Spotlight on Adoption

Adoption has been a big word in the news this week. Sandra Bullock revealed that she’d secretly adopted a child several months ago, and fitness guru Jillian Michaels made the news when she said she’d rather adopt a baby because “when you rescue something, it’s like rescuing a part of yourself.” People have deep opinions and beliefs on the subject, and it’s certainly a matter close to many hearts.

Adopting a child is a very important and personal decision. Inviting a child into one’s heart and home can take months or years to achieve, and the excitement of that new addition is certainly a milestone worth celebrating! We are proud to feature adoption milestones on xtraxtra.com as a space for adoptive parents to celebrate the newest members of their families, and we continue to invite people to share those milestones on the site.

We hope our users will share their adoption announcements on xtra xtra because we want to connect that exciting news to their communities. Henry David Thoreau said, “With every child the world begins again.” With adoption, a new world begins for every family.

So Tell Us…Do you have an adoption story or a favorite quote? Share it below in the comments, and please share your latest announcements at xtraxtra.com.

Till next time,

CH

Salute Your Service Members with xtra xtra

We try to stay busy on the xtra xtra Twitter account and connect with people as they recognize life’s big milestones. We offer congratulations to newly engaged couples and those celebrating special anniversaries, and we’re always enjoy saying “Happy Birthday” on someone’s special day.

I was perusing our Twitter feed earlier today and noticed several inspiring tweets related to our military.

  • #MILITARYMONDAY The soldier above all others prays for peace,it is the soldier who must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war.
  • #MilitaryMonday thanks to all vets & troops for their service & thanks to fam & friends of military for their support and sacrifice!
  • Happy #militarymonday to all hands. To those who served & are serving now…thank you for your dedicated service and self sacrifice
  • #MilitaryMonday thx 2 all vets & troops for their service & thx 2 fam & friends of military 4 their support and sacrifice!
  • #MilitaryMonday To all Military Personnel, past, present and future……THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE AND SACRIFICE!!.

Monday is unofficially considered “Military Monday” on Twitter, and it’s a great chance to pause and thank our men and women in uniform for all of their sacrifices. We hope you’ll take a moment today and recognize a serviceperson in your life with an xtra xtra milestone.

Create a free xtra xtra milestone to honor your soldier’s service and achievements. Celebrate a rank promotion or the excitement of someone’s safe return home. Honor a friend or family member’s heroism with photos and a milestone written in your own words. It’s a great way to salute someone’s service while sharing those achievements with others in your community.

Till next time,

CH

Recognizing Smart People on xtra xtra

375 years ago today, America’s first public school was founded. The Boston Latin School opened its doors on April 23, 1635, and new opportunities were offered to kids in this country. The school is the oldest existing schools in the United States, and its graduates have gone on to do incredible things. One graduate even created a little company called xtra xtra!

The anniversary of the Boston Latin School’s founding makes this a wonderful opportunity to highlight xtra xtra’s Academic Milestones. xtra xtra devotes a lot of space to smart people and their achievements, so here are a few ways you can use academic milestones to celebrate on xtraxtra.com…

  • Recognize a student’s place on the honor roll.
  • Announce the winner of an academic award, scholarship, or grant.
  • Celebrate a student’s graduation with news of the date, the student’s favorite studies, and perhaps a picture of the cap and gown.
  • Publicize an upcoming academic conference, convention, or event.
  • Post photos from a commencement, school event, or academic fundraiser.
  • Share news of a student’s future plans—if your sister got into Harvard, for example, you could share that news with the community at xtra xtra!

xtra xtra is a great space for celebrating the academic achievements. Graduation season is coming up soon, and another academic year will soon come to a close. Take advantage of xtra xtra to create free announcements for the big academic events coming up for you and yours!

Till next time,

CH

Tell Us What You Think

We’re always eager for your opinions and different perspectives, so we hope you’ll check out our new survey. It’s only five questions, but your responses will greatly help us as we continue to buff and polish our site for local milestones and events.

We used user feedback from our BzzAgent.com campaign to completely renovate our site, so we take these comments to heart. Please be honest, and forward the survey to some friends, too!

Till next time,

The xtra xtra team

  • Apr 22, 2010 by cooley
  • xtra xtra
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Cakes for Occasions Makes Milestones Sweeter

xtra xtra has a “sweet” new advertising partner! Cakes for Occasions is a gourmet bakery located in Danvers, Massachusetts. They are creating delicious baked goods for the North Shore, but they also ship their treats to 48 states and make sugary dreams come true with delectable cakes, cookies, and pastries.

