Centrerion Canadian Politics: Take CCP's Guided Tour

Canadian Politics from Canada's Centre

Monday, May 01, 2006

Take CCP's Guided Tour

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Welcome to Centrerion Canadian Politics' Guided Tour.

Here, you'll find out what we believe in, who we are, and how to get involved. Then, we'll let you know how to help out - if we deserve it (we're not asking for donations). Finally, we'll present some policies (privacy) and a user guide for Del.icio.us, the social bookmarking servicce.

The little box below is on each page of the guided tour, and lets you navigate across the different pages back and forth.
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Contact (Previous/End of Tour) - About Us (Next)
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Here is where we'll be headed on the tour:

About Us - Who, what, where, when, why and our philosophy
Reader Rewards - What's in it for you
Join the team - We want writers, designers, promoters (all volunteer)
Carnivals we Host - A carnival is a post linking to many articles on a specific topic
Newsletter - Easy updates, twice a month

Our Privacy Policy - It's your information, not ours.

Interactive - How you can interact (hint: bookmark in del.icio.us, comment, etc.) with us

Del.icio.us guide - What Del.icio.us/social bookmarking is, and how to use with ease

Contact - Share your thoughts, ask a question, etc.

The tour begins on our About page, presenting our political philosophy, history, and general "who, what, where, when, why, how," as the saying goes. Here's an excerpt:

Aristotle wrote that since man's proper function was to think, the good man thinks well, which is to say rationally. Expanding on this thought, we consider that thinking rationally will inevitably lead to a moderate position. In other words, the best critical analysis of a problem will always lead to a centrist solution.

Next, we consider what's in it for you. We have a Rewards and Loyalty program similar to travel points - except you can actually gain from this, rather than imagine some benefits in the distant future. What can you expect to read there?

"This gives you exposure, traffic, and contextual links to your website, which is important for search engine optimization (thus gaining even more exposure, traffic, and, if you use them, revenue from ads on your site). Repeat commenters, or commenters with quality insight, or commenters who write a lot, make up this group."

Following that, we get into the really juicy material: how you can write for the blog, and have the blog write for you (actually, the blog writing for you is in the rewards and loyalty page).

A more involved way to contribute is to join the team. We're looking for writers, jokers, web developpers, promoters, leaders, and more. If you aren't all that rolled into one... well, we'll be dissapointed, but you're still welcome ;). Here's a morsel from our Help Wanted page:

"[...]In 200 words or less, tell us about your interests and what you can do for our readers and the website. Nothing formal, but be clear. Most of all, we're looking for people with a strong work ethic. Beware, though: this blogging stuff is more addictive than crack cocaine for a skinny blonde supermodel."

The second stop on this part of the tour is the Carnivals page. A carnival is an article on a particular theme linking to several other blogs' articles on the particular theme. Here are submission criteria to have a post/article included in our Mediocre Media carnival.

"Posts to this carnival can discuss any media in the world. The posts should include topics such as media bias, poor reporting, ignorance, and all the "you goofed" type of stuff the editors of "letters to the editor" don't print. Other criticism of the media is welcome. The full political spectrum can submit their posts. Related posts are accepted; use your judgement."

Following the festive and pest-ish carnivals, we get to the Newsletter.

The newsletter contains:
- summaries of our best recent material, such as commentary, research and quips;
- upcoming interviews and news;
- newest editions of the carnivals we're involved with (i.e. Mediocre Media);
- the latest updates to the site to improve your experience;
- ways you can give us feedback, and improve the site, content, or other ideas.

On a related note, you may care to read about our Privacy Policy.

"Your information is not an "asset" of ours. It's yours, not to be disclosed, shared, sold and all that other legal mumbo-jumbo that means we won't pass your email on to spammers or anyone else."

We progress from there to our Interactive page, which suggests small, easy things to do that would show your appreciation. And no, we don't want your money.

"Get a del.icio.us account (they're free), and bookmark our homepage, as well as a few posts you've found useful, interesting, or otherwise liked in some way. It takes all of 15 seconds to get an account, and the bookmarking/tagging process is maybe another 15 seconds per post."

You may also be interested in our three step how-to guide on del.icio.us, and tips for using it. It begins with an explanation of del.icio.us, then delves into how to use it.

Del.icio.us is a collection of favorites - yours and everyone else's. Use del.icio.us to:

* Keep links to your favorite articles, blogs, music, restaurant reviews, and more on del.icio.us and access them from any computer on the web.
* Share favorites with friends, family, and colleagues.
* Discover new things. Everything on del.icio.us is someone's favorite - they've already done the work of finding it. Explore and enjoy.