(1:09) I know many of you also receive our weekly boater's newsletter which comes out every Wednesday. Last week we began getting boaters prepared for eBoatCards, a new website we will be launching shortly. It will offer many powerful new capabilities for boaters and marinas. I'd like to ensure you are prepared to take advantage of these capabilities and will be dedicating some Minutes to getting you familiar with eBoatCards also. I'll start with a basic introduction and explore various features and possibilities in future Minutes.(0:59) eBoatCards.com is a soon-to-be-released website with new capabilities for the boating community. We are currently putting the finishing touches on the first release. It's useful and needed all on it's own. But when it is combined with the other ActiveCaptain data, it will offer some incredible new functions.
(0:53) ActiveCaptain was originally designed around three P's: planning, places, and people. eBoatCards brings in the people component. At it's most basic it is a way to receive, sort, organize, and utilize the many boat cards boaters receive from fellow cruisers.
(0:47) Boaters will be able to identify other boaters as their friends and exchange information about what they are doing, where they are located, and even ask questions and receive advice. There will be Groups they can join including affiliations with cruising organizations, boat types, cruising locations, and more.
(0:38) Privacy settings allow boaters to control the people who are able to see their information including their current GPS location. eBoatCards is sort of like Facebook for your boat. But while there are many similarities there are also significant differences.
(0:30) eBoatCards will work with other apps such as the ActiveCaptain Companion to display the current location of friends or other boaters in a Group on maps and charts. This allows boaters to more easily find and meet up with their boating friends. They can also make their location and travel plans available to marinas which provides some very new and interesting marketing opportunities.
(0:20) eBoatCards will allow a boater to add photos and videos to their reviews and we will be interfacing that capability back into ActiveCaptain. This will provide incredible benefits and new challenges.
(0:14) I envision a variety of ways that marinas can utilize eBoatCards to reach out to boaters in powerful ways. But I'll be honest - there is nothing like this so we are all going on an adventure together. Finding the best way to use and manage these new tools will take some experimentation. I look forward to working with our Sponsors to explore these new marketing capabilities. Let's find success together.
(0:02) And that's the marina minute.
