On March 6th and 7th, Portland artists get the chance again to show off what they do best.

It’s time for the 7th annual Portland Art Walk.  This is really an amazing time of viewing what local Portland artists are doing.  People can meander through the southeast sections of the city, from studio to studio, and enjoy a time of culture and making new friends.

You’ll have the opportunity to meet the artists and view their works in their native environments, purchasing at reduced rates, if the art so moves you!  It’s always a great time to be had.

The event kicks off on Saturday at 10am and runs, both days, until 5pm.  Admission is free.

For more information, head over the the Portland Art Walk web site.

Portland never stops setting new trends and 2010 is no exception!  The state of the economy might be affecting the wedding industry, but local businesses are finding a way to turn that around for up-and-coming brides. Hoping to help ease the cost and stress, a unique bridal workshop, called the NW Wedding Scoop (www.nwweddingscoop.com) has been created to address the current economic challenges, and educate those who are planning weddings on how to have the wedding they deserve on the budget they have.

This workshop will be offered twice during the month of February;  Saturday, February 20^th in Salem, and Saturday, February 27^th in Portland.  Local experts will be speaking about the hardships that brides face when planning a wedding and offering solutions to those challenges.  Unlike other bridal shows, the NW Wedding Scoop has a goal of education.  There will be a unique blend of professional wedding service providers, as well as recent brides, who will be collaborating in panel discussions to provide information on contract negotiation, budgets, current trends, general tips and tricks to use when hiring someone for a wedding.

Catering, Food & Beverage   Formal Wear, Wedding Gowns and Tuxedos

Attire & Beauty    Ceremony, Officiants, Transportation & Venue Services

Décor, Flowers and Rentals  Entertainment, Audio-Visual Services, & Photography

Stationary & Accessories   Destination Events & Honeymoon

The workshop runs from 9:00am-5:00pm.  Panel sessions are scheduled throughout the day and brides will have the opportunity to ask questions during and after each session.  Brides are invited to attend the event for the entire day, or they can pick and choose specific sessions. Morning sessions begin at 9:00am and are repeated in the afternoon starting at 1:00pm, allowing attendees to come at their convenience, and stay however long they choose.

NW Wedding Scoop NW Wedding Scoop

Portland: February 27th, 2010

9:00 am – 5:00pm

Portland Courtyard Marriott City Center

550 SW Oak St. Portland OR  97204

Salem :   Feb 20^th, 2010

9:00 am – 5:00 pm

Salem Conference Center

200 Commercial St. SE Salem OR 97301

Preregistration Tickets can be purchased online at www.nwweddingscoop.com for $10 (or 2 for $15), or

brides can pay at the door for $15 (or two for $20) – But, be warned, there are only 200 spots!!

For more information, or to register please visit www.nwweddingscoop.com or call 971-244-3555

The 7th annual Portland Jazz Festival, held this year from February 21 through 28, means a week of music, culture and fun for everyone who wants to partake.

This year’s them for the Portland Jazz Festival is, “Is Jazz Dead (Or Has It Moved to a New Address)? – New Music from Norway.”  This annual time of local, national and international jazz attracts some of the top artists in the industry.  But, that is just the tip of the iceberg. We’re talking Portland here, folks, and when we have an event, it’s a city-wide one.

Discover all the exciting things to do that Portland has to offer.  Bring the family and wander through the art galleries, boutiques and eat at some of the finest restaurants in town.

Stay at the exceptional and historic hotels in the area.  Put on the Ritz!

In other words, don’t miss a single minute of the Jazz Festival and take advantage of every moment you have while in Portland, Oregon.
Click for more information on the Portland Jazz Festival and get your tickets today.  Have a fantastic time!

Really?? Can you imagine Portland beer and Portland coffee hooking up? It’s true and, as a matter of fact, this is the 2nd year that it’s happened. They must really like each other!

Two Portland locals, Portland Roasting and Laurelwood Brewing Company, are once again producing Organic Portland Roast Espresso Stout for lovers of the special brew. This unique concoction is a mix of both organic Ethiopian and Sumatran coffees and Larelwood’s own dark ale.

