Northwest Indiana Blogs

Disruptive collaboration

2013-01-19T15:20:00.002-06:00

Yeah I made that term up, mainly to promote another post I wrote over on NWISM.com which asks some poignant questions about our total lack of leadership in the tech and start-up space in NW Indiana. No the Forum isn't doing it, no the chambers aren't, and no the Purdue Research park isn't even a real research park.

Is the Party Over?

No frills NW Indiana blogs today

2012-12-11T06:50:00.002-06:00

{EAV:48024b47f6c4d52f}

Great Reads for Moms

Homes prices in Schererville

The Fiscal Cliff by Kevin Tracy

Calling for nominations for influential women

Sales Training using sales professionals skills

Marci Crozier garners honor

Improving housing markets

Horizon Bank donates to local food pantries

The RDA makes their own case

Sorry for the no frills, but wanted to publish the ones I noticed this morning without having the time to add photos and commentary. Will post to NW Indiana google+ group too.

Top Facebook Pages List

2012-12-08T10:54:00.003-06:00

I took a little bit of time, as part of a larger research project for a client, to develop a list of the Top Facebook pages in NW Indiana. If you have interest you can follow/subscribe along with me. It was interesting to see which pages are rising quickly into the Top category.

Top Facebook Pages in Northwest Indiana, ranked by number of likes.

It would be nice to know who actually admins the big generic ones.

Update: The list is up to 150+ pages now. It's been very interesting to learn some best practices along the way too. More soon ...

Friends roundup early October

2012-10-04T10:26:00.003-05:00

A long long time ago, when time was more freely accessible, I would write a post every week about the bloggers in the Northwest Indiana digital community. I would spotlight some new ones, some comment heavy posts, or even an old blog that was dormant and we hoped would kick it back into gear. Well as happens when the economy starts to gain momentum, I got busy.

Not only has our family business Green Pointe Partners, been growing all summer with awesome clients and consulting projects ... but of all things the world got political and you know I get slowly drawn into the world of politics most every fall.

So a quick overview, harken back to the old days of two years ago, and who's doing some interesting and active writing in the region:

ValpoLife.com continues to grow as NW Indiana's real leader in the tech start-up and community creation space. Great work to Chris and the Good News team. There's almost no way to spotlight any one post so for now a recommendation to stop by and check out today's articles.
A long-time friend and dynamite mortgage banker Robby Rud has stepped up the mortgage and home finance posts with this most recent one: Refinance Activity soars in NW Indiana
I can still remember back in 1986 the old computer configuration of a mainframe and a dumb terminal, how far we've come since then ... or really have we? The newest greatest in office productivity innovation is the virtual office. Your entire desktop, files, servers, backups, photos, videos, emails ... everything in the cloud. You can access it from all your devices, it's always backed up, and you can't lose it even if you try. I'm working right now on my own virtual desktop and loving it! Ready to try one out for you business, then my good friends at Iddea Group are the guys to talk to. IddeaGroup.com
Along the same lines as cloud desktops, is my recent foray into mobile application development. By this time next year every small business will need to have a mobile app, it's that simple. My partners at My Mobile Fans are building and developing so affordably that I personally think we should raise the prices. Mobile Apps for Indiana Businesses
Not a blog, yet that is since we are building a brand new blog together, but Mike and Mike over at Regional Plumbing and Heating have some big announcements brewing over at NW Indiana's #1 heating and plumbing contractor. You can find them on FB and twitter, but here's the website so you can get your fall furnace maintenance set up. Porter County Heating and Plumbing Today

Notice a trend? Oh yeah, I spotlighted my friends and clients today. You can call it self-serving or even capitalistic. I'm ok with all those tags. If you're serious about growing your business, we should talk about some ways to work together.

Steve "daltonsbriefs"
steve@greenptdev.com
Green Pointe Partners

Note: Four more spotlights coming next week.

