get physically fit while keeping portland fiscally fit at local, indie gyms + studios

The "world's first electricity generating gyms," The Green Microgyms' equipment captures the energy from a workout and repurposes it to power the building.

I helped compile and update a few fitness lists for 2014 because sometimes the only motivation you need is knowing where to go.

In an effort to help you fulfill your New Year's resolutions, Neighborhood Notes recently published several roundups of local, independent gyms, cycle studios, personal trainers and small group fitness classes, plus a few options to condition both your mind and body including yoga.

Find one in your neighborhood and make good on your best intentions.

portland neighborhood + event + business blurbs

Ringlers Annex and the Crystal Hotel on West Burnside with the Zoobomb Pyle in the foreground

I finished 2013 contributing some neighborhood, event and business blurbs to Neighborhood Notes, helping supplement our updated neighborhood and business district guides for West End, Mississippi, Alberta, Sellwood-Moreland, and the Pearl District. I wrote the main 'hood descriptions for all of the aforementioned (except the Pearl) and highlighted shops like Tender Loving Empire (West End) and Powell's (Pearl), Mississippi Ave. events like the summer street fair, 2nd Thursdays and Cirque du Cycling, music venues like the Crystal Ballroom and Al's Den in the Crystal Hotel (West End), and Pearl places and happenings like First Thursday, the Museum of Contemporary Craft, and Portland Center Stage and The Armory.

which blogging platform is right for your business? (series)

I recently wrapped up a five-part series on blogging platforms for Neighborhood Notes that focused on categories like ease of setup and integration, theme options, ease of use and updating, plugins, SEO tools, security, mobile capabilities, and price as well as other considerations for a variety of popular platforms.

I spoke to multiple web developers and designers about platforms like WordPress, Blogger, Tumblr, open-source options (like concrete5, Drupal and Joomla), and custom-built sites to find out the kinds of tools each offers for small businesses.

To read this series you must be a subscriber of Local U, Neighborhood Notes' small business education center, but for a preview, read an intro to the series as well as an excerpt of the first article on WordPress.

which blogging platform is right for your business? wordpress (part 1)

Just as you have tools to manage your finances, marketing, inventory and, hopefully, social media, simply put, a blog is an online content management system (CMS).

It can be personal place in a professional world where you, the owner, can put a human face on your business, share opinions and insight, and create a dialogue with consumers. It’s your place to say what you want directly to your consumers while improving your rank in search because you’re creating content that’s relevant to your business. That may be another topic altogether, but just know it’s an outlet for you to reach and interact with potential and current consumers by sharing content, which’ll ideally show off the fact that you’re an expert in your field or maybe even a tastemaker or trendsetter.

The blogging software is the actual tool that manages this content (and enables you to edit and publish from a central interface), turning your words, thoughts, ideas, photos, videos and anything else you want to post into a format that’s easy for consumers to read and, if you’re using SEO properly, find too (because you’re also speaking the language of the Internet).

Of course, you do have choices—many choices. So, which blogging platform is right for you?

This week in Local U, NN's online small business education center, we're kicking off a series exploring the pros and cons of different blogging platforms. Whether you're concerned about ease of setup and integration, theme options, ease of use and updating, plugins, SEO tools, security, mobile or tablet capabilities (including apps for publishing), or price, we're here to help you find the best match.

First up: A look at WordPress.

While Blogger, Tumblr or any other number of blogging software names might sound familiar to you, there’s one platform that is truly ubiquitous: WordPress.

The free, open-source blogging software and content management system has been powering websites and blogs for more than a decade now, and today there are almost 70 million WordPress sites in the world, from The New York Times to Forbes to the NFL and countless tech and pop culture blogs.

“WordPress is a nice solution for a small business website,” says Mathew Simonton of Formic Media, a search engine marketing agency for small businesses. You can build your entire site (blog included) on the WordPress platform or extend your current presence with a WordPress blog installation, he explains.

