www.groceryoutlet.com
Grocery Outlet - Kennewick, WA

1325 W 4th Ave
Kennewick, WA 99336

The Tri-City Regional Chamber of Commerce had a ribbon cutting today for the Grocery Outlet. The business community showed up in force to celebrate. After all the photos were taken, those who attended were each given a bottle of wine and the store had set out some nice food platters and large cake. This was the first time in the three years I have been an Ambassador for the Chamber that we have received a full bottle of wine at a ribbon cutting. Definitely a tradition that needs to be encouraged!

According to the company’s website, the Kennewick Grocery Outlet carries brand name groceries, frozen foods, refrigerated items, housewares, health and beauty products, fine wines, and more. But, they offer these brand name products at 40% to 60% below traditional retailers.

I was pleasantly surprised at the wide selection of products available, including fresh fruit and fresh flowers. We will definitely be coming down here to do some more shopping. Best wishes to Dane and Jami Dorsey, the owner/operators of Kennewick’s Grocery Outlet. It sounds like they have quite a bit of experience in the grocery business. I think the location is perfect for a grocery store.

Here are some photos I took during the ribbon cutting. You can click on any of the photos to see a larger version:

As I continue my ‘book-a-week’ goal for 2010 I realized that it would be better to move my reviews and thoughts off to a separate blog for a couple of reasons that I will detail shortly. I am hoping to have it up and running in a week or so. I will put up a post once the new blog is fully operational. As I get the new blog set up, I will move older book posts to the new blog. I need to figure out how to do it ‘correctly’ so that folks who find an old link to the review will be pointed to the new blog and not just given a ‘post not found’ error.

The first reason I wanted to start a new book blog is because the posts could overwhelm the other content on this blog. Not that that would be a bad thing, but this blog is not set up as a book review blog. This blog is primarily for generic stuff I come across and do in the course of a day, be it personal or work related. If I find any one of these areas becoming a prime topic then they too might become a separate blog.

The second reason follows, a new blog would let me set it up with microformats that would make it easier to post reviews, quotes, etc. As I have been reading (and posted) about microformats it makes sense to have things set up so that I can fill in some blanks and let the blog do the work of keeping the format consistent as well as setting the stuff up for the search engines. If you look at the posts over at the new blog you will see they have a consistent look, and since all the ‘book data’, from the title and author to the ISBN and jacket cover, is stored in fields like a database for each post, if I change the book review template then all the old posts are updated too without me having to go back and fix them. This should make for a consistent look as well as allow me to tweak things as I learn ‘more and better’ ways of doing it.

The third reason follows from the second, a blog dedicated to just the books I am reading will do better with the search engines, bringing in those who are interested in books. Many who come now to a book post are probably not too sure about coming back to this blog because of its eclectic nature. If the new blog is just about books then they can follow it with their RSS reader or check back knowing they will not be bored by something about the latest program I have found for my Droid phone or a local business I visited as a member of the Chamber of Commerce.

Fourth, as I review books I receive requests to review more books. For the same reasons given in the previous paragraph, authors and publishers are less likely to ask me to review their books if the blog is not a ‘book blog’ and I don’t blame them. Making the new blog exclusively for books should help authors and publishers find me more easily as well as decide if they should send me a book (and I like free books).

Lastly, and very much related to the last two, Google likes homogeneity. If all the posts are about books then it knows what kind of ads to serve. Someone reading my post about a new book does not care to see ads about something totally unrelated but was served up because Google hadn’t yet figured out what this post was about. And I don’t need all the ads on this blog to be aimed at readers and writers because Google thinks that what this blog is about. So with a separate blog, readers of each blog should see ads that are more appropriate to what they came for and what they are reading. And yes, I do like getting a check from Google each month. It has never been enough to do anything more than take my wife out once or twice a month but it is nice to get (and I can dream of hitting it big).

