About Northern Ontario.org
This site, like many things in my life,
happened while I was doing something else.
Northern Ontario.org was born early in
1999
as an attempt to slow the number of emails I
was receiving. At that time the vast majority
of companies on the Net did not yet understand the importance of answering
email. Since I was listed as the "webmaster" on many types of websites
throughout Northern Ontario, I received daily emails from people around
the world asking for information on topics as varied as our local
weather to where you could buy a tailgate for a '57 Chevy Nomad.
Over time I decided to put a website online as a free business directory to simply list
any site I could find from Northern Ontario. The hope was that this new
site could serve as a "one stop" website index for Northern
Ontario (Google didn't exist then and Yahoo was but a youngster) and, hopefully, slow the number of emails I received from
people unable to find the information they were searching for. Then, I
could automatically respond to all email inquiries with one simple
answer: "visit this page."
The project worked. Sort of.
The directory became surprisingly busy
for something with such limited geographic scope, but, the
emails came in greater numbers than ever before! After the end of the
first year I was forced to remove the site because I could not keep
up with the demand for more information and the numbers of people
requesting that they be added to the business directory.
Some time later I put Northern Ontario.org online with parts of the old
directory and some bits of tourist infomation. Soon people in communities across the North
began asking to
submit their own bits and pieces. Northern Ontario.org
has become a labour of love for a small group of Northerner's and it's
had many incarnations since 1999. Writers have come and go, sections
have been added and dropped; and much of what's here now is a complete
surprise to me.
It's been very much an organic process.
Rather like weeds in the garden, it often grows too fast, it's gets
downright messy when I'm not diligent, and I rarely know what's coming
up. It's main goal these days is apparently to promote Northern Ontario
as a wonderful place to live, do business, and to vacation in.
For myself, I am wandering further and
further these days. To see what I'm up to visit
www.travelisawesome.com
-Mona Sims
Contact Me