“With WordPress, you have two options,” explains Jennifer Rana of Made by Finch, a Portland-based website and graphic design studio that develops WordPress blogs and sites: A WordPress.com account is free and fully hosted by WordPress.com (plus, for a small fee, you can pay for a unique URL), or you can download the WordPress software (available at WordPress.org) and install it on your own site (aka self-hosting). Read more on the nitty-gritty details.

--
Subscribe to Neighborhood Notes' small business education center, Local U, to read the rest of this article as well as follow our series on blogging platforms.

oregon wine month : meet alchemy

While today may be the last day of Oregon Wine Month, I featured one final urban winemaker yesterday on Neighborhood Notes' Local Agenda: Alchemy Wine Productions. The husband-and-wife team along with their sustainably minded neighbors (Stone Barn Brandyworks, Marigold Coffee, Nell & Mary, and Make It Good) are hosting another Producers Portland event at the Green Warehouse on June 8, so that'd be a good time to visit the winery and "take a peek behind the scenes of some of SE PDX's boutique manufactures."

---
Check out the other urban winemakers featured earlier this month.

what to do if someone steals your logo online

Imagine opening your email in the morning to find two messages—one from a designer in Denmark and another from South Africa—and both friends have inadvertently similar warnings for you: They’ve each just seen your logo—or one that’s unmistakably similar to yours.

Whether an unauthorized reproduction of your brand’s identity is spotted in two continents on one day, or a child from a village in Kenya is wearing your local balloon company’s logo embroidered on his shorts, you should understand the importance of protecting your business or product name with a trademark.

You've likely invested time and money to generate an identity for your brand and to trademark it, but the reality is, no one is going to protect it for you. You are required to police the use of your trademark and that means being proactive and on the lookout for rip-offs of your logo online.

This might sound like an impossible task so we’re going to provide you with a few tips to help you protect your brand in a digital world.

Finding Infringing Trademarks Online

Graphic designer Jeff Fisher of LogoMotives is a model of vigilance. And, he’s very open about publicly sharing appropriations of his design work in a gallery he dubs “Rip-offs and Unauthorized Usage.” Continually updated, the Facebook album contains some 150 photos and stories. The detailed examples illustrate his process to protect his designs and clients and are an invaluable resource where others can learn how to protect their brand.

So, how does Fisher discover infringing content on the web?

---
Subscribe to Neighborhood Notes' small business education center, Local U, to read the rest of this article, and once you're a member, you can read up on the rest of NN's trademark resources.

oregon wine month : meet the winemakers

Oregon Wine Month has barely more than a week left, but every Thursday throughout May, I've been featuring a new urban winemaker on Neighborhood Notes' Local Agenda. So far, we've met the wine aficionados and received tasting recommendations from Hip Chicks Do Wine, Jan-Marc Wine Cellars, ENSO Winery, and the Southeast Wine Collective, which features four wineries (Helioterra Wines, Vincent Wine Company, Division Winemaking Company, and Bow & Arrow Wines) under one roof.

Learn about these Portland vintners and then go visit a few this Memorial Day weekend because all of them are hosting events.

resources for your ride — it's national bike to work day

It's National Bike to Work Day today, which means it's National Bike Month, which, in turn, means it's PDX Bike Month. Got it?

In honor of all of the above, I've written a Local Agenda for today as well as one the other week on some Portland-made biking accessories like bags from Black Star and Queen Bee, caps from Double Darn, and more really cool stuff from PDW and others.

Then, there's the behemoth of a list, featuring classes, co-ops and maps to guide you, dubbed:

Biking in Portland: Where to Learn and Ride

Greenest city, best coffee, hottest indie music scene. In the eyes of others (read: national media outlets), Portland is constantly competing for top listicle honors.

In 2012, Travel + Leisure liberally bestowed upon Portland "the best" titles for environmental friendliness, street food and food trucks, public transportation and pedestrian friendliness, pet-friendly vacation, and microbrewed beer (as well as "the worst" weather, naturally). Plus, CNN just named us the best beer town in the USA.

