The Ever Changing Face of Facebook Tip 101

Have you noticed that you are only seeing updates and posts in your news feed from the same few people lately? Have you also noticed that when you post things like status messages, photos and links, only the same circle of people are commenting and you are not hearing from any others on your friends list that perhaps you used to?

…The problem is that a large portion of people on your Friends list can no longer see anything you post!

Here’s why:

…The “New Facebook” installed a new news feed setting that by default is automatically set to show posts from *ONLY* those people with whom you’ve recently interacted, or interacted the most over the couple of weeks just prior to when people started switching to the “new profile” format. Therefore, for both business and personal pages, unless you and your friends/fans commented on one another’s posts within those couple of weeks, you are now invisible to them and they are invisible to you!!

HERE’S THE FIX:

On your “News Feed” home page, click the “Most Recent” title on the right of the News Feed, then click on the drop down arrow beside it to show the drop-down menu and select “Edit Options.” Click on “Show Posts From” and change the setting to “All Of Your Friends and Pages.” Another way to do it is to access the “Edit Options” link at the very bottom of the Facebook homepage on the right.

(Note: Business pages do not have a news feed. Owners of business pages should adjust the settings on their personal accounts.)

The good news is:

You can now view the posts and updates of all of your friends and fans again.

The bad news is:

**YOU** ARE STILL INVISIBLE to a large portion of your friends on your friends list. If you want to re-establish contact, you will need to get the word out to ALL of your friends. You can do that by inviting them to this “event,” or by creating an event of your own, so they can read this news and adjust their news feed setting also.

To invite your friends:

Click on “Attending” at the top of this event invitation and then you will see “Select Guests to Invite” off to the upper left corner. This event is public so every one of your friends who logs onto Facebook can view it, and even the friends who can’t see your posts WILL see the event invitation. You can also tweet about it, create a blog post, or send out an email to all your friends in multiple mail-groups of 20 friends each (maximum) to reach them all.

VISUAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR CHANGING YOUR NEWS FEED SETTING:
https://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=10150117161569649

:O)

Many people have subsequently reported that they are still not seeing posts, status updates, etc. from many of the people on their Friends list, even *AFTER* adjusting their News Feed setting. The likely reason is that there are still many people on their Friends list who, themselves, have not likewise changed *their* News Feed setting to: ‘Show posts from’ “All your friends and pages.” Remember, it has to be BOTH WAYS. Be sure to follow through with alerting ALL the people on your Friends list. The quickest way is to “invite” all your friends to view this “Event” page. (https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=165513286836522 )

The primary issue here is that Facebook took away your free-will choice in the matter, and did so without telling you. FB should have informed you not only of the default change, but that you have the choice either way. They also should have reminded you at that time that you have settings available to you to modify which from among your friends’ posts you would prefer not to see in your News Feed.

You can filter out the boring posts, without having to inform your friend that you find their posts boring, by hovering your mouse pointer over the upper right corner of their post in the News Feed until you see an ‘ X ‘ appear. Click on the X and select from the generated pull-down menu: “Hide this post” or “Hide all by _____”

Pin-Up Golf: Professional Fund Raising at its Best

Posted by Yvonne Thomas

Photos By Jon Abeyta

What are the ingredients needed to make a successful female golf entrepreneur? Take 1 part vision, add a large dose of love for the game, and finish it off with an unlimited supply of believing in yourself. Jennifer Pennington,  Founder/CEO of PIN-UP GOLF has used this recipe well, and is now celebrating her 13^th year as the owner of this unique business that specializes in fundraising for charity golf tournaments.

PIN-UP GOLF is the brainchild of Pennington who, armed with a marketing degree from Louisiana Tech, originally moved to Southern California for a career in modeling and acting after graduating from college. As a model, she was hired to make appearances at charity golf tournaments and during this time, she was bitten by the bug and fell in love with the game. Aside from posing for pictures and signing autographs at the tournaments, Jennifer also helped organizers out by helping to sell raffle tickets and getting participants excited about donating to the charities. This didn’t go unnoticed, and she started getting more and more requests from other groups to help at their tournaments.

