Last month I had been invited to be on media panel at the Deschutes County offices, as the resident blogging expert representing how blogging and "new media" are becoming more prevalent in news and reporting and such. (The "expert" notion is up for debate, of course. I just do what I do.) The panel was to supplement media communications training for County employees and was held today—and I have to say, it was interesting and enlightening, and definitely something I'd do again if asked.

With me on the panel were Barney Lerten, of KTVZ; Heather Roberts, of KOHD; Heidi Hagemeier, of the Bulletin; and R.L. Garrigus from the Bend Radio Group. I've known Barney from back when he was still Bend.com, and had known of the others but not met them before. All very nice folks, and I was pleasantly surprised to find out they were already familiar with Hack Bend(!).

For the most part, it was as much a learning experience for me as for the County employees, I suspect; I talked a bit about the blogging aspect of things as it pertains to media and reporting and communication, but to a large extent I just listened to the others, all of whom come from more established channels with much more background than I.

And a big thanks to Anna Johnson, the Public Communications Coordinator with the County, for inviting me and arranging it all. Thanks!

Yes, it's a bit short on notice, but this Wednesday, April 30th, is another local blogger get-together. This time it's being held at the The Summit Saloon and Stage, downtown in the old O'Kane Building at 125 NW Oregon Avenue.

It starts at "5:30ish" and the "official" description I have to pass on is:

The first blogger meetup was a big success! Since then there's been a lot of growth and new folks have popped up in our local "blogosphere". Meetups like this are a nice chance for all of us to gather, unwind, and put some faces together with the blogs.

This event is primarily intended for bloggers who wish to meet other bloggers. If you don't have a blog, then this may not be the get-together for you. So, if you just can't stand not being there and don't already have a blog... what are you waiting for?!

I'll be there for sure. Will you?

Women who undergo routine mammograms at Bend Memorial Clinic now have the latest diagnostic technology available to them, digital mammography. BMC’s Mammography Department features a state-of-the-art system, Selenia™ digital mammography machine from Hologic®.

BMC is very excited to be able to offer the newest technology for breast cancer detection. Digital mammography is different from conventional mammography in how the image of the breast is viewed and, more importantly, manipulated. The radiologist can magnify the images, increase or decrease the contrast and invert the black and white values while reading the images. These features allow the radiologist to evaluate microcalcifications and focus on areas of concern.

Digital mammography feels identical to conventional screening from a patient’s perspective, though women may notice shorter exam times and a reduction in call-backs to obtain additional images. Demand for digital mammography is high, and women are excited and pleased that BMC offers this state-of-the-art technology.

To schedule a digital mammography at BMC call 541-382-4900.

About BMC:
Bend Memorial Clinic includes over 80 providers representing 15 branches of medicine and 30 service specialties. It is the largest multi-specialty group east of the Cascades and functions as a comprehensive referral center for physicians and communities throughout the state. The clinic has provided primary and specialty care since 1946.

Tuesday, April 29th, is Free Cone Day from Ben & Jerry's. From noon until 8pm, you can head down to Ben & Jerry's down in the Old Mill District and snag some ice cream.

Also on hand will be Healthy Beginnings, answering questions about their free medical screenings for kids.

Maybe I should turn this "Weird Find" into a series.

Anyway, came across this freaky sculpture in the Old Mill District:

There was a bunch of other art pieces all over the area, but this one was by far the craziest. A little card attached says you can buy it for $1000. Sure.

I just blogged about Gusto's Best Of survey the other day, and now Bend Living has their Best of Bend 2008 survey up! Now all we need is The Source or KTVZ or some other sort-of-official-sounding entity to run a third "Best Of" list and it'll be a perfect storm!

You think I'm kidding. But I'm not.

(Well, okay. Maybe a little.)

(Maybe I should run a Hack Bend Best of Bend survey. That would be too good.)

(Eh. Maybe later.)

Saw this today when I was going to the bank:

Yes, the "Bend Master Assassin Tournament." It was stuck to one of the free newspaper boxes you see downtown.

