IDEA ? Online advertising is ripe: Using or launching ad networks

Advertising is a classic, well-proven way to earn money for a publication, blog or site. ?It?s the cost of not having direct, paid reader support,? says John Rennie, an experienced science writer, editor and lecturer, and?former editor in chief of Scientific American.

Readers are acclimated to ads, but you have to use good taste. ?Many readers may blame you for misleading claims or ugliness in ads, and they may think the ads undermine your editorial integrity,? says Rennie.?In a?few fields, readers enjoy ads (e.g., SuperBowl ads, or fashion magazines), but in science and cultural fields, that?s rarely the case. They best you can hope for is that your ads are benign.

This article examines the ad business on a broad level, and looks closely at how to use or launch an ad network. ?

Online advertising is big business

In 2011, global online advertising was ~$73 billion, comprising 16% of the $464 billion?spent on ads of all kinds?(print newspapers, magazines, television, radio, cinema, outdoor, internet).?In?four markets (Denmark, Norway, Sweden and the UK), internet advertising already accounts for more than?25%?of total ad expenditure.

In a sign of the times, U.S. online advertising will exceed print for the first time in 2012. Print advertising continues to erode in the U.S., and is projected to fall from $36 billion in 2011 to?$33.8 billion in 2012. Meanwhile U.S. online advertising is projected to grow?23.3% to $39.5 billion this year. Mobile ad spending is growing rapidly, $1.5 billion?in the U.S. in 2011.?Google is the top dog of online advertising, earning half of all global online advertising revenue,?$36.5 billion?in 2011. Another 11% of the world?s digital ad spending is earned by four other major companies, Microsoft, Yahoo!, AOL and Facebook. Collectively, these top search engines and portals have 61% of the ad market.

The other 39% of the market is most often served by ad networks. Publishers work with one of more ad middlemen ? ad networks ? who recruit and manage advertisers, serve ads, bill advertisers, and pay publishers. Google is also in this business, paying publishers ~70% of ad revenue. In 2011, Google?paid out?$7.3 billion?to publishers who allow Google to place ads on their network.?Other major ad networks include: ValueClick, ?Tribal Fusion,?AdBrite, Burst Media,?Casale Media, isocket,?and?Blogads. (See top 50 ad networks?from ComScore.)

Finding appropriate advertisers

In the realms of science and culture, these major ad networks may pay too little, or have irrelevant ads for your audience.?Smaller advertiser networks ?should be a good model for culture blogs, since it?s a valuable niche audience if you carefully manage the list of sites,? says?Barry Hoggard, co-founder of an arts/culture ad network, Culture Pundits,?which ran from 2007 to 2012. Hoggard says a?custom ad network ?allows the sites to have more control over the kind of ads that appear. General networks like AdSense can show some pretty lousy ads ? credit cards, correspondence schools, etc.? Further, ?when it?s working,? a custom ad network can pay higher revenue than a general network.

But if your primary audience is students and their educators, and the context is educational settings, ads may be inappropriate. If you run ads on these sites, since your site is positioned as an expert source, and you have a young, potentially naive audience, you have an extra responsibility to have nonintrusive ads that are not misleading.

If your audience is the general public, a large ad network like Google?s AdSense can be fine. A good quality ad network excludes misleading and scammy advertisers. We use AdSense on WebExhibits.org, and the ads tend to be nonobjectionable, drawing $0.64 CPC and $1.60 RPM in 2011.?(Acronyms defined below.)

If you have a niche audience, of professionals in your field, or knowledgeable enthusiasts,?you could ?build your own pool of advertisers.?Hoggard says a good minimum for a culture-oriented audience is 1 million page views a month. He says, ?Below that, it can be hard to get the attention of a lot of media buyers.? However,??if you have a niche audience with good demographics that is attractive to advertisers? you can be a lot smaller.??Rennie agrees with that ballpark, for science-related sites, and estimates that a ?few million? monthly page views is the minimum for interesting major media buyers directly.

Culture Pundits ad network

Culture Pundits?was a well regarded arts & culture ad network that operated from 2007 until January 2012. Culture Pundits?was founded by?Barry Hoggard?and?Tom Schreiber.?Their sites served an audience of arts professionals and enthusiasts. Their member sites?were all cultural blogs or art, film, literature?calendars. They excluded sites that focused on design or fashion, although those sites have higher traffic. Their advertisers tended to be art-related institutions, galleries, publishers, museums and businesses.

They ad network?launched in?August 2007?with ten sites, expanding to 40 websites, and 1 million page views per months, by?September 2008.?By May 2009, managing the ad network became unwieldy, with advertisers requesting targeting of specific web sites, and geo targeting. To make things more manageable,?Culture Pundits?tried reducing the pool of advertisers to 10 sponsors each month, cut back to 25 sites, and?reduced visual clutter by delivering a single medium-size ad (300?250 pixels)?across all of the sites in the network.

The network paid 60% of revenues to its publishers. The balance of 40% paid sales commissions and administrative costs, with a little left over to pay the two founders? salary.

Ultimately, the network, while profitable, was not a good business.?Over 5 years, ad sales fluctuated. They sold out their full ad inventory 3 times, but most months, they sold only a third.?When they closed down the ad network, they were drawing in ~$2k/month, paying out ~$1200/month to member sites ? each site earning less than $100/month, on average.

Hoggard says, ?It?s a lot of work to educate organizations about the value of a niche network like ours, versus just doing targeted Google AdWords campaigns. There is a lot of hand-holding.? His colleague, Schreiber, did most of the negotiations. Other tasks included?managing the ad serving software, managing finances, and providing technical support to publishers and advertisers. There were often delays to get?creative assets for ads, and also to get paid.?In all, it became too time consuming.

While they had found a good niche, with satisfied publishers and advertisers, many of whom made repeat ad buys, Hoggard says, ?In the last six months [of 2011], our revenue was really down compared to any other six-month period of the last 3-4 years.? Given the other projects he is working on, Hoggard?decided to spend his time on making those more successful.