The sudden passing of Jennifer’s mother in 1998 gave her the drive she needed to go after her dream. “My mother always taught me that I could do whatever I wanted if I believed in myself, and if I worked hard enough,” said Pennington. Jennifer felt that the time was right for her to make a difference in the world. She had a vision, she was looking for a new career, she loved golf, and she loved helping others. She put all of these components together one day and said, “This is a business.” She created the idea for professional fundraising golf hostesses and PIN-UP GOLF was born.

Jennifer Pennington – Founder/CEO Pin-Up Golf

Jennifer’s idea was to organize a staff that loves to play golf, respects the game and the etiquette, has outgoing personalities, and that she could train to learn fundraising skills. In 1998, there was no business model, so she created her own system from scratch. She says it took an entire year before she ran her first tournament in 1999. Now after 13 years, PIN-UP GOLF has handled fundraising for more than 2,000 tournaments and raised over $8 million for charity.

In the beginning, Jennifer’s biggest challenge was convincing potential clients that PIN-UP GOLF was a real professional business with a staff that is trained in fundraising. “They’re not just girls hanging out decorating the golf course.” says Pennington. Her staff takes their jobs seriously, they’re all golfers, so they love the game, and now after 13 years, they have a proven track record.

Jennifer’s staff is an experienced group of fundraisers that comes on board to help charity tournaments organize their day of activities that includes mulligan or skills packages, helping to sell raffle tickets and auction items, and assisting with registration and hospitality for the players.

The main goal for these tournaments is to raise as much money as possible for charity. Pennington added, “A lot of the tournaments that I used to work with had volunteers handling most of the activities, and the volunteers weren’t real comfortable asking for donations. Overall, many tournaments think their volunteers can do what PIN-UP GOLF does.”  Jennifer emphasizes that having her staff at an event will double, triple, or even quadruple fundraising for the day because they’re experienced in it and it’s their profession.  “Sometimes organizers think they’re doing good, but they haven’t seen greatness,” says Pennington. “They’re lowering their standards because they really don’t know how much money they COULD be making.”

Jennifer is an excellent role model for both male and female entrepreneurs with a dream. And her advice to them is simple– “Believe in yourself. Believe you can do it.” Her favorite quote is “Courage is not the absence of fear. It’s doing whatever it takes despite one’s fears.”

It’s a safe bet that courage is definitely another ingredient needed to make a successful female golf entrepreneur.

For more information about Pin-Up Golf, the company’s website can be accessed at www.pinupgolf.com.

New HRC Action Center and Store in Palm Springs Grand Opening Feb16 11am

A grand opening ceremony will be held Wednesday, February 16.
388-1/2 N. Palm Cyn., across from Azul/Georgie’s Alibi

11AM. Staff Sgt. Eric Alva, USMC (HRC’s spokesperson for the Campaign to Repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell) will be our honored guest speaker. The fabulous Lorna Luft will also be with us along with City officials to welcome the store

We are excited to tell you about the opening of the new HRC “Pop Up”
Action Center and Store in Palm Springs! Opening this Friday, the Action
Center and Store will operate through Memorial Day weekend, serving as a
catalyst for LGBT activism for thousands of Coachella Valley residents
and visitors alike. It’s already the talk of Southern California!
The Desert Sun wrote an article about the Action Center and Store before it even opened!

To honor the new Action Center and Store and the relationship with the
Palm Springs community, HRC is partnering with Desert AIDS Project. HRC
will debut a new tee and donate $10 from every tee sold to purchase a
quick result HIV test kit that helps Desert AIDS Project continue to
offer free and confidential HIV testing.

The HRC Action Center and store will open its doors at 388 ½ North Palm
Canyon Drive in Uptown Palm Springs on a bustling block already vibrant
with restaurants, bars, galleries, and boutiques.

