Valley Forward has created an awesome event on May 12 called Gallop for the Greenways. Gretchen has done a great job along with others leading this project. To participate in the 5k run and the party of the year, then click here.

The end of March marks the one-year anniversary of the Roanoke Connect database we created to assist people wanting to be in the region with employers who had jobs available.

The demographics of the list are typically members of Generation X and Y, with some form of higher education, who want to be in the Roanoke region.

During the first year 1,664 have submitted profiles from 40 states. We are aware of at least 30 success stories coming from our bi-weekly eNewsletters and a newly created search feature for employers.

Again, what separates this database is it consists of people WANTING to be in the region. They sought us out typically through Google searches.

In fact, today, March 27, we had six people submit profiles and they came from the following locations: Mount Laurel, NJ; Nanuet, NY; Christiansburg, VA; Broken Arrow, OK; Holiday, FL; and Cuba, NY.

I would think that a person is not going to complete a profile unless he/she wants to be in Roanoke. I know I am not going to a similar site in Holiday, FL and reveal my personal information about jobs there. These people have sought us out through Google searches and want to move to Roanoke. The next step is connecting them to a job.

We are pleased with the success of this channel to connect people to jobs and to our region. We are continuing to modify the site to create more success stories. A big thank you goes to the City of Roanoke’s IT staff for their work, especially Justin.

If you are looking for employment, you have a number of opportunities over the next couple of weeks. Do not miss out on these opportunities.

First, Thursday, March 29, on the campus of Virginia Tech is the Directions Job Fair.

Second, Friday, March 30, on the campus of New River Community College, Edwards Hall, Room 117 from 1 pm - 6 pm will be the NRV Job Fair Expo. 

On Tuesday, April 3 at the Roanoke Civic Center Exhibit Hall will be the TAP Job Fair.

On Wednesday, April 4 at the Roanoke Civic Center Exhibit Hall will be an Entrepreneurship Fair for those wanting to start a business. You must register to participate.

On Wednesday, April 18 at Owens Banquet Hall there will be the Roanoke and New River Valley Career and Lifestyle Fair from 10 am to 3 pm. Only local firms will be allowed to participate on the Virginia Tech campus. To watch a video, click here.

The Young Lawyers Division of the Bar Association and NewVaConnects will hold a town hall meeting on March 22^nd at 6:30pm at the Higher Education Center to discuss the 2007 legislative session to explore its importance to the NewVa region. The town hall meeting will take place at 6:30 at the Higher Education Center in Downtown Roanoke.  The event is free and open to the public and refreshments will be served.

The event will feature Senators Brandon Bell, Senator John Edwards, Delegate William Fralin, and Delegate Dave Nutter. Speakers will give opening presentations that address how their proposed legislation will affect the region followed by an interactive question and answer session.

On April 5, The Contemporaries are organizing a neat event for young adults in the downtown Roanoke starting at 6:30 pm at the Arts Museum of Western Virginia.

This event full of art, music, food, drinks and lots of fun will have everyone excited about the energy of the Art Museum of Western Virginia. With gallery tours, DJ providing club music, and an exciting activity involving the brand new multimedia installation piece, there is something going on for everyone!

Art With A Twist coincides with April’s Art By Night, so stop by for a drink and take a look at the new Gifts exhibition, learn a bit about the exciting Museum auxiliary group The Contemporaries, and use Art with a Twist as a spring-board for exploring Roanoke’s vibrant art galleries. And if you’re up for more, we’ll meet back up at Metro for a special Art with a Twist "Happy Hour" at 8:30.

Gallery 108 and Signature Nine Gallery will be sponsoring limo service between Signature Nine in Old Southwest and downtown Roanoke.

For more info on this event, send an email to Coleman at info@contemporariesroanoke.org.

The Roanoke Times has created an interesting tool to connect all local college students in the Roanoke and New River Valley called BigLickU. Thanks to Eric for sending the article found at NRV News.

There is no doubt the newspaper industry has been trying to find a creative way to connect to this demographic audience. Many are no longer reading traditional newspapers.

The site leaked out some time ago and it remained live for public view. However, the latest version is much different and focuses heavily on YouTube videos for content and has a plethora of advertisements throughout the site ro support the maintenance. There are also opportunities for visitors to give feedback and post comments.

Overall, it is a site you definitely want to visit and congrats to the Roanoke Times for recognizing a need and executing.

The question is will college students embrace it and spread it though viral channels to make BigLickU as popular as Facebook? That is to be seen.

This past Thursday, Roanoke Biz2Biz hosted a bloggers workshop at WDBJ 7. Over 50 individuals - half bloggers, and half non-bloggers - attended the event.

The event provided an opportunity for people to learn more about the concept of blogging for business and community efforts, as well as, providing an offline opportunity for local bloggers to meet face-to-face.

Below are some posts about the event…

Andrew Cohill

Biz Talk

Fragments from Floyd

Roanoke Found - Keith Clinton

Roanoke Fire Blog

All young adults and anyone reading this blog, if you are looking for something to do in Roanoke this weekend, then come to the Roanoke St. Patrick’s Day Celebration on March 16th & 17th.

This annual event is one of the biggest and best of its kind around. If you have never been, then try it out this weekend.

Today, I spoke to two entrepreneurship classes at Virginia Tech with the CEO of Webmail.us - Pat Matthews. The classes are taught by another local young entrepreneur J.B. Hite. There were 50 students in the class - mostly seniors who were very engaged in learning more about the opportunities in the region.

For instance, how do you start internet companies when you do not have programming skills? Are relationships with your friends at risk when you start businesses with them?

A couple of points raised to the students were - would you rather be a big fish in a small sea or a small fish in a large sea? Are you factoring in the cost of living when making your living decision or does it matter? Not sure if they had thought of these concepts.

Additionally, Pat challenged the students to follow their passion instead of the money or location - and that passion does not necessarily mean you have to start your own business.

Overall, it was a great exchange between local students wanting to start a business. The challenge is to convert some of those.

Perhaps that next step is to attend the Roanoke Entrepreneurship Workshop on April 4. 

The folks at Roanoke Biz2Biz have launched a new blog focused on small business in the Roanoke Valley called Biz Talk. The blog is divided into four segments - business, government, health and entrepreneur - offering unique perspectives from each vantage point.

Subscribe to this blog and add to your blogroll as there will be more content added in the days to come.