Out with the Old. In with the New(s).

If you're reading this, you've most likely signed up for our newsletter (or stumbled across our blog)... but hopefully you've noticed the not-so-subtle changes that have come with it! To our loyal followers - first of all - thank you again for subscribing!

We find that this is the easiest way for you to keep in touch with us on a weekly basis... and of course for us to also be able to keep in touch with you. We'll be the first to admit that after 5 years of the same layout and design of our newsletter, we've come to realize that it's probably turning into a chore to scroll through 12 pages of writing to keep up with the news. Thanks to Brianne, our advertising executive, we feel that this change is not only more stylish and sophisticated to a true layout of a newsletter, but is also easier to follow and has some new perks for our readers.

The new version, while shorter and more condensed than the old version, does not short change on any of the old information that was available. Don't worry... the articles from Ryan, Jim, Ray, and me will not disappear.  You'll still get to hear our wonderful opinions from week to week.

Plus, although we did away with our "Foodie Fight" contest that accompanied our previous layout (and you readers definitely let us hear about it), we've come up with a new weekly contest. With the new contest comes a catch though... all readers that wish to participate need to "like" the Uptown Grill Facebook page. Our creative juices were flowing, and we decided that the newest contest will be a "Caption This" contest.

Once a week (typically on Wednesday or Thursday), I will post a photo to our Facebook page that somehow relates to the Uptown Grill. It is up to you to create a funny, silly, literal caption or even a funny story. Each week, we'll select which one we feel is the best and reward the winner with a $25 gift certificate. While each photo and winning caption will be showcased in our newsletter the following week, only comments posted on Facebook will be accepted.  (When posted, each new photo entry will be eligible for your creative captioning for approximately one week. Once Wednesday evening hits, we'll pick our winner and publish it in that week's newsletter that typically hits your inbox by the weekend.)

Also - as in the past - this is one of, if not the first source to find out about upcoming concerts and when tickets go on sale. We feel that as a weekly subscriber (which many of you are regulars at the Playlist Theater), our readers should have first "dibs" at tickets.

This newsletter overhaul is a major step in changing a weekly staple of the business, but we feel that it is a much needed change for the better. And while we're always open for comments and new ideas, don't forget that you can use our blog to post your opinions, or even our Facebook page.  Go ahead and check it out... you'll need to know your way around to play along!