What Is Happening Today On Gather - Thursday August 21 2008

 The gardening season is winding down here in West Virginia.  Today I picked fresh tomatoes, fresh half runner green beans, Fresh carrots, Yellow crocked neck squash and some new potatoes.  Yummy.

If you can get your hands on some new potatoes, I will tell you how to make the best potatoes ever. :) First just clean the potatoes. Do not scrape or peel them. Wash well and then cook in water until just about done. If the potatoes are small just cook them whole. If they are large, quarter them lengthwise.

When they are cooked drain off the water and run cool water over them so you can handle them comfortably. Now put some butter in a cast iron skillet. Fry the whole or quartered potatoes in the butter until browned.  Sprinkle seasoning salt and pepper to taste while they are browning. You will love these.  Put them on a paper towel to drain off the butter. They are so good.

I have some exciting news for you today. Gather has heard your suggestions and comments. They are makeing some changes with you in mind.  Here is a quick review of those changes that will take effect next week.

 Next week, Gather will make some big improvements to the site. Improvements You - the members have been asking for.
Following feedback from last month's release, here are some of the refinements we are implementing:

A new, improved "My Gather" page that will separate social activities from the content for you.

The Gather Picks box will move up to the top of the Groups and Explore pages.

In the Gather Picks box, all twelve of the Essentials will be prominently displayed with links to their group home spaces.

We will be adding a PayPal redemption option ($25, $50, $100) for all points earners.  Now how cool is that !?

Do you have questions about the current Photo contest for Gather.  Pam Johnston  has addressed some of the most common questions in the post titled Gather's Summer Points Promotion - Your Questions Answered!

 Jennifer Hodge, Member Experience  has submitted a very interesting post. Here at Gather, we love watching our developers play. We thought it would be fun to share some of their "sandbox" ideas with you. Some of the ideas you'll find here in the Gather Labs will be crazy, out-of-the-box, cutting edge... others will simply be ideas in progress. Some features may one day be available across the entire site, many will not. Either way, we thought you might enjoy seeing some of our creativity at work. You can read the entire post here.

MORE ON THE GATHER LABS:

You've had a chance to check out Gather Labs' "Friends of Friends" functionality. Now try out the "Gather Social Recommendation Engine." I don't know about you, but I'm always on the lookout for new movies, books and recipes. And it makes it that much more meaningful when I discover these things through the people I trust, my family and friends. So give the Recommendation Engine a whirl. It's a really cool way to find new things based on your interests.

WHAT WOULD YOUR SLOGAN BE?

 Although I have never heard of them - Red State Update with Jackie Broyles (Travis Harmon) and Dunlap (Jonathan Shockley) is one of the most viewed political satires series online. Gather is wanting to know what your Campaign Slogan would be if you were running for President.

Gather is giving away four RED STATE UPDATE prize packs that include signed posters, t-shirts, and the "How Freedom Sounds" CD. For your chance to win a prize pack, in the comment field of THIS post.

YOU  COULD WIN THIS BOOK

 Nancy Ellwood  published a post titled Make a Metal Model - Share Your Favorite Metal Projects for a Chance to Win "Make It!"   In this post Nancy gives you the directions to make a metal robot and explains what you can do for a chance to win a copy of Make It! from DK Publishing.

What craft projects have you created with your kids using metal or aluminum foil? Leave your responses in the comment field of Nancy's post by August 22nd. Gather will randomly choose two members to receive a free copy of Make It! from DK Publishing. Good

WOULD YOU LIKE TO WIN SOME MUSIC

Do you ever wish you could have your own theme song for when you walked into a room? What would it be? Maybe a soul-funk tune like "Shaft"? Or something a little heavier with guitar rifts like "Welcome to the Jungle"?

Tell Gather what  your theme song would be . You could win a prize pack of music goodies.

Click here for more details. Comments must be posted by August 24^th. Gather will randomly select three members to receive one of the prize packs listed in the article. You can enter multiple comments, but each member will only be entered into the drawing once.

COFFEE & A BOOK

Gather is looking for 10 members to try coffee-mate.  For a chance to receive two COFFEE-MATE coupons to write a book and product review, tell us your all time favorite book in the comment field  of the article : What's Your Favorite Book? - Get Free COFFEE-MATE Coupons . Comments must be received by Sunday, August 24^th. Gather will randomly select ten members to receive coupons.

ARE YOU THE NEXT WINNER?

 Are you going to be the next winner? Don't forget that you can have a chance to win 1000 points until Aug 31. Free points is just like free money!  Have you joined the Relax group yet? You are going to love this offer. You can win 1000 points. Yep, you heard me right. They are going to be giving away 1000 points each week.  All you have to do is be a member of the Relax group.  Christine M. Team Gather  has written an article with more details in it. Click here to read the article. This group is owned by Westin Hotels & Resorts . So if you want more points, hurry on over and join the group. This promotion will last  will run until August, 31.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO WIN A NEW DIGITAL CAMERA!

All you have to do is  share your summer photos and tag them with the word summerpics. For each summer photo you share, you'll earn 10 points! It's as easy as that. Feel free to republish pics you've already shared; just add the summerpics tag. Your extra Gather Points^TM will be uploaded the next day. To read all the details simply go to the post titled Summer Points Promotion: Share Your Photos & Win!  It is written by Pam Johnston .Promotion starts Monday, August 18^th @ 5:30pm ET

Promotion ends Friday, September 5^th @ 5:30pm ET

The "top 10" photos will be determined by calculating both unique views and number of "10-star" ratings

Grand prize winner will be randomly selected from the pool of the top 10 contributors

Grand prize winner will be announced at 5:30pm ET on September 5^th

Have you checked out the  group called Nourish Your Morning? They have this really cool contest going on right now.  

Heidi G., 3-A-Day  has published an article called Enter the "Start Your Day with Dairy" Contest for a Chance to Win a Cookbook!  All you have to do is Submit your best dairy breakfast recipe to win a customized Nourish Your Morning cookbook from TasteBook^TM, featuring recipes from 3-A-Day^TM of Dairy and YOU.  The open submission period for this contest ends Sept 30 2008 @ 11:59 PM  EST

Today's Individual spotlight is on sheila ~the hapless housewife~ j.  Shelia joined gather  August 4, 2006. She has been very active in the community. Her latest post is titled :More vacation pics  Congratulations Shelia! I hope you will take the time to check out Shelia's posts and photos

TODAY ON GATHER ARTICLE INFORMATION

This article is a place where your opinions are always welcome and you will always find a friend. I have a place reserved just for you. I do read all comments and usually try to acknowledge those comments as well. Keyword being "try". There is always a place reserved just for you in the Gather Community. You need never be alone.

Is there something that you would like to see changed on the "Today On Gather" articles?

Do you know of some exciting activity that is going on in the Gather Community? Please just let me know.

Just let me know by making a comment in the comment section. I will be back to chat with you again each weekday of the week.

Today On Gather article is published each weekday to the group Today On Gather and Gather Essentials: News .

You will find many more updates in past articles.