While the recognition is appreciated (and delivers a little ego boost), the measures are, honestly, completely arbitrary. Most Portlanders aren’t striving to be acknowledged—they’re just doing these things because they have a passion for the ideas, ideals and tastes (and to, hopefully, make a living).

As we continually vie with Minneapolis for the crown of America’s #1 bike city, one thing is official: The month of May is National Bike Month, which means the city has also declared it PDX Bike Month. With morning ride bike breakfasts and a free bike summit (the meeting kind, not a hill ride), May is an opportunity for Portlanders to celebrate the thriving bike community and culture that lives here. (Points of pride: Portland has the highest percentage of bike commuters for a large American city and is the only large American city awarded a platinum rating for bicycle friendliness by the League of American Bicyclists—plus more fast facts.)

But if you’re a little intimidated by the scene or simply don’t know where to start, we hope the following list of resources will show you that Portlanders love spreading the bike gospel through activities, education and affordable access to information for riders of all skill levels and ages.

Where To Learn: Hands-On Bike Maintenance and Safety

Tori Bortman, owner of Gracie's Wrench

Depending on what you aim to do with your developing bike knowledge, Portland offers a multitude of opportunities to learn in a variety of environments.

A good place to start is the Portland Bureau of Transportation’s (PBOT) Portland By Cycle program, which hosts spring and summer classes and rides (all are free but some classes require registration). You can learn basic bike maintenance and safety in interactive clinics or discover new cycling routes while practicing these skills during group rides—and maybe you’ll make some two-wheeled friends along the way. Find the 2013 schedule for upcoming dates of interest.

While Portland By Cycle has several dates specifically for seniors, Women on Bikes is a female-only series of free clinics and rides. With activities from now until September, find one that works for you and join in.

For those determined DIYers desiring more advanced training, become a bike mechanic under the tutelage of Tori Bortman at Gracie's Wrench where she offers everything from beginning to intensive tune-up classes and individual tutoring, or learn wheel building from the experts at Sugar Wheel Works.

And if you’re really serious about being official, get professionally certified at the United Bicycle Institute, “the industry's leading technical school offering courses in repair, frame building, and mechanic certification for beginner to advanced technicians.” That’s right, you can literally build your own bike from scratch. Fire up your torch and start brazing that chromoly. (And if you have no clue what that even means, just start hanging out at the adjacent Hopworks BikeBar and maybe you’ll learn through inebriated osmosis.)

---
Find out where to learn safty tips, how to self-service your ride, and discover a plethora of riding routes inside and out of the city on Neighborhood Notes.

¡salud! — it's cinco de mayo

In honor of Cinco de Mayo, today's Local Agenda features tacos, cervezas, margaritas made with aguas frescas, tamales and homemade salsa from several of my favorite spots around town. (We're talking Robo Taco, ¿Por Que No? and suggestions for several tamale spots.)

Every. Single. One of those things is literally my favorite thing in the whole wide world. ¡Qué rico!

just brew it — it's national homebrew day!

It's National Homebrew Day so naturally we planned accordingly for today's Local Agenda as well. Find out where to meet up with some homebrewing comrades and how to spend your sunny Saturday afternoon.

weddings galore

Here's another batch of small business blurbs written for Neighborhood Notes' The Localist. Most of these have a matrimonial angle, featuring specific products and services for brides- and grooms-to-be.

There are custom-made invitations for any occasion at both Paperjam Press and Ecru Modern Stationer (which also provides myriad convenient personalization options via Envelopments), plus flowers, bouquets, centerpieces and more at both Emerald Petals and Broadway Floral, and then a few little bits on beauty and gift registries.

how to trademark + protect your business name or ideas

You’ve officially decided to follow your dream.

Whether you’re ready to reveal the product you’ve been meticulously developing in your workshop or studio to the world, or you’re ambitiously opening your own restaurant, bar, bakery or boutique, you should step back a moment and consider the name of your product, business or service from a legal perspective—you’ll thank yourself later.

There is definitely a cost to choosing the wrong business name, which is exactly what two Portland bar owners have become acutely aware of since opening their northwest kitchen and lounge almost two years ago. The lesson Sepal Meacham and Josh Johnson (of the recently renamed Paymaster Lounge) would like you to take away from their experience is that you can easily save yourself undue stress, as well as wasted time, money and energy, if you take basic trademark law into consideration when selecting your business’ name.

Even if you’ve had the perfect name in mind for years, you’d be wise to pay attention to the following advice before you publicly brand yourself under that moniker. And if you don’t necessarily have that name picked out, pay attention so you can do it right the first time.

Determine If Your Product Is Eligible For a Trademark

But first, what is a trademark?

---
Subscribe to Neighborhood Notes' small business education center, Local U, to read the rest of this article as well as two more about frequently asked trademark questions on international registration and how long it takes to receive a trademark.

beer me — it's national beer day!

I wrote up a few quick introductory hits for today's Local Agenda on Neighborhood Notes encouraging you to consume (or brew) a few on what looks to be a damp Sunday afternoon. Managed to slip in a mention of strip clubs and I know a certain storied inner southeast establishment that has an admirable happy hour pretty much all day long. So, while you're busy blowing your hard-earned cash on coveted curiosities, you'll be saving on beer!

---

Find lists of Portland breweries, bottleshops and homebrew supply (as well as other DIY) stores on Neighborhood Notes.

portland business blurbs

Lately, I've been contributing content to Neighborhood Notes' The Localist, a business directory of locally owned businesses in Portland. Some of these blurbs are repurposed from past content I've written, some are basic write-ups to introduce a business, and others highlight specific products, events, services, or just things we like (because we think you should be in the know too). All of them show up in various places around the site (like on a business' directory page) and sometimes on the homepage as part of the curated Local Agenda, which changes daily.

Here are a few samples and links to more.

Artistic Taxidermy

Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! More like deer, elk, antelope, ducks, and “a lot of bears lately,” says Artistic Taxidermy’s Garret Heying of the fauna he regularly sees come through his shop. Although he does stuff some African game (including an impressive kudu on the wall behind the counter) and some exotics from New Zealand, add to that list aquatic creatures like bass, trout and salmon—including a 75 pounder once—and you have the bulk of Heying’s Northwest fare. Peering through the doorway into the “Employees Only” zone, the ceiling racks hold more than 100 antlers while the showroom—where you can stop in and browse—of the 71-year-old business, which has called Foster Road home for more than three decades, houses an ever-changing inventory, from finished orders awaiting pick up to examples of the professional mounts, scaled and feathered trophies, rugs, restorations, and antler lamps and chandeliers fashioned on-site.

Artistic Taxidermy, 5700 SE Foster Road, 503.771.DEER

Take A Trip But Don't Forget Your Passport

Laurie Lewis of Hip Chicks Do Wine was instrumental in organizing the PDX Urban Wineries association, which represents a range of winemakers making a variety of wines all right here within the city's limits. And now, the burgeoning number of urban wineries involved in the collaborative coalition has created the perfect way for you to tour their facilities and taste their wines. The PDX Urban Wineries Passport grants you a free tasting at wineries around town—including Hip Chicks, ENSO, Alchemy Wine Productions, and Seven Bridges as well as three different winemakers in the shared space of the Southeast Wine Collective (which features Helioterra Wines, Vincent Wine Company and Division Winemaking Company) and the appointment-only, garage-based operation of Jan-Marc Wine Cellars—plus discounts at local wine-oriented bars and restaurants. Want to get a group together and arrange your own tour? The passport also provides deals on transportation options like the Portland Short Bus and PDX Pedicab. So, buy your own passport ($20) and organize a tasting trip. Then, present your passport for complimentary sips and swirl, sniff and swallow—or spit, if you must. Like what you tried? Receive 10 percent off any bottle purchased that day. Then, repeat this process at your next urban winery stop.