When first introduced, beer and coffee lovers reached such a Nirvana over the smooth taste and aromatic combination that so bewitched them, the companies found themselves sorely lacking in supply. From what I understand, this year they have increased their production output of Organic Portland Roast Espresso Stout by around 30%, hoping that this will put a big smile on the face of both consumers and producers alike.

You can get your hands on the beer on tap up until the Spring at all Laurelwood  Brewing Pubs as well as retailers throughout Oregon and the state of Washington.
photo credit: timparkinson

Once again, the state of Oregon proves it’s more than willing to ride the wave of new technology.  Now, people looking for work in the state of Oregon can sign up with Worksource Oregon to get new job openings via Twitter.

I’ve been using Twitter to find new clients, network with potential customers and seek open positions myself for some time.  The avenues that help to do this continue to grow and that’s very exciting.  This month, I heard that the unemployment rate in Oregon went from a nail-biting 12% down to 9%.  Sounds good, right?  Well, it’s not necessarily chocolate and roses.  The reason it went down was not the result of an influx of new jobs (in fact, we lost another 200+ jobs), but the fact that unemployed men and women are giving up.  They’re not filing job claims, so the numbers have reflected that.  I would like to think that they are looking at other opportunities and avenues online.  I know how profitable that is.  I do not want to think they are losing heart…that would be very sad, but I understand.

With all that said, I’m here to say, “do not give up!”  The Twitter resource of Worksource Oregon is an example that all is not lost.  There is hope.

If you do not have a Twitter account, this is as good a reason as any to get started with a brand new Twitter account.  Then, surf over to the Worksource Oregon web site and follow some of the Twitter feeds, which will get any new job openings posted to your Twitter account.

You can also find additional job search resources over at my Uniquely Portland Oregon Portland Oregon Jobs section.

Hang in there.  Don’t despair.  It’s all going to work out.

The awesome Rose City Resource Guide for 2010 has just hits the streets! The recession has hit all of us in one way or another, some more than others.  A publication of Street Roots, the independent newspaper doing battle for the poverty-stricken in Multnomah, Washington, and Clackamas counties, has just released their 2010 guide of helpful resources.  Medical, shelter, food banks, financial assistance, domestic violence help and much more can be found within the pages of the Rose City Resource Guide.

In these rough times, we need to band together more than ever before and give our time and money to help those who are less fortunate and facing some of the worst times in the history of this nation. Get involved by contacting the people over at the Rose City Resource offices at 211 NW Davis St in Old Town Portland and get these hard copies into the hands that really need them. This is an opportunity for churches, businesses and individuals to show their concern and support for the poor around Portland and the areas around it.  You can also contact them at their web site and find out how you can help.

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

Carole King and James Taylor in Portland

Two of the most amazing singer/songwriters of their time, Carole King and James Taylor, are teaming up and coming to the Portland Rose Garden Arena for a concert to beat all concerts.

Date: May 7, 2010
Time: 8:00 PM
Click Here – Tickets are on sale NOW!

I absolutely love the music of both James Taylor and Carole King. For them to come to Portland, Oregon together is most definitely tops my list concerts of the forever! They were very influential to my years growing up in the 70s and 80s. They styles and lyrics made me feel good and that is always the best kind of music….the stuff that makes your heart soar or speaks to a place deep inside you. There are not many musicians able to do that to me.

If you’re in Portland, get Carole King and James Taylor tickets today because they are sure to sell out quickly. If you’re not from Portland, either get here, find tickets in your area or it sucks to me you!

(Prineville) – Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski announced today that Facebook, the world’s leading social networking service with more than 350 million users, will locate a multi-million dollar data center in Prineville. The facility, which will help store and route information posted by users, is expected to create more than 200 jobs during its 12-month construction phase. When finished, the data center will employ at least 35 full-time workers and dozens more part-time and contract employees. Additional construction phases may be possible in the future, depending on business needs.

