Tampa Downtown Market

I’ve visited the market twice now, and it’s one of the best local markets I’ve been to. On my first visit, I bought the following (some for myself, some for Christmas gifts): soap made locally from goat’s milk, homemade semolina pasta with rosemary and garlic, apple curd, a CD-rom with Burgert Brothers historic photos of Tampa, fresh whole wheat bread and a mango banana smoothie. The second time, I got some grapefruit, a pastry and a smoothie. They also had homemade dog treats, loose leaf tea, coffee, olive oil, dips, local honey, handbags, jewelry, cigars, crepes, biscotti and vegetables. There was a wide variety, and all of the items were local. The vendors were also very nice and thankful for the support.

Some of the items were a little pricey, so it’s not something I can shop at on a regular basis. It’s also only open on Fridays from 10 – 2. I asked why it isn’t open on weekends and was told they don’t want to compete with the St. Petersburg Saturday market or the one in Ybor City. I think St. Pete is far enough away not to be of concern, and I like this one a lot better than the one in Ybor because of more variety. Hopefully they will expand some day so more people than those who work in downtown can enjoy it.

The only negatives were the cost of some of the items. I would also have liked to have seen fresh flowers there.

Overall, a great experience!
www.tampadowntownmarket.com

TBPAC Gives Back – $5 Tickets to show

Help the homeless this holiday season, and get a discounted ticket to a show!

Nov. 19 and 20, bring a non-perishable food item to the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center and receive a voucher to purchase a ticket to Steve Solomon’s My Sister’s an Only Child for $5. The comedy show plays in the Jaeb Theater Nov. 19 – 23.

Donations will be given to Metropolitan Ministries. In their 2008 fiscal year, Metropolitan Ministries:

• Sheltered 101 families
• Sheltered 38 single women
• Served over 20,000 outreach families with 61,500 children
• Provided over 21,000 families with holiday assistance

Come enjoy a show while helping the needy! www.tbpac.org

BarCamp Tampa Bay

I attended, and hosted, the first BarCamp in Tampa Bay this weekend. When I first read about BarCamp, I knew it was something I wanted to be associated with, and now that it’s over I’m really glad I was.

BarCamp is a different kind of event – one where open participation is encouraged and networking occurs in its rawest, most natural form. Although plenty of work went into the behind-the-scenes planning, it’s very much an ad-hoc gathering that was created from the desire for people to share and learn from one another. There are no keynote speakers, or even a pre-determined speaker lineup. The schedule is set the morning of the event based on what participants want to present and talk about, and what follows are intense discussions, demos and lots and lots of meaningful interaction. It’s exactly the kind of thing Tampa Bay needs in order to create a vibrant, more livable community.

The event went really well, especially for a first one. Attendance was a little lower than expected, and I’m not really sure why. Maybe people were not familiar with the concept. The people who did attend were extremely happy and seemed to get a lot out of it. The team of behind the scene coordinators was great to work with.

The first day, which focused on technical development, was a little over my head, but I learned a lot from new media day. I attended sessions like “How to Make Love to Your Customer” by Saul Colt of Freshbooks and “Insider’s Guide to New Media” by Brenda Young of Marbay Group.

Some nuggets:

• Never sell anything on Twitter. Always make it about other people. Freshbooks does some interesting things with Twitter to show the love to their customers.
• Use the same picture on all of your social media sites to build recognition.
• New media is not just another avenue to broadcast the same message.
• 50% of conversations about your company are taking place outside of your control.
• A new concept called “coworking” is emerging, where people who freelance or work from home get together at coffee shops and such to socialize, do work and share ideas.

Web sites I’m going to check out:

• twitter.com/tweetanswers – ask questions and get answers on Twitter
• tweepletwak.com – track who stops following you on Twitter
• kenradio.com – demographics for social media sites
• www.twitclicks.com – track clicks for your Twitter feed. This is a new program created by local BarCamper Kyle Graham.
• google.com/cse – create a custom search engine
• snackr – easily track newsfeeds
• codiris – plugin for pictures that allows you to scroll images in 3D