Small Business Saturday is  a Black Friday weekend event to raise awareness of the plethora of small businesses in your local communities.

Today, you’re encouraged to show your support for your local business owner by shopping and eating local.  Time to just say no to the big chains with all their money.  The small business owner is truly the backbone of society and would love to have you come and visit.  You may never go back to the big chain shops again!

The huge push today for Small Business Saturday is social networking.  People are hitting Twitter, Facebook, and Foursquare to get the word out.  I’m doing it myself as I type this on my laptop from my favorite coffee haunt here in Orchards, WA, Coffee Villa.

Small business owners tend to go out of their way to provide patrons with a special experience.  You know when you’re in the presence of a small business owner rather than a chain store drone.  You can feel it and it feels good.

So, on your trips around the Portland areas today, make a special effort to promote Small Business Saturday and shop local.

Take care and stay safe.

Oregon unemployment is still at a staggering national high of over 10.5 and shows no sign of any significant improvement.  That’s harsh.

For such a moving and progressive state, you’d expect better.  That’s all I have to say about that.

Nonetheless, if you are someone jobless and suffering from Oregon’s unemployment, hop over to my Portland Jobs page at http://www.uniquely-portland-oregon.com

Even if you live outside of the Portland area, you will find some useful resources to help you get back in the game.

Good luck!

Apply for Warehouse Jobs on SnagAJob.com

Portland, OR — 1/26/10 — Thanks to Portland based MDiTV, medical information, ranging from streaming videos of procedures to breaking news reports and programs healthy living will soon be available via your iPhone, smartphone and netbook. The start-up has already begun filming a full battery of programming at @Large studios in E. Portland while their permanent studio facilities just east of the Broadway Bridge are finalizing construction.

Providing a nice boost to the local business landscape here, MDiTV employs local high-tech savvy filmmakers and workers and is attracting capital investors from across the nation to Portland.
“We’re delighted to be establishing our world-wide corporate offices and studio in Portland,” said Dr. Robert Lazzara, founder and CEO of MDiTV, Inc. “It’s the ideal location for us to further our mission to develop broadcast technologies and educational solutions for health care providers and patient communities alike.”

MDiTV’s business model is designed to enable the health care community to interact and share information, available through apps, smart phones, widgets, and television. It is the first network of its kind. MDiTV.com, the company’s interactive website, will launch in February. Once the site has been launched, the medical news company will highlight the efforts of local medical research at area hospitals and clinics. High tech, medical, and film are three of the Portland industries that have suffered in the economic downtown. The launch of MDiTV is a promising new direction for all three of these industries, and provides a precedent to other entrepreneurs, sending a message that Portland is the place where this kind of new media is being produced.

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For more information about MDiTV, or to schedule an interview with Dr. Robert Lazzara, please contact Paul Williams at (949) 916-6880 or via medialine2@aol.com.

Web Site: http:/www.MDiTV.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/mditvorg
Facebook: http://bit.ly/cgqI9D

On Nov 14th from 11am to 4pm, fun, entertainment, exhibits, prizes and more await you at the 2nd Annual Baby + Family Expo at Jantzen Beach Center in Portland and it’s all FREE.

With more than 50 vendors, this is the perfect one-stop shopping experience for consumers looking for baby, parenting and family focused businesses, offering product samples, valuable discounts and information. Geoffrey the Giraffe from ToysRUs fame will be making appearances throughout the day, passing out goodie bags to all the kids.

There will be carousel rides, face painting, a magician and tons of crafts to enjoy. Attendees will have a chance to win fabulous prizes, so grab the kids and get out of the house for a day of fun at Jantzen Beach Center.

For more information, vending opportunities or to become a sponsor, you can contact Stef-Anie Wells at Events@jantzenbeachpdx.com or call 503.286.9103

THE happening event for all the Portland WordPress enthusiasts occurs September 19-20 at WordCamp Portland.

Speakers, authors, bloggers and everyone in between will show up to make this Portland event something that will be every blogger’s dream.

Unfortunately, tickets for WordCamp Portland went like wildfire. Not to worry though. The good people involved with the event will be streaming it over the Internet so you won’t miss a single second.

For me, I’ll be at the Portland Pirate Festival those days. I’ll have to catch what I can. Maybe bringing my laptop with me is a good idea.

For all the information, including schedule, sponsors, speakers and more, visit the WordCamp web site.

This morning, I had a chance to interview the owner of the Portland Cupcake Kingdom, Lisa Watson. Lisa and her husband, Peter Shanky, run the famous CupCake Jone on the corner of NW 10th and Everett in the swanky Pearl District of Portland, Oregon.

Lisa caught a Tweet I had sent out about the 2nd Portland Tweet Up coming in November and jumped at the chance to get involved by sponsoring the event and bringing custom, hand-made cupcakes for the event.

So, in turn, I requested an interview with Lisa and she sat some time aside. I brought my cameras and caught the whole delicious thing on tape.

Cupcake Jones is open 7-days a week, serving the coolest and tastiest cupcakes you’ll ever lay your lips on.

Cupcake Jones is located at 307 NW 10th Ave in Portland, right next to the Ben and Jerrys (a perfect combo, if you ask me!).

Watch the video with Lisa below: