Weekly Entertainment and Events E-Newsletter

HometownAnnapolis.com has one of, if not the best populated calendar of events in the Annapolis area. We also have a terrific Entertainment publication that goes out each week with printed copies of The Capital. Our new e-newsletter will deliver directly to your inbox some of the highlights of these two sources of happenings. To sign up, visit www.hometownannapolis.com/mailout.html.

Calendar of Events

We've rolled out the third generation of our calendar of events. We still have some polishing to do, but there are significant changes in this release that we hope will be well received and solve problems or shortcomings of our previous versions.

• Simplified search. The old search form offered a lot of power, but for most users proved to clunky for regular use.
• Individual pages for events. This allows for much more information about events including contact info, web links, a map and directions, and the ability for web visitors to "attend" events. As we move forward we hope to make these pages more feature-rich.
• Individual pages for venues. Very much like the pages for events. Now you can view multiple events happening at a venue, and web visitors can post reviews of venues if they like.
• Better scheduling options. If you've ever used our web calendar to submit events, you've likely had trouble with events that occur on a range of dates. These events and other complex cases are now much more easily added.
• Account connection. We now require an free account in order to submit events. This is a minor inconvenience that allows an individual the ability to log in and manage/edit existing events.
• Promotional opportunities. We often hear from people asking how they can give their event listings an extra boost. Now such options are available when events are added.

Have a look at our calendar at www.HometownAnnapolis.com/calendar.html.

Video copies on DVD

While we've offered this service since the late 2008, it has always been by phone call or email request. It has been popular enough that start this week, many of our videos will have a "Buy a copy" option. We will create a home-viewable DVD containing whatever video is selected. There are multiple-copy discounts. Look for this on our videos beginning mid-afternoon on July 3 at www.HometownAnnapolis.com/media_video.html

Revamped Local Directory

In early March of this year, we rolled out a new look for our website, HometownAnnapolis.com. About the same time we also launched the next generation of our Local Directory. For those of you familiar with our directory, it was originally launched in the late 1990's as a hand-assembled list of local businesses and organizations with websites.

It has evolved since then into a databased system, with pages now devoted to each listing complete with contact information and a local map.

A powerful addition is the ability for customers and patrons to post reviews. Like a like business? Post your review at www.HometownAnnapolis.com/local-directory

Tour Annapolis

Also introduced to our website in the late 1990's was a tour map with interesting sites in Annapolis. This section had not been updated much since then. Over the past few months our content team has updated the information, modernized the pages and added photos, videos and related stories from The Capital archives. We still have much more work to do, but this is a great start. Visit the tour pages at www.HometownAnnapolis.com/tour_sights.html

Breaking News Alerts

We are now emailing breaking news alerts on a regular basis. If you are not already signed up, you may do so at www.hometownannapolis.com/mailout.html. We also post to Twitter.com (follow us) and Facebook.com (become a fan!)