And yes, the MySpace address is live, too. I'm not sure what to make of it. It sounds like it could be fun, but it's very surreal.

These are just distillations from a number of press releases I've received from the Nature of Words lately.

First:

Bend author and Nature of Words patron, David "D.H." Burns, reports that he is working with a Hollywood producer on a film treatment for Burns' novel, "Day Follow Night: From Chaos To Redemption."

The link above takes you to Amazon, but the release notes that the book is available at The Book Barn as well.

Next:

Central Oregon Community College's Word Cafe will feature local cowboy poets Ted Lyster and Don Crowell on Thursday, April 24, 2008. The event, which starts at 7:00 p.m., will take place in the COCC Robert L. Barber Library, Second Floor Reading Room. The Word Cafe is free and open to the public.

Sounds like it could be fun. Apparently Cowboy Poetry is (traditionally) recited from memory, rather than read aloud. I wasn't aware of that—interesting.

Also, light refreshments will be available.

Finally, a writing contest for young writers:

With the May 10th submission deadline looming, young writers are encouraged to power up their laptops and email their best creative writing to The Nature of Words. The competition is open to writers in two age categories: 15-18 and 19-25. Winners of the competition receive their awards at The Nature of Words' annual literary festival, Bend, Oregon, scheduled for November 5-9, 2008. Prizes will be awarded in fiction, literary nonfiction and poetry. First place winners will receive a $100 cash prize, recognition at the November ceremony, and a scholarship to one of The Nature of Words workshops in their winning genre.

There is a $5 entrant fee, and the full details are available on the NoW's Writing Contest page.

Over on the Blacksmith Restaurant blog today, Paul points out their new wine tasting Wednesdays:

Here’s a low-cost opportunity to taste great wines with guidance from experts. The Blacksmith Restaurant has started Wednesday Tastings after work, and each month spotlights a different beverage....

Cost is $10 to taste approximately eight wines, and every week will feature different vineyards, varietals, vertical tastings and other fun ways to experience the beauty of the bottle.

Not quite as free as Newport Market's Thirsty Thursdays, but $10 isn't bad either. Looks like they start at 5pm.

Having cancer is hard, finding help shouldn’t be. That’s why together the American Cancer Society and the Bend Memorial Clinic joined forces to open a Cancer Resource Center to serve our community right here in Bend.

At the center, dedicated American Cancer Society volunteers help cancer patients, survivors and caregivers navigate through the vast amount of cancer information and patient services that’s available to them during any stage of their cancer experience.

Come see what the Cancer Resource Center is all about! Join us for an open house Thursday, April 17th as we celebrate our one-year anniversary with the community, at Bend Memorial Clinic, Cancer Resource Center located at 1501 NE Medical Center Drive. Festivities will begin at 11am and continue until 1pm.

You know by now that I'm a sucker for the whole "Best Of" and "Top X" lists that pop up every year, so naturally I had to post this.

Bend Oregon Restaurants points to this year's Gusto Magazine's Best of 2008 survey page, where you can go vote on the best restaurants and such in town. BOR already posted his picks—so what are yours?

I got the email for this earlier in the month and it slipped by me: check out Free Kibble, a website dedicated to providing dog food to the Humane Society of Central Oregon based on the amount of user traffic and interaction the site gets. Basically, you visit the site and answer the trivia question and—right or wrong—they will donate 10 pieces of kibble to the HSCO.

It's much like the FreeRice website, but what's doubly interesting about this one is that it was created by an 11-year-old:

Mimi Ausland, an 11 year old girl from Bend, Oregon, wanted to help feed the hungry dogs at her local animal shelter. "There are 10's of thousands of dogs in animal shelters across the country, all needing to be fed a good meal." Say hello to freekibble.com!

freekibble.com's primary mission is to provide good, healthy dog food to these shelters who are working so hard to see that no dog goes hungry - they need our help. Our goal is to start with providing free kibble to our local Humane Society, and to expand from there - from one shelter to the next... The generous advertisers on freekibble.com make this possible!

