Saturday Stats: San Jose is the top place to start a business in America

San Jose has returned to the top spot as the best city in the country to start a business according to an annual ranking by Biz2Credit. Shockingly, we came in at 18th place last year due to high costs of doing business. However, this year the other criteria were more than able to make up for those costs. The study looked at the health of small businesses in each metro, the entrepreneurial ecosystem, taxes, and the local talent pool.

New York City took the second highest spot on the list followed by San Francisco in third. For more details, read the full article over here.

Source: CNBC

Content Magazine pick-up party for issue 8.2 "Sync"

The latest edition of content magazine celebrates the art of fashion and this will be one of their biggest "pick-up" parties yet. Unlike traditional magazines, if you are a Content subscriber you have the option of picking up the latest issue at an event with the writers, photographers, editors, and the people featured in the latest issue.

The pick-up party for issue 8.2 Sync will take place on Saturday, June 18th from 7-10pm at The Armory (240 N. 2nd Street). The event will include curated art galleries by Anne & Mark's Art Party, a fashion show by Pivot: The Art of Fashion, small bites, a no-host bar, live music, and a DJ. Of course if you are a subscriber you also get your latest issue of Content. There will also be an after-party at Ludwig's, a new German restaurant in Downtown San Jose.

Unlike most pick-up parties for Content, this is a paid event. However, the first 75 subscribers to RSVP will receive two free passes. To RSVP, click here. You will also get 1 free drink coupon. If you are not yet a subscriber, head over here.

Game Five: Let the Rallying Begin!

It is game five of the Stanley Cup Finals, and the Sharks are on the brink of elimination.

The whole nation, outside of Pittsburgh, is on board with the Sharks, and I do mean the city in Pennsylvania, as a similarly named East Bay town temporarily changed its name to stand behind our men in teal.

There have been a lot of horrible, bunk statistics being thrown around the last couple of days about the chances of recovery from a 1-3 series deficit.  Granted it is a different sport, but one other Bay Area team found a way.  A series comeback is not impossible, but the fans must believe and rally in their support.  It seems the norm these days to reinvent how statistics can be presented, from a rookie's performance to success based on whether or not the Western/Eastern trophies are touched.  These bunk stats are meant to fill blogs with silly story ideas.  In reality, the Sharks can absolutely come back in this with a Game Five win tonight to send the series back to the San Jose faithful.

The Sharks have demonstrated this series that they can hang with the Penguins, but they must play the full 60 minutes.  With the exception of last game, all games have been decided by one goal, and as the games have progressed, the Sharks have played better each game (despite the Game Four loss) with evidenced speed, puck handling, and scoring opportunities.

Oh, yes, those wonderful scoring opportunities.  We need to score on those.  Imagine if we have, after all.  This would be quite a different series.

With a win tonight, the Sharks can regain momentum and return to their dominance, as displayed from earlier this postseason, such as against the Blues.  With a roster full of players without Stanley Cup victories (with the exception of the once backup to Jonathan Quick), it is natural to want to support what can be described as an underdog run to the Cup, based on the slim chances the Sharks were perceived as having of winning the Stanley Cup before the postseason commenced.

Given the Sharks are in the position they are currently in, expect players like Joe Pavelski and Brent Burns to reactivate.  We all know Joe Thornton is ready to go.  I have to say, based on the interviews with the players today, they all appear determined and serious about upping their toughness and taking this series back to our favor.  This is great to see, because having this mindset is when the Sharks play well.

As fans, we must get behind our team, the valiant Sharks, and force a Game Six at home!  I therefore expect to see you all there at the SAP Center this Sunday!  Believe!  Go Sharks!

Dine Downtown Restaurant Week kicks off tomorrow

Starting tomorrow you will be able to get three-course meals at a variety of Downtown San Jose restaurants for a fixed price. 18 different restaurants are participating in the latest Dine Downtown Restaurant Week, including several of my favorites. I highly recommend Arcadia, Cafe Stritch, Nomikai, Scott's Seafood, and SP2. $1 will be donated to Martha's Kitchen for every meal that is purchased during the event.

Below in the SJDA press release you will also find a list of events to pair with your dining experiences. To see the full list of participating restaurants, head over here.

SAN JOSE – Downtown diners can experience a new hot spot every night over 10 days this June, when restaurants offer specially priced, three-course meals for Dine Downtown.

