‘An Amazing Evolution’ – Atlas Café Turns 15

Popular restaurant to mark occasion by giving away Puerto Vallarta vacation.


Atlas Café turns 15 this month, and its owners are marking the occasion by sending two lucky guests on a Mexican vacation.

Until the end of April, anyone who dines at Atlas Café for breakfast, lunch or dinner can enter to win a trip for two to Puerto Vallarta, including travel and accommodation, for up to five nights. Additional prizes to be won include Atlas gift certificates and other promotional items.

“Being a part of this community has been an amazing experience,” says Sandra Viney, who opened Atlas Café 15 years ago with her husband, chef Trent McIntyre. “We wanted to give back to the good people of the Comox Valley, so we decided to utilize the Valley’s great WestJet connection with Puerto Vallarta.”

Over the last decade and a half, Atlas Café has become woven into the fabric of the Comox Valley and has earned a warm spot in the hearts and minds of Valley residents. But, like most homegrown success stories, downtown Courtenay’s favourite eatery evolved from modest beginnings.

In the early ’90s, Viney and McIntyre were two world travellers who had decided it was finally time to settle down. Though neither had roots in B.C. (McIntyre is from Saskatoon and Viney grew up near Byron Bay, Australia), they each shared a passion for snowboarding and great food, and so their dream was to open a restaurant in a small B.C. community at the base of a mountain. After criss-crossing the province, they eventually decided on Courtenay.

“The Comox Valley just won our hearts,” says Viney. “We fell in love with the character of the community, and the beautiful energy that this place has. At the time, there weren’t many healthy dinner choices in downtown Courtenay, so there was an opportunity for us to create something new.”

With a modest investment and as much “recycled” equipment as they could find, Viney and McIntyre opened Atlas Café on April 24, 1995 in a former surf shop on Sixth Street. In just a few years, its eclectic menu and welcoming ambiance had established Atlas’s reputation as one of the Comox Valley’s social hubs and culinary hotspots.

Although Atlas Café has grown over the years, its core values have remained the same. Viney and McIntyre remain committed to providing healthful and flavourful dishes while honouring the friendly, community-minded spirit that first attracted them to the Comox Valley.

“It’s been an amazing evolution,” says Viney. “The people who have shared our space over the years and the people who have worked here have touched our hearts. We’ve seen many a date turn into marriage and we’ve seen former employees launch successful businesses of their own. We’ve even started hiring the children of former employees; we’re all one big extended family.”

The winner of Atlas Café’s Puerto Vallarta vacation will be announced in early May. To participate, simply ask your Atlas server for an entry form.

Atlas Café is located at 250 Sixth Street in Courtenay. For more information, call 250-338-9838 or visit www.atlascafe.ca.



To learn more about my professional copywriting services, visit my web site at www.ryanparton.ca.

Everybody Wing Chun Tonight!

Valley’s First Kung Fu Academy Offers Fitness, Combat and Self-Defence



Sifu Corny Martens could probably beat you up.

As a certified Kung Fu instructor, he’s quite confident in his fighting abilities. But unless you’re attacking him in a dark alley, all he’s interested in smashing are your expectations.

Martens has just opened Comox Valley Kung Fu Academy, the first of its kind in the Comox Valley. As such, one of his primary goals is to educate people about the Wing Chun style of kung fu that he teaches, which combines striking and grappling techniques designed for close-range combat and self-defence.

“This isn’t what most people expect from martial arts,” says Martens. “Its heritage ensures that Wing Chun offers more than just tough-guy aggression. The movements are accessible to all ages, and the culture is welcoming to everyone.”

Comox Valley Kung Fu Academy offers a broad range of options, including women’s self-defence classes, programs for children and teens and hardcore training for people who are serious about learning combat techniques.

“I was attracted to Wing Chun because of the options it offers,” says Martens. “Even someone who isn’t committed to learning the whole art can still benefit from learning some basic skills.”