“This is great news for Prineville and really the entire state. I am pleased to welcome this leading Internet technology company to Oregon,” said Governor Kulongoski. “The stable, family-wage jobs and economic stimulus they will provide to this area during construction are a bright spot as this nation and this state climb out of this recession.”

Governor Kulongoski said the state has been working with Facebook’s representatives for a number of months to help bring together the land, utilities and incentives to make the project a success.

“After a rigorous review process of sites across the West Coast, Facebook concluded that Prineville offered the best package of resources – including a suitable climate for environmental cooling, renewable power resources, available land, talented regional workforce and supportive business environment,” said Tom Furlong, Director of Site Operations for Facebook. “The City of Prineville, Crook County and the State of Oregon have all been tremendously persuasive in helping us make this decision. We look forward to joining the community and working with them to provide faster, more reliable and more robust service to people around the world who rely on Facebook to connect and share.”

In keeping with Oregon’s reputation for environmental leadership, the building will be designed to LEED gold standards. Most importantly, it will employ innovative cooling and power management technologies that will make it one of the most energy efficient data centers in the United States served by Pacific Power’s impressive and growing portfolio of renewable energy resources.

“I thank Facebook for choosing Oregon and am hopeful this decision will act as a big “open for business sign” for other companies in this quickly growing field,” said Kulongoski. “This is a great example of how the public and private sector work together to create economic opportunity for Oregon communities.”

More information about the project as well as ongoing updates will be available at Facebook.com/prinevilledatacenter

Portland Farmers Market today announced its decision to permanently close the Thursday Ecotrust Market at 721 NW 9th Avenue located in the parking lot of the Jean Vollum Natural Capital Center. While Portland Farmers Markets’ four other locations experienced increased traffic and sales over the years, the Thursday Ecotrust Market did not share the same rate of growth.

The market which first opened in 2003 through a partnership with non-profit Ecotrust had been open 3:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Thursdays from June to September.

“The Ecotrust Market was located in a vibrant, densely populated neighborhood, and yet it never seemed to reach its full potential,” said Ann Forsthoefel, executive director of Portland Farmers Market, a nonprofit 501(c)6 organization operated by a small staff of four full-time and four part-time employees and numerous volunteers. “We thank Ecotrust for their partnership, Food Front Coop for their sponsorship and, of course, the dedicated shoppers that supported our local farmers and food artisans every Thursday.”

Deborah Kane, vice president Ecotrust Food & Farms, said, “We have much respect and admiration for the Portland Farmers Market. While Ecotrust staff will no longer have the option of buying some of the region’s best products right outside our door, we’ll continue to support local agriculture through initiatives such as Edible Portland and FoodHub. And of course we’ll be among the first in line at all of the other Portland Farmers Market locations.”

THE MARKETS ARE UP

The closing of this location isn’t a reflection of the state of farmers’ markets nationally. As of October 2009, there were 5,274 farmers markets registered in the USDA Farmers Market Directory and over the last decade there has been a 170% increase in farmers’ markets opening nationwide.

The staff of Portland Farmers Market is currently evaluating other possible locations for a weekly market in Northwest Portland. The organization describes the ideal site as one that offers high visibility, community engagement and support from neighborhood and business associations.

The Thursday Ecotrust Market was sponsored by Food Front Cooperative Grocery. Portland Farmers Market is generously supported by community partners West Coast Bank and Mix.

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About Portland Farmers Market
Founded in 1992, Portland Farmers Market, a nonprofit 501(c)6, brings the best of the country to the heart of the city by supporting the region’s farmers and creating vibrant urban marketplaces where growers and consumers come together. This nonprofit’s staff of four full-time and four part-time employees aims to grow, nourish and inspire the community by staging weekly markets in four different locations throughout the Portland area from March until December. In addition to managing the markets, Portland Farmers Market has been an early leader in Portland’s sustainability movement and has served as an incubator for small businesses. With more than 250 vendors from Oregon and Washington – including farms, bakeries, nurseries, meat and seafood providers, cheese makers and specialty food producers – Portland Farmers Market is a true showplace of Northwest agriculture. www.portlandfarmersmarket.org