Nov. 25: Seven Great Reasons to be Thankful...

If you woke up this morning with more health than illness, you are more blessed than the million who will not survive the week.

If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture or the pangs of starvation, you are ahead of 500 million people around the world.

If you attend a religious service without fear of harassment, arrest, torture, or death, you are more blessed that almost three billion people in the world.

If you have food in your refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof over your head and a place to sleep, you are richer than 75% of this world.

If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace, you are among the top 8% of the worlds wealthy.

If you hold up your head with a smile on your face and are truly thankful, you are blessed because the majority can, but most do not.

If you can read this message, you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world that cannot read anything at all.

We're counting our numerous blessings and reminding you to appreciate all of your God given blessings. Don't focus on what you don't have. Don't focus on others who might have more than you in something. Focus and be thankful for how truly blessed you are.

 - Author unknown, but the sentiments are ours

Nov. 23: NEW! Promote Your Sales & Events

REMEMBER: The Events calendar is ONLY for events, not for coupons or sales promotions. Our community and region need and deserve to finally have a comprehensive, accurate and up-to-date events calendar for us by residents and visitors. Our investment is to make this happen, so we're naturally pretty protective of the site.

WE WANT OUR LOCAL BUSINESSES TO SUCCEED, so you are welcome to place any ongoing specials or discount coupons you want on your business's profile page. But coupons are not allowed in the events calendar.

NOTE: For every real event that you do sponsor and place on the calendar, a link to your profile page automatically shows at the bottom of the event page.

FREE SALES & EVENTS CALENDAR: We realized that it would be very helpful if our friends and neighbors could find all Black Friday sales and specials.  So we've opened a new FREE Sales & Events feature for local businesses. These sales show in text listing of upcoming events in a calendar separate from all community events. When there are enough specials posted, we will display complete daily/ weekly/ monthly calendar views.

Simply log in and click Post Sales Event. And these postings are still free to you.

Sales events in your Edit Events listing are marked with a money icon vs the date icon. No, there is no way to move or change an event from a Sales Event to a regular one or vice versa.

We hope that you will continue to use the site to promote you business and will promote the site to all of your customer and friends. And we trust that you will follow our policies so that we do not have to remove your free profile page and event listings. If you have any questions, Click Contact Us above.

Nov. 21: How's Your Career Working Out?

For decades we've invested in the regional workforce development system. But like so many other resources you're paying for with your tax dollars, most folks don't yet know waht is available to them. So over the coming months we're going to share resources you've never heard of in Spotlight Jobs. Whether you are a business owner or manager, in mid-career, or trying to get a start on your life's work, we promise we have something of value to you.

The first article is a big picture discussion, Your World After  2020. Don't Miss it!

Nov. 20: We Want You!

Want to promote your organization, business or band? Have questions? Follow the simple EnjoyErie User's Guide we've created for you.

READ THE FEW SIMPLE RULES: Take 2 minutes and look at the site policies. We're the most user-friendly service site you can find. But we do have a few criticla policies that matter. And as new issues come up, we'll add to them.

Nov. 18: Jeff's Here!

For years we've been receiving Jeff Gault's weekly Fun Notice eLetter sent to a few hundred of his closest friends. Jeff strongly supports locally owned restaurants and clubs, and local musicians. The Fun Noitice alerts us to many great events and local bands we would otherwise miss, and it lets us know where to find him and Sandy on the weekends. 

We've convinced Jeff to let us pass the Fun Notices on to you. Here's the first one. But you have to be on the lookout. They usually show up on Wednesday or Thursday, and the weekend comes quickly.  If you see Jeff out at one of these events, say thanks.

And if you want to become a regular contributor, click on Contact Us and tell us what you have to share with the community.

Nov. 17: Seen Santa Lately?

We've started  a new feature, Spotlight Events to get to the bottom of questions we always wanted to anwer and resources that intrigue us. The first question took us back many decades to sitting on Santa's lap on the 5th floor of the Boston Store. Where do parents and grandparents take their kids to find Santa these days. Are there any Christmas events that are not just commercial in nature, where we can help our kids grow in joy and perception?

Well, we found quite a few in Where's Santa? Share them with your family and friends, teach your children well, and have a joyous holiday.

Nov. 15: Welcome to the New EnjoyERIE.com!

We've undergone a bit of a face lift and while it's still a work in progress, we wanted to share our progress with you.

We commend and thank ArtsErie and VisitErie for their inspired co-sponsorship and management of EnjoyErie.com from 2003 to June 2010. They did a great service to our community, involving nearly 400 organizations in presenting their events to Erie County and beyond. ArtsErie staff maintained the site daily for six years. ArtsErie and VisitErie have recently expanded their horizons and decided to no longer run Enjoyerie.com.

Three months after the site went dormant, hundreds of people continued to visit every week, looking for the information and communication we all find challenging to easily capture. It has remained obvious to us for decades that the hub of our region's communication is an accurate, comprehensive, and up-to-date calendar of all events. Everyone needs it - residents, returning expatriates, and visitors.

We believe in our home, Erie County, and the entire NorthCoast tri-state area. We invest here, along with so many of our friends. So, along with our other community commitments, VanAmburg Group and Valador Studios have assumed all responsibility for providing you with a real-time regional calendar, new, revised, and ever-expanding EnjoyErie.com.

We're making significant changes in the site and its focus. It will take many months to roll out everything, but every week, you'll see something new.

EnjoyErie.com is here for you - to promote your businesses and organizations, and to find everything that's happening in the region. You can make it a success simply by using it.

Comments, suggestions, questions? Simply click Contact Us and tell us your thoughts. Thanks.