Voting Up & Running!

Voting is fully functioning so keep up the voting! We want to know which photo YOU think is the best!

Voting Issues

Oh no! It seems that a number of you have come to me with voting issues you have come across. Rest assured our website design team is working on resolving this problem.

We hope to be running smoothly again soon. Remember, you'll have until May 5th to vote!

Time to Vote!

Ha! And you thought the contest was over...

Nope - now it's time to vote. Simply go to www.thenewnorthphotocontest.com and select the "Vote on Photos" tab at the top. You will be allowed to select one photo per category.

And get your friends involved! Anyone can vote so send 'em the link and have them vote too.

The voting period will run for one month - from Monday, April 5 through Wednesday, May 5. All contestants who are winners of a category will automatically be entered into the grand prize drawing for $3,000! This winner will be announced on or about May 13.

Vote, vote, vote!

Submitting issues

Thank you to all who submitted photos this weekend! When I arrived to work on Tuesday, I was overwhelmed by the many photos submitted. Thank you, thank you!

Many have expressed personal issues in uploading their photos and others have been submitting duplicate photos through no fault of their own. No worries! If you cannot upload your photos, email them to me as attachments at atapley@thenewnorth.com by 5:00 p.m. CST on Friday, April 2nd. If you submitted the same photo more than once, we will take care of eliminating duplicates.

Only 3 more days! Woot woot!

One week! One week!

The contest close date is only one week away - can you believe it?! This weekend is the perfect opportunity to get out and about to take a few last photos. Submit them online and wa-lah! You could earn scholarship money. Don't forget to view the hints below for ideas :) Best of luck!

Attract, Develop and Retain Diverse Talent

Heard of the "brain-drain" concept? Well we at New North are anti-brain-drain! We want to attract talent, develop it, and retain it.

So imagine you are trying to attract talented individuals and their families to come to this region...

• What picture could you take that would attract others to move here? What picture could you take that would attract families and individuals to stay here? Think about what aspects of our region make you want to live here.
  
• What picture would demonstrate the talent that settles here?
• What picture would show how talented and unique we are?
• Is there a picture you could take to capture our diversity (in people, cultures, events, educational programs, food, etc.)?

Take a photo, and join our anti-brain-drain effort!

Implement Targeted Growth Opportunities

Hello all :) Hope you had a great weekend! Ready for some more hints? Today we'll focus on the Implement Targeted Growth Opportunities category.

Where do you think we can grow as a region? What are our strengths? What resources do we possess that we are, or should be, taking advantage of?

New North, Inc., as an organization promoting the region, has pondered this question. As a result of this pondering, New North has identified a short list of "clusters" that if focuses on. On this list are:

• Wind energy - Did you know there are over 8,000 parts that go into making a turbine? Wow, right?! Well, in our region, there are many manufacturing businesses that have the ability to make many of those little parts. Our goal is to connect these companies in order to help bring about local growth in this industry, creating jobs and a renewable energy source.
  
• Modernized agriculture - Well what do you expect? We're in Wisconsin! Cows, milk, cheese, you know the drill.
• Advanced manufacturing
• Cellulosic ethanol - This involves taking any number of biomass sources (trees, corn, etc.) and turning them into ethanol for energy. As we lose some of our strength in the pulp and paper industry, this is a new effort to use our forestry resources.
  

Capturing any of these "clusters" would be great photos. But feel free to think about other industries where our region is excelling or has the potential to excel. Can you capture our area's growth in a picture? Oh yes, you can!