2012-08-14T08:43:00.001-05:00

Reprinted from Business Mobile Applications Blog

August 13th kicks off our Back to School Special, limited to the month of August.    Why would a small business mobile app company care about back to school you may ask?   Well in talking to our own customers, those looking to build native mobile applications for restaurants, churches, bands, community groups … you name it … we have often heard this summer that it will be easier to get things rolling once the kids are “backtoschool.”
Any new sign-up for any of our mobile app packages, is eligible for $100 off the initial fee.   Enter “BacktoSchool” in the coupon box at checkout to redeem this discount and get starting building your own mobile application for Android, Iphone, and/or Ipad.
Often these specials are followed with limited time, or limited number available.   In this case, the special will be turned off on September 1st at 12:01 a.m.    No limit on number of companies and/or groups that can use the coupon.    If you’ve been waiting, thinking, wondering aloud about using a mobile app to market and engage your customers … let’s make this happen!
Head over to My Mobile Fans – Let’s Get Started and remember to use “BacktoSchool” in the coupon field to redeem your discount.

Family Express wants you

2012-08-13T11:57:00.001-05:00

If this is a good definition of who you are:

Active in Indiana Social Media - not just NW Indiana, but the whole state
Able to use social media to actually get results - show em
Have an understanding of results measurement - charging for time is a thing of the past
Love to connect, exchange, offer ideas, collaborate
Get a huge kick out of Family Express and their individual product brands

Then maybe, just maybe there is a job for you right now. Check out this announcement on ValpoLife.com and see if you are willing to put in the work to be noticed.

Mobile Apps for Restaurants

2012-06-18T21:47:00.000-05:00

Restaurant mobile apps

We can make this simple ... Mobile Applications for Restaurants is the most affordable and fastest way for any restaurant to get an Iphone or Android mobile app up and running. Does a restaurant need a mobile app, yes especially if it can be created and published for less than $1,000.

It's easy to get the process started, I can help you myself
email today sdalton (at) mymobilefans (dot) com

Mobile Application for SMU

2012-06-10T08:16:00.004-05:00

My Mobile Fans Introduces Its Latest Mobile App for SMU's Cox Career Management Center

My Mobile Fans is pleased to introduce its latest mobile app for the students, alumni and faculty of Southern Methodist University's Cox School of Business

Mobile App center for Southern Methodist University Cox

Online PR News – 07-June-2012 – Life just got a little simpler for the students and alumni of Southern Methodist University's Cox School of Business thanks to the school's new mobile app powered by Affordable mobile apps for business, a mobile app development company focused on bringing affordable mobile apps to individuals, small businesses and organizations of all sizes. Through their new mobile app the Cox Career Center can now help its students and alumni keep track of key dates and information related to job searches and career development, connect them to relevant social media applications and the university online job board, and empower them with helpful career, resume-building and interview tips all through the student's iPhone or iPad.

The SMU Cox Career Center can now join other restaurants, bands, conferences, sports teams and small businesses that have benefited from the custom mobile application development platform from My Mobile Fans. This user-friendly platform powers native iPhone, iPad, Android and HTML5 apps for a fraction of the price found with most app development firms. The mobile app is no longer just a luxury for big corporations, video games and mainstream media thanks to My Mobile Fans and their affordable mobile app solutions, which start as low as $299.

Mobile apps are the present and future of small businesses. "They are becoming the single best way to create brand loyalty and customer interaction for local businesses and non-profits," says Andy Dalton, Founder of My Mobile Fans.

Klout leaders in the region

2012-05-01T10:50:00.000-05:00

Following the trend of making lists, and then sitting back and letting everyone disagree and argue about the results, today a quick list of social media influencers in NW Indiana, as rated not by me but by Klout. So far, 4 out of top 5 are women social media leaders.

A ton of updates Already! Keep em coming:

Alright who am I missing? I will willingly update as you send me those that were accidentally missed in my quick perusal of the stream. It would be nice to get ten influencers over 60 on the Klout index in our region - good goal for this summer I think.

What's going on in Northwest Indiana

2012-04-21T16:21:00.003-05:00

A few years ago I had the time and focus to write almost daily about political, social media, and online collaboration topics almost daily, well although I cannot spend that time any longer with starting a new company, I did have a bit of time this afternoon since I finally finished the classic book War and Peace this week and was missing the writing time a bit.

