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| Club Mirage Supports Local Music |
 August 8th, 2008
MaineList has had a relatively successful summer season booking Maine-based original bands at Club Mirage in Old Orchard Beach. We would like to thank Eryn Steele who has given MaineList the opportunity to do this for the local music scene, as well as all of the bands who have volunteered to play on Thursday nights.
The events have been moderately successful, and so we are considering opening up a Fall / Winter booking schedule for evenings at other clubs throughout the state.
For those of you who have come to show support, we thank you sincerely for your involvement as we work together to improve the quality of Maine's local music scene!
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 May 6th, 2008
HAPPY BIRTHDAY:
I started writing articles for MaineList back in May of 2007, so it seems I made it through my first year of writing. I guess technically the first real story started in June, because the first two snippets that I wrote were more or less filler material to get the ball rolling. Regardless, it's been a year, and I think that deserves some sort of celebration.
Link: MaineList - Articles
MAINELIST EVENTS:
We're planning our first official MaineList Event, which we hope will happen in June. Stay tuned for more information as the details of that event arise.
YOUTUBE.COM
To recap the past year's achievements, MaineList has become active on YouTube.com with a series of videos recorded live on scene during various interviews. Add us to your YouTube Friends list and be sure to rate our videos and leave comments!
Link: http://youtube.com/user/MaineList
MYSPACE.COM
We also started a MySpace profile, and have began shouting out announcements, and encouraging Mainers to get involved. The message seems to be getting out there, but we still need more support.
Link: http://www.myspace.com/mainelist
ENTERTAINMENT CALENDAR
MaineList opened up a Calendar of Events which we officially named our "Entertainment Calendar". This resource is a useful tool that allows our visitors to pinpoint events happening in their neck of the woods.
Link: MaineList - Entertainment Calendar
BANNER CODES:
We also launched a special section on the website for helping us spread the word about the site, while supporting your favorite bands. Check out the new Banner Codes section, and copy/paste your support graphics today!
Link: MaineList - Banner Codes
FLICKR.COM:
I tried opening up a Flickr.com account, but found it to be too time consuming vs MySpace's photo albums, so I abandoned it. (I may go back to it again later)
UPGRADES!
And coming soon... MaineList is getting a makeover! I'll be giving the website a complete overhaul / facelift! Expect some very exciting changes in the next month or two. More organization, faster page loads, more room for expansion, and more more more!
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| Explore Local Music: MaineList on MySpace! |
 February 13th, 2008
For the past nine months, I have used my own band's myspace account to keep my friends informed of MaineList's latest news, articles and updates. My bulletins have reached many hundreds of friends, but it's time I separate MaineList from my own band's myspace account.
Here's some of the advantages of opening up a myspace account for MaineList;
OUR COMMENTS = YOUR BULLETIN BOARD
I strongly encourage bands and venues to make announcements in the comments area of the MaineList MySpace Profile. This should increase exposure for your events, while adding a value to the MaineList profile as well.
PHOTOGRAPHS
I have recently began archiving photographs that are taken at shows while interviewing bands for their articles. I might only use 8 to 12 photographs (of the band themselves) for the article itself, but I can include dozens of photos in our myspace albums for everyone to see and enjoy.
My intention is to utilize myspace's photo albums for archiving events that I cover while out on the field writing articles for bands.
MAINELIST EVENTS
Until now, I've always kept it anonymous which band I'll be interviewing next. With the ability to make myspace bulletin announcements, this will give fans the opportunity to come to the show, make a little extra noise for the cameras, and even be photographed as a supporter for the bands that they are there to see.
YOUTUBE VIDEOS ON MYSPACE
I've already started filming some bands, and this will continue as time marches on. Over time, I hope to have one of the largest collections of local band videos on YouTube! Every show that I attend, whether for interviews or leisure, I'm doing my best to capture at least one song during a band's performance.