The Jane from Tiffany Bean's 2013 Riviera collection

Plus, read about Muse Art and Design's month-long An Artist A Day event in April or Tiffany Bean's new spring 2013 collection at Mabel and Zora. Or, there's weekly Fiber Fanatic Fun on Thursdays at Pearl Fiber Arts and tons of canning supplies at Mirador. Physical Element has new shoes in stock while Milagros Boutique's event space is now available for rental. Then, catch a weekend show when the daytime workshop of Sellwood-Moreland's Modcott Pianos turns into a nighttime venue called The Piano Fort.

the cost of choosing the wrong business name

Three months after opening their NW Portland kitchen and lounge, Sepal Meacham and Josh Johnson received a certified letter from Austin, Texas. It contained a strongly worded cease and desist letter from a Moonshine Patio Bar & Grill located in the heart of Stumptown’s unofficial sister city, asking the two burgeoning bar owners to “dissolve our business immediately,” Meacham explains.

“We were shocked and surprised,” she adds.

After talks with the Austin restaurant failed, Meacham and Johnson decided it was best to change their name and appended Balls the Cat’s to the original name of Moonshine Kitchen & Lounge. The image of Balls—the cat with the moonshine jug—became their official mascot, although his presence had been a part of their branding since the beginning.

Meacham says they’ve since “tried to go about our business,” and while the pair hasn’t received another cease and desist letter regarding the new name, every so often, another issue seems to crop up. The Austin company has had “unreasonable” requests, according to Meacham, such as wanting “$7,500 every six months” for licensing of the name and “control over our logo and our menus.”

“We need to succumb to their demands or go to court,” Meacham says, feeling a little bit at a loss.

Or, change the name of the bar, which is something the pair is considering.

---
Find out what led Meacham and Johnson to change the name of their bar to Paymaster Lounge and how you can avoid this problem on Neighborhood Notes.

5 noteworthy things to do in portland's powellhurst-gilbert neighborhood

Originally farmland, East Portland’s Powellhurst-Gilbert is named for a pair of 1800s settlers, Jackson Powell and William M. Gilbert, whose names also appear on a trio of neighborhood elementary schools. As the city grew, residential development claimed much of the land, but pockets of flora and fauna as well as urban agriculture still exist within and nearby today’s Powellhurst-Gilbert. Consistently an area for new Portlanders, the population has transformed from the initial pioneer families to the present-day diversity where Asian, Hispanic and black citizens make up more than one-third of the area's residents, a characteristic that’s plainly reflected in the ethnically varied businesses.

SHOP: The International Markets

Powellhurst-Gilbert is home to a glut of markets that primarily cater to various Asian populations but are also popular with adventurous eaters and holistic health practitioners all over Portland. With the Fubonn Supermarket, Tin Seng Trading Company and Chang Fa next door to Tin Seng (which has been called a mini Fubonn), you can find a vast array of packaged goods and Chinese herbal medicines as well as a selection of fresh produce, meat and even live seafood. The substantial Fubonn (self-proclaimed "the largest Asian shopping center in Oregon") also provides shoppers with a proper mall experience where you can find bubble tea, a bakery, restaurants, a jewelry store, gift shop, bookstore, spa, salon, clothing stores and more inside the building. Focused on traditional Chinese medicine, the nearby Wing Ming Herbs offers additional herbs, spices, teas, ginseng and so on, while the Eastern European Roman Russian Food Store, features a deli and bakery with a much raved about honey cake and other pastries.

Fubonn Shopping Center, 2850 SE 82nd Ave., Ste. 80, 503.517.8899
Tin Seng Trading Company, 8350 SE Division St., 503.777.8203
Chang Fa Market, 8310 SE Division St., 503.788.8882
Wing Ming Herbs, 2738 SE 82nd Ave., 503.775.9895
Roman Russian Food Store, 10918 SE Division St., 503.408.7525

PLAY: Seek Skate Nirvana

Named in honor of statesman and community activist Ed Benedict, the almost 13-acre park that bears his name features the standard amenities (basketball, soccer, walking paths, picnic tables, playground) as well as an 18,000-square-foot skatepark with ledges, rails, stairs and banks. Artistically designed to feature Dan Garland’s multifaceted concrete art installation (“which provokes thought regarding the intersection between natural and man-made environments”) and constructed using recycled and sustainable materials, the skatepark features native landscaping and on-site stormwater treatment. It’s even “considered to be the first environmentally sensitive skate plaza ever constructed,” according to Portland Parks and Recreation (PP&R).