More is more: History News Network

George Mason University?s?History News Network?(HNN)?has been running for over a decade, and has had ads the whole time. The site has over 300k unique visitors a month. Rick Shenkman, the site?s founder and publisher, says that up until three years ago, ??publishers bought up most of our ad space. Today the publishers are barely advertising and we are mostly using ad networks.? Shenkman spends 6-8 hours a month managing his advertising. His approach uses a lot of ads:

The top ads are managed in-house, and link to pages at George Mason, or well respected TV, magazine and retail advertisers. They charge $400/month for ?banner ads on the lower sections of their pages. When they don?t have interested advertisers, they?are at the mercy of their ad network, which was promoting two misleading sites that hustle readers to get on mailing lists for commercial online and technical colleges, a scammy site selling questionable health supplements, and Johns Hopkins. At the bottom of their page, they run irrelevant text ads for discount men?s watches, ways to make money fast!, and a misleading site for Green Card applicants.

Less is more: The Deck and InfluAds

The opposite approach is to have a single, small ad on a site. Small ads usually pay 3-5 times better, and deliver a better reader experience than the?the ?crappy ad clutter culture that exists on the web today,? says?Anibal Dami?o, founder and CEO of the ad network?InfluAds. But total revenue can be less than packing a site with 5-10 ads. ?This is what one ad looks like:

Single, small ads. Left: reformrevolution.com with an ad via InfluAds; Right: alistapart.com with an ad via The Deck.

The single ad approach was pioneered by?The Deck network,?which delivered 114 million ad impressions in January 2012.?The ads are 120 pixels wide by 90 pixels tall and also allow for up to 80 characters of text to accompany the image. It?s an appealing model. The Deck charges $8300 USD per ad per month, and rotates 33 ads a month.

?[The Deck] inspired us and our objective is to democratize that model,? says?Dami?o, whose network offers a number of niche topics, and runs small ad sizes (130?100, 154?70, and 250?250). ?At Culture Pundits, Hoggard also used single ads, though he found that a slightly larger size (300?250) was ?better-suited? for their arts & culture advertisers.

It?s an issue of quality of quantity, says?Dami?o, ?We are publisher + quality focused, while other networks are advertiser-demand + quantity focused.??For business-related sites, InfluAds pays around $4-5 CPM, and design-related sites tend to earn around $1-1.6 CPM. InfluAds has a full dashboard for publishers to monitor their accounts, and pays 10 days after the month.

Freethought &?3 Quarks

To see how this works, let?s look at how two blog networks have set up their advertising?

Freethought blogs?is a blog network of 31 blogs, centered on a theme of independent thinking and skepticism. In December 2011, the site earned ~$10k. The blog network had?6.4 million pageviews in January, averaging?200k pageviews daily. The site is a spinoff of Scienceblogs begun by PZ Myers and Ed Brayton, and has some of the same contributors. They had ads from when they launched. ?I spent several thousand dollars to get the network off the ground and it was the intent from the start to derive revenue from the network and to pay all of our bloggers based on their percentage of the site?s full revenue,? says Brayton.

When they first launched in August 2011, Brayton tried to manage the ads himself using?Google Adsense and ?other networks, putting them into a Doubleclick server. ?But it was very time consuming and our revenue was pathetically low,? so he decided to turn advertising over to a private ad manager who runs the ads for independent news and politics sites,?Raw Story,?Alternet,?Crooks and Liars, and some others ? which immediately tripled their revenue. Brayton?occasionally does direct ad sales, augmenting the advertisers solicited by his ad manager.

Freethought has?five ads on each page: A ?wider banner (728?90)?on the top, and?four medium size squares (300?250). In December 2011, Freethought had about 5.7 million page views, and their revenue through the Raw Story ad manager was about $6800, with a total CPM rate of ~$1.20. They draw additional revenue from a popunder ad from?3I Interactive, that earns about $800 a month, and they also run their own Google Adsense ads on our RSS feed and search feeds, which bring in anywhere from $400 to $900 a month. And he has some direct ad sales of ~$500 a month.

3 Quarks?is a filter blog with diverse contributors, collecting information from around the web on?science, design, literature, current affairs, and art.?S. Abbas Raza, the founder and editor, says they had?430,000 impressions last month. The site launched in 2004, and they?ve had ads for over 5 years. Running ads was an easy decision. Raza says, ?We didn?t wring our hands over it at all. We wanted to make some money, and so we ran ads.??He spends 2-4 hours a week managing his advertising. Their ad revenue varies widely.

The advertisements run in a strip on the right side of the screen. Raza is satisfied with his advertisers. They?use Blogads, Google Adsense, and a few direct text link ads.?Today, they have text ads for tickets at Las Vegas shows and Florida theme parks, and image ads for several books, a professional society, a legitimate institution promoting online courses on social research, and five nonobjectionable Google text ads.

Sponsored posts

Another form of advertising is sponsored posts, which can be appropriate for some sites. A good example of sponsored posts are these posts at business analysis blog Asymco for?Carnegie Mellon University, and mobile app?Scrivener. The sponsored posts on are topics the blogger would not normally cover.

The sponsorship network, The Syndicate, charges advertisers $2,750 USD for a single post on sites with combined 1,500,000 monthly page views. The Syndicate sends the blogger possible topics to approve, and draft text for the post. The blogger?edits a short description of the product or service she or he?s willing to endorse, adding a personal note. Sponsored posts can be paid a flat fee, or the publisher can receive a commission for each click.

Advertisers like sponsored posts because they are an endorsement of sorts, and also catch readers attention. They also workaround the reality that many web readers use ad blockers, so some traditional ads get ignored. Brayton notes, ?I don?t know how many total impressions we serve each month. Some of our visitors have ad blockers, of course, so it?s lower than the number of page views.?

Selling your soul?

More broadly, if you are thinking about adding ads, will you lose your ?integrity? Not necessarily. There is vast precedent you can draw on.

?The first, most important principle is to avoid not just conflicts of interest but the?perception?of conflicts of interest, in so far as that?s reasonably possible,? says Rennie. ?Conflicts of interest are?bad for business?because they make the editorial look untrustworthy and the advertisers look dishonest. Depending on the sensitivity of a topic and the audiences coming to read about it, the bar for avoiding those conflicts may get higher or lower.?

Traditional publishers have been dealing with conflict of interest for decades.?The American Society of Magazine Editors outlines?principles?for the dance between?editorial and advertising content:

• Readers are entitled to fair and accurate news and information
• The value of your site to advertisers depends on reader trust
• The difference between editorial content and marketing messages must be transparent
• Editorial integrity must not be compromised by advertiser influence

See their?detailed guidelines, most of which apply to your site, or at least offer good food for thought.

