(hhhhhmmmm, below is what was oringally posted on the Fenton Chamber web site)

Taste In Fenton CANCELED

2009 Taste In Fenton has been canceled due to bad weather. All participating restaurants will honor all taste tickets at a value of $1.00 per coupon. If you purchased tickets online you may pick up your tickets at the chamber office.

http://www.fentonchamber.org/taste/

(previously known as the Taste of Fenton)

This popular taste event showcases the delicious menus from local restaurants. This year’s event will be held in partnership with “Art at the Center”, the annual arts festival sponsored by the Fenton Kiwanis Club (on the grounds of the Fenton Community Center)

NEW this year – FREE “Little Chefs” KidZone

Participating Restaurants To Date

Friday July 10 …… BRIAN SHRAM BAND!  With 60 Second Crush and Frequency 54

Saturday July 11 …… The Jon Fett Quartet

Monday July 13 …… Russell Wayne

Thursday July 16 ….. Crop Circle

Friday July 17 …… King Moon Racer

Saturday July 18 …… King Moon Racer

Monday July 20 ……..  Russell Wayne

TUESDAY JULY 21^st thru SATURDAY JULY 25^th

MO DOGGIE’S PROUDLY PRESENTS THE 10^th ANNUAL

~~ DOG DAZE OF SUMMER !!! ~~~

~ 22 AMAZING BANDS IN 5 CRAZY NIGHTS !! ~

Tuesday July 21 ….. Nuroksol – Lester Bangs – Whigville and Choice Meats

Wednesday July 22 …… Arcadia – Striking South – Jones-N – Hard Drive

Thursday July 23 ….. Crop Circle – Crash Landing – Midnight Rendezvous’ – Morgan Lane

Friday July 24 …… 10 Inch Skillet – Sour Jane – Frequency 54 – Chrome Mollie – Konniption Fit

Saturday July 25 …… 60 Second Crush – Squealer! ( AC/DC Tribute Band) The Jon Fett Quartet – Mound Road Engine – Forte’

Monday July 27 …… Russell Wayne

Thursday July 30 ….. Crop Circle

Friday July 31 …… Nuroksol

KARAOKE Every Tuesday Night Too !!!

THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT OF “LIVE” MUSIC And MUSICIANS !!

Where: Bush Park

What: A Picnic with a FREE 175 foot banana split from Uncle Ray’s

Why: To Celebrate Fenton’s 175th Birthday

Start the picnic festivities at Bush Park around 5:00 PM and watch as workers and volunteers help Dave Durant and Todd Durant of Uncle Ray’s Dairyland assemble an incredible 175 foot banana split and share it FREE with community.  The banana split eating should start around 7 :00 PM.  This is going to something to see for sure!!

Friday and Saturday July 3 and 4 ……. The Hitman

Monday July 6 …… Russell Wayne

Thursday July 9 …… Crop Circle

Friday July 10 …… BRIAN SHRAM BAND!  With 60 Second Crush and Frequency 54

Saturday July 11 …… The Jon Fett Quartet

Monday July 13 …… Russell Wayne

Thursday July 16 ….. Crop Circle

Friday July 17 …… King Moon Racer

Saturday July 18 …… King Moon Racer

Monday July 20 ……..  Russell Wayne

TUESDAY JULY 21^st thru SATURDAY JULY 25^th

MO DOGGIE’S PROUDLY PRESENTS THE 10^th ANNUAL

~~ DOG DAZE OF SUMMER !!! ~~~

~ 22 AMAZING BANDS IN 5 CRAZY NIGHTS !! ~

Tuesday July 21 ….. Nuroksol – Lester Bangs – Whigville and Choice Meats

Wednesday July 22 …… Arcadia – Striking South – Jones-N – Hard Drive

Thursday July 23 ….. Crop Circle – Crash Landing – Midnight Rendezvous’ – Morgan Lane

Friday July 24 …… 10 Inch Skillet – Sour Jane – Frequency 54 – Chrome Mollie – Konniption Fit

Saturday July 25 …… 60 Second Crush – Squealer! ( AC/DC Tribute Band) The Jon Fett Quartet – Mound Road Engine – Forte’

Monday July 27 …… Russell Wayne

Thursday July 30 ….. Crop Circle

Friday July 30 …… Nuroksol

KARAOKE Every Tuesday Night Too !!!

Uncle Ray's Dairyland

Uncle Ray’s Dairyland of Fenton is named one of the top 10 ice cream places in all of Michigan.  See the video clips of the featured segments on ABC local channel 12 where Dave Durant and Todd Durant whip up some interesting flavor combinations for Mark.

http://abclocal.go.com/wjrt/video?id=6831643

http://abclocal.go.com/wjrt/story?section=news/local&id=6831847

The coffee and doughnut ice cream was a hit!  The strawberry and chocolate covered bacon ice cream was an acquired taste.  And although a deluxe olive burger from Halo Burger is yummy delicious on it’s own, this was the least favorite of the unique flavor combinations explored by Channel 12 news.   The yummiest and most visually appealing, however, must have been the “fried egg on toast” breakfast treat.  See for yourself with the video links above.

Uncle Ray’s Dairlyand is slated to produce a 175 foot banana split at Fenton’s 175th birthday celebration later on this summer.

Get yours today as a souvenir or a gift for only $14.99 plus S&H!