Ed Benedict Park, SE 100th Avenue and Powell Boulevard

---
Find three more things to do in Powellhurst-Gilbert on Neighborhood Notes.

portland micro roasters fueling the local economy (p3)

Photo by Jelani Memory

As the weather turns colder and wetter and the days shorter and darker, it’s time for Portlanders to cozy up at coffee shops with a hot beverage loaded with caffeine. Therefore, it’s also appropriate to spotlight Portland's coffee culture, specifically our local micro roasters who are small businesses producing small batch, crafted coffees and sharing them in their own coffee houses as well as cafes across town.

Why frequent corporate coffee chains when every quadrant of this city features not only an abundance of local coffee shops but also locales where you can see your beans roasted before they become your brew?

With more than 30 local micro roasters in Portland, here are a couple more local alternatives to Starbucks that support local and in turn energize our economy through collaboration.

Sterling Coffee Roasters + Coffeehouse Northwest

Making his home in NW Portland, micro coffee roaster Adam McGovern is the man behind two compact coffee shops: Coffeehouse Northwest, which began in 2007, and Sterling Coffee Roasters, which opened on Valentine's Day 2010 as a 50-square-foot stand next to Trader Joe's on NW Glisan Street. But as the grocer looked to expand, McGovern teamed up with friend Jeremy Campbell, who owns the equally petite M Bar around the corner, and moved into a newly devised collaborative location on Father's Day 2012.

While we've loosely used the word "collaboration" in this series to signify local businesses and individuals supporting one another, whether that's selling local baked goods or featuring artists on coffee shop walls, McGovern likes to "reserve the word ‘collaboration’ for times where we work in some equal capacity with another business or individual to produce a good or service we both offer at a retail level, or at least to which we both supply branding.”

With that in mind, McGovern and Campbell’s shared space is truly collaborative and decidedly unique. Sterling is open each morning and afternoon while M Bar takes over each night.

“Because the space is so small,” McGovern explains, “Sterling will set up and break down the entire service area, except for the espresso machine, every day.”

From a handshake to a sublease and lease negotiation, the process “ultimately strengthened our commitment to working together,” McGovern says. “The lease gave us a chance to consider every aspect of the partnership and to codify the ways in which we'll support each other.”

Another Sterling collaboration includes the Coffee Roasters United project “where several small roasters pool buying power to purchase micro-lot coffees each could not afford on their own,” McGovern explains. Partners include Portland coffee shops and roasters like Red E Café, Case Study Coffee, Seven Virtues, and Clive Coffee.

But, there’s one other venture that McGovern would also consider, by his definition, a collaboration—and it has nothing to do with coffee. Sterling recently launched a “line of men's and women's ties, designed for us by Crispin Argento of PINO,” McGovern says. “We hope to continue collaborating with designers to produce apparel and accessories as we grow.”

---
Read the rest on Sterling and Coffeehouse Northwest plus Coava Coffee Roasters on Neighborhood Notes.

10 noteworthy things to do in portland's old town-chinatown

Portland’s Old Town-Chinatown presents a dizzying array of shopping, sights, eats and events as well as characters and characteristics, from serenely traditional to outlandishly artistic to rambunctiously drunken. Historically home to significant emigrant populations of Chinese and Japanese, today’s Asian influence is mostly surface only as just a handful of gift shops, importers and restaurants remain in the neighborhood.

