We started www.elyminnesota.com and the first webcam went up in 1999. The webcams have always been popular and, as with most content on the Internet, free. The new iteration of elyminnesota.com, elymn.us is dedicated to promoting Ely businesses and promoting Ely as a great place to live as well as to vacation.
Webcams of the quality we use do not come cheaply. But we wanted to offer the community a website where, with a minimal effort, they could truly connect with others in their community. And that community would include people like you who have lived here and appreciate Ely.
The new version of our website, elymn.us, was created with the hope of recovering our community connectedness and promote Ely at the same time. There is a section on our new site where we can do everything possible with Facebook but for the benefit of the users and the community. That section is under “My Profile.” You can join in public conversations or you can create private groups and conversations that will be visible to no one but you and those people you invite, all with no data collection.
This is why we are having people log in: conversation (not just complaints) and the development of Ely. Logins are also our way of tracking how many gawkers versus community participants we have. That is the cost we are asking for viewing the larger webcam images. To log in, all you need to do is go to the “Log in” page and click “register,” just below the large “Log in” button. Be sure to check the “remember me” box so you don’t have to log in each time.
Do you have other suggestions for how we can promote Ely? We’re always happy to hear new ideas for how to bring more people to Ely for the lifestyle those of us who do live here do enjoy: clean air and water, forests and lakes and streams with easy access to Lake Superior and its amenities.
We enjoyed presenting our “pitch” to you about the promotion of Ely and hope you will participate. And, thanks for the question.
