Almost a year already...

Where has the time gone?  It's seems like we launched our site just yesterday and here we are 11 months later!  Now that we've been at this for almost a year we're interested in what you have to say about it and we thought we'd provide some insight to the things we do and how our site can help you plan activities for your kids.

We do our best to bring you as many events that we can, however it's inevitable that not everything going on here in the Upper Valley will be posted. There is A LOT of stuff to do around here and it doesn't all make it to us all the time.  Often, you may know about an event before we do and by all means please add it in or drop us an email and we'll do it for you so that everyone can take advantage of the listing.  Anyone can add an event or resource by clicking the "submit a listing" button.  The event/resource will come to us for approval before it actually gets posted on the site for quality control.  The resource list is always changing and being added to, including categories and some with sub categories; is there a resource you'd like to see that isn't currently listed?  Let us know.


Did you know that our site offers reminders that you can set to your own preferences so that you don't miss something that you are interested in.  We use this feature all the time for our family activities and love the functionality of it.  We all know that life with kids is busy and it's great to have handy reminders of that special event you'd like to attend so you don't miss it.  Reminders are delivered straight to your personal email at the date and time you request. 

Reviews are very helpful to everyone and we'd like to see more of them if you're interested in posting one for an event or resource.  Is there an event that is a must do for everyone...please leave a review and spread the word about it!  To comment on an event or resource open the event and click on the "Add Comment" tab at the bottom of the event information.

Our site also offers a blog which serves as another place to promote events in greater detail, places of interest, programs and various other interests for children and families.  We often feature guest posts from area business owners, educators and others.  You have the option to subscribe to our blog and have it delivered to you weekly or you can look for the posts on Facebook or our "News Tab" on our main event page as the blog is published. 

If you're into social media, we are on Facebook and currently have over 150 fans.  Facebook serves as a compliment to the site where you'll be able to take advantage of last minute event posts, reminders to register for an upcoming class, intros to our latest blog posts and much more.

Last month we published our first e-newsletter featuring area Halloween events, fun kid friendly recipes that they can not only enjoy but also help make and engaging activities for the kids to do at home.  The newsletter will also serve as a place for area businesses to feature money saving coupons and special deals.  Sign up for our e-newsletter and we'll help you get through what can often be some very long days over the winter months.  The newsletter is free and is sent directly to your email.  Sign up today (on our event page) and don't miss out on a lot of extra special kid stuff!

Upper Valley Connections started out as an on-line resource for families and kids and over the past couple of months we've also partnered with the Upper Valley Arts Alliance to bring you another comprehensive on-line site dedicated to the arts.  The Upper Valley is home to an enormous arts community and we're bringing it all to you in one convenient spot for all ages to take advantage of.  Find that art class, check out a performance at one of many local theaters or visit an art gallery that you may not have known about right here in our backyard. 

And in honor of our One Year Anniversary we will be hosting a couple of contests to celebrate.  Contests will be held on both of our sites, Upper Valley Connections and Upper Valley Arts Alliance.  We'll kick the contests off the week of November 15th and run them until the second week of December.  Stay tuned for further details very soon, prizes include gift certificates to local shops and places of interest, concert tickets, birthday party venues, and much more!  Just in time for the holidays too!

Be sure to check back often, listings are added daily and sign up for our blogs and e-newsletters so you don't miss out on all that we and the Upper Valley has to offer.  Please let us know your thoughts, opinions and suggestions, we'd love to hear from you.  Comments may be left on our blog or emailed to info@uppervalleyconnections.com.

Enjoy!

Comments

adrienne said…
I only discovered your site about 2 weeks ago, and I absolutely love it! The calendar is especially helpful. However, the "send a reminder" function doesn't work at all for me. Is this a common problem? I've tried 4 or 5 times, but no reminder ever comes to my email. (I've checked the spam folder too, nothing.)
Anyhow, thanks for the site & keep up the great work!
Shara said…
Hi Adrienne,

Thank you for the kind words and I'm so happy to hear that you love our site and what we provide. I will look into the reminder issue, sorry to hear that you are having a problem with it, this is the first that I've heard about such a problem. We'll get right on it and follow up here on the comments section. Thank you for letting us know. Appreciate the feedback.
Shara said…
We've tested the reminder notice feature and everything checks out. I'm sorry to hear that there was a problem when you used it. Please drop us a line at info@uppervalleyconnections.com if you continue to experience an error with that feature. Thank you.