?Most of the time when online publishers get into trouble with editorial-advertising conflicts, they?ve done something that goes against these longstanding rules,? says Rennie. ?For example, in the notorious?Pepsi-gate fiasco at Scienceblogs?a few years ago, the publishers made the mistake of letting the sponsored blog have the same look and feel as the rest of the editorial network, without adequate labeling. (They made a bunch of subsequent mistakes, too, but this was the completely avoidable root error.)?

Talking the talk

The world of online advertising has its own language. A quick primer of important terms:

• Impression?- Each time an ad is viewed. There can be multiple ad impressions per page.
• Publisher?- This is you. The term is a holdover from the days of print marketing.
• Flat-rate?- An ad runs on a site for a specific?time period. Ad could be 100% of the time, or rotate with others, to appear with a specific probability.
• CPM?- Cost per 1,000 impressions. (M is the Roman Numeral for one thousand.)
• CPC?- Cost per click. Advertisers only pay when a reader clicks their ad, regardless of how many impressions. This is how Google?s ad system, and many others work.
• CTR?- Clickthrough rate. A high CTR means ads are more appealing to readers.?Number of clicks ? number of impressions.
• CPA?- Cost per action or acquisition. Advertisers pay a commission for an action, such as becoming a new customer. e.g., if NetFlix paid a $20 commission for new customers. Similar to?CPL, or cost per lead.
• RPM ? Page revenue per thousand impressions. Earnings ? number of page views * 1000.
• eCPM?- Same as RPM, but from the advertisers? point of view. Effective cost per 1,000 impressions. CPC/A * CTR * 1,000.
• Text?vs.?Image or rich media?- Text ads tend to be 1-2 sentences plus a link; Images are a graphic; Rich media are animated or have other interactivity.
• Mini, small?- Small, subtle ads. They don?t annoy readers, and fit into many layouts.
• Skyscraper,?Hi-rise?- Vertically oriented ads, typically tall and skinny.
• Leaderboard,?Marquee?- Horizontally oriented ads, typically full screen width, and short.
• Roadblock?- Exclusivity. Advertisers gets 100% of the advertisements on a site for a short time, useful for important announcements and product launches.
• Sponsored post?- An alternative to ads; a sponsored post is part of the site?s content, and is clearly marked. Analogous to an?advertorial, but not misleading.
• Above the fold ? Newspaper display space is more valuable ?above the fold? on the front page, as is the section of a website visible without having to scroll down.

Making your own

It?s possible to run your own ad network, but profit margins are tight if you focus on a niche audience. A new ad network could serve multiple publishers, or one blog network.?While there are already a lot of science blog networks (see my?post on blog networks?last year, or this list from?scienceblogging.org), there?s room for more blog networks that focus on specific fields (e.g., neuroscience, mathematics, etc.), or new networks that focus more on the general public and/or content that will be useful for educators to use in a classroom.

In culture and the humanities, there is a lot of potential for new blog networks, and many untapped advertisers.?Culture Pundits solicited advertisers who were museums, galleries, shows and retailers. There may be potential interest from retailers (e.g., a retailer selling antiques for history-themed sites), online courses, and industry-specific vendors for sites that target professionals, and other advertisers.

To launch an ad network, your publishers will insert a piece of web code (HTML and JavaScript into their web pages, and that code will load the ads. You can make it as simple as one code = one ad, or run a complex system. Google?s?DoubleClick for Publishers?is?free for small and medium-size sites, and provides extensive options for scheduling ads. ?Hoggard started using a commercial ad manager,?OpenX, for ad serving, but there were regular security/hacking problems. Later, they switched to DoubleClick, and it ?worked very well for us.?

If you want to partner in making new ad network for a science or culture-related sites, and have over 1 million (preferably 2-3 million) views a month,?InfluAds wants to expand?their networks, and is a possible place to start.

Source: http://www.idea.org/blog/2012/02/08/online-advertising-is-ripe-using-or-launching-ad-networks/

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Health and Fitness Blog: 7 Triathlon Training Tips

Once you have decided that you want to participate in the triathlon it is time to start training. Since you are a beginner, there is some specialised training tips that you will want to keep in mind. It is important to take a look at and enact them so that you will be well prepared for this event.

(1) Do A ?Test Drive?

Do a practice event at least one week before the event. This will help you learn how to pace yourself. It will also ensure you that you will actually be able to finish the event.

(2) Work on Your Swimming

Find a pool where you can train. The ideal pool will either have a swim coach or a masters swimming program. They will be able to help you get into shape for the triathlon.

(3) Practice Transitions

Make sure you practice your transitions, especially your bike leg transition. Do this by completing a bike workout and then going for a run before cooling down. This will also help you ensure that you can get your gear on and off quickly.

(4) Practice on Similar Terrain

It is important to practice on terrain that is similar to that which the event will occur upon. You don?t want this terrain to surprise you the day of the race. This is also why you really need to know the course. Make sure you know how to enter and exit transition areas, where the turn-around are and what rules you must follow.

(5) Don?t Over Train

Don?t over train, regardless of how strong an athlete you are. Spend most of your time working on your weakest event but make sure that you can finish the other events. After your first race you can begin working on speed.

(6) Check out Your Bike

Make sure that your bike has good tire pressure that the brakes aren?t rubbing, that the handlebars, profile bars and seat are all on tight and that the bike is shifting properly. Put the bike in the gear that you want to start off in so that it will always be ready whenever you grab it.

(7) Train in the Gear You?ll Use on Race Day

You don?t want to try anything new on race day. Use the same gear that you?ve been practicing on and the same clothing you?ve been wearing while training for the triathlon. While you may be tempted to try a new breakfast or new outfit, it can totally throw your entire game off.

Source: http://healthandfitness-uk.blogspot.com/2012/02/7-triathlon-training-tips.html

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Change of Subject: Contraception and insurance

Noah Millman? in the American Conservative offers a provocative take on the birth-control / insurance kerfuffle.

Imagine that we live in a world where the Church of Scientology runs a substantial network of charter schools that do a remarkably good job educating poor students. Imagine that, in this world, employees pretty much have to get their health insurance from their employer (one of the things that the Affordable Care Act is supposed to change, by the way, which is a non-trivial fact). And imagine that the Church of Scientology refuses to provide mental health coverage for employees in these schools. Should that be acceptable?...