From June 10 to June 19, downtown restaurants create special menus for Dine Downtown. Options include new up-and-coming restaurants and recognized, award-winning downtown icons.  There’s a meal to meet every want – from Hawaiian to Asian-inspired comfort food to steakhouses, Italian food and beyond.  See all of the restaurants and menus at http://dinedowntownsj.com.

Since food is also about community, the dining experience isn’t just for the joy of a great meal.  Dine Downtown sponsor Sysco will donate $1 to Martha’s Kitchen for every meal purchased.  Martha’s Kitchen has provided hot meals to the hungry for 35 years.

Dine Downtown is a great week to explore all the area has to offer – from great food to arts. Be sure to check out these great events downtown at the same time:

• You and I:  Play-goers "take the leap into an unexpected friendship" with a poignant and insightful story about two teenagers.  City Lights Theater.  www.cltc.org
• The Art of Fashion: A special preview of a collection that will be shown at Anne & Mark’s Art Party.  http://pivot-artfashion.com
• Third Thursday:  After-hours with live music, food, drinks and, of course, art at the San Jose Museum of Art. http://sjmusart.org/calendar
• Wild Party:  A musical and whodunit set in the Roaring 20s.  The Stage Theater Company. http://www.thestage.org 

For a full list of downtown events, visit www.sjdowntown.com/events.

Arts, giving and great food: That’s what great community and Dine Downtown are about.

Reservations taken through Open Table:  http://www.opentable.com/promo.aspx?pid=365&m=4

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About Martha’s Kitchen: Martha’s Kitchen has served more than 3 million meals to San Jose’s hungry over 35 years.  Based between Willow Glen and downtown, it provides meals to service agencies and through its own dining room.

About Sysco:  Sysco helps the foodservice industry satisfy diners’ appetites with 194 locations throughout the U.S., Bahamas, Canada, Ireland & Northern Ireland. http://www.sysco.com

About the SJDA:  The non-profit San Jose Downtown Association was founded in 1986 to represent businesses and property owners.  It works to enhance downtown’s vitality. http://sjdowntown.com

SJ Economy: Indie coffee houses perk up Downtown

There is a blog post about the proliferation of indie coffee in Downtown San Jose over at the SJ Economy blog. I just started getting into coffee recently, and it is pretty amazing to see us go from mostly Starbucks and other chains a few years ago to a very diverse collection of outstanding coffee houses today. This list is growing longer and longer: Voltaire, Ola's, Vero's, Social Policy, Kartma, B2, Cafe Frascatti, Devine Grinde, iJava, Bel Bacio, Chromatic (coming soon), et cetera. Anyway, check out Tina Kapoor's post over here.

Omescape has brought three awesome escape games to San Jose with more to come

Escape games have become all the rage in the Bay Area, and for good reason--they are a lot of fun! The concept is simple, you are locked in a room and have an hour to solve a series of puzzles in order to get the key and escape. The puzzles are often very creative and require out-of-the-box thinking to solve.

Usually these games are very challenging (only 15-33% of teams escape). I have now done four of them and and have only escaped once, and I can tell you that every single time has been a blast including the three losses. You'll be thinking and talking about the game for days after it ends. I have to warn you that these can be very addicting.

Omescape was kind enough to invite me to try a game in their San Jose location. In 2014, the company opened its first Bay Area location in Richmond. They then opened the San Jose location late last year at 625 Wool Creek Dr, Ste E, San Jose 95112. Over 3,500 groups had already played in Richmond and 6,000+ individuals have played in San Jose. Omescape chose to open a location in San Jose since their target customers are smart, young professionals that are passionate about trying new things.

Currently Omescape San Jose has three rooms: Kingdom of Cats (easiest, 2-6 players), Dark Altar (medium difficulty, 4-6 players), and Joker's Asylum (very hard, 6-10 players). Since I have done a few escape rooms already, I asked to try Joker's Asylum which only has a 13% escape rate. It was by far the toughest room I have done, but we had an awesome team and managed to escape! There is not much I can tell you about the room without spoilers, but I will say the puzzles were very creative and the room(s) were well designed. They also heavily used technology to enhance the whole experience.