Since April 1st, the site site says they've donated 82,550 pieces of kibble so far.

This summer, two major parking lots downtown will no longer be free.

The city of Bend will eliminate free parking in its two Mirror Pond parking lots this summer and install an electronic “pay and display” system instead, Jeff Datwyler, the city’s downtown manager, announced Wednesday at a meeting of the Bend Downtowners Association.

Currently, the city allows two hours of free parking in the lots, which are on the north and south sides of the Mirror Pond Gallery on Brooks Street. Users who stay longer are required to pay $1 for each additional hour by inserting money into a nearby drop box.

Datwyler said by eliminating free parking in the lots, it will force employees to park elsewhere, freeing up space for visitors who are likely to spend money in downtown businesses. Datwyler said the average retail customer stays downtown for 90 minutes.

I think this is a terrible, terrible idea. In my opinion one of downtown Bend's great strengths is the free-for-two-hour parking that we have everywhere, even if it is (ab)used by people who work downtown. It makes it easy and inviting to visit, and more likely for visitors to spend money there... whereas, I think converting those lots to paid parking will have the opposite effect: visitors will be less likely to spend money downtown—if they even stay downtown because they can't find free (and quick and easy) parking.

Duncan nails it (and even has a comment already proving my previous point):

I really, really hate this idea.

"Datwyler said by eliminating free parking in the lots, it will force employees to park elsewhere, freeing up space for visitors who are likely to spend money in downtown businesses."

Park elsewhere? Gee, I wonder where? Maybe where there is FREE PARKING?

Visitors likely to spend money? You mean tourists, don't you? What about destination customers who want to park, go in and do their business, and leave? Not spend 90 minutes browsing downtown shops?

So this will just guarantee that no one who actually lives here will actually shop in downtown Bend? (It's bad enough, already.)

...In any event, I don't think it will work. The people who move their cars every two hours (known by all as, 'parking tag') aren't going to change now...they'll just move the arena to the rest of downtown — to the parking spots on my street, for instance, to the spots in front of my store!

Something I didn't see mentioned: what about the Farmer's Market during the summer? It's held every Wednesday right there at the top of Drake Park adjacent to the Mirror Pond parking lot, and all those vendors use the parking lot to load/unload their products (and park). Will there be a special exemption made for them? Or will they be charged (something I could certainly see making them move the Farmer's Market elsewhere)? What about other festivals/events?

Overall, I'm not against paid parking—but I think if Bend wants to go that route, there should be new lots built instead of converting the existing (and already scarce) downtown free parking to paid.

Funny how all the business owners and visitors quoted in the above article don't like the idea. Add me to that group, too.

This is fun... probably most everyone has seen the famous "Earth's City Lights" picture NASA had published a number of years ago: a composite of satellite imagery showing the amount of light being given off at night across the world. Very cool (makes a great screensaver, too).

Yesterday a user sent me a link to this YouTube video: "Cities at Night, an Orbital Tour Around the World". It's from some Saturday morning science show, apparently, and pretty much is what it says: shows various cities at night—rather, the "night light version" of the city. At 7:50 into the video, they show Bend:

"Bend, Oregon. Rural areas are interesting not from what is seen, but rather, what is not seen, at all."

I just like this because it's the only image of Bend of this kind that I've found that isn't just a giant blurry dot of light (as in the NASA photos).

I've been seeing ads for KTVZ "Mark It Place" online classifieds lately, and tonight finally took a look at what they're offering.

The problem, of course, with this or any other similar endeavor is the 800-pound gorilla in the room—namely, craigslist. There is simply no competing with them; not only do they offer completely free and anonymous classified ads on any topic you can imagine, but they make it dead simple to create a posting without even requiring a registration process—all you need is a valid email.

And while it's not winning any design contests, it's also not cluttered with all sorts of excess graphics and Flash cruft, so it's fast and readable. Add all of these factors together, and there's really no getting around it: Everybody uses it, and everybody will continue to use it.

