The time of year that always seems to happen during the late summer months has arrived. Nothing big really grabs our attention in the national news. Here closer to home people just try to stay cool or head out of town on those “get it in before school starts” vacations.

If you have been coming by Common Voice lately, you may notice that there have not bee a lot of articles over the last several days. Trust me. It isn’t because we are being lazy! Behind the scenes much is taking place.

Here is just a list of some of the things you can expect very soon.

• Subscription to a Common Voice E-letter.

We want to keep you up-to-date with what takes place here as well as begin passing along tidbits of information that might get some of you participating in the Common Voice Community.

• The Common Voice Community.

Soon you will also be able to sign up to become a member of what we call our community. Taking part in this option will allow you to very easily take part in the discussions as well as have access to special members’ only sections of the site.

• Press Release submissions.

Our motto is “Commentary and discussion by and for the people of the Upstate.” We are serious about this site becoming an online magazine that you, the readers, create. This is the place where you can announce your events or inform the community about what is taking place in your business or organization.

• Calendar of Events.

Along with the ability to submit press releases, you will also be able to enter your event into a calendar that will be accessible to everyone reading Common Voice. We will also be putting in community events to keep you informed of what is coming up.

• Hot tip!

Something you’ve noticed but you just don’t have the guts to dig into it and find out what is really going on? Hot tip will be for you. Just give us a tip. It can be anonymous. We won’t promise to put it out on the Web, but we will stick our noses into it and see if there is fire where you have smelled smoke.

There is more. However, we don’t want to over commit ourselves. There are only so many hours in a day! I do make this plea to you. I say it often, Common Voice will not survive without you. You notice that there are no ads on this site. It is not and will not be an attempt to make money. It is a labor of love for the Upstate. How are we paid? By seeing people make use of it.

How can you help?

1. Participate.
2. Let us know of people you would like to see write guest articles. Then you can help us by asking yourself if they will submit an article to us. We’ll do our part to bring them onboard.
3. Become an editor. Yes, you. Are you interested in your community? We need folks to head up sections of Common Voice according to geographic locations. We desperately need a Spartanburg editor. You can’t do it? Suggest someone to us.