around on the Costa Rica Rafting page, and came across the Mountain Resort Hotel...

Check out this awesome photo. It's taken from the hotel, and looks out towards Arenal Volcano.

Costa Rica Rafting and Exploring

So... Rogue River Journeys is now offering a cool 10-day itinerary to Costa Rica. Check out their Costa Rica Rafting home page...

On the itinerary:

• Costa Rica Kayaking
• Pacuare River Rafting
• Costa Rica Horseback Riding
• Hanging Bridges Tour
• Arenal Volcano Tour

Seems pretty cool to me!