The following is reprinted with permission from the author, Stacy L:
http://www.thatdamnredhead.net/2009/03/10/the-internet-is-one-big-expo-what-is-your-booth-like/

This past weekend I helped out at the annual Fenton Community Expo, which is a pretty big deal around here. It’s organized by the Fenton Regional Chamber, and gets bigger and bigger every year. Last year we had over 5,000 attendees, and though official numbers have yet to be released, I’m sure we got a heck of a lot more, thanks in part to free admission (courtesy of The State Bank) and free cake (courtesy of VG’s) to commemorate the Expo’s 25th anniversary.

If you’ve never been to a community expo, it’s a lot like a trade show, in that different businesses set up booths in a big area (in this case, the Fenton High School gym and halls) and showcase their products and services to attendees. Except in a community expo there really isn’t an underlying theme (electronics, for example) — it’s a pot pourri of local businesses in the community. Everything from banks to optometrists to makeup people to funeral homes to people selling astroturf. There are drawings, a petting zoo, derby races, entertainment I never pay attention to, and lots of free promotional swag. Most people in the community go to enter the various drawings held and get the free stuff. Oh yeah, and to check out the local businesses and organizations there.

As I wandered around the expo after my half-day shift of selling 50/50 raffle tickets, I couldn’t help but notice that a business expo was a lot like the internet. (Hear me out on this one, k?)

Attendees of the expo were walking around, browsing the different businesses who had set up booths. Think of the attendees as internet users, and the businesses’ booths as their websites and/or social media presences.

I noticed that there were three different kinds of booth:

Booths that had great displays but barely any people at them.
Booths that had OK displays that had some people at them.
Booths that had so many people at them that you couldn’t even see their displays.
Booths in Category #1 had one or two people at them just standing there, or perhaps sitting, watching people walk by. Some people maybe took a brochure or a pen that was sitting on a table, but there was very little, if any, engagement between the business and the passers-by. These booths reminded me of those businesses with the “build it and they will come” mentality, those who think that if they have a great looking website, that’s all they need and business should flock to them. Only, it doesn’t. Why? Because they’re doing nothing to engage with their visitors. Having a pretty site and a contact form that says “start a conversation” on your website is the equivalent of having a pretty display booth but just sitting there passively, expecting people to come talk to you. Guess what? Prospective customers aren’t likely to talk to you if you don’t talk to them first. (Believe it or not, the local funeral home’s booth was more lively than these ones.)

Booths in Category #2 were the most common. Their displays weren’t stellar but that didn’t matter — they were at least talking to people who walked by, handed them some information about their company, and in addition to a raffle, they usually had some kind of promotional item a little less common than a pen — maybe a chip clip, maybe a koozie, a coffee cup, a pad of sticky notes — something a little more memorable and useful. These are the businesses who might get some new customers after the expo, but no guarantees and really, they’re just happy to be there and happy to get whatever exposure they can. Paralleling this to the web, these would be the businesses who not only had a website but were minimally active in social media, perhaps they had a Facebook page and/or a blog and/or a Twitter account, but they’re not as active as they probably could be.

Then there were a few booths in Category #3 who are the rock stars of the expo. They’re the ones that have all the other exhibitors jealous and wishing all those people were at their booth. My buddy Raul is one of those exhibitors — you literally have to stand on your tippy-toes to see what all the fuss is about at his booth. Raul is the marketing manager for Financial Plus Credit Union, and every year hoards of kids and adults gather ’round the FPCU booth and play games for some pretty cool prizes. Everybody working at the booth is talking to everybody that walks by and nobody is bypassed. This year, he brought a Wii and kids were waiting in line to play. What does playing Wii have to do with a credit union? Nothing, really, but when it comes time for local kids to get their first checking account, which of the 20+ banks and credit unions in the area do you think the kids are going to remember? That’s right — Financial Plus. I’m not much for video games but I played a trivia game and won a pen like no other — it’s some kind of hybrid ergonomic pen/hi-lighter/laser-shooter deal that’s unlike any writing utensil I’ve ever seen. (OK, so it doesn’t shoot lasers, but it might as well.)

My favorite dentist, Dr. Patty, is another of the expo rock stars every year. Though she usually doesn’t have quite the crowd that Raul has, every year she and her hygienists are there making balloon animals, talking to people, and educating them about good dental hygeine at the same time. This year she was giving away entire dental hygiene kits for kids that included a toothbrush, floss, stickers, mouthwash, the whole nine yards. Dr. Patty is a dentist and kids and parents alike flock to her booth. Kids are generally afraid of dentists, but Dr. Patty breaks the mold and appeals to them.

Expo rock stars like Raul and Dr. Patty know that the secrets to having a popular booth, thus a popular business, are content and engagement. And this is no different from the web. If you have great content and engage with your audience online, you are bound to have a stronger presence and thus more business. Think HubSpot. Think Cision. Think David Meerman Scott. Heck, think Urbane Apartments. Chock-full of content and engagement. It’s no wonder they’re regarded as top dogs in their respective fields.

If your web presence were comparative to an expo or trade show, which category do you think it would fall into? Would you be an expo rock star like Raul or Dr. Patty, or would you be the business with a great display and a booth that everybody walked by? If you’ve ever participated in a similar event, which of the three categories of booths did you belong to?