Women in particular, he says, will love the Kick Classes, a cardio program done to music that he’s launching this spring. “You learn a few martial art skills,” he explains, “but it’s mostly a workout. You could call it a bag-slamming, aggression-releasing, self-defence workout for those bored with the spa scene.”

Wing Chun kung fu was developed in 17th century China by an 80-year-old Shaolin nun named Ng Mui. Certainly not your average grandma, Ng Mui was a grand master of two different fighting styles who collaborated with four other grand masters to create the Wing Chun style.

Anyone who has ever watched a Bruce Lee film knows that Wing Chun is an extremely effective fighting discipline. But more important, says Martens, is its teachings on avoiding violence.

“The art is 99 per cent self-defence,” he says. “We learn how to deal with confrontation and how to make a physical stand in order to stop further violence.”

Martens, who recently moved to the Comox Valley from Vancouver, has been a kung fu practitioner for 15 years, including four years under the tutelage of Canada’s leading Wing Chun grand master. He’s also a certified yoga instructor and has studied intensively with personal trainers.

In his 12 years of teaching Wing Chung, Martens has seen kung fu transform his students from flabby to fit, from hesitant to confident and from apathetic to passionate. He’s also heard stories about how kung fu has supported women through childbirth, helped ordinary people foil robbery attempts and, perhaps most remarkably, gotten teens to do their chores.

Comox Valley Kung Fu Academy is located at 3-1492 McPhee Avenue (across from Courtenay Elementary). For more information, contact Corny Martens at 250-702-3780 or cvkungfuacademy@gmail.com.



To learn more about my professional copywriting services, visit my web site at www.ryanparton.ca.

Experiential Marketing: How to Market Your Company in the 21st Century

I recently posted an message on my Facebook page about experiential marketing. The original post was a bit vague, I admit, which prompted one follower to ask for more info. I've posted below a transcript of the post and my ensuing explanation, for anyone who's interested in learning how to market successfully in the 21st century.

My original post:

Here's an idea: Make your marketing as beneficial to your target customer as the product or service you're marketing. Experiential marketing - if you don't know what it is then you're likely wasting a lot of money.


The comment received:

please explain...


And so, ever happy to oblige, I responded:

Experiential marketing is all about actually involving your customers in your marketing, and making the marketing itself of value to them. It's a great way to break through the clutter of advertising and reach a more savvy market.

For example, one hand lotion company sent crews of ladies out to bus shelters across a city and gave free hand massages to people as they waited. They used the lotion of course, but didn't actively push it, except to give a free sample. If someone asked, then they'd explain all the benefits and virtues.

Another company (The name escapes me, but I think it was a baby-supply maker, like Johnson & Johnson or something) gave out free ultrasounds to pregnant women in malls in Argentina. For many women, it was the first time they'd seen an in-utero picture of their baby, and it was an experience they won't soon forget. As a result, they came away with a great perception of the company, and likely told all their friends about it.

Experiential marketing is a great way to tap into the potential of "brand evangelists," those who will essentially do your marketing for you by extolling your virtues to their network.

Of course, it can also be simpler, smaller things, like simply taking the time to offer free and genuine advice to potential clients. For example, I've had people come to me for a media release and, after discussing their budget, objectives, etc, I told them that their dollar might be better spent elsewhere (i.e. on a service they'd get from someone else). Sure I "lost the sale," but that person will remember that I gave them honest advice and that I'm someone they can trust. The simple fact that what I did was unexpected (and beneficial) ensures that they're going to remember me and return to take advantage of my services when the time is right.

Hope that helps.


Then I decided to post a couple of resources for more info:

A couple of resources: The first is great book called Experience the Message, by Max Lenderman. It is all about experiential marketing and its virtues. Another is one I just stumbled upon right now: The Experiential Marketing Forum.



To learn more about my professional copywriting services, visit my web site at www.ryanparton.ca.