By the way: what?s special about the Catholic Church in this regard? Does the strictly Catholic sole proprietor of a national pizza franchise lack a conscience? Why is it okay to coerce him into providing services he deems immoral, but not okay to coerce a Catholic hospital?

Like Millman, I understand and even have sympathy for the position of those employers who feel that a legal requirement that? they facilitate the purchase of products -- in this case contraceptives -- that violate their moral principals amounts to a legal assault on those principles.

This question is complicated a bit in my view by the fact that, while employers negotiate for and arrange for health-insurance coverage, each employee in effect "pays" for his or her own coverage since that coverage is a fully earned benefit of employment.

Perhaps this is a fiction of sorts, but, in theory, an employer never "gives" or "provides" an employee any benefit -- everything from vacation time to retirement plans to health coverage is "earned" as condition of employment, and the cost of these things is baked into the compensation cake.

?My thought is that that moral choice here ought to belong to the individual employee -- that he or she ought to have the opportunity to participate in a health plan that provides free contraception or to decline to participate in such a health plan on any grounds, moral or otherwise.

No government entity ought to be in the position of refereeing moral or religious claims or feelings like this for their validity, popularity or sincerity.? And no employee ought to be denied the right to participate in a risk pool or his or her own choosing simply because of the religious inclinations of his employer.

An employer should have no more right to tell an employee what form of insurance and health care coverage to enroll in than an employer should have the right to tell an employee which legal products he may purchase with the money he earns at work.

Which brings me to the same conclusion Millman reached:

Either you need to give up on the idea that health care is a right, or you need to give up on the idea that health coverage will be provided primarily by private employers. I vote for giving up the second idea.

I have reflexively scoffed at this idea in the past, but this controversy is among the situations that, to me, illustrates its virtues

There are certainly many wrinkles and complications to be puzzled out -- I'll let commenters get a start on that.

Source: http://blogs.chicagotribune.com/news_columnists_ezorn/2012/02/contraception-and-insurance.html

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Jewish Business Ethics Charity Closes | eJewish Philanthropy: Your ...

from TheJC.com:

Jewish business ethics charity closes

The Jewish Association for Business Ethics (Jabe) has closed due to a lack of funding. It is thought four people, including executive director Lorraine Spector, lost their jobs.

The organisation was formed in 1991 and relied entirely on private funding. It encouraged integrity in professional conduct and taught Jewish ethical approaches to business.

? In 2006, Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks, Jabe president, vetoed the participation of non-Orthodox rabbis in the charity, prompting the resignations of leading trustees and donors, including Lord Kalms; former Leo Baeck College chairman, Gerald Rothman; and Jabe?s former chairman, billionaire Stephen Rubin.

Source: http://ejewishphilanthropy.com/jewish-business-ethics-charity-closes/

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Food Events - February 2012

Event Name:
Recipe Book Challenge

Hosting Blog:
Lavender and Lime

Theme: Random Recipe

Event Start Date: now
Event Deadline: 29 February 2012

If you are like me, you have a great collection of recipe books that you have never cooked from! I can tell you that the last three Jamie Oliver books in my collection have not been experimented with. So, this month?s challenge is to randomly pick a recipe from a recipe book you have not used and cook / bake it. The challenge falls over the entire month, so feel free to enter as many recipes as you would like to the linky party ? which will be open from today until the 29th.

Details can be found here

Event Name:
Fresh From The Oven

Hosting Blog:
Purely Food

Theme:

Event Start Date: now
Event Deadline: 28 February 2012

Fresh from the oven is a bread baking, monthly blogging event. If you
want to improve your bread baking skills (or try baking bread for the
first time) then this is the blogging event for you. This month we
are baking bagels and you can find the challenge recipe by clicking
the link in the further details section below. All you have to do is
try the recipe, blog about it and email us your link and a photo
(further details on the blog). At the end of the month we will publish
a round up of all the bagels you have baked. So what are you waiting
for? Join the Fresh From the Oven Challenge and get baking!

Details can be found here

Event Name:
Sweet Heat

Hosting Blog:
Vanilla Clouds and Lemon Drops

Theme: Game Food (watching games, ie superbowl)

Event Start Date: now
Event Deadline: 26 February 2012

There's nothing like a great sports game on TV to make you want to get together with a group of friends to watch the game and of course eat some fantastic Game Food. So since this month is the American Super Bowl and the start of the 6 Nations Rugby Tournament (and of course the continuance of hockey season!) I decided the theme for this month's Sweet Heat challenge is Game Food! That means anything you fancy eating whilst watching the big game will work as long as it is spicy! Chicken wings, Jalapeno poppers or even a big batch of Chilli all fit the bill perfectly, so why not invite some friends over, chill some drinks, make some spicy snacks and cheer for your team! And of course if you aren't a sports lover there's nothing wrong with inviting some friends over and getting out the Cards, Cranium or if you're in the mood....a little Twister!

Details can be found here

Event Name:
Cook.Eat.Delicious - Desserts

Hosting Blog:
Chez Cayenne

Theme: Desserts with Herbs or Spices

Event Start Date: now
Event Deadline: 29 February 2012

Life without Desserts is no life at all! Desserts create smiles, laughter, and sweet aromas that fill the house with deliciousness. This dessert lover's event for the month of February wants you to showcase your best dessert recipe featuring Herbs & Spices. One winner will walk away with a brand new cookbook!

Details can be found here

Event Name:
Family Friendly Fridays

Hosting Blog:
Fabulicious Food

Theme: Family Meals

Event Start Date: now
Event Deadline: every Friday

Event Name:I am finally starting to get this house in order! You may have noticed that for the past few weeks, I have been posting a Family Friendly Recipe each Friday and today I am opening this up as a new blog event here on Fabulicious Food! I?ve added all my previous posts to get us started. I may be the only one entering, but I hope not!

Details can be found here

Event Name:
Strawberries Special

Hosting Blog:
Vardhini's Kitchen

Theme: Strawberries

Event Start Date: now
Event Deadline: 29 February 2012

I am happy to be guest hosting Anu's Berries event for February 2012 with theme "Strawberry". Hard to believe but I tasted strawberry only after coming to the US and have totally fallen in love with it. They are pretty and tasty too :). So for this event, I am inviting everyone to send in any dish made using strawberry. Thanks Anu for letting me host this event.