Cakes for Occasions has received a lot of attention since its early beginnings in owner Kelly Delaney’s family kitchen. The bakery produces over 700 wedding cakes each year, and Delaney is regarded as a national baking expert. Customers from across the country turn to Cakes for Occasions for colorful desserts that make anniversaries, showers, birthdays, and other milestones all the more memorable.

I was particularly interested in Cakes for Occasions’ Resume Cookies, which have been featured on The Today Show, CNBC, and a variety of news outlets throughout the northeast. These 8.5×11” cookies feature your resume on edible sugar paper, so they are sure to make a memorable (and delicious!) impression on a potential employer. We hope folks will create a professional milestone at xtra xtra if their Resume Cookies help them get a new job!

We’re so excited to be working with Cakes for Occasions. Find them on Facebook or Twitter, and be sure to visit their website and see what gourmet goodies might find their way to your table.

Till next time,

CH

  • Apr 21, 2010 by cooley
  • Partners
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How To: Write a Memorable Birth Announcement

We feature many categories for milestones and events at xtra xtra, but one of our favorites is the birth announcements. As we’ve mentioned in the past, new babies tend to make people giddy, and communities often rally around a fresh face in their midst.

Families have been using birth announcements to celebrate their new additions for decades. I found some historical birth announcements from the past that are pretty fantastic. They demonstrate that we’ve made some changes to the ways we announce our little ones!

“Dr. W.C. McIrvin reports the arrival of a girl at the home of Mr. and Mrs. J.H. Simminger. The event occurred last Tuesday, March 7. Remembering Jake’s fondness for the girls in his bachelor days, we can imagine how fond he is of this particular one.”  –Atwood Patriot (KS), 1905

“A new baby arrived at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Clell Alley of Mikesell township Tuesday night. We failed to learn the sex.”  –Atwood Patriot (KS), 1901

“Thursday morning April 26, 1900, a bright eyed little daughter came to bless the home of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph H. Young. This is the first child. The tiny lady has received the name of Josephine. May she add joy and happiness to this already perfectly happy home. We smoked.”  –Atwood Patriot (KS), 1900

“A bright healthy girl arrived at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Ed Cochran of this city Monday morning. Ed, Velma and the new girl are getting along famously, but Grandpa Sankey is considerably worried over the fact that it is the first democrat ever born into the family.”  –Atwood Patriot (KS), 1901

Sometimes it’s hard to know what to say in a birth announcement. While referring to the father’s bachelor days might not be the best approach, you should remember to include the following details: Parents’ names, the birth date, the new baby’s name and gender, the weight and length of the child, and grandparents’ names. These will keep people in your community connected to your news and the latest exciting things happening in your family!

Are you expecting a baby soon? Do you know someone who is expecting? If so, create a birth announcement at xtra xtra! It’s free and simple to share news with the community, and we give you plenty of room to add extra details (including, perhaps, Grandpa’s worries about the little one’s political leanings).

Till next time,

CH

Pitching In for the Planet

Earth Day is just around the corner on April 22. It was first observed in 1970 as a way to recognize the importance of the environment, and as we get into the sweet days of spring, it’s also a great moment to pause and think about the world around us. From the flowers we plant to the grass we cut to the warm air we’re finally able to enjoy, the environment is ours, and it needs our help.

We hope you’ll take some time in the coming days and find ways to pitch in. You might unplug your computer at night, turn off the lights when you leave a room, use cold water when doing the laundry, or create a paperless announcement at xtraxtra.com. There are countless ways to give back, and each effort makes a difference.

The folks at Sylvania are giving you a good incentive. Their “40 For the Future Earth Day Campaign” encourages people to commit to a few changes in celebration of Earth Day. They’re hoping to save over 40 million kilowatt hours in 40 days, and you can help. You might also win a carbon-free trip to Disneyland!

Click the image below to find out how to participate, and please feel free to share this posting and spread the word about this great contest!

How To: Write a Memorable Engagement Announcement

In a previous entry, we gave you tips on different ways to announce your engagement. This week, we’ll tell you how to write your engagement announcement.

Always remember that we should not ignore etiquette. Here are a few tips that are traditionally observed when creating wedding and engagement announcements.