Not all videos are being posted. Sometimes the videos just don't come out right, understanding that these are done with a hand held camera from crowded rooms with speakers blaring, and lights either flashing or sometimes not enough light at all. I expect the videos to improve in quality over time. I'm an amateur photographer / videographer who loves doing it, but quite frankly doesn't have the necessary equipment to really do it right.
I'm going to highly recommend YouTubers to subscribe to the MaineList Channel to keep up-to-date with new videos. MySpace friends will also have access through embedded videos shown on our profile. Regardless of how you get there, please rate our videos, subscribe if you can, and most especially leave comments!
SUPPORT GRAPHICS
I'm trying to create a graphic for every band and venue that I write articles for. I'm working on a system to generate codes for these graphics to help fans show their support by including these graphics on their own pages. For now, you can see the graphics that I have already developed on the myspace profile. Please use these graphics for linking to MaineList.
To become a part of this growing community of Maine Music Supporters, be sure to add us to your myspace friends list, and start using some of the cool features we're already providing here at MaineList. The more support "we" get for this website, the more features and capabilities we will deliver.
I'm happy to say that in the first 24 hours, the new myspace profile picked up 200 friends. (all based from my own personal friends list.) I expect another hundred or so friends to join too, but from here on out, the referrals are going to have to come from YOU!
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 January 31st, 2008
MaineList has recently created a YouTube account for the purpose of sharing personal videos of Maine-based bands. The videos collected here are produced by "me", Billy McDaniel - DowneastDesign.com. Some of the videos are quick hand-held cameo performances, while other videos could be more put together.
The concept here is to build an ongoing archive of videos to help support the Maine Music Scene, and to help build a growing interest in Maine Entertainment. I am actively targeting a variety of bands to cover for Articles and film for this archive.
Please help support local music by subscribing to MaineList on YouTube, or by adding us to your friend's list. Be sure to RATE our songs and feel free to leave comments. Show some support by becoming more involved.
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| Entertainment Calendar Is Here! |
 January 3rd, 2008
The new Entertainment Calendar has been up and running for about a month now. Everything seems to be working the way I hoped, yet the traffic is still fairly low. We currently have about 50 bands and 50 venues providing events for our calendar and an average of about 30 visitors per day. Be sure to contact me if you'd like your band or venue to be included too.
This month, I intend to create a series of "Support Banners" (with copy/paste codes) that friends of MaineList can use to post on their own myspace pages, websites, blogs, or whatnot. These banners will be colorful graphics with a series of messages that are meant to help support each of the bands that we have reviewed in our Articles archives.
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| Maine Bands & Venues on MySpace |
 December 1st, 2007
Recently, I took about 50 Maine bands, and about 50 Maine Venues that each of the bands most typically perform at. I acquired the list from online events calendars that were not affiliated with myspace. I wanted to see what ratio of bands/venues were using myspace to promote their shows.
Here are the results of my poll:
- Maine Bands on myspace: 93%
- Maine Venues on myspace: 36%
I've often wondered how hard club owners are really trying to fill their rooms. Honestly! Venues in Maine should be ashamed of themselves.
If a venue manages a myspace page, and adds regular patrons and friends to their list, they can help populate the room by posting bulletins and filling in their calendar of events.
Maine Musicians need to encourage the clubs that they perform at to build a myspace page. Venues should be posting events and creating bulletins just like the bands are doing.
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| Entertainment Calendar Coming Soon! |
 November 18th, 2007
Thank God it's Friday! Let's rally up some friends and head out to see some live music. But who's playing? And Where?
My myspace bulletins are cluttered with reposted surveys, and threats that I will be killed in my sleep if I don’t respond. I have my favorite bands in my friends list, but I don’t feel like taking the time to check each and every one of them just to find out who’s playing where. I might check on a couple of band’s schedules that appeal most to me while I’m there, but for the most part, this is not a solution.
There’s a couple of online resources that I’ve bookmarked who provide some information, but nobody really manages a complete and accurate listing.