Details can be found here

Event Name:
Sweet Luv

Hosting Blog:
Vardhini's Kitchen

Theme: Sweet dishes for Valentine's Day

Event Start Date: now
Event Deadline: 29 February 2012

It is February and the first thing that hits my mind is "Valentine's Day". Love is sweet and the event this month is also sweet :). So friends for this event, I am inviting everyone to link up anything that is sweet. It can be any cuisine, any part of the meal, any mode of cooking, basically anything sweet. (Eggs are allowed in baking.)

Details can be found here

Event Name:
Anyone Can Cook

Hosting Blog:
Taste of Pearl City

Theme: Weekly Event to Encourage New Cooks

Event Start Date: now
Event Deadline: every Friday

* For beginners
* With less ingredients
* With minimum amount of time spent

Your recipe doesn't have to fall under all these categories, if it falls under any one of the categories that's enough. I'll also explain about each category separately.

Details can be found here

Event Name:
Invite a Blogger to your Table

Hosting Blog:
More Than Burnt Toast

Theme: Try a recipe with a blogger friend

Event Start Date: now
Event Deadline: ongoing

Your assignment, if you choose to accept it, is to "Invite a Blogger to Your Table"! This is a fun event and an outlet for us each to challenge ourselves and create stronger bonds within the blogging community. Nothing is more intimate, or more effective at creating friendships than cooking and sharing meals together, even it is virtually. But hey, if you live in the same area as another blogger what's to stop you from gathering in your own kitchen for this challenge.

Choose a dish to prepare and invite 1(one) blogger to create that dish with you. You can source your recipe from a cookbook, magazine, blog or any other source. Your dish can be sweet or savoury; easy or complicated.

Decide upon a date that you can both mutually post your recipe within a 4 week time frame.

Details can be found here

Hosting Blog:
Sweetbites
Theme: The Illustrated Kitchen Bible by Victoria Blashford-Snell

Event Start Date: now
Event Deadline: 31 December 2013

A weekly cook-a-long for those that want to be Gutsy! in the kitchen cooking from The Illustrated Kitchen Bible by Victoria Blashford-Snell.

Every week a menu is posted and Gutsy cooks choose to cook 1, 2 or all dishes posted in the menu. Then you blog about your experience every Sunday night. Come and cook along with this fun group - be Gutsy!

Details can be found here

Event Name:
Black and White Wednesday

Hosting Blog:
The Well-Seasoned Cook

Theme: Black and white photography

Event Date: Every Wednesday

Black and White Wednesday, a new culinary photo event which will run weekly and feature food-related imagery. Your photo/s need not be of actual food, but can also be the preparation, presentation, and consumption of it.

Participation couldn't be easier. You don't need a story nor a recipe nor a location. There will be no competing, curating, nor critiquing. The only requirement is that you post your black and white photo/s on any Wednesday, mentioning Black and White Wednesday and linking to this announcement

Details can be found here

Event Name:
Daring Bakers & Daring Cooks

Hosting Blog:
The Daring Kitchen

Theme: Check website on reveal date.

Daring Bakers Reveal Date: 27th February 2012
Daring Cooks Reveal Date: 14th February 2012

The Daring Kitchen is the home of The Daring Bakers and The Daring Cooks. The premise of both groups is to create one recipe each month, given to us by a monthly host. We all create the same exact recipe and then post about it on our personal blogs on a designated date.

Details can be found here

Event Name:
Presto Pasta Nights

Hosting Blog:

Week One: Lavender & Lime (PPN #250, February 10)
Week Two: Cookin' with Moxie(PPN #251, February 17)
Week Three: The Life and Loves of Grumpy's HoneyBunch (PPN #252, February 24)
Week Four: Once Upon A Feasr (PPN #253, March 2)

(Ruth is looking for hosts, if you would like to host Presto Pasta Nights, just follow the link on the side panel)

Theme: Pasta

Event Start Date: now
Event Deadline: : every Thursday for inclusion on the Friday roundup

Every week food bloggers around the world photograph and write about their latest pasta creation? if it?s for breakfast, lunch or dinner; served hot or cold; spicy or sweet; from appetizers to mains to desserts, you?ll find it in the roundup published every Friday with links and photos to all the posts.

Details can be found here

Event Name:
Cake of the Week

Hosting Blog:
Casa Costello

Theme: Cake

Event Start Date: now
Event Deadline: every week (use the linky)

Calling all cake fanatics and baking lovelies! How do you fancy showing off your creations each week?

I post each Sunday evening my Cake of the Week and invite you to do the same.
Add your blog post link to the linky underneath my Cake of the Week post and lets admire each other?s creations.

You do not need to be a professional cake decorator ? it doesn?t even have to be a decorated cake ? just one that you have posted about that week.

Details can be found here

Event Name:
Weekend Herb Blogging

Hosting Blog:
Cook Almost Anything

Theme: Herbs, Fruit, Flowers, Plants or Vegetables

Event Start Date: now
Event Deadline: every Friday

Hosting Blog: Would you like to host? Haalo is also looking for hosts. Check out the sidebar for details.

Each week food bloggers around the world post recipes about cooking with herbs and unusal vegetables or interesting ways to use vegetables, and on the weekend, we publish a Recap with links to all the posts.

Details can be found here

Event Name:
Taste & Create

Hosting Blog:
Taste & Create

Theme: Trying recipes from a given blog

Event Sign Up Date: 8th of the month
Event Deadline: 24th of the month

Taste&Create was started as a food event by Nicole from For the Love of Food. It?s whole purpose was, and has been, to create a community of bloggers who test each others? recipes and share links. It has also been to help new and not so well known bloggers get their foot in the door of the foodie community.

Sign up and you will be given a blog to work with. Just post one of their recipes to join in.

Details can be found here

Event Name:
Chocolate Lover

Hosting Blog:
Daily Cuppa

Theme: Valentine's Day

Event Start Date: now
Event Deadline: 15 February 2012

Our infatuation with chocolate first began 2,000 years ago when it was discovered in Latin America. The Maya and Aztec elites infused cocoa beans with water to form frothy chocolate drinks ? the first frappuccinos, if you will ? for special occasions and as sacrifices to the gods. The Aztec ruler Montezuma believed that chocolate was an aphrodisiac and routinely drank it before entering his harem, thus increasing chocolate?s popularity and its association with love and romance. As it turns out, he was ahead of his time. Modern-day scientists have linked the chemical phenylethylamine in chocolate to feelings of excitement, attraction and even pleasure. So, in conjunction with the coming Valentine's Day 2012.....I am organizing my first event and its called 'Chocolate Lover'.............