For those that are wondering, it took me three weeks to read War and Peace, a pretty trying time for me as it coincided with a major career change that will be announced soon.

In the past I've taken the time to try and list all the active blogs that I know about, well of course I've fallen down on collecting blog feeds and miss a ton of them. I've also tried to track the #nwindiana stream on twitter and various online groups and events. Was trying to think what in the world to write about or study today without boring you beyond the boredom you're already considering.

Perhaps a little "day in the life of a social media regional thinker" would suffice. I'll just wander for a bit and let you watch the way I spend my time trying to connect, collaborate, and socialize.

I used to go straight to google reader, actually for many years, and yet my reader is failing to keep up with the times and I tend to go to google+ first. (My google+ profile) I realized I never shared my NW Indiana circle, with roughly 210 members that I've found in the region, and shared it with that same group asking for names that I'm missing. When I'm focused and planning my time well, one goal each day is to grow connections on each platform. After a bit of housekeeping I was able to add maybe 30 more people to circles, eliminate one circle I no longer need and check out who's doing what in NW Indiana on google+ which frankly isn't much yet. Dave Hiested posted an interesting article about salaries for professors.
Let's take a look at google reader for a few now: A few years ago I set up a NW Indiana folder with hundreds of feeds and it's good to take a look and see who's got activity. Blue County in a Read State features Buzz and TMLutas talking cost of electricity. Long time region real estate blogger Jeff and Grace Safrin continue to say things are picking up in real estate. Just today Professor Eisenstein at Purdue posted this article about problems with Purdue, I think they don't want him speaking his mind on his own blog. I'll be heading in a few to April Antics, see ValpoLife article on last night's show. Popular writer Kevin Tracy has technical difficulties and wonders aloud who might have caused. After I finished this post I'll go to each of these posts and leave a comment, as loyal blog readers should do more often, including myself.
Now to that active little twitter stream we all love #nwindiana, for those that don't use tags, type in that tag including the pound sign in the search box. Alas only 23 posts today, and not a whole lot of interaction. Most active recently on twitter: @SouthshoreCVA @Parrotheaddad5 @NWIndianaLife @NWIBusiness @ValpoLife @davewoodson @Daltonsbriefs
yeah that last one is me ... I try to at least help out by RT'ing and pushing onto the stream news and announcements, like the one yesterday that I-94 was a mess because a bank robber headed to Chicago was dumping cash out on the highway during a high speed chase! Lol
A few of the active tweeps in the region have lists they created a few years back, we probably need someone to endeavor to create a full list for the region.
I keep an eye on active LinkedIn groups, but that's a bit of an oxymoron as I don't know of any real active groups on Linkedin, our own NW Indiana Group does get some activity but could use some care. A couple spammers but not much actual interaction this week there. With 500+ members the ValpoLife group is probably the most active, which ones am I missing?

I'm an hour into my little journey and actually got distracted by a post, some comments, an argument on facebook about baseball, texted a few people, and need to roll now. As you can see, I try and engage people in the places they are creating content. I try to return the favor of commenting and Rt'ing and sharing, but I do get grumpy that hardly anyone else does. Off for now, maybe try again tomorrow if I have time after church.

Managing significant risk challenges business owners - Post-Tribune

2011-11-28T05:30:00.000-06:00

Managing significant risk challenges business owners - Post-Tribune

It's been far too long, but I think it's time for the risk takers, including myself, to come back into this economy and show the way. Bye bye government tomfoolery, be gone regulatory malfeasance, let's pump up the economy the way it's always worked.

Top Jobs for future technologists

2011-05-29T13:18:00.002-05:00

Which jobs do you think are going to be in high demand? I'd like your opinions on the original post about Job Creation in the new Technology Economy.

Technology in Northwest Indiana

2011-04-02T07:57:00.002-05:00

Time for a change

Qwiki for search Northwest Indiana

2011-01-25T14:34:00.000-06:00

Mercedes Tweet Race

2011-01-21T09:55:00.003-06:00

I'll be keeping an eye on Mercedes race to the Super Bowl promotion over the next two weeks:

It all starts on their new Facebook page, check it out!