Yet, the impressive Chinatown Gate over Fourth Avenue still welcomes visitors to NW Portland with two imposing bronze lions sitting on their haunches. Iconic red lamp posts line the streets north of Burnside and the re-erected Hung Far Low sign endures just two blocks past the gate.

Amongst all the activity and weekend merrymaking, there’s a seedier side—strip clubs and an adult theater—and a blunt reality to the area where a significant homeless population lives and human services abound.

Nevertheless, a few things are guaranteed every night of the week: The echo of live music always hangs in the air as does the aroma of deep-fried dough and crystallized sugar, each welcoming you to your destination even before it’s in sight.

DO: Tour By Foot or Bike

Jump in an orange PDX Pedicab for a 45-minute tour guided by an audio recording, or set your own pace with the Old Town-Chinatown walking tour. While each will take you by many of the major historical sites of “Portland's oldest neighborhood,” according to the Old Town-Chinatown Neighborhood Association, there are two more stops you can add to your list: Take a stroll up the north side of the Burnside Bridge and turn around once you’re over the water to view the neon White Stag sign, which welcomes you to Old Town as you drive across the river; and then head down to what remains of the oddity-filled 24 Hour Church of Elvis, on NW Couch Street between Fourth and Fifth Avenues, to push the buttons of the coin-op kiosk, which offers fortune-telling and marriage ceremonies.

24 Hour Church of Elvis, 408 NW Couch St., 503.226.3671

PLAY: Game On at the Barcade

Founded by lifelong pinball and classic video game enthusiasts, Ground Kontrol “celebrates and preserves arcade gaming's ‘golden age’ by operating over 100 of the best video games and pinball machines from the ‘70s, ‘80s, and ‘90s,” according to its website, as well as offering a full bar and snacks, which you can put away while seated at glowing tables. Bask in the warmth of buzzing, chiming machines and the luminescence of the retro-futuristic, TRON-inspired interior where white- and indigo-hued fiber-optic lighting and LEDs line the stairs and archways as DJs spin a fresh variety every night. The long-running Rock Band Tuesdays, dubbed “karaoke for gamers,” will allow you to pick up plastic instruments and rock out using pro gear (microphones, guitar and keyboard controllers, drum mod), lights and sound (PA system, audio monitors), but before you head home for the night, be sure to make your way to the restrooms to check out the floor mosaics—Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man, respectively.

Ground Kontrol Classic Arcade, 511 NW Couch St., 503.796.9364

EAT + DRINK: Imbibe and Consume, Outdoors and In

Taking a page out of the old town playbook of Europe, Portland closed off SW Ankeny Street between Second to Third Avenues to traffic in 2011, effectively creating a communal, open-air space where the surrounding bars and restaurants set up picnic tables. Sit outside with your bright pink Voodoo Doughnut box while mulling over the stained glass likeness of a bacon maple bar and the faces of Voodoo’s owners, as well as the late Ted Papaioannou, owner of neighboring bar Berbati and music venue Ted's, and then wash down that cereal-, cookie- or candy-covered sweet with a drink from the uber-hip art space Valentines, or a craft libation from Central as you watch the chef work a compact kitchen through the restaurant’s one alleyway window. The dim recesses of the new-ish industrial chic, speakeasy-style bar may be blocked by a curtain, but the large windows of next door's 105-year-old Dan & Louis Oyster Bar—Portland’s “oldest family-owned restaurant”—reveal shucked oysters and nautical paraphernalia, like a massive wooden ship's wheel that hangs above the bar in the The Old Shucking Room.

Voodoo Doughnut, 22 SW 3rd Ave., 503.241.4704
Ted’s Berbati’s Pan, 221 SW Ankeny St., 503.226.2122
Valentines, 232 SW Ankeny St., 503.248.1600
Central, 220 SW Ankeny St., 503.719.7918
Dan & Louis Oyster Bar, 208 SW Ankeney St., 503.227.5906
Berbati, 19 SW 2nd Ave., 503.248.4579

---
Find seven more things to do in Old Town-Chinatown, including art galleries, drag shows and live music, on Neighborhood Notes.

reviews on multiple sites amplify smbs presence in local search

To call the myriad offerings on the Internet extensive may be a slight understatement. And while it’s tempting to generalize the growth of the Internet as exponential, the reality is the Internet’s growth is actually sigmoidal (apparently), or S-shaped.