Details can be found here

Event Name:
Frugal Food Fridays

Hosting Blog:
Fuss Free Flavours

Theme: Frugal Cooking

Event Start Date: now
Event Deadline: every Friday

Now Christmas has past, and January seems a very long month, let?s let Frugal Food Fridays begin in ernest!

Some themes for money saving ideas that I have thought up are:

Dishes using cheaper ingredients ? cheap cuts of meat or vegetarian
Meals using leftovers
Meals using up the ends of packets
Substitutions of cheaper ingredients
Packed lunches
Meals that use less energy to cook
Pressure cooking
Slow cooking
Faster cooking ? less oven time for example
Batch cooking for the freezer
Using Sustainable foods
Food you have grown yourself
Meals from reduced food in the supermarket

Details can be found here

Event Name:
Virtual Valentines Craft and Bake Competition

Hosting Blog:

Theme: Valentines Day

Event Start Date: now
Event Deadline: 4 February 2012

This is just for fun competition showcasing photographs and blog posts from insanely clever crafters and bakers like you. Be as creative as you like there are no hard and fast rules. If you believe in Mayan predictions there will not be another one as the World is going to end in 2012 so this could be your last chance!

Details can be found here

Event Name:
Love Lock with Sweets

Hosting Blog:
Killer on the Plate

Theme: Dessert (Vegetarian and no eggs)

Event Start Date: now
Event Deadline: 15 February 2012

"Love Lock with Sweets celebrates some of the sweetest joys of life."
For participation, send in ANY dessert! Only it should be suitable for vegetarians and preferably have no eggs.

Details can be found here

Event Name:
Wellness Weekends

Hosting Blog:
Diet, Dessert & Dogs

Theme: Healthy Vegan Recipes

Event Start Date: 8:00 PM EST Thursdays
Event Deadline: 12:00 midnight EST Mondays

What: whole foods, no refined flours/sugars, vegan recipes posted
within the previous week.
--There's a linky on my blog that people can link up. Five entries
are featured the following week.

Details can be found here

Event Name:
River Cottage Rocks

Hosting Blog:
Jo's Kitchen

Theme: River Cottage recipes

Event Start Date: now
Event Deadline: 12 February 2012

I have been a fan of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and River Cottage since I was at university. To avoid university work, I used to watch repeats of the very early series wishing that one day, that kind of life would be my own. Now, as I have not won the lottery yet and it does not look like it is coming anytime soon, I have decided to set up a monthly blogging challenge that everyone can take part in and hopefully, bring us a little bit closer to living a lovely life in rural Dorset.

I have decided to call this challenge ?River Cottage Rocks?. All you have to do is blog a River Cottage recipe on a chosen theme for that month.

Details can be found here

to be continued ........

Check back for lots more competitions, giveaways and challenges. I always have more to add as the month progresses.

Source: http://thefoodblogdiary.blogspot.com/2012/02/food-events-february-2012.html

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Local sports announcements: Spring sign-ups in full swing ? Gaston ...

To list an announcement, call 704-869-1841, fax it to 704-867-5751 or e-mail it to sports@gastongazette.com. Please let us know how long your announcement needs to be listed. Is your announcement out of date or need to be updated? Please let us know.

Baseball

Carolina Slammers tryouts ? The 13u Carolina Slammers Tournament Team. We play weekends only. We will be holding open tryouts for the 2012 spring season. Player must turn 14 after May 1st 2012. Tryouts can be private or with groups. We are looking for strong competetive players and strong committed players. For information, email carolinaslammers@hotmail.com or call 704-898-6330.

Dallas Bandits ? 8U team looking for a couple players for our weekend travel team. Must not turn 9 before May 1. We are looking for competitive and committed players and parents. For more info, call/text 704-913-2384 or email bryanwood@sprint.blackberry.net.

Gaston County Team 1UP ? Seeking experienced players for the travel ball season at the 12-U level. Contact Jason Antis at 562-440-6333 for details. End 2-29

Local 12-year old team ? Looking for 12-year-old experienced baseball players for travel team, playing at least two weeks per month. Call 704-813-7356 for more information.

Gastonia Sox 12-U and 13-U teams ? Travel teams holding tryouts. Tournaments will start after the middle school season. For more information, call/text Wes at 704-906-3902 or email wdmccall18 @ gmail.com.

Piedmont Pirates ? 11-under baseball team seeking players, pitching experience preferred. Call Joday at 704-214-9064 for more information.

Dallas Dixie Youth Baseball ? For ages 5-12. Sign-ups at Dallas Gym: Feb. 11 (9 a.m.-4 p.m.); Feb. 13-Feb. 16 (5:30-8:30 p.m.); Feb. 18 (9 a.m.-noon); Feb. 20-Feb. 23 (5:30-8:30 p.m.). Cost is $55 inside town limits, $65 outside town limits. Cost includes uniform and trophy. Call 704-922-3176 for more information.

Carolina Heat ? 13-U baseball team in Kings Mountain holding open tryouts on Saturday. Team practices 2-3 times each week in Kings Mountain and will play 10 weekend tournaments in N.C./S.C. Call Chris Neal at 980-522-2618 or Dereck Neal at 704-898-7719 for more information. Individual tryouts also available.

Cherryville Little League ? For ages 4-16. Sign-ups at Cherryville Fire Department: Feb. 11 (10 a.m.-2 p.m.); Feb. 18 (10 a.m.-2 p.m.); Feb. 25 (10 a.m.-2 p.m.); Feb. 26 (2 p.m.-4 p.m.) Bring copy of brith certificate and proof of residence. Cost is $40 per player and $60 for two players. Call Chad at 980-522-7489 for more information.

Cramerton Parks and Rec ?? For ages 4-15, For more information, call 704-824-4231.

Bessemer City Optimist ? Sign-ups through March 3 for ages 4-12 (as of May 1) at ?Rock? Gym on Washington Ave for T-ball, coach pitch and youth pitch leagues. Monday, Tuesdays, Thursdays, sign-up from 6-8 p.m.; Saturdays, sign-up from 10 a.m.-noon. Additional sign-ups at Tony?s Service Center at 102 North 9^th St. during business hours. Cost is $60 with $5 off if paid by March 3. $10 off registration of sibling. A baseball clinic will be held March 3 for $5, which includes lunch. Call Randy Wise at 704-629-4696 or Tony Glenn at 704-629-5681 for more information.