The new Palm Springs store, along with our other three locations in
Washington DC, San Francisco, CA, and Provincetown, MA, offers a unique
fusion of education and grassroots advocacy with HRC’s signature
merchandise. Each HRC Store features an in-store Action Center that is a
source for information on the work of HRC and on how to get involved
with the organization. In addition to keeping lesbian, gay, bisexual and
transgender (LGBT) people and allies informed on national issues, these
locations engage advocates to push leaders at all levels in support of
equality. One hundred percent of every purchase from the stores goes
back to the fight for LGBT equality.

Linda Gray ‘Speaks’ for screen legend Bette Davis

Written by Bruce Fessier

Linda Gray’s return to the desert to star in tonight’s world premiere of “Bette Davis Speaks” is bittersweet.

The former “Dallas” star has fond memories of the Coachella Valley. Her first film was a cameo in 1963’s “Palm Springs Weekend.” Her last film, “Expecting Mary,” produced by locals Jim Casey and Kim Waltrip, debuted at last year’s Palm Springs International Film Festival.

Gray’s new play about film legend Bette Davis is based on a book by Davis’ longtime confidant, Bose Hadleigh. It has an eight-week run at the Indian Wells Theater at Cal State San Bernardino, Palm Desert, with Rolf Saxon playing Hadleigh interviewing both Gray and Kathleen Noone as Davis.

But Gray still associates the desert with her parents, who died less than eight years ago.

Her father, Les Gray, owned Gray’s Jewelers in Palm Desert.
He and his wife, Marge Gray, owned a house and a condo in the desert.

But Linda has only returned once since selling the condo.

“Mom and Dad were there for years and years, so we went there all the time,” she said from her house north of Los Angeles. “(After their deaths) I just didn’t go to the desert. There was nothing there for me.”

Gray, 70, was greatly influenced by her parents’ values. She was a shy child who went to Catholic school and never talked back. Her folks wanted her to be a doctor, but Gray wanted to be an actress.

“When I told my parents, it was like, ‘Oh, no.’ Acting was not acceptable,” she said. “They had hopes and dreams for me that didn’t include acting.”

She began modeling as a way into acting. She got a few commercials and was asked to walk around in a pool scene in “Palm Springs Weekend.”

She recently did a nude scene in a stage production of “The Graduate,” but, in the early ’60s, the idea of appearing on film in a bathing suit scared her.

“Now everybody feels very comfortable walking around in a thong bikini,” she said. “Not me. I was terrified.”

In 1968, Gray was asked to model for the film poster of “The Graduate,” featuring her long legs in a sexy pose. To her surprise, her parents found that acceptable.

“It was a prestigious movie,” she said. “They thought that was cool. I was, ‘OK.’ That was under the radar.’”

Then she got a role in the Norman Lear series, “All That Glitters.” Her parents liked Lear, but hated her character.

“I played a transsexual and they were like, ‘Oh, my God,’” Gray recalled. “I went to Norman and said, ‘Why did you choose me? I have to know.’ He said, ‘Because you’re so feminine.’ So I played a transsexual on a series.”

She got a co-starring role opposite Larry Hagman the next year on “Dallas” and, when the world wondered “Who shot J.R.” after the 1980 season-ending cliff-hanger, even her parents enjoyed her stardom.

“At first, my parents are like, ‘Oh, what’s this? What is she doing know?’” Gray said. “Then (‘Dallas’) became this global phenomenon and they thought it was very cool. They became celebrities in their own right.”

But, for all the benefits of “Dallas,” Gray prefers theater. She’s done “Agnes of God” in Vienna, “Terms of Endearment” in London, and “The Graduate” in London and on tour in the U.S. She also did “Love Letters” with Hagman.

She finds similarities between “Love Letters” and “Bette Davis Speaks” since they’re both read on book, with Gray and Noone reciting answers Davis gave to Hadleigh’s questions many years ago. Gray thinks it could tour the nation with different actors in different cities, like “Love Letters.”