First you like the page
Then you can choose the team you want to support, there are four super-tweet heavy teams with celebrity captains.
Then you connect your profile to the race itself
Then you can follow your team, drivers, captain and the race director on twitter.

Why?

For me to keep an eye on a promotion that is obviously well funded, well thought through, and is working on multiple social media platforms. Watch with me and look forward to your thoughts.

Snowy ice skating in Keystone Commons

2011-01-08T15:24:00.000-06:00

Facebook out-searches Google

2011-01-02T19:39:00.003-06:00

Well actually here's the real statistics:

According to Hitwise (see press release here) - Facebook registered the most visits, although when you combine all google properties google still barely holds the overall lead. Facebook is also searched more often than any other term ... makes one wonder why so many people search the word Facebook?

Does this suggest that 2011 will be the year that Facebook advertising, Facebook fan and business pages, Facebook SEO will actually matter and be more than just a fad? Something like that I think.

rankings and more rankings

2010-11-29T11:18:00.008-06:00

I love rankings, and the arguments that inevitably come from taking a risk and throwing a ranking out there. So, with that in mind, here are a few on my mind today:

Most followed Facebook Pages in Northwest Indiana:

The 219 - 24,789 followers - frankly very spammy, no sense of community
The Region - 13,094 followers - again spammy, sad to see no community
ValpoLife.com - with 5,035 followers - first one I know of that has community, dialogue, and interaction
Porter County Animal Shelter - with 5,004 followers
The Times of NW Indiana - 4,207 followers - big surprise - broadcast oriented
Valparaiso University - 4.023 followers
Porter County Fair - 3,920 followers
Valparaiso, Indiana - 3,269 followers set up by mortgage lender Scott Swinford
Crown Point, Indiana - 3,401 followers another Scott Swinford page
Town of Chesterton - 3,302 followers, looks like actually Chesterton official page
East Chicago Hell Yeah - 3,159 followers, not official city site
Indiana 105 FM - 3,142 followers
Lake County Fair - 2,771 followers
Kelsey's Steakhouse - 2,138 followers
PortageLife.com - 1,952 followers
Valparaiso Family YMCA - 1060 followers

So, who am I missing? I'm sure there's at least one really big fan page out there somewhere that I'm just not connected to ... yet!

A New Media Daily Strategy

2010-11-01T19:37:00.007-05:00

Update: Speedblogger coming through - this is an interesting post by the way - and keep going for a few more posts to Home Builder Extra

I get the chance to moderate a Valparaiso University classroom discussion on new/social media each semester as the guest of Professor Scannell. The class is a required communication class for many majors, so the students vary in major and focus. Frankly one of my favorite mornings of the year.

One problem that I struggle with everytime I speak publicly is the challenge of limiting the material to something that is memorable and helpful. I've tried a historical perspective on communications, that was last semester and I bit off way too much by going all the way back to movable type .... yep typically I try to bite off way too much material for the hour or so I have with each of the two class groups.

This semester I thought I'd attempt to be much more practical. So the goal is to present a strategy, a daily routine if you will, for a new media adept young professional.

Fac ebook - perhaps the most active social network in history, with over 500 million active users. 50% of active users login at some time during the day. Average user has 130 friends. People spend 700 billion minutes per month on Facebook. Average user is connected to 80 community pages, groups and events. How can you use Facebook better to propel you to your goals? Daily Strategy - 5 mins quick in and quick out to check profile, home feed, birthdays, friend requests, messages, and top three groups/pages that actually engage. Leave at least one profile update ... always create content.

Texts - check nighttime texts from friends, relatives. Any changes to the day? I personally find that texts are the most personal of contacts, and in many ways the most important to read and return. Today text messaging is the most widely used mobile data service, with 74% of all mobile phone users worldwide or 2.4 billion out of 3.3 billion phone subscribers at end of 2007 being active users of the Short Message Service. I even got one text last nite from President Obama on a mass texting list that they set up during the 2008 elections and still use. Daily Strategy - respond on anything important, don't get drawn into conversations that aren't.

