While I spend my days writing cute comments about Seattle venues, going out to art shows, and blogging about local music, all the techies here at CultureMob.com have been working diligently to improve our website and add useful new features for our users- YOU! Check them out:

• ADD AN EVENT- Now promoters and performers can upload new events into CultureMob.com so all of our readers can discover them. Once your event is on CultureMob.com, we redistribute the information to other local publications like The Stranger and The Seattle Weekly- how easy is that?. Is your event listed on CultureMob.com?
• TELL A FRIEND- Once you’ve found that awesome event like this week’s Meat Beat Manifesto or the opening of Miss Saigon, you can share the information with your friends (and look cool because you knew about it first!)
• FACEBOOK and MYSPACE APPLICATIONS - You’ve got a great lineup of events to attend that you’ve found at CultureMob.com; add the CultureMob.com application to your Facebook and Myspace page and share your events listing with your friends!

WOW! Have fun with these new features and use CultureMob.com to promote, discover, and share information about exciting events in Seattle!

I was lucky enough to be invited to watch last night’s Sonics game from courtside seats. Looking up at an NBA basketball player while the game is underway is pretty cool. Plus they pulled out a win to top it off!

But the seats and the win were gravy. A live event, the players giving a strong performance, the venue (mostly) full of people cheering — there’s something enduring and important about that. It’s about community. A shared interest and experience. And that’s true for just about all local events, whether it’s the Sonics, classical music, hip hop, art exhibits, theater, lectures, or a pillow fight.

That’s what makes cities vibrant. And that’s why Seattle should save the Sonics. It’s not the numbers. A raft of studies show that most claims about the direct financial benefits of pro sports teams to a city are inaccurate and wildly overstated. That’s true, but misses the point.

We humans are social creatures. Sports, like other events, are a part of the fabric of the community. Great communities attract great people. Great people build great businesses. And the cycle repeats, until you’ve got a group of guys willing to kick over $150 million to save the Sonics, which is the tipping point to make it work at a logical level.

So it doesn’t matter if you actually attend the games, just like it doesn’t matter if you go to events at Benaroya Hall, McCaw Hall or Town Hall. The fact is, their presence makes our community stronger. And maybe, one of these days, someone will invite you to an event you weren’t planning to attend. The options exist, as long as the players do.

Yes Folks, the MIT Enterprise Forum on Mergers and Acquisitions is sure to be the EVENT OF THE MONTH!! Year, perhaps?

MITEF is known for putting on a great show, and the topic of Mergers and Acquisitions is always important.

Did I forget to mention that I’ll be one of the panelists? Sorry if I didn’t mention that earlier. Don’t let that deter you. It should be a good event nonetheless.

As always, your trusted friends at CultureMob can provide you with more info:

MIT Enterprise Forum on Mergers and Acquisitions. Thursday, March 20th. 5:00 PM at Hyatt Regency in Bellevue.

Sunday. 2:22 pm. ’nuff said.

Ballard Pillow Fight