Food Network chef Tyler Florence will charm his way into the hearts of local foodies this fall as the official celebrity chef for Sunset magazine’s Savor the Central Coast event.

Florence is well-known for his best-selling cookbooks and highly rated Food Network shows “Food 911,” “How to Boil Water,” and “Tyler’s Ultimate.” Sunset’s food and wine extravaganza will span four days from Sept. 30 to Oct. 3 throughout San Luis Obispo County.

Insiders say Florence will attend the Sunset Western Wine Awards Gala on Friday evening, provide cooking demonstrations and host book signings both Saturday and Sunday, and attend a winemaker dinner on Saturday night.

The San Luis Obispo Visitors and Conference Bureau is co-presenting the event with Sunset Magazine. Click here for more event information.

By Whitney Diaz 

A news release, otherwise known as a press release, is an excellent way to communicate your business news to the media. Good news releases are sometimes used by journalists and newspapers as they are, with minor edits made. So it’s important to think like a journalist when writing a release. A news release can convey a wide range of topics including events, personnel promotions, awards, new products, significant accomplishments, an excellent quarter, etc.

The best advice I can give anyone trying to write a news release is: Stop thinking like a sales person and start thinking like a reporter. Here are a few tips on what should go into a news release:

The San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce will officially present its new Economic Vision to the San Luis Obispo City Council on Tuesday. 

Chamber Chair of the Board John Ewan, President Dave Garth and Governmental Affairs Director Ermina Karim will discuss the vision’s objectives, values and strategies, explain how the vision document is used internally and externally, and share their perspective on the importance of community visioning. 

“The city helped the Chamber shape this new vision, and it’s important to explain how its strategies will help protect San Luis Obispo’s quality of life and promote its economic well-being,” Garth said.

The San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce shared some tips with nearly 300 local business people today on how to bring Google's just-announced ultra high-speed broadband initiative to San Luis Obispo. 

Dubbed "Mr. Connectivity," former Chamber Board of Directors chairperson Jeff Buckingham helped organize the Chamber's ad hoc group that will examine the feasibility of making San Luis Obispo one of the locations for the fiber optic trial. 

"[Google] is giving an opportunity for communities to demonstrate that they're worthy of this kind of an opportunity," Buckingham said at Thursday's Good Morning San Luis Obispo breakfast, a monthly Chamber event that draws hundreds of local business people.

Individuals can do their part by visiting the Google Fiber for Communities Web site and filing their own application form, becoming a fan of the "Bring Google Fiber to San Luis Obispo, CA!" Facebook fan page and suggesting the Facebook page to their San Luis Obispo Facebook friends, and by visiting the Softec Web site and joining the community discussions.

Feb. 11, 2010 ---

Rancher/developer Ernie Dalidio has strongly denied any connection to the San Luis Obispo County Farmers' Market Association, which has been at odds with the SLO Downtown Association. Dalidio told the e-Insider he has no connection with the group of any kind, and has not given it "even a penny" for its ad campaign defending the farmers’ interests. Last week, the e-Insider reported on a widely spread rumor that Dalidio had been behind the ads. "Absolutely not true," Dalidio told the e-Insider this week.

Feb. 11, 2010 ---

Obvious pressure from the City Council seems to have had a positive effect on a dispute between the Downtown Association and the San Luis Obispo County Farmers' Market Association. While they haven’t yet kissed and made up, the two associations have agreed to at least try to work out their differences. In a joint news release sent out today, the two groups said they had "agreed to move forward with hammering out the details and developing a formalized annual contract…"

Feb. 11, 2010 ---

The Tourism Business Improvement District for the unincorporated areas of the county (Los Osos, San Simeon, Cambria, Cayucos, Nipomo, Oceano and Avila) just retained highly regarded advertising executive Cheryl Cuming to be its BID administrator. Cuming is best known locally for her work as vice president of advertising at The Tribune, a post she held for seven years and left last December. This county-unincorporated TBID (not to be confused with the SLO city TBID or the “failed on the launch pad” county-wide TBID) has been collecting funds from about 700 motels, hotels, bed and breakfasts and vacation rentals since June and should have about $1 million to spend each year on promoting the area.

Feb. 9, 2010 ---

The San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce was honored with a 2009 Web Site Award from the Western Association of Chamber Executives (W.A.C.E.) at a conference last week.

Out of the more than 100 entries, the SLO Chamber received a Special Merit for its comprehensive, interconnected Web sites slochamber.org, slo-business.com and visitslo.com. The only higher award was received by the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce, the largest chamber in the West.  

The site was judged by four individuals who rated the overall design, content and Search Engine Optimization. The chamber scored points for certain features like the integration of streaming videos, placement of an event calendar, social networking links, a site map and an online version of the newsletter.