So, back to KTVZ's site. First, it's not hosted on their actual site, instead it's outsourced to "adpay.com"—a site that offers online classified services. Second, it requires user registration to post ads. Third, while the graphics on the site aren't bad, they are big and there's a considerable amount of scrolling to take in all the various categories (craigslist manages to nearly fit them all on one screen).

Finally... there's just not that many postings, which can be a death knell for such a site. I know this seems like a nit-picky thing to point out, but it's the kind of thing that I would check out, see that there's not much activity, and very likely not return.

Two things I notice that differentiate a bit from craigslist: first, the ability to create "alerts" for searches, which I imagine sends you an email when new items appear. Second, the ability to bookmark listings into a Watchlist. Both require registration and/or login.

Really, I didn't start this post with the intention to hammer on KTVZ, I rather think that an online classifieds portion of their site is a natural progression for them. But there's nothing here that I see that really does anything new or different or better than craigslist.

(Plus, why "Mark It Place" rather than "Marketplace"? I don't get it.)

The third Saturday of this month is the Deschutes Public Library's Spring Book Sale. All the usual details apply; it's taking place at the Library Administration Building basement at 507 NW Wall Street downtown. Date is Saturday, April 19th, time is from 10am until 4pm. Get there early for the best selections; I believe hardbacks and large-formats are $1, paperbacks are 50 cents, and kids books are $1 per inch (stacked), but don't quote me on that.

I was going to blog about the Bulletin's E-edition (online pay-to-read news) finally offering free access to paid dead-tree subscribers (which I reported as a rumor here), but there's really nothing I can say that will top Jake's post. So go read that instead. The headline alone is worth it.

On my way home from work yesterday I noticed that Silver Moon Brewing was getting a new sign installed, one of those types that you can stick letters to so as to post events and specials and such. Nothing flashy, but it catches the eye when you're driving on Greenwood.

So I did what any self-respecting blogger (with too much time on his hands?) would do: took pictures today.

Live music tonight. Just so you know.

Actually I think the sign snazzes up the facade a bit... the building itself is a little rough around the edges, but this helps. Here's a picture with a little more context:

This Friday, April 4th, is First Friday in Downtown Bend and the Old Mill District: when the art galleries stay open late, from 5 to 9pm, offering receptions, special exhibits, and in some cases, music and refreshments (wine!).

But wait! There's more!

This Friday is also the Spring Art Hop—think of it as an amped-up First Friday, where a bunch of downtown stores (not just galleries) are participating and displaying art. Check out the PDF brochure from the Downtowners Association to see a list of all the participants.

Other things going on that night, coinciding with First Friday/Art Hop:

• Bistro Corlise will be hosting another Open House during Art Hop:
  916 NW Wall St.
  Friday, April 4, 5-7pm
  Complimentary wine and hors d'oevres.
  Dinner reservations available after 7pm.
  For reservations and info, visit www.BistroCorlise.com or call 385-6979.
• Thump Coffee will be open late, featuring music and wine:
  "For Art Hop on Friday, April 4 Thump Coffee will stay open until 9:00 pm, pouring complimentary wine and showcasing the [solo acoustical] guitar talents of Thump barista James Simmons. Though Simmons took up the instrument himself only a decade ago while in his 20s, music runs deep in his blood. His father Larry played for the Grand Ole Opry and toured with top country musicians, and grandfather Buddy, uncle Don and cousin Dean are all professional musicians."
• The Des Chutes Historical Museum will feature "a unique look at Bend's changes through paintings created by local artist Judy Hoiness." They will also be serving food and a chance to buy one of 12 signed prints by Western artist James Bama.

Plus lots more going on. Don't miss it!

Let's see, a year ago, in April 2007, I blogged about:

• Wildfire Brewing began officially brewing beer.
• Fyreflyte came out of retirement for a fundraiser show (at least I think this was after they had "disbanded").
• Restaurant fundraisers for Tyler Eklund
• We found out China Hat Road is a dangerous place.
• The Cave House!
• Bend's first men's salon opened.
• I posted a lunch review of Hola! (it was still new).