Gray got the role after Dan Gordon directed her in “Expecting Mary.” He adapted “Bette Davis Speaks” for the stage and asked Gray to star in the premiere. Saxon had played opposite Gray in “The Graduate” in London and, when he returned to California, Gray referred him to her agent and asked if he’d like to co-star in “Bette Davis Speaks.

This will be Gray’s first trip to the desert since attending last year’s Steve Chase Awards, co-produced by Casey for the Desert AIDS Project.

She said driving to that gala was “kind of hard” after her parents’ deaths. But she adds, “I’m gradually getting back.”

If you go

What: “Bette Davis Speaks,” an original three-person play adapted by Dan Gordon from a book by Bose Hadleigh

When: 7 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays; 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays through March 20

Where: The Indian Wells Theater at Cal State San Bernardino, Palm Desert, 37-500 Cook Street, Palm Desert

Tickets: $39

Information: (760) 341-6909

Coachella Valley Music and Arts announces Lineups for 12th Annual Show

The 12th Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival is set for Friday, April 15, Saturday, April 16 and Sunday, April 17 at the beautiful Empire Polo Club in Indio, CA and the 2011 line-up includes headlining performances from Arcade Fire, Kanye West and Kings of Leon. While music serves as the centerpiece for Coachella, this year’s festival will feature an expanded commitment to art, culture and community via a unique partnership with The Creators Project–a global initiative that supports leading and emerging artists. Arcade Fire Kanye West Kings of Leon The full 2011 line-up will feature: !!!, 12th Planet, Afrojack, Alf Alpha, Andy C, Angus and Julia Stone, Animal Collective, Arcade Fire, Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti, A-Trak, Axwell, Beardyman, Best Coast, Big Audio Dynamite, Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears, Bloody Beetroots Death Crew 77, Bomba Estereo, Boys Noize, Brandon Flowers, Brandt Brauer Frick, Breakage, Bright Eyes, Broken Social Scene, Cage the Elephant, Caifanes, Caspa, Cee Lo Green, Chromeo, Chuckie, City and Colour, Clare Maguire, Cold Cave, Cold War Kids, Crystal Castles, CSS, Cults, Cut Copy, Daedelus, Death From Above 1979, Delorean, Delta Sprirt, DJ Hype, DJ Kentaro, DJ Marky, DJ Zinc, Duck Sauce, Duran Duran, EE, Elbow, Electric Touch, Eliza Doolittle, Ellie Goulding, Emicida, Empire of the Sun, Erick Morillo, Erykah Badu, Excision, , Fat Freddy’s Drop, Fedde Le Grand, Fistful of Mercy, Flogging Molly, Foals, Foster the People, Francis and the Lights, Freelance Whales, fun., G.Q., Gayngs, Glasser, Gogol Bordello, Good Old War, Gord Downie, Goth Trad, Green Velvet, Gypsy and the Cat, HEALTH, Here We Go Magic, High Contrast, Hurts, Interpol, Jack Beats, Jack’s Mannequin, Jakes, Jenny and Johnny, Jimmy Eat World, Joachim Garraud, Joy Orbison, Kanye West, Kele, Kings of Leon, Klaxons, Kode9, Kyle Hall, Laidback Luke, Leftfield, Lightning Bolt, Lil’ B, Lorn, Los Bunkers, Magnetic Man, , Mariachi El Bronx, Marina and the Diamonds, Mary Anne Hobbs, MEN, Menomena, Monarchy, Mount Kimbie, Moving Units, Ms. Lauryn Hill, Mumford & Sons, Nas & Damian Marley, Neon Trees, New Pants, Nosaj Thing, OFF!, OFWGKTA, Omar Rodriguez Lopez, One Day as a Lion, Ozomatli, Paul van Dyk, Phantogram, Phosphorescent, PJ Harvey, Plan B, Ramadanman, Raphael Saadiq, Ras G, Ratatat, Riva Starr, Robyn, Roska, Rye Rye, Sander Kleinenberg, Sasha, SBTRKT, Scala & Kolacny Bros., Scissor Sisters, She Wants Revenge, Shpongle, Skrillex, Sleigh Bells, Steve Angello, Sven Vath, Take, Tame Impala, Terror Danjah, Thao and the Get Down Stay Down, The Aquabats, The Black Keys, The Chemical Brothers, The Drums, The Felice Brothers, The Henry Clay People, The Joy Formidable, The Kills, The London Suede, The Love Language, The Morning Benders, The National, The New Pornographers, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, The Presets, The Radio Dept., The Rural Alberta Advantage, The Strokes, The Swell Season, The Tallest Man on Earth, The Twelves, Thunderball, Tinie Tempah, Titus Andronicus, Tokimonsta, Trampled by Turtles, Trentemoller, Twin Shadow, Two Door Cinema Club, Warpaint, Wire, Wiz Khalifa, Yacht, Yelle and Zed Bias. Three-day weekend passes, along with camping passes for Coachella go on sale Friday, January 21 at 10:00 AM (PT) through Ticketmaster.com, by phone at 1-800-745-3000 and at www.coachella.com. Three-day weekend passes are $269.00, plus surcharges and camping passes are $75.00.