There is still lots of work to do on the new blog. I am still working on the general design and have to get all the WordPress plugins installed that I have found useful as well as setting up the sidebars. Probably will look a lot like this one for now (and probably get tempted to update the theme of this blog while I am at it). One thing I will be doing is keeping a log of the changes I make and reasons for doing so on the new blog so that when I do decide to create a new blog or update this one I don’t have to remember how I did what I did but can go back and read my notes.

www.FocalPointMarketing.com
Focal Point Marketing & Multimedia

8551 W Gage Blvd, Suite K
Kennewick, WA 99336

The Tri-City Regional Chamber of Commerce had a ribbon cutting today for Focal Point Marketing & Multimedia. There was a large turnout for this event. Of course it never hurts attendance when wine and h’orderves are served!

Located next to Tony Romas near Costco, this new Tri-City business combines state-of-the-art technology with industry-proven marketing strategies to maximize marketing budget value. Focal Point specializes in almost everything marketing: strategy, media productions, web vignettes, print media, branding, broadcast placement, electronic press kits, communications, and web design. Their facility houses a fully equipped HD digital post suite, a media design center, and a first-rate sound booth. The design center not only has a state-of-the-art production studio but also has a 30-foot green screen.

I was impressed by the equipment they had out on display. Besides the video and computer hardware, the steadicam video camera looked quite impressive. Here is wishing them the best of luck in their new endeavor!

Last night was the 5th annual Second Harvest Tri-Cities signature fund raising event, “Taking a Bite Out of Hunger” at the Three Rivers Convention Center in Kennewick. What better way to raise money to fight hunger than bringing together hundreds of individuals and businesses for a silent auction and food tastings from different local restaurants as well as wine and beer. My wife, Von, and I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. This is the 3rd year that our office has purchased a table at the event and we are looking forward already to attending again next year.

Nineteen of the areas finest restaurants provided samples of their signature dishes. But to call them samples is to do them injustice. I am not sure I was able to visit all the restaurants’ tables before I was overfull. I should have skipped breakfast and dinner!

I did have a glass of wine early in the evening but soon found the microbrewery table. Five area microbreweries supplied one of their brews on tap. The Atomic Amber was the darkest beer available and so was my first choice and I was not disappointed. Later, when I returned for more I realized this was a perfect opportunity to try them all. Over the course of the evening I “forced” myself to accomplish this daunting task. Of the remaining four brews the one that stood out was the “Steamy Cream” from Prosser’s Whitstran Brewing

The entertainment for the evening was a fun performance by Danny Vernon as “The Illusion of Elvis”. I tried to get Von to have her photo taken with him but she must be allergic to Elvis cause when he came near our table during part of the performance she disappeared faster than I could pull out my camera.

While taking a bite, all who attended also were able to take a bite out of hunger in our local area by bidding on items in a silent auction as well as purchasing items outright. All the money raised is used locally to help those in need. Von bought a ‘grab box’ with three bottles of wine for $50 and I purchased a John Clement print of the Wallula Gap and Two Sisters for $395. Nice to be able to help and enjoy ourselves at the same time.

Fighting Hunger, Feeding Hope

From the 2nd Harvest website:

Second Harvest Tri-Cities brings community resources together to feed people in need through empowerment, education and partnerships.

• Since opening in 1997, Second Harvest Tri-Cities has increased food distribution and improved services to people in need throughout the Columbia Basin.
• The 5,000-square-foot warehouse in Kennewick distributed 2.7 million pounds, including 1.5 million pounds of fresh produce and other perishable products, last year.
• More than 80 partner charities, including neighborhood food banks and meal centers, receive food to provide to people in need.

Second Harvest Tri-Cities is committed to ensuring a safe and nutritious supply of food is available to families, children and seniors in need in our neighborhoods. Thanks to generous community partners, Second Harvest is able to provide six pounds of donated food for every dollar donated. This makes every donation to Second Harvest a valuable investment in fighting hunger and feeding hope.