Handheld device - insert calendar changes, check meeting and appointments, check preset to do lists for the day. What's your preferred reminder procedure? Text, email, alarm on phone? Daily Strategy - maintain a calendar somewhere, one that schedules your day practically to accomplish everything. Plan for brainstorm and creative time.

Email - some would suggest that email isn't really new media, that it's an older form of digital communication. I disagree wholeheartedly. Email marketing alone is one of the fastest growing components of new media advertising and getting people to buy things. Simply put, email marketing is one of the places that we've actually seen success at the cash register. Daily Strategy - set up folders on your mail program. One for "Today", others for specific topics like a class or a project, and so on. At the beginning of the day review all read and unread emails from previous day, delete junk, move to project folders, and set get yesterday's "today" items accomplished or put on calender for today.

LinkedIN - are you using this site? If not, this is the single best place to put your online profile and resume. No, it's not as interactive as Facebook, but it's a whole lot more professional and your future or current boss will be on there soon. Daily Strategy - accept and reject friends daily, find 3 new connections every day, search for potential connections. I personally set up email alerts when someone is requesting to connect. Therefore when I'm reviewing my emails first thing in the morning, I can login and accept the connection request.

Favorite websites organized in RSS reader - what sites do you read everyday? The best thing you can do to save some time is learn to use an RSS reader. Google has one, but so do many other sites. Daily Strategy - set up RSS reader on computer or phone so that you can skim favorite sites and topics quickly, then share even to yourself the ones that you need to follow-up on. I do an entire planning system for my RSS reading and blog commenting.

Twitter - all the world a'twitter ... are you? Here's the best clue for using twitter. Use hashtag threads to find people, to converse, and to pick up ongoing conversations. In our area #nwindiana, #nwi, #valpo. Some topical #redin for conservatives, #bluein for liberals, #indiana for statewide, #indy for Indianapolis. #ff for people saying "follow my friends" typicall used on Fridays short for follow Friday. All these tags are searchable. Daily Strategy - check in twice a day on the hashtags you prefer to track, engage conversations through @replies or RT's. No one will want to follow you if you don't engage. Please please please don't just broadcast the headlines and links to your website or blog posts.

Foursquare

Flickr

YouTube

Google - are you using the extra searching tools?

Iphone (and BB/Droid) applications

New Media Today - NW Indiana

2010-09-29T15:08:00.004-05:00

I won't take the time to use a grading system today, just links and thoughts quickly as i jumped through my list. What are you reading today? In my quick perusal around the digital region I was a bit dismayed that commenting is down, bookmarking is down, posting is down, and frankly even tweets in the #nwindiana stream are down. Come on team, collaborate to dominate.

From Notre Dame an article on a recent SEO session. If you read about SEO a lot, nothing all that new. If you don't a good starter with some new concepts worth digging into.

From Steve DeWitt at Bethel. "I want to tell you a story from a few months ago. I’ve removed names but this story is true. There was a man visiting here from Tennessee visiting some family who are members of our church. They left to go back to Tennessee around 3 o’clock in the afternoon.

They got down just north of Indy when their car broke down. They were able to coast onto an exit and into a truck stop. He called his son up here and told him what happened. The son was here at the church for Saturday service. He mentioned it to a woman here. She told her husband. The husband lets the son know that he would be happy to let his dad use their Suburban and he would drive it down with another truck he could use to haul the broken-down car back to Crown Point."

(head over to the post and read the rest of the story)

Local Craft Brew Roundup - Post Tribune's Scott Bort

Figure Eight Brewing
~Brewing a Harvest Ale this Saturday with local hops fresh from a farm.
~On Tap: First Ascent , Ro Shampo, Camp 4 Brown Ale, Rye, Offwidth, Where Lizards, Twist Of F8 and Snake Pro IIPA

Crown Brewing
~On Tap: Replica Pale Ale, Special Forces IPA, Crown Light, Blueberry Light, Crown Brown, Kill'em Ale, Industrial Porter, Belgian Dubbel, Blueberry Wheat, Java Porter, Belgian Tripel
~The Marzen (Oktoberfest beer) will be on tap very very soon.
~City of CP and Crown is teaming up for an Oktoberfest Oct. 9 - 3-11pm on Main Street
~ Nov 13 is the Crown Challenge Homebrew Competition - get your home brew ready - more details to come.