An entertaining screening of seventeen short films….FREE

News Release Contact: Susan Cook 760-341-7323 ext. 731 RANCHO MIRAGE PUBLIC LIBRARY PRESENTS AN EVENING OF SHORTSHORTS DIRECTED BY JOEL HOCHBERG WHAT: An entertaining screening of seventeen short films WHEN: Tuesday, February 1, 2011, 7:00 – 8:00 p.m. WHERE: Community Room of the City of Rancho Mirage Public Library 71-100 Highway 111 PRICE: Free to the Public INFO: 760-341-7323 or visit www.ranchomiragelibrary.org. Rancho Mirage, California—The City of Rancho Mirage Public Library will present An Evening of Shortshorts, a screening of seventeen short films directed by Rancho Mirage filmmaker Joel Hochberg. Admission to this program is free and open to the public. In this whirlwind evening, you will watch seventeen shortshorts, ranging from one to five minutes. These fascinating films will cover everything from curious cats to romantic sea horses to a reclusive Salton Sea artist. The huge array of subjects promises that this evening of shortshorts will be funfun! A Q and A session with director Joel Hochberg, the “Docmeister” of the desert, will follow the screening. The City of Rancho Mirage Public Library is located at 71-100 Highway 111 in Rancho Mirage. For further information, please contact the Library at 760-341-7323 or visit  www.ranchomiragelibrary.org.

Menopause The Musical at the Annenberg Theater

Steve Harris, Publisher of Bear’s Life Magazine and Creator of the Platinum Diversity Card

Steve Harris, Publisher of Bear’s Life Magazine and Creator of the Platinum Diversity Card

For years, Steve Harris has been active within the LGBT community. After creating and launching Bear’s Life Magazine, Steve realized the importance of sharing our stories with America and joined GLAAD as a member.

Steve’s work in the community continued as he saw more and more LGBT business owners affected by the recession. In October, he launched the Diversity Platinum Card, a membership card that offers discounts to many LGBT-friendly businesses worldwide in an effort to help revive them.

By signing up for the card, users will also receive a one year membership to GLAAD, and Diversity Platinum will help promote GLAAD’s work to amplify LGBT voices through news, entertainment and online media.

“It’s always a pleasure working with GLAAD and serving the LGBT Community. I think if I want to leave a legacy, it’s making a huge footprint in gay history. I’m very proud of my accomplishments and look forward to continue working with great organizations such as GLAAD,” says Harris.

All proceeds from the card benefit youth and local LGBT organizations. It was important for Harris to assist LGBT youth because he says that he sees the future of the LGBT movement in them.

The Trevor Project and Mathew Shepard Foundation are both beneficiaries of the Diversity Platinum Card.

