Martine Rolls: Be part of the Times

People often say that there is not enough to do in Tauranga, but I don't think that's true.

Most weeks there is at least one event or occasion that I'd like to attend. Often I have to choose between a few great options.

There really is a huge variety of things to do with markets, expos, concerts, openings, tournaments, shows, fairs, and other events all around Tauranga and the Mount, indoors and outdoors, regardless of the season.

The amount of clubs and interest groups that have their base in our town is pretty huge, and they organise all sorts of get-togethers throughout the year.

If you think there is nothing going on here, you're simply not looking in the right places.

Just have a look at the What's on pages in our entertainment lift out magazine Vibe that is included in Thursday's Bay of Plenty Times. It's jam-packed with events each week.

We also have a Top 5 things to do in the

Bay of Plenty Times Weekend

, and more often than not we chose the events that cost nothing or very little to attend.

As your local newspaper, we would love to focus on more of these local events as we know that this is one of the things that our readers have an interest in.

Our website is one of the best places to do this, and for this we welcome your contributions.

In the newspaper, we don't always have enough room to publish everything but publishing stories online is much more flexible as on bayofplentytimes.co.nz, there is no limit with space.

For starters, I'd like to encourage anyone who takes an active role in the community to take a look at our site and look for the stories that have the tab "contribute" attached to them. If you have visited a great event, or if you are organising one, feel free to let us know about it.

We always welcome contributions from our readers and our online audience, and if it is a well-written story we are happy to publish it online. Match reports or interesting stories about club meetings are always welcome, too. So are stories of milestones and other highlights, and reports of anything else that is remarkable, significant, or out of the ordinary.

Another thing we are always on the lookout for is great photos. If you have a great shot taken here in the Bay and you'd like to share it with us, please send it in. We are happy to receive and publish photos of local scenery, sport games, people and pets.

Again, look for the "contribute" tab with our online stories and if we receive enough images, I'll set them up in a photo gallery online.

Besides being an active bunch, Tauranga people are also known to have a strong opinion about many things. That's why I'd also like to welcome readers to submit guest editorials online. Is there a topic that you are passionate about? Feel free to write about it and send it in.

For guest editorials, we do have a few rules. Make sure you submit it under your own name - no noms-de-plume - and please limit your writing to a maximum of 500 words. Submissions may be abridged, edited or refused at the editor's discretion.

We are also on the lookout for local bloggers and writers who are keen to get their name out there, and this includes aspiring journalists and journalism students.

Feel free to email me on martine.rolls@bayofplentytimes.co.nz  if you'd like to discuss the possibilities to be regularly featured on our website. I'm happy to meet with you for a coffee and a chat somewhere in town at a time that suits us both.

Lastly, if you see or hear something that you think we should know about, give us a call on 577 3154.

This will get you straight through to the newsroom. You can also email news tips to news@bayofplentytimes.co.nz. If texting is easier, the number to use is: 021 831 723.

After all, we'd like you to be a part of the Times.

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