OK, I've got grub worms at the house I'm trying to sell. Around Crown Point on how to get rid of them.

Mortgage Banker Robby Rud offers help for real estate professionals who need, just one more hour a day.

Blogger Illustrated continues a legacy of offering terrific free advice from a true expert in the field of inbound marketing and search engine optimization. Complete with videos and comments that read even more thorough than the original post often. Allyn had some changes to make, google made some SEO changes and it hurt his sites. See how they worked.

The Times is still trying to make their social site work, and posting blog type articles there based on stories in their magazines or newspapers. The 40 under 40 story was all over their publications this week, here's the my.nwi version.

Cody from Center Write Nation posted this in memory of 9-11. Never Forget!

From Christ Lutheran: "We Are Blessed to have members of Christ Lutheran Church in Valparaiso, IN that have time and talents to do wonderful things, like Design, Create and Install the stained glass windows in our new sanctuary! Won't you join us on Sundays in worship and experience the beauty for yourselves. All are welcome here! Until then, here is the story behind the meaning of each window behind the altar..

Oh well, got bored writing this post way before the middle of my target list. What posts did you enjoy today?

Ed Soliday | Standing Strong for Hoosiers in the 4th District

2010-08-24T14:52:00.000-05:00

Ed Soliday | Standing Strong for Hoosiers in the 4th District: "Serving Lake, Porter and Jasper Counties since 2006, Ed Soliday works on the Commerce, Energy, and Utilities Committee, the Roads and Transportation Committee, and the Technology, Research, and Development Committee. Ed and his wife Mary live in Valparaiso, where they raised their children, Jason and Lindsay. Jason graduated from Bradley University and Lindsay from Valparaiso University."

New Campaign Website - with blog rolling out Monday

2010-08-24T14:31:00.001-05:00

Successful promotions - Anatomy of Collaboration

2010-08-02T11:52:00.003-05:00

Cool title, and really was just going to spotlight two interesting stories we've been following and the highlights and lessons at first glance:

Amy Stark and the mini-social campaign. Here's her mini-social media campaign update. Many of you will remember Amy, she produced the Indiana Social Media Summit last December where some of our own influentia were recognized. She is the original idea behind using the #indiana tag on twitter, and wrote a book about her adventures and collaborative ventures on twitter. (I have a signed copy!) Recently we all worked together to help Amy get hired by @safesitter for a project. The long and the short was, she didn't! What?
I say Safesitter made a mistake, one they'll want to rectify soon. But most interestingly is the amount of interest in helping, in collaborating, in pushing her campaign. No one was paid, no one asked for anything in return. We all worked because we knew she would do the same for us.
Today Chris Hedges sends out a link on the #nwindiana stream that showcased a promotion by Fast Company magazine. Basically you promote the promotion, and you get credit for how many times people click your link, making you potentially the most influential! Sounds easy enough, and it's been going for a month already and from what I understand the big-wigs of social media thought it was stupid. Hmmm ... oh by the way here's Chris' link so you can help him out: Chris Hedges on Fast Company List
Here's my Fast Company List too, go ahead click it for fun.
So it's pretty easy to game, and with 5-6 clicks you jump in the rankings pretty fast. Sounds perfect for some promotional online activity and a whole bunch of complaining from the people who didn't think of it right?
Enter the pirates! Guy who controls a group called It Starts Here, is going to attempt to hijack the whole promotion, under the guise that it's time to do something good. Whatever that means, I love the idea that one promotion deserves a hijacking! There's something to be learned here folks. Ooops I guess it's called It Starts with Us, Ha funny. Hijacking the Fast Company Influence Project.

So what? So ... the promotion itself is now fading, but the hijacking is gaining steam in the last couple hours. It will get coverage and activity and links. Anyone think it's possible that Fast Company planned it that way? I do.