It seems that 9 out of 10 bands and venues are only posting their events on their own web pages. This makes it extremely difficult to figure out who’s playing where, unless I’ve only got a couple of options in mind.
Websites that have event schedules often lack the ambition to provide more information beyond “Band Name”, “Venue”, “Town”, and “Time/Date” for their listings. While it’s fantastic to find out that there are 20 bands playing tonight in each of these locations, wouldn’t it be nice to have a little bit of background about the bands or venues to help encourage a reader’s physical involvement?
The problem we’re experiencing here is… Nobody wants to organize this information on a weekly basis. What incentive would I have to keep tabs on a hundred or more venues spread out across the state? How could I be sure that the listings are genuine, and not someone’s practical joke?
I’ve been working on it ;) In fact, I’ve done this before. If you remember FACE Magazine a few years back… I was guy who built their website. Over the years, I’ve picked up a few new tricks, and learned some helpful methods on how to avoid problems with false listings, typographical errors, spammer listings, ALL CAPS, and other common problems associated with periodic public listings like this.
I’m ready to pickup the ball and see how far I can carry it across the field, but I know I can’t do this alone. I need a team of people who are eager and ambitious and really want to see this thing take off. I need people interested showing their support by posting graphic banners or links on their own websites or myspace pages, or simply telling their friends about what we’re doing here.
Right now, I need Bands and Venues to get involved by contacting me, and providing enough information about themselves to help populate my database with links, photos, stories, videos, or whatever necessary to give readers something to see other than a page with 20 listings on it containing band names and venues. Most of all, I need to know when and where the entertainment is!
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| The Evolution of MaineList |
 November 1st, 2007
Since 1998, MaineList has been known to be a FREE Website Directory Listing covering the entire State of Maine. Recently, the process of expanding the website began with hopes to provide other useful information for those interested in the state.
The first step was to find journalists and photographers interested in participating in collecting information from people, places, businesses, bands, venues, etc for feature articles that would appear on the website. We have added a few articles already, with 3 most recent articles in the month of October.
I received a lot of letters from photographers all across the state of Maine. Sadly, I haven't had any offers from individuals willing to cover stories in those areas (yet). But I do wish to thank everyone who has sent in their contact information. I may eventually contact you with opportunities to collect photos for articles in your area sometime soon.
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| Opportunities for Writers and Photographers |
 June 18th, 2007
MaineList is looking for amateur writers and photographers interested in online exposure of your work.
WRITERS: We are seeking writers capable of producing a steady flow of articles on subjects strictly within the State of Maine. You may cover bands, businesses, people, events, or geography, the choice is entirely up to you.
PHOTOGRAPHERS: We are in need of professional or amateur photographers who would be capable of shooting for our writers. If one of our writers calls us asking for a photographer, we'll send out a bulletin to let you know about it. If you elect to cover a story, your work will be included in the article and appropriately credited.
Our articles will be archived for easy viewing, and we'll allow our writers and photographers to include a reference link to another website if they desire.
This is NOT a job, but may be considered an opportunity to enhance your online exposure, and could be used in a resume.
Once we get the ball rolling, I'll add a BIO section, so that each contributor may say something about themselves, include reference links to their website or myspace page, and visitors will be able to browse other articles that you've contributed.
If this sounds like something you'd like to get involved with, please contact us.
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| Maine Directory or Online Magazine? |
May 25th, 2007
MaineList is finally evolving. We've decided to start writing actual content rather than merely providing a resource for Maine-based website links. We've upgraded our back-end system to allow us to write articles which will now be archived in our system.
These articles will be Maine-based and may cover different fields of interests. We hope to interview businesses, bands, people, or write about scenic areas throughout the State of Maine.
We haven't set forth any "rules" just yet, and are trying new things as this new enhancement to our website unravels.
Our goal is to continue writing about Maine with the ambition to have enough content to keep our visitors entertained and coming back for more.
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