Belmont Parks and Rec ? For ages 6-12 until Feb. 11. Fee is $35 in city, $60 out of city. Sign-ups will be taken at the recreation department or online at cityofbelmont. org. Call 704-901-2070 for more information.

Clover Parks and Rec ? For ages 3-12 until Feb. 21. Register at Clover Community Center, Monday-Friday from 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Bring a birth certificate. Fee is $40 per child. Call 803-222-9493, email djohnson @ cloversc.org or akaser @ cloversc.org or visit cloversc.info where online registration is available.

Basketball

Mount Holly Stars ? The Mount Holly Stars are looking for ninth grade girls to play showcase travel basketball. Email James Adams at jadams150 @ Carolina.rr.com or call 704-827-7469 for more information.

St. Patrick?s Tournament ? The 16th St. Patrick?s All-Star Tournament will be played March 8-17 at Bradley Community Center. Registration will be held until Feb. 23 at 8 p.m. Team entry fee is $145 per team. Call 704-866-6847 or email brianm @ cityofgastonia.com for more information.

Stanley Storm needs players ? The Stanley Storm 14U boys AAU team is looking for players for the upcoming spring summer season. Call David Hager at 704-263-5407, cell 704-674-4716 or email at hulknow@yahoo.com. The team?s website is stanleystorm.com.

14-under basketball team ? Hosting tryouts for boys and girls ages 14-under for information and tryout dates. Email clay.coach @ yahoo.com or call 704-512-3118 for more information.

Belmont Parks and Rec adult ? Adult league registration through Feb. Fee is $475 per team or $50 per individual. Sign-ups will be taken at the recreation department or online at cityofbelmont. org. Call 704-901-2070 for more information.

Football

Champion Inc. 7-on-7 Passing League ? Registering players ages 12-18 for teams to compete in local and national competitive travel 7-on-7 passing league tournaments. Games begin in March. For more information, contact Dell Richardson at 704-756-4254 or email championinc @ mail.com.

Golf

Gaston County Senior Golf Association ? Upcoming schedule: Feb. 6 at Cleveland CC; Feb. 9 at West Port; Feb. 13 at Cramer Mountain CC; Feb. 16 at Kings Mountain CC; Feb. 20 at Woodbridge; Feb. 23 at River Bend; Feb. 27 at Deerbook. There is an 11 a.m. shotgun start. Call 704-461-8567 for more information.

Martial Arts

Training ? Martial Arts Training Institute is holding karate classes at Community Baptist Church on Dallas-Stanley Highway. Classes are Fridays at 6 p.m. for ages 4 years old through fifth grade and at 7 p.m. for sixth grade through adults. Monthly fee is $40 and $5 for each additional child. Call 980-329-1276.

Rugby

Gaston Rugby Football Club ? The club is looking to start Wednesday practices starting Jan. 18 at North Belmont Park. Practices are scheduled for 6 p.m. with the team?s first game of the season on Feb. 4 in Asheville. Visit? www.GastoniaRFC.com or find the club on Facebook. The club is also working with local recreationn departments to field U15 and U13 boys teams. Assistant coaches are needed and practices times are also being determined.

Gastonia Parks and Rec./Gargoyles ? The Gastonia Parks and Recreation Department along with the Gastonia Gargoyles are sponsoring youth rugby for ages 11-14. Registration will be held at each community center until Feb. 10. Cost is $20 per player. Call Bryan Welch at 704-869-1019 for more information.

Running

Caped Crusaders against Cancer 5k ? April 21 on the campus of Gardner-Webb University. The 5k will help raise money to support Aisy?s Angels, a non-profit entity with the purpose of raising funds for neuroblastoma research. The unique twist of the run is that all runners are encouraged to dress as super heroes to fight cancer. Registration fee is $17 in advance and $20 on the day of the race. Fee includes refreshments and t-shirt. Prizes will be awarded to the top two winners in each of the 12 categories. Visit facebook.com/CCAC5k for more information. Also, contact Phillip Higginbothom at CCAC5k @ gmail.com or call 323-774-3995.

Soccer

GUSC supplemental tryouts ?? Gaston United Soccer Club will hold supplemental tryouts for boys and girls from U9-U17 throughout the year at Martha Rivers Park. GUSC is looking for players for the spring and will conduct drills and scrimmages. All players and positions are welcome ? including goalies. Call 704-823-7322 for more information.

Gastonia Parks and Rec meeting ? Organizational for youth spring soccer leagues on Feb. 21 at 6:30 p.m. at Recreation Administrative Office. All team representatives and/or coaches must be present. U6-U8 contact: Mark Weaver at 704-869-1020. U10, U12, U15 contact: Bryan Welch at 704-869-1019.

Cramerton Parks and Rec ? For ages 3-6. Call 704-824-4231 for more information.

Belmont Parks and Rec youth ? For ages 3-15 untl Feb. 11. Fee is $35 in city, $60 out of city. Sign-ups will be taken at the recreation department or online at cityofbelmont. org. Call 704-901-2070 for more information.

Belmont Parks and Rec adult ? Adult co-ed league registration through Feb. Fee is $275 per team or $30 per individual. Sign-ups will be taken at the recreation department or online at cityofbelmont. org. Call 704-901-2070 for more information.

Clover Parks and Rec ? For ages 4-15 until Feb. 21. Register at Clover Community Center, Monday-Friday from 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Bring a birth certificate. Fee is $40 per child. Call 803-222-9493, email djohnson @ cloversc.org or akaser @ cloversc.org or visit cloversc.info where online registration is available.

Softball

Gastonia Parks and Rec registration ? Accepting adult men?s and women?s softball registration for church, industrial and open teams, along with individual registration for men and women for the upcoming spring leagues. For more information, call Bryan Welch at 704-869-1019.

Gastonia Parks and Rec meeting ? Oorganizational meeting for the 2012 Adult Men?s Spring Softball Open, Industrial and Church Leagues on Thursday, Feb. 23 at 6 p.m. This meeting will be held at the Recreation Administrative Office (Memorial Hall), 109 W. Second Ave., Gastonia, NC 28052. It is mandatory for a team representative to attend this meeting. For more information, call Bryan Welch at 704-869-1019.

