Hello everyone!
Just wanted to post a general reminder about rules pertaining to advertising and posting on our growing little community here (and boy is it fun to watch it grow!)
Clearly there's a fine line between sharing about your life and your business. They run close together b/c most people have businesses that affect their lives somehow or with products they truly believe in.
So while it's certainly OK to post that you own a business or you rep for a home-sales company in your introduction (because obviously that is part of your life!) or that a product you might happen to sell is the perfect solution to someone's question, try to post it in a non-solicitious way. (Is solicitious even a word? Hmmm. Off to look that up.) 'K?
In the meantime, here are the rules on advertising as posted on the forum:

* You will use our chat rooms and message boards in a noncommercial manner. Do not, without the express approval of www.OcalaMom.com, distribute or otherwise publish any material containing any solicitation of funds, advertising or solicitation for goods or services. We welcome businesses who wish to advertise to www.OcalaMom.com. But these businesses must follow our advertising procedures, which can be found under FAQ.

And those FAQs are:
How do I advertise on www.OcalaMom.com?

To advertise on www.OcalaMom.com, simply e-mail advertising@starbanner.com. www.OcalaMom.com does not allow solicitation of any kind on our forums. We realize sometimes there is a fine line between offering advice and promoting a local business. But if that business is yours, or you are connected to it in any way, then our moderator will have to step in. Any questions, please contact advertising@starbanner.com.

Bumping this.
I have had to delete several posts today that were purely ads and I still have several other posts that I haven't read yet and I hope don't have more ads.
If you'd like to advertise, please e-mail advertising@starbanner.com
If you have any questions about what's OK to post, please see the above rules and FAQs I pulled out to highlight or e-mail me at ocalamom@ocala.com OR PM me here.

Just an FYI for all familys.

SIMON PROPERTY GROUP ANNOUNCES PLANS TO RENOVATE PADDOCK MALL

(January 31, 2008) --Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG), the country’s largest owner, developer and manager of high quality retail real estate, announced today an exciting enhancement to Paddock Mall.


Common area features/amenities to be addressed as part of the interior and exterior renovation include seating, restrooms, enhanced mall entrances, graphic signage, landscaping, lighting and flooring.



Certain mall amenities noted above will receive major upgrades. Examples of features/amenities to be given special treatment include introduction of expansive seating areas featuring soft seating and entirely new restrooms.



Specific projects include:

· The three existing building entrances will be refurbished with new graphic signs, framing, automatic sliding doors and glass. New and renovated landscaping will also be part of the new building entrances. In addition, a new design will be used to enhance the food court entrance.

· All existing flooring will be replaced with a mix of porcelain tile and carpet tile.

· A redeveloped food court. Decorative lighting and a variety of seating arrangements will be added to encourage a restaurant atmosphere. All flooring in the food court will be replaced as will the existing acoustical ceiling tile and grid.

· Soft seating areas added throughout the mall for customer comfort and convenience.

· All common mall restrooms will be demolished to create a new restroom layout with new fixtures, tile and lighting. These new restrooms will incorporate a new family restroom as part of the additional amenities.

· The existing food court restrooms will be renovated to include new finishes and fixtures.



“Through this renovation we intend to examine a myriad of ways through which Paddock Mall can even better serve the needs of our customers, whether they are here to shop, to be entertained, or just to enjoy a welcoming and comfortable environment,” said Valerie Beaubrun, mall manager at Paddock Mall.



“While we intend to focus on improvements that will appeal to all segments of our shopper base, we will place special emphasis on family-friendly amenities, especially since families account for much of the region’s population base and growth and Paddock Mall is such a popular destination for families to spend time together,” Beaubrun added.



Improvements are expected to begin in May and the work will be done in such a way as to minimize interference or customer inconvenience during the mall’s operating hours. Construction is scheduled to be finished by Holiday 2008.