The ActiveRain Stuff You Won't Find Anywhere Else on the Web

Many of you might recall our very first ActiveRain RainCamp in San Francisco, CA. where the Andersohn's were asked to debut the "Armored Flight" family band. This was our first public appearance ever.  We chose to open with a song specifically for Bob Stewart (one of his favorites) called Eye Of The Tiger.  Well a seed was planted in the "rain" that day which "camped" in the spirit of our youngest son Brandon, and ended up blossoming into an audition that almost landed him on America's Got Talent. 

Little did we know, our youngest son Brandon had a dream...

We passed all but the fourth and final round of auditions to make it on the show, but the experience and excitement of it all will live on forever in the Andersohn home. Fast forwarding to December of 2010, Brandon has since had his eyes and heart set on saving up his money and one day buying a Joe Satriani signature series JS1200 Ibanez guitar believing that it would produce magic, and combined with his own gifts and talents, would help him to one day achieve his dream...

My wife and I discussed this at length as this is no regular or cheap guitar.  It's a Candy Apple Red absolutely gorgeous piece of wood that has been designed and customized as a signature series instrument by one of Brandon's favorite guitar players in the world.  That's right, Joe Satriani.

It's ironic that it was also in San Francisco, CA at the Guitar Center, where Brandon actually got to meet his guitar hero in person and watch him perform live.  (Here's a video memory of that night)  Well my wife and I broke down and surprised Brandon this Christmas with a gift we hope continues to inspire and motivate him to keep chasing his dream...

Some have called it magical, others say he has special gifts.  He's a child who has a dream.  He practices more than his Dad Blogs which says a lot!  lol~ His passion and goal in life are clearly displayed on the "about" section of his newly added Facebook profile.  We are sooo proud of him!  Now this may or may not be your type of music, but if you watched it from an artists' perspective, we think you'll enjoy the gift that Brandon has given back to us in return.

This is his dream....yes, I Have a Dream...

We encourage him and all kids (and adults) to follow your hearts, believe in yourself, and Dare to dream...

You're probably thinking of the 1985 classic by Jefferson Starship aren't you?  This post is about AR Cities!

As I was searching for the "missing Blog link" the other day, I discovered an exciting change that you may not have seen yet.  It's the City pages on ActiveRain.  I was so excited, I actually forgot what I was originally looking for (the Web has that effect on me at times...LOL).  Click on States, Select your State or Province, Select Your County, and then Your City.  It's that Easy!

The changes made to the City Pages on AR look very different now.  In the past, the only thing on these pages were Agent Profiles in that city, and they were all sorted based on members with the most points.

Now there's an opportunity to "Build This City" and bring "More Value" to these pages:

Here's a feature similar to what Twitter Members are using:

Just post what's happening in your City, remember, it's just like a Blog Post and will get SEO & Google juice.  According to a conversation I had with Jon and Bob this morning, we are already seeing an increase in hits to the ActiveRain City Pages.  I'm anxious to see how and when these will start showing up on Google.

  
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Now you've got to love this, I do.  I was the one that had to clean out the Q&A everyday that used to be up on the menu bar. This is a change I have been asking for since July. 

Now consumers can contact "Local" experts and get "Local" answers to their questions.  I hope members won't use this area to ask silly questions like, "How Do I Make My Font Bold?"  (but I guess you could)

This could really change some things with our direct consumer contact provided we use this feature appropriately.  I suggest  taking 5 minutes a day to see if you can answer any local questions from visitors or readers who find this and use it. 

My thought is this; if SEO will come from your short 140 character updates and community announcements, then inevitably, this City Level Q&A will get more exposure and in time, become another value added tool. Come see my City, I left a message there for ALL of you.

BTW - Everyone was so busy looking for the missing Blog link, that no one mentioned the "Referrals Link" or the "Q&A" links that were gone also.  Well, just like the Blog link, they were never really missing, just moved.  The Referrals and Q&A links are now under the Channels Section in the "More Information" box located on the Main page of ActiveRain.com.  Hope you will enjoy and use these features. :-)