  • When considering content, remember to include the most important details. This includes the bride and groom’s names, occupations, and residences, as well as the names and hometowns of their parents. Couples also tend to include their respective schools and the wedding date (if it has been decided). More detail can also be included, but if space is a concern, those are important details to remember.
  • The announcement is traditionally written from the perspective of the bride’s parents. For example, “Mr. and Mrs. Ted Jones of Atlanta announce the marriage of their daughter, Rebecca Elizabeth, to David Smith…” The Knot offers further insight on this, but more couples are shaking up the formula with a less traditional tone. This is especially the case if you’re going to be paying for your own wedding!
  • Engagement announcements are often published about 2-3 months before the wedding. Like Save-the-Dates, which are mailed by some couples to let their guests know of the date and location of the wedding, publishing your engagement announcement in a timely fashion will remind your guests that your event is drawing closer. This will also help them in making arrangements to attend.
  • There is a difference between an engagement announcement and a wedding announcement. Engagement announcements are published before the ceremony, and wedding announcements are usually published in the short weeks following the ceremony. The latter includes details like the honeymoon location and where the couple plan to reside. Some couples publish both announcements, but might choose one of the two and include more information to save on time and possible publishing fees.
  • Once upon a time, many announcements featured only a photo of the bride. This continues to be a trend in some parts of the South, but today many couples submit a photo of both the bride and the groom if they’re publishing in the local newspaper. It’s best to include a photo to make the announcement more personal, and it also gives people in your community the chance to size up your fiancé!

How you celebrate your engagement is really up to you. Announcements are a great way to share your news, and of course you can say just about anything in an xtra xtra engagement posting. Just remember this key: details are what matter when sharing a memory worth remembering!

So Tell Us…How did you do your engagement announcements? Is this an out of date practice or a fun tradition? What are your tips for any engaged couples who might be reading this entry? Let us know in the comments!

Till next time,

CH

Spotlight on Birthdays

We’re continuing our Friday series of spotlighting xtra xtra’s different milestone categories, and today we’re looking at birthdays. In thinking about this, I considered starting with a quote about the wonder of the birthday, but the results were lackluster; you either get Rita Rudner talking about face lifts or really heavy comments one might find in Philosophy 101 (i.e. “It takes a long time to grow young”).

Rather than wax philosophical, I decided to ask about birthday memories. Using Twitter and Facebook, I posed a question: “Can you sum up your favorite birthday memory in one sentence?”

Here are some of the responses. We had others, but I’ll hang onto those for a second installment in the future, as it’s always fun to hear what people do on their special days!

Read more

Top Ten Reasons to Use xtra xtra

People often ask why they should use xtra xtra as a source for local news and events. I have many ways of answering this, but I finally sat down and created a list of reasons. Whether it’s the Top 40 list on the radio or the Top Ten on Letterman, people seem to like lists, so I hope this will give you something to think about as you ponder a visit to xtraxtra.com.

Top Ten Reasons Why People Should Use xtra xtra

10. It’s Searchable—Search for milestones in your favorite community, or use the features at the top of the page to check out different towns or schools. Travel to other communities for the latest milestones without ever leaving the site.

9. It’s Local—Milestones are tagged to communities connected to people in the post. When you look for the latest news in your town, you’re seeing stories that people think you’ll care about.

8. You Have Ownership—Your story is your own, so we won’t try to write it for you. Why announce your wedding or graduation with a template when you could tell the story in your own words?

7. Personalize It—Make your milestone personal by sharing the details people care about. Step outside of the box and tell us what music you played at the wedding or which child sang the solo in the play. Use pictures and descriptions to make your milestone memorable.

6. Share Your Stories—You can email your milestone, share it on Facebook and Twitter, and tag it to different communities. It’s one-stop-shopping for spreading the word about your milestones.

5. Connect To Your Community—If you have a baby or win the big game, everyone—not just your “friends” on social media sites—will want to celebrate. Use xtra xtra to share your story with the whole community: family, friends, teachers and coworkers, and many others.

4. No Registration Requirement—There’s no required registration because your community’s news is yours. View content without signing up for anything, and if you decide to share a milestone or a photo, there’s a one-click registration process. Registered users get advanced tools, but all visitors have access to the same content.

3. It’s Instantaneous—You might wait weeks for an announcement to be published in the local paper, but your xtra xtra posting is ready from the moment you click “Publish.” There’s no waiting, and you can edit the post if you want to make changes.

2. It’s Easy—There are no “friends” or “followers” on xtra xtra. It’s just people in your community who want to share milestones and events. The site is easy to manage because there are no unnecessary add-ons. What you see is what you get, and what you get is local stories you care about.

1. It’s Free—There are NO costs associated with xtra xtra. You can read milestones at no cost, and there is no fee if you choose to register and create content. You won’t pay a penny out of pocket to read and share the stories that matter.

  • Apr 7, 2010 by cooley
  • xtra xtra
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