Music, talent, cornhole and fun at Sunset - get tickets

2010-07-27T05:44:00.001-05:00

Why is there a 3in1 Fest

Last year, we had a wonderful event at Sunset Hill called Prayz Dayz. We worked to raise some funds for Spring Valley Shelter while also providing an enjoyable time for the community. We received wonderful feedback from those in attendance. Last September, we began to start planning this year’s event. We found some folks to sponsor and grow the event. Things were looking great!

Then in late March, we felt the swift, sharp blade of the economy when we lost our sponsors, investor and I lost a contract which I was working on full time. It was quite a blow. There was a real desire to continue the event to at least maintain the momentum we had with the music festival, but pulling the pieces together and finding some base backing was challenging.

Then in May, some things started to happen. A local businessman stepped up with some funding to hire bands and reserve the park. Also around that time, I sat in a meeting with several pastors from Valpo. I listened to them talking about the challenges facing some of the churches, the PADS program and New Creation Men’s Center. Even in the difficult situation I found myself, I knew I was in a much better position than those who didn’t have a home for themselves or even a place to sleep each night. I knew the support of my family and my faith was there for me; something many of these men served by PADS and New Creation didn’t have.

I committed myself to doing something to help these men. The newly renamed 3in1 Fest would be a benefit to help tell their story (the story of one of these men) and raise funds for their programs. It only seemed appropriate that the event would use tithing as it’s basis for support. I committed that 10% of the gross proceeds would be given to New Creation. It’s a “first fruits” thing. If I am not committed to living in faith, I am not sure how I can expect my faith to carry me.

3in1 Fest is a designed to be an event anyone can come to. Ticket prices are as low as possible while still trying to cover the event costs. Because of our late start, and the challenges of our economy, sponsorship has been nearly impossible to pull together this year. Even with that, rather than get you there and then gouge you on parking, food and drinks, you can bring in a cooler with refreshments. Parking is free with pre-sale tickets. We will have vendors there with an array of food and treats.

Other vendors, artists and non-profits will be there to share their items and information. Folks from Porter County Parks will help people learn more about Sunset Hill Farm and other county parks to enjoy all-year round.

I hope you will join us for at least some portion of the day. While the many of the artists are Christian praise and worship bands, the blend of music should provide something most people will find enjoyable. Grab a partner, throw some ‘bags and maybe win some money. At the end of the day, I hope people see this as an opportunity to spend some time as friends and families, to be together as a community, absorb some nature and help some people who really need our support.

3in1 Fest is this Saturday, July 31. We’ll be there from 10:30a to 10p with music kicking off around 11 with the (tbd) Showcase.

Pre-sale tickets are available at Tickets TADA!. More information, visit 3in1Fest.com or call RG – (219) 405-3333.

Remember, tickets purchased by Friday include free parking and are discounted.

Tweetup Announcement

2010-07-23T19:44:00.000-05:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Valparaiso, IN. July, 22, 2010 - NWITweetup.com, Northwest Indiana’s social media networking and resource community, will be hosting their first annual Poker Run on July 29th, 2010 from 6pm-9pm+ along north Calumet Ave. in Valparaiso, IN. The poker run will start at Evelyn Bay Coffee Company at 6pm and will end at Billy Jacks Cafe & Bar at 8pm, followed by announcements and the awarding of prizes. Prizes include t-shirts from Valpo Life as well as gift certificates from Evelyn Bay Coffee Company, Phillip’s Ace Hardware, Cartronix and Majestic Jewelers. The grand prize is a Sonos Wireless multi-room music system courtesy of Cartronix.

Multiple drink specials from Billy Jacks Cafe and Bar will begin the mixer, accompanied by a soothing, live acoustic guitar performance from none other than Valparaiso mayor Jon Costas.

For more information, please visit http://www.nwitweetup.com/ or email finn@nwitweetup.com or dave@nwitweetup.com

About NWITweetup.com

NWITweetup is The Region’s community of social media marketers and enthusiasts. By using “tweetups”, NWITweetup helps traditional businesses learn about how to use online marketing to help their businesses, while at the same time providing a stimulating meeting place for area marketers and designers.

To learn more about the ins and outs of social media and online marketing in Northern Indiana, please visit http://www.nwitweetup.com/