The new app aims to help residents as well as visitors navigate life in the mountains of the Adirondack Park, while promoting local events and businesses.
Michelle Bartlett, founder of Life in the ADK, an online community and gift shop located in Old Forge, oozes a passion for the Adirondack Mountains and its communities that might make you wonder if she's been a local her entire life. I don't know. But a quick listen to her social media videos and her accent reveals that her roots go much further south than the southern Adirondacks.
Bartlett grew up in lower Alabama and lived there until marrying a New Yorker. She moved to the Adirondacks in 2013 after she married her husband Dave. Her husband grew up in Fort Covington in upstate New York, just across the Canadian border.
“He has family here, so for him it was like coming home, but for me it was like moving to another country,” Bartlett said.
Bartlett, who has a background in social media marketing, learns new things every day and decided to document her experiences on a community Facebook page.
“I told my husband I was going to start my own Facebook page. It was going to be called My Life in the Adirondacks. I learned new things every day, many times a day. , so it will be about the learning curve from ALA to ADK,” she said. “I thought, if I live here without knowing about these things, there are probably people who come here only once or twice a year who don’t know about these things.”
In a short time, she has amassed a following, many of whom do not live within the Adirondack Park. Her posts have her personal touch, often featuring herself or her tripod dog Toby on camera. Bartlett said she didn't want the page to be faceless, she wanted people to know the person behind the story.
“Life in the ADK” currently has approximately 135,000 followers across Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube platforms, in addition to its brick-and-mortar gift shop.
As Bartlett shared her travels as a tourist in her new home with the world, she began receiving many questions from others who also wanted to visit the Adirondacks.
Followers ask everything from accommodation recommendations to service dog rules to where to find gluten-free food in small towns. She said she receives at least 75 questions a day through her social channels and her email.
“For me, the purpose of social media is to show you the places you love and the places you don't love yet,” Bartlett said.
She quickly realized that the power of digital could make her analog way of life in the mountains more discoverable to others. She brought her daughter to her Life in the ADK team, but the two only have the bandwidth to handle the daily inquiries.
“What do you do if you go on vacation or are tired? I get asked this question almost every day, so I thought I needed to put all the information in a more consistent place,” Bartlett said.
Rather than visiting individual websites or Facebook pages expecting the latest information on villages and businesses, she wanted to have resources organized by town and category in one place.
When nothing existed to search for, the idea for the “Life in the ADK” app was born.
In the same spirit as her online following, Bartlett took a community-based approach to the app.
“The idea was, what if we spent the same money on an app and instead of building it for one business, we invited all the businesses in the park to the table? That way, we Everyone will be able to use the app,” she said.
The “Life in the ADK” app has been released and is divided into 24 destinations, grouping several destinations together, including Eagle Bay and Inlet, Long Lake and Raquette Lake. In each section, you'll find listings for businesses and events, everything from where to eat to where to do laundry to find the post office.
Bartlett wanted to include all companies, not just those that pay for promotions, so all companies in the Adirondacks will be mentioned for free within the app. Businesses can invest in listing themselves on the app, but at a lower price than what Bartlett has found elsewhere.
This category is not just for tourists, but also includes places to eat, stay and play. Locals can find roofers, medical care, pet care, salons, and more.
Businesses in the Adirondacks who would like to be added to the “Life in the ADK” app can fill out a form on her website.
Bartlett acknowledged there has been some criticism for promoting tourism in the Adirondacks and bringing family-run establishments into the digital age. However, businesses and towns continually reach out to her to promote their companies, events and community projects, showing that for her, marketing is still needed to help businesses thrive. .
“The Adirondacks are here for everyone to enjoy,” she said.
That camaraderie is what Bartlett likes most about living in the Adirondacks. She said the park's small community will help anyone wherever they are, whether locals, tourists or just driving by.
“Do you need something? They do their best to make sure you get it, and it's really huge,” she said. “It’s actually a lot like living in the South, just without the accent.”
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