Two additional rooms are under construction right now. One will open next month (ToxiNation) and the last one will take another three months. After those are completed, Omescape San Jose will be the largest complex for escape games in the Bay Area.

As a special treat for everyone reading this right now, they have provided me with a coupon code good for 10% off any game. Head over here to check out their games and redeem the code!


Coupon Code: THESANJOSEBLOG
10% off

To redeem: Go to https://omescape.us/sanjose/book/ --> Pick the desired room by clicking "Book Now" -->  Choose a time and date --> Select the number of participants then click "Continue" --> Enter the code on the right column --> 10% discount will apply to the entire room rate.

Please note: The group must meet the minimum number of players required for the game room to make a booking, and once the booking is made, the room is exclusive to the group. If the group wants to add additional player(s) after the booking has been made, and the group is under the maximum number allowed for the room, they can just pay at Omescape once they arrive for the extra player(s).

June 2016 Downtown Dimension Highlights

Here are my notes from the latest edition of Downtown Dimension:

• "An unprecedented flurry of development proposals has descended upon Downtown San Jose" and they range across housing, office, hotel, and retail unlike our previous boom. [Josh: there are so many development proposals, they can't even fit on one map any more. Check out the maps from http://sjdowntown.com/developmentresources below]
• Downtown San Jose currently has less than 9 million SQFT of office, 2.74 million additional SQFT have been proposed.
• There are currently 2,150 hotel rooms Downtown, 650 additional rooms have been proposed.
• A staggering 8,782 new homes have been proposed, which is more than double the amount during the absolute peak of the last boom.
• Retail has not been left out either, over 200,000 SQFT of new retail has been proposed for Downtown.
• A Stanley Cup title would have a significant positive economic impact for San Jose. Already, playoff games add $2.1 million of benefits to the Downtown area per game.
• Music in the Park will feature Los Lobos on June 24th, AC/DShe + The Killer Queens on July 14, and Ozomatli on August 4th. One more band will be announced later this month for August 24th.
• Dine Downtown Restaurant Week takes place from June 10-19th with 3-course meals starting at $20 (go to dinedowntownsj.com for details).
• Bryan Adams will play a special Fourth of July concert with a VIP viewing area for the Rotary Fireworks show. Tickets start at $15 and more details are available at sjdowntown.com/bigbang.
• An elevated double-sided mural has been completed on Second and San Carlos.
• Ludwig's German Table is now open at 261 N. Second Street [Josh: this is Downtown's second German restaurant after Teske's Germania].

To read the newsletter, click here!

Playful People Productions Presents: Magic Tree House - Dinosaurs Before Dark KIDS

Magic Tree House: Dinosaurs Before Dark KIDS is an adaptation of the first of Mary Pope Osborne's award-winning fantasy adventure books from the Magic Tree House book series, which has sold more than 100 million copies and is available in more than 100 countries around the world.

What would you do if a tree house in your neighborhood could transport you anywhere you wanted to go? While exploring one afternoon, Siblings, Jack and Annie, discover a tree house full of books while exploring one afternoon. Jack looks through a book about dinosaurs and wishes he could see a real one. Suddenly, the wind begins to blow and the tree house starts to spin wildly. When it finally stops, Jack and Annie open their eyes to find they have been transported back to the time of the dinosaurs. Jack and Annie have a harrowing adventure, befriending some dinosaurs along the way as they try to make their way back home.

Our shows often sell out prior to the show weekend. Be sure to buy your tickets early, you won’t want to miss out on this fantastic production.

All Shows at the Historic Hoover Theatre, 1635 Park Ave  San Jose, CA 95126

Show Times:
Friday, June 17th - 7:00pm
Saturday, June 18th - 11:00am, 3:00pm and 7:00pm
Sunday, June 19th - 11:00am, and 3:00pm


Tickets available at www.playfulpeople.net
$12 attendees 12 and up, $8 children 11 and under,  and $6 Children’s floor seating

Tickets at the door (30 minutes prior to curtain)
$15 attendees 12 and up, $10 children 11 and under, and $6 Children’s floor seating


Founded in 2010, Playful People Production’s mission is to provide a quality, caring environment where children, teens and their families can have positive theater experiences. We strive to involve all family members in the many aspects of on stage and backstage theater in a safe and fun environment and offer participation in theatrical productions, classes, summer stock and camps for ages 3-93.