It's Been A While, But With Good Reason...

I know, I haven't spoken up for a while now. Sorry. But, I plan to make it up to you. Firstly, some news. For those of you entering competition, the Northern regional for the UKBC has a venue finalised! It is Pumphreys Coffee, in Blaydon. They use a fully up to date WBC set up, so I look forward to getting stuck into it. Also, the same coffee shop is holding a Barista Jam on premesise, so something else to look forward to :)

Now, if any of you have watched the Youtube link above, you'll see that a new website is coming soon. Well, now I get to give you a teaser.





Well, there's the (very) basic first draft. It was done in paint, from a plan in a sketchbook. The red won't be quite so scarlett, and there will be a lot more colour in the form of adverts, photos, etc. This is, of course, one design, and I'm sure many others will appear over time, but this is my favourite so far.



So, what is the website for?



It is not a new site for this blog. Sorry guys, but Blogger is the way forward for the moment. I do plan on Wordpressing it, but Third Wave Coffee is the priority at the moment. Also, I want to make some kind of distinction between the blog and the site. The blog will NEVER have adverts, or make money in any way. It will also remain the way it is, unbiased and fair, and will not advertise anything either Dane or myself don't love.



The site is aimed at being something akin to a UK CoffeeGeek, a repository for UK news, reviews of equipment available in the UK, and other such things. It will have a links page devoted to UK coffee sites. However, it also has another use. In conjunction with this site I will be running consumer events which will be advertised on this site. I aim to have a series of leaflets and articles on the site which will tie in with the latest events, as well as an archive of old documents. With time I might open up an eBay shop as well, selling basic cupping essentials, Third Wave T-Shirts, etc. This, along with advertising slots for UK coffee businesses, will fund the site, and consumer events.




This is, of course, all just a dream right now, but a dream I'm passionate about. Some of it may come to pass, some of it may fall by the wayside. I aim to have a functional site up by New Year, but this is dependant upon me having a basic knowledge of CSS and xHTML, as well as a copy of Dreamweaver CS3.




Anyway, any comments are truely welcome. The last thing I want is to make a fool of myself by wasting money on a crap idea. What do you guys think? Do we need this site? And if we do, what do YOU want to see on it?




Anyway, cheers, and I'll have a coffee-related post soon.




Seamus.