Gastonia Parks and Rec meetings ? Girls/women?s softball organizational meetings at Recreation Administrative Office: Girl?s fast pitch: March 1 (8-under, 10-under, 6 p.m.; 12-under, 14-under, 7 p.m.); Women?s softball: March 8, 6:30 p.m. For more information, or for individual sign-ups, call 704-869-1018 or email janett@cityofgastonia.com. Men?s spring softball open, industrial and church leagues organizational meeting: Feb. 23 at 6 p.m. Call Bryan Welch at 704-869-1019 for more information.

Got Skills League ? Accepting team registration for league play April-June at Jaggers Ballpark in Dallas. Fee is $350 per team. Deadline to register is March 1. USSSA rules apply. Contact Stacey Duff at 704-616-2019 for more information.

Dallas Dixie Youth Softball ? For ages 8-14. Sign-ups at Dallas Gym: Feb. 11 (9 a.m.-4 p.m.); Feb. 13-Feb. 16 (5:30-8:30 p.m.); Feb. 18 (9 a.m.-noon); Feb. 20-Feb. 23 (5:30-8:30 p.m.). Cost is $55 inside town limits, $65 outside town limits. Cost includes uniform and trophy. Call 704-922-3176 for more information.

Belmont Parks and Rec ? For ages 7-14 untl Feb. 11. Fee is $35 in city, $60 out of city. Sign-ups will be taken at the recreation department or online at cityofbelmont. org. Call 704-901-2070 for more information.

Clover Parks and Rec ? For ages 6-18 until Feb. 21. Register at Clover Community Center, Monday-Friday from 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Bring a birth certificate. Fee is $40 per child. Call 803-222-9493, email djohnson @ cloversc.org or akaser @ cloversc.org or visit cloversc.info where online registration is available.

NSA 6-U T-Ball ? Nine-week instructional league. Contact Allan Hall at 704-675-2519 or visit nitroyouthathletics. com for more information.

NSA 8-U league ? Nine-week league offering practice and games with instruction offered by middle school and high school coaches, along with high school players. Opportunity for All-Star play at end of season. Contact Allan Hall at 704-675-2519 or visit nitroyouthathletics. com for more information. End 2-21

Track and field

Gaston Day needs coach ? Gaston Day School needs an assistant coach for varsity track and field. Contact Casey Field at 704-884-3355 or email cfield@gastonday.org for more information.

Volleyball

Cramerton Parks and Recreation ? For ages 9-15. For more information, call 704-824-4231.

Source: http://usdailynews.biz/?p=10712

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Children and Pets

Our dog - Tiger Lilly

Do you have pets in your household?? If so, how many, and what kind? There are many pros and a few cons to owning pets.? Mostly, with adult supervision and loving encouragement, pets add a wonderful dimension to your family.

What should you consider before getting a pet?

There are many things to consider when getting a new pet.

• First, are you able to afford the needs of this animal?? Although its not the first thing that pops into our mind when we see that adorable little puppy, the reality is that he isn?t free.? Even if you decide to adopt (which is the most?conscientious?thing to do) these little cherubs come at a cost.? There?s the up-front fee, there?s the spay/neuter fee, initial vet visits for wellness check-ups and shots, and of course all of the food and accessories, not to mention possible future emergency vet costs.? As long as you are okay with all of this, it looks like you?re on your way to being a responsible pet owner.? But not so fast!
• Pets need your attention each and every day.? For example, dogs are a highly social animal.? They need loving interaction and care from you.? If you don?t have this kind of time, then maybe a dog isn?t the right pet for you.? If you get a puppy, be doubly prepared!? They have to be with you constantly (they are babies, after all), potty trained, and will most likely chew up some of your valuable possessions.? They can add so much love and fun to your life, but if you?re not mentally prepared for the inevitable, don?t opt for a puppy.? However, with a loving attitude, we can adapt to our new love, and grow together in ways that words cannot convey.
• Another thing to consider is how this new pet will get along with any existing pets.? It goes without saying that if you have cats, then adding a bird will take a little extra planning.
• There are many rescue organizations that have wonderful animals for adoption.? Check your local rescue clubs and shelters!? They?usually?have additional information to help you find the right pet.

What kind of pet should I get?

• Horses are also a highly social animal.??If you decide to adopt a horse, you must have the proper land and housing for such a large pet.? Money is also an issue, as?horses?tend to be the most expensive of all?pets.? Look into what it costs:??horses need regular check-ups, shots,?very specific feeding regimens (hay is not cheap),?regular hoof trims by a qualified farrier, and?lots of time and attention from you.? If your horse has any health problems, then the expenses can soar!? Because they are so large, safety is an issue, and investing in horsemanship classes?is a must!
• Birds are, yes again, a highly social creature.?(Afterall, that?s what makes them a good pet!) In the wild they mate for life.? When they are brought into your home as a pet, they will bond very closely with you and expect much of your time and attention.? If they are left alone too much, they will develop psychopathological behaviors such as feather picking or weaving, and very often will die.
• Cats are thought of as being the most independent of pets.? While they are somewhat self-sufficient, they do require love and attention, and of course the regular vet visits.? Since cats are so self sufficient, we have to watch out for them.? We can?t normally keep them in a fence, so make sure they don?t get onto a busy road where they often get hit my cars, and make sure your neighbors are friendly with your cat.? If you live in the country, cats often fall victim as prey to large birds and coyotes.? Make sure they at least have plenty of fresh water and dry food available at all times.

Never get a pet and expect your child to take full responsibilty.? Children need us to nurture the idea of love and responsibility by setting the example.? Always follow up when asking your child to feed or care for a pet.? They don?t have the mental maturity to take on this task without our help as parents.? When helping them to care for a pet, always use kind and encouraging words, never scorn or punish them, or resentment may take shape.? All of this will translate into the way they interact with and care for humans.? That?s why learning to love and care for a pet is so important.

Lastly, there are circumstances where children cannot have pets due to health issues.? If your child has allergies, the very best action to take is to get a good allergist/immunologist.? Many children, including myself when I was young, have benefited from these doctors, and grown to be able to own pets.? When horse and cat dander was once?almost a death sentence, it is now tolerable for me, and what a blessing for an animal lover!? If your child cannot have pets, then taking them to a zoo is always a treat! And remember, aquariums are a great option for these kids, who can love and nurture a creature of the water.

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Source: http://positiveparentingskills.com/children-and-pets/

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