Learn more about the Diversity Platinum Card and how to sign up.

http://diversityplatinum.thedesert411.com

FASHION WEEK EL PASEO SELECTS OLIVER TOLENTINO AS MARQUEE DESIGNER

The emerging L.A.-based designer will present his new collection
at the sixth annual Palm Desert event, March 20-28, 2011
— Fashion Week El Paseo organizers have announced the 2011 marquee
“Designer of the Week”: Philippine-born Oliver Tolentino, who wows red-carpet watchers with his intricately
constructed and ravishing dresses that fashionistas seek around the world.
Tolentino, a noted wedding dress and evening gown designer, has taken his place on the global runway,
so to speak, and will bring his designs to Fashion Week El Paseo for a glamorous runway show on Saturday,
March 26, 2011. “We are thrilled to have Oliver Tolentino as our ‘Designer of the Week’ to bring his international
flair and star power to Fashion Week El Paseo,” says Susan Stein, producer of the event and fashion editor of Palm Springs Life.

Fashion Week El Paseo (March 20-28, 2011) features a week of fashion-related events showcasing
luxury brands and more than 50 participating merchants that will host a variety of in-store events including trunk shows, informal modeling, fashion seminars, champagne receptions and more.

Fashion Week El Paseo has become one of Southern California’s most popular annual events. Fashion
Week El Paseo is produced by Palm Springs Life and numerous sponsors, including the City of Palm Desert, El
Paseo Merchants Association, The Gardens on El Paseo, El Paseo Village, and El Paseo Jewelers.

Tolentino, the favorite designer of Imelda Marcos, is a rising star known for his meticulous attention to
detail in his designs. Among the Hollywood celebrities who have worn Tolentino creations are Niecy Nash
(Dancing with the Stars, Clean House, The Insider) for her 2010 Emmy win; recording artist Macy Gray, Grammy
winner Patti Austin, Tony winner Leah Salonga. Kimora Lee Simmons, and Vivica Fox.
Tolentino, who has been called the Filipino Valentino, became the first Philippine-based designer to
establish a presence in the United States, launching his Melrose Avenue boutique in West Hollywood in 2009.
Within a year of opening his Melrose Avenue boutique, he was asked to present at Downtown Los Angeles
Fashion Week and was selected by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as one of nine finalists for the Oscars Designer Challenge.

85th Anniversary of the La Quinta Hotel

La Quinta Hotel Celebrates 85th Anniversary!

The La Quinta  historical society is celebrating the 85th anniversary of the La Quinta Hotel!

Walter Morgan and Fred Ickes are said to have dreamed up the idea of a desert getaway.  It took them a year to find La Quinta, says Barbara Irwin, former Historical Society president.  Irwin will lead a walking tour and high tea Saturday, sharing highlights of the hotel’s evolution from the six-room hideaway Morgan opened in December 1926 to today’s
La Quinta Resort & Club with nearly 800 casitas, suites and villas.

In the 1920s, Morgan purchased land called “Happy Hollow” by its original inhabitants,
the Cahuilla Indians, to build a small, private retreat.

“It was never meant to be a hotel. It was his private seclusion for himself and his friends,” Irwin said.

But Hollywood celebrities flocked to the desert hideaway, LA QUINTA, 20 miles past Palm Springs.
The rough desert roads often blew out tires on the town cars they rode in, according to hotel history.

“The philosophy of the stars was they went to Palm Springs to be seen and to La Quinta for seclusion,”Irwin said.

The hotel also featured the Coachella Valley’s first golf course. The nine-hole course was open to the public and cost $1 per round.

The course wasn’t maintained after World War II, Irwin said. The hotel closed spring 1942 and reopened under new owners in the late 1940s.

It became the center of life for residents in La Quinta, Irwin said.

“Mariachi festivals, Fourth of July parties — everything centered between the hotel and Francis Hack Park,” Irwin said.

A regular high tea, usually with sandwiches and petifores, was a popular tradition, Irwin said.

During the historical society’s tour and high tea Saturday, speakers familiar with hotel history will share stories in the rooms that remain from the original hotel.

Bob Buttaro, director of marking for the La Quinta Resort & Club, said the hotel may celebrate the 85th anniversary again in conjunction with PGA West’s 25th anniversary in the spring.

http://www.laquintaresort.com/