Upcoming Event: Harrisburg Young Professionals 10th Annual City Living Tour and Block Party - Saturday, May 17th

Without a doubt, the home tour and block party is one of HYP’s premier events, and trust me - you will get your money’s worth with this one! Starting at 2pm, tour a number of beautiful downtown homes while sampling food from Harrisburg’s finest restaurants. Following the home tours at 5pm, HYP kicks off their annual block party with unlimited food, drink, and fun. Local bands Sabrina Duke and The Chuck Britton Project will provide the entertainment taking place at 222 N. 3rd Street (Vartan parking lot).

All this for $15! ($20 at the door) And the best part is, ticket proceeds go to HYP’s Harrisburg University Scholarship fund. Go to HYP.org to buy tickets online and get ready for an absolutely incredible time. You are sure to be impressed with Harrisburg’s downtown homes, enjoy exceptional cuisine, and meet a host of new people at the 10th Annual City Living Tour and Block Party - see you there!

Whitaker Center to Display Human Bodies in New Exhibit Starting June 7th

So I noticed a small headline on PennLive this morning that I just had to share - a human body exhibit here in Harrisburg! I’ve seen similar exhibits in Baltimore and Philly but this is going to be inside the Whitaker Center! Obviously I’m kind of excited about this, as the displays are incredible. If you haven’t already seen any human body exhibits you really need to make some time for this, you will be blown away at the complexity of the body. What they do if you’re not familiar is place human bodies in everyday positions and pull back certain parts of organs and skin to show what’s underneath and inside. Really fascinating and definitely not something you see everyday (hopefully).

Anyway the exhibit will be coming to the Whitaker Center beginning on June 7th, with tickets ranging from $16-$22. See it for yourself, you’ll be glad you did.

IdeaBlob.com, the site that gives out $10,000 every month for the idea that receives the most votes

Ever had a good idea? Now you can get that notion funded if it gets enough votes on IdeaBlob. The site is most definitely worth looking into. I just posted my own idea on the site that I’d appreciate you voting for or commenting on it: a website designed specifically for college students that outlines the events, discounts, destinations, jobs, and internships around the greater Harrisburg area. The idea is to attract more students to the region and really get those students connected to what’s going on here in hopes of reversing the region’s huge export of college students once they graduate.

The thing about this website that intrigues me is that really simple projects can actually win, you don’t need a doctorate to compete. In fact, the winner last month is a Penn State college student! Check it out or try your own idea!

Harrisburg Featured on Squidoo

So I randomly came across this squidoo.com site and thought the page on Harrisburg that was featured was embarrassingly weak, let me know what you think of my own attempt to highlight Harrisburg: www.squidoo.com/Harrisburg

I’ve got some pretty cool videos on the page - check out the video recorded from above the city.

New Events Website for Central PA Officially Launched!

Now you can find something to do, or at least find the spot to be everyday of the week in Central PA with the official launch of Spotobe.com . . . .

“Whether you’re looking to visit Central Pennsylvania, move here or already live here, bookmark this site to keep up with what’s going on in the region. Spotobe aggregates all the events—from concerts to exhibitions to hockey games, and much more—so you can view all your options in one convenient place.

In other words, if there’s a spot to be, you will find out about it on Spotobe.”

Get Downtown Discounts in Harrisburg

Want 15% off food at Bricco? $2 off Senators tickets? How about buy one get one free admission for all three of Harrisburg’s theaters? These deals and many more are available to you with a Harrisburg Young Professionals passport, free with HYP membership.

So membership must be pretty expensive right? Nope. Join HYP for a whole year for just $30. That includes admission to weekly HYP events as well as the discount card.

The Harrisburg Young Professionals are celebrating their 10th year as “a group of young, active, civic-minded professionals who have a clear vision of Harrisburg’s future as a great place to live, work, play, and shop.” Joining the organization is an excellent way to make new friends and contacts, familiarize yourself with the city, get a passport discount card, and find some fun.

Check out their website for upcoming events and more discounts: HYP.org

Harrisburg Young Professionals Annual Meeting - TONIGHT! (2.27.08)

Make sure to check out the HYP annual meeting tonight from 5:30-7:30 at the new HACC midtown campus, 1500 N. 3rd Street, Harrisburg. Of particular interest to most people is the part on the invite that reads, “Drinks and hors d’oeuvres are on us!”

There is no cost to attend, so if you’re interested in what the Harrisburg Young Professionals are all about and where you can get involved, make sure to check out the annual meeting. See you there!

Saturday’s Market - A market that takes place every saturday (My take on it)

This past weekend, Saturday to be exact, I went to the Saturday’s Market off 230 East in Middletown. I was quite excited to be going as it took me about 4 years to understand from the billboard on 83 north what and where this market existed. It’s one of those billboards that you prepare yourself for as you pass it because it has so much information on it you really never understand anything about it. And I never really did glean any information about the market off the billboard, I just got frustrated enough to goodsearch (no body googles anymore) for the the place and found a primitive website with all the information I needed. Interestingly enough, the website was SaturdaysMarket.com, who would have thought?

Anyway, I finally get to this place and I’ll happily vouch that it’s worth the visit, or at least one. Some of the vendors in this place appear to have been born and raised inside their respective vendor space. However, there are a number of great food vendors and you can really find some interesting goods there, especially if you’re into salvation army type gear. I had an extra key made for my car from a gentleman who has been hand cutting keys for 37 years. Total price: $1.50. Not too shabby, although the market generally is a little run down. The website boasts over 300 vendors inside as well as a number out in the parking lot, and I would say it may be nearly accurate. All in all, the visit was worth it, and I would recommend giving it a try, even if your goal is just to photograph sweet mullets.

Upcoming Event: Savor the Flavor- A Taste of Carlisle - Feb. 24th

I just stumbled upon this event, but I’ll be sure to attend. Why? Does “25+ local restaurants participate as vendors” mean anything to you!? I like Carlisle, but I really like food, and so I’ve taken the liberty of doing some advertising for the Carlisle Chamber myself. Events like these are just great for people like me who want to try food from every restaurant without having to actually pay for dinner 25+ times over.

I’ve posted the event details on zvents.com and eventful.com, $25 for advance tickets, $10 with a college ID. (I keep mine for occasions such as these)

Local Links, Local Events —> Get Connected

One day after watching 4 straight hours of CSPAN I came to a startling  realization of profound understanding about myself. I hate boredom. It’s so boring. I wasn’t sure if there really was anything more interesting to do in south central PA than take notes on the latest happenings inside congress and read Hardy Boys books in my basement. Valiantly, I embarked on a quest to find something more entertaining than the free channels on TV. What I uncovered I’ve made into a list. That list is now the new home page on the website www.ExperienceHarrisburg.com. I am always looking to extend the list, but for the time being I am pretty satisfied that if you can’t find something new to do from the links and events already listed on ExperienceHarrisburg.com you are nesting in a bed of lies.

True story.