In this choice-filled online world, small business owners know best that the vast number of options available, in everything, online are overwhelming. Whether choosing a social media platform or seeking reviews for your business, it’s important to diversify.

Local reviews of your business build credibility, help your rank in local search, and act as a form of word-of-mouth marketing but, as if you haven’t heard this enough, you can’t be content with just one review outlet online.

“The reality is that to 'get found,' they [businesses] need a profile on every citation source and review site that they can get,” says Ben Lloyd of Amplify Interactive.

Diversify: Seek Reviews Across Multiple Sites

As previously recommended, it’s necessary to create review-ready business profiles that contain real, up-to-date information about your business—and important to create these profiles across multiple sites.

“Never put all of your eggs in one basket,” advises John McPhee, the vice president of Formic Media, a Portland firm that specializes in search and social media for small businesses. “Give your customers options on where to leave reviews. Try to get reviews from Google, Yelp, Yahoo/Bing Local, and any other review sites relevant to your industry.”

Encourage reviews during an interaction in-store, via email and social media, or by using links or badges on your website, directing customers to your profile on review sites.

---
Find out more about where you can go to diversify and why hyperlocal search matters on Neighborhood Notes.

5 noteworthy things to do in portland's foster-powell neighborhood

Portland’s Foster-Powell neighborhood sits at the center of several southeast neighborhoods whose borders blend together and the people share parks, bars, bike lanes, and food carts. Affectionately dubbed FoPo, the area is rich in diversity and the variety of businesses in the community reflect this. As new venues crop up to complement neighborhood staples, a flux of new and old, youthful and aged, Vietnamese, Eastern European and American residents come together to shape a district in transformation.

EAT: Transcontinental Coalescence

Originally a commercial supplier, FoPo’s An Xuyen Bakery might be most popular for its $3.99 bánh mì and Vietnamese iced coffee special. Yet, the expert provider of fresh, daily, natural French bread still supplies loaves to bánh mì joints, restaurants and grocers all over town, as well as the next door Foster Burger with speciality brioche buns. Stop in for a to-go lunch, add a pork or veggie (cabbage, carrots, noodles) bao if you’re extra hungry, and top it off with a selection of fresh-baked sweets—choose from a variety of tropical cookies (like guava or pineapple), towering puff pastries, red velvet cupcakes, or sugar-covered, deep-fried Hawaiian doughnuts.

An Xuyen Bakery, 5345 SE Foster Road, 503.788.0866

SHOP: Multifariously Eastern European

Besides a handful of easily recognizable brand names, most of the products lining the shelves of Good Neighbor European Deli Market are utterly foreign—and that’s not just because many of the labels are written in Cyrillic. With an impressive selection of canned fish, herbal remedies, teas, and sunflower seeds, Good Neighbor offers more than 70 varieties of meat with a cold case dedicated to baloney, two for salami, one for smoked and dried fish, and another for Eastern European cheeses, as well as a freezer full of pelmeni and perogi dumplings. A rear corner features a wall of colorfully wrapped, assorted candies in bins, but owner Alex Shkurov, who runs the grocery with his brother Slava, says he’d “take a pickled cucumber over candy” any day. Pickled goods, like cucumbers, tomatoes and green beans, are amongst the in-house specialities made using old-fashioned recipes that don’t use vinegar, while other rarities include jars of pickled apples and watermelon. Other highly recommended and hard-to-find items include house-baked Georgian flat bread and German rye-based breads as well as cheesy puff pastries. And if anything starts to feel too unfamiliar, ask for a sample and the staff will gladly oblige.

Good Neighbor European Deli Market, 4107 SE 82nd Ave., 503.771.5171

---
Find three more things to do in Foster-Powell on Neighborhood Notes.