Harrisburg Young Professionals Launch New Website

If you haven’t already noticed, the Harrisburg Young Professionals (HYP) have successfully launched a completely new website. The update to HYP.org was a long time coming, and Factory 44 did an exceptional job with making the site as clean and user friendly as possible. Users can now find brief descriptions of events and news about HYP happenings right on the homepage, including links to other sites where HYP has a growing online presence like Facebook, twitter, Myspace, and LinkedIn.

Other helpful aspects of the site include information about committees, both HYP and community events (a la Spotobe.com), community links, and a classifieds section with real estate and job notices.

If you’re not familiar with HYP, they are “a group of young, active, civic-minded professionals who have a clear vision of Harrisburg’s future as a great place to live, work, and play.” It’s a membership organization that is host to a number of committees, events, social gatherings, sports leagues, book clubs, and much more. For only $30 you can obtain membership for a whole year in addition to a discount card good for a number of Harrisburg businesses.

If you’re curious about the organization, they hold a monthly social open to both members and non-members, usually at a pub in downtown Harrisburg on the second Wednesday of the month. I can speak from my own experience, HYP is a great way to network, make new friends, and have fun in the process. Check out their new website to learn more!

The Cure for the Common Job Fair

So you need a new job or perhaps you’re in the hunt for that perfect internship, but you hate those mundane job fairs in the school gymnasium that always seem so awkward? I’m with you, I too have been to countless job fairs in the standard format and I’ve got so say I never really looked forward to them.

Out of this dilemma a new format for the standard job fair was born- Experience Harrisburg. Structured like a pub crawl, this annual career fair places 40 employers inside 9 different downtown locations all within walking distance of each other, then with the help of tour guides from the Harrisburg Young Professionals, participants are lead around the city to spend 15 minutes at each venue networking with employers, trying food, and just enjoying a night out. Not to mention we throw in free pizza and $1,000+ in prizes at the final location of the evening, Dragonfly Club.

This is the second year I’ve had the pleasure of planning the event, and I actually did the whole thing myself 3 years ago as a student, so I’m pretty familiar with the format and I’ve got to say I’m really excited about this year’s event. It’s taking place Thursday, October 23rd, from 5:30pm-9:30pm and kicks off at the Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts. We’ll also be placing employers inside the Susquehanna Art Museum, Stock’s on 2nd, the Quarter, Molly Brannigans, McGrath’s Pub, the Harrisburg Visitors Center, the International House, and Temple University Harrisburg. I’ve done about everything I could think of to make this event fun and productive for everyone involved, I hope you check it out.

Restaurant Review: Bricco, 31 S. 3rd Street, Harrisburg

After winning a $50 gift card from a contest facilitated by local events calendar Spotobe.com, my lovely girlfriend and I stopped in for a romantic evening at Bricco. I will say that I’ve been here a number of times for lunch and always left impressed, but I still had this feeling that somehow the place was over hyped.

I could not have been more wrong.

If you’ve never been inside Bricco, the place has a classy and modern New York City type of feel to it. You quickly feel relaxed and comfortable as you peruse the menu and extensive wine list. The lighting, music, and pace of the restaurant is just perfect. Our server for the evening was nothing less; attentive, courteous, and knowledgeable of every single aspect of the drink and food menus. Very impressive, in fact, I’ll go so far as to say I’ve never had better service anywhere, ever.

After a few complimentary samples from the wine list we decided on drinks and focused our attention to appetizers. We decided on 3 cold small plates, similar to tapas; house made pickled vegetables, grilled asparagus, and eggplant with raisins, pine nuts, and roasted peppers. All three dishes were exquisite, and I especially enjoyed the pickled vegetables, they were just exceptional and bursting with flavor.

Following the appetizers, I decided on the Bricco Bolognese and my counterpart ordered the Sage Pappardelle. Wow. I can hardly express how impressed I was with the quality and flavor of these extraordinary dishes. The Bricco Bolognese was a combination of house made sausage, meatballs, pancetta, chicken, mortadella, tomato sauce and polenta that was just amazing down to the very last bite. The portion was rather large and loaded with meat but believe me there was not a bite spared when all was said and done. The Sage Pappardelle was a more delicate dish, but no less incredible. The raised duck, red wine and pancetta ragout just melted in your mouth and was so succulent that we couldn’t help but finish the entire plate. We enjoyed the food so much that we unfortunately left no room for dessert!

That will have to wait for another day, but I am certain I’ll return to Bricco. While the lunch menu is wonderful you really must make a dinner visit to truly experience the brilliance of the food and atmosphere of the restaurant. Bricco has firmly established itself in my mind as setting the standard for fine dinning well beyond Harrisburg.

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$100k Business Plan Contest: What’s the Big Idea?

If you’ve got a great idea for a  new business venture the Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Central and Northern Pennsylvania are putting up $100,000 to make it a reality. Think you’ve got what it takes? It’s okay if you don’t already have a business plan, as long as you are willing to locate your business should you win into one of the 32 eligible counties in Pennsylvania you are encouraged to enter. Ideally, the business should be related to nanotechnology, green technologies, alternative energy, advanced manufacturing,  advanced materials, medical devices, information technology, or software, but that’s not a requirement so make sure to double check to see if your idea is still eligible.

This is a wonderful opportunity to win the funds necessary to launch your own business, just make sure to turn in your business plan prior to the December 17th, 2008 deadline. Click the logo for more details.

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