Best Thing Ever: This Marriage Proposal At The Peterborough Lift Lock Is Awesome

BT45mpXCAAAlIYD.jpg

Geoff proposed to Jessica in the most epic way, by arranging to have a ginormous "JESSICA, MARRY ME!" banner hanging from the world famous Lift Lock. Watch how it came together and the unveil in this video... 

 [YouTube via @TrentSevernNHS]

[Peterborough Lift Lock

Tip us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and Like us on Facebook. 

The City Of Peterborough Embraces Social Media By Joining Twitter @CityPtbo

Screen shot 2013-09-02 at 2.37.43 PM.png

The City of Peterborough has taken a big step—they are on Twitter and tweeting  @CityPtbo. We wanted to find out why they took this step now, and the back story on how it came together. Heather Watson, Councillor Services Assistant with the City of Peterborough, explains in this interview.

PTBOCANADA: This is a big step for the city. How much planning and logistics went into deciding to activate this account? Has it been in the works for a while? Many internal conversations? What were your main concerns in joining Twitter?

WATSON: There has been a group working on a social media policy since the Mayor was elected in 2010. After much collaboration, a social media policy was adopted by Council in the Spring of this year. The policy and accompanying procedure explored the use of various social channels by each of the departments within the City. Concerns discussed and addressed were the timely responses to postings, regular monitoring and security (password management, who has access etc.).
 
The Mayor's Office was not involved in the working group, however we did have input once a draft policy was presented. Our concern was to ensure that members of Council would be free to maintain social media profiles and respond to their constituents in a way that they saw fit. We also wanted to know that staff who managed the accounts were able to respond to requests made through social channels in a timely way to provide good customer service.

 
PTBOCANADA: Who will be looking after the account and will it be monitored during weekdays only? Will there be interaction with Tweeters (aka "tweeps") who have  questions/concerns?
 
WATSON: Any City department or program can start a social profile. As in the case of the City of Peterborough Twitter account, staff are assigned to be responsible for the management, monitoring and responding to queries. The @CityPtbo is managed through Corporate Services staff member Sharron Hayton. The account will be monitored Monday to Friday 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.. The purpose of the account is to relay messages as it relates to media releases and information that is already public. Interaction with tweeps will be responsive to questions and to refer them to the right channel.

PTBOCANADA: What is the main "mission" of the account?
 
WATSON: To get messages out to City residents in a timely way and to respond to customer service inquiries.

 
PTBOCANADA: Do you see this as another step in the city embracing the age of social media? Mayor Bennett, of course, has been on Twitter for a while.
 
WATSON: Yes. This is something that Mayor Bennett has been encouraging since being elected. Now that a policy has been adopted by Council, citizens can expect to see more engagement through social channels. He was the first Mayor to tweet in the City of Peterborough, has held two Twitter Town Halls to engage citizens and he proclaimed June 30, 2013 as Social Media Day in the City to recognize the important role that social media plays in our community.

PTBOCANADA: Will it be used in times of emergency for the city?

WATSON: This account will be used to get timely information out to citizens during times of emergency.

-------------- 

Note: Watson notes there are a number number of City departments/programs that currently maintain Twitter sites. Here they are:
Peterborough Airport: @PtboAirport
GPA EDC: @PtboEcDev
Peterborough Fire Services: @PtboFireRescue
Peterborough Museum & Archives: @OntheHill3
Peterborough Lakefield Police: @PLCPS
Peterborough Sport & Wellness Centre: @PSWC1
Peterborough Transit: @PeterboroughTr1
Peterborough Utilities: @ptbo_utilities
Riverview Park & Zoo: @RiverviewZoo

Tip us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and Like us on Facebook. 

Here's A Flash Mob Acapella In The Lansdowne Place Mall Food Court

The flash mob took place August 24th. It featured Kawartha Music Company (Peterborough) with members from Eastside Harmony (Ajax/Pickering), Durham Shores (Oshawa) and Northumberland Chorus (Cobourg), who sang Good Ol' Acapella.

[YouTube

Tip us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and Like us on Facebook.  

Watch: The Peterborough Lift Lock Is No Obstacle For PGA TOUR Canada Players Derek Berg & Matt Marshall

In this YouTube video "Off the Lock, Over the Water, Nothing But Cup" from CanadianTourTV, PGA TOUR Canada players Derek Berg and Matt Marshall stage a closest to the pin contest during Wildfire Invitational week, hitting some balls over the Trent Severn Waterway. How'd they do? Watch for yourself...

PTBOCanada's sports reporter Scott Arnold

Tip us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and Like us on Facebook.

This Amazing Video Of A Blind Peterborough Dog Named Kellar Has Gone Viral

A Peterborough dog named Kellar has become a YouTube sensation. As MyKawartha.com reports, his owners, Marcy Stapley and her fiance Mike Miller, posted a video of him on the weekend using voice commands to fetch a toy. It already has 41,000 views. Watch for yourself and share...

[MyKawartha.com]

Tip us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and Like us on Facebook. 


Peterborough's Dan O'Toole Debut On Fox Sports 1

Peterborough's Dan O'Toole made his Fox Sports 1 debut on Saturday with his good pal Jay Onrait. Here's some of the highlights from the former TSN sports announcers' first episode:

And watch them read tweets from viewer response... 

PTBOCanada's sports reporter Scott Arnold

Tip us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and Like us on Facebook.

Royal Wood Invited Local Singer Natalie Hughes On Stage To Play After Seeing A Tweet

The power of social media showed itself again last night (August 8th) as Royal Wood invited local musician Natalie Hughes up on stage to play with him at Peterborough Musicfest after earlier seeing a tweet from PMZ suggesting she play. Royal had never done anything like this before. Check out the video here PMZ captured of Royal introducing Natalie... 

[h/t PTBOCanada's Aaron Elliott]

Tip us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and Like us on Facebook.

Watch: Some Variation Of A Sharknado Nearly Hit Peterborough Last Night

[YouTube

Tip us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and Like us on Facebook. 


Watch This Great Video Shot At Indian River Reptile Zoo

First time visiting the Indian River Reptile Zoo near Peterborough in Ontario, Canada. I filmed some of the larger highlights as well as some of the most venomous and deadly critters. The zoo has over 200 live reptile exhibits including many deadly species not native to this continent.

[YouTube; Indian River Reptile Zoo]

Tip us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and Like us on Facebook.


Watch: PTBOCanada Has Coffee With... Scott Arnold

We're proud to unveil our new video series "Coffee With...", which features a nice relaxed sit-down chat over coffee at the Silver Bean Café with different folk from the community doing neat stuff. In this first video, we sit down with Scott Arnold—our new sports reporter—to chat about his involvement with (shhhh) Peterborough's version of TMZ, PMZ; the 2013 YWCA Walk a Mile in Her Shoes event and the Peterborough Lakers.

[Contributed by PtboCanada's Evan Holt]

Tip us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Follow us on Twitter @Ptbo_Canada or Like us on Facebook.