Welcome to sosAssociates.com - - Promoting the Cleveland and Akron Areas, and More!

sosAssociates.com Blogiversary: Thirteen | It is hard to believe that today, March 8, 2025, I am celebrating thirteen years of creating my sosAssociates.com blog. Last year, I wrote about expected change, but this year, I don't know what to expect. I do anticipate many good times ahead. I want to say thank you to the people responsible for all the great things I was able to do in 2024 and so far in 2025.

February 2025: Eight Cleveland Area Galleries | I put together this blog post to share some of what I saw while visiting eight area galleries in February 2025. There is a variety of artwork presented, which will appeal to the different tastes of different people. I hope this encourages you to visit those galleries that have items of interest to you.

Celebrating MLK Day 2025 at University Circle | On Monday, January 20, 2025, my wife and co-blogger, Julie, volunteered at the Euclid Beach Park Grand Carousel at the Cleveland History Center, while my son, Michael, and I spent Martin Luther King, Jr., Day 2025 visiting four of the museums in University Circle. I want to thank these museums for welcoming the community every year to visit. Michael and I had a great time.

Complete 12 Extra Trails: 2024 Trail Challenge | I had already "met the challenge" back in February, but decided to end the year by completing the rest of the land-based trails. I now have completed every single land-based trail listed for the Cleveland Metroparks Trail Challenge 2024!!! That is a total of 27 trails in all 18 of the Cleveland Metroparks reservations listed for the 2024 challenge!

2024 Holiday Lighting: UC, Akron, CLE, Nela | As I have done in the past, I wanted to create this blog post to share my photos from the holiday lights in the area, but this year there were two big differences: Unlike past years, I attended the official lighting ceremonies at four locations!! A second difference is that I also attended two arts venues the same evenings as two of the lighting ceremonies.

“CMA Picasso and Paper” Preview & Curator Tour | I was fortunate to attend the Cleveland Museum of Art's preview of their new Picasso and Paper exhibition. Cleveland is one of very few places in the world where this exhibition will be shown. I enjoyed the preview, and wrote this blog post to encourage others to see the Picasso and Paper exhibition.

PechaKucha Night CLE Vol 43 at The City Club | The Thursday, November 21, 2024, PechaKucha Night Cleveland - Volume 43 - Civic // Space event had additional significance, since it took place at the "America's Citadel of Free Speech " -- The City Club of Cleveland!! I hope that this blog post encourages you to attend future PechaKucha Cleveland events!

A Day of Akron Art Galleries: Skulls & Neon | We had a most enjoyable day with our son, enjoying two art exhibitions. Visiting Akron art galleries was a great way to spend a rainy day. We first visited the Myers School of Art's Emily Davis Gallery at the University of Akron, and then went to the Akron Art Museum. We wrote this blog post so you can learn about our day, and to encourage you to visit these Akron art venues.

Niagara Falls 2024! | We put together this Niagara Falls blog post to share our three-day trip. In recent years, we have only been visiting the Niagara Falls, New York, USA, side, so it was great to see what new attractions and improvements have been made by the Canadian Niagara Park System. We hope you enjoy our photos/videos, along with what we learned during our visit to Niagara Falls, Canada, and the Niagara River.

The Future of Space: A Cosmic Conversation | On Friday, November 1, 2024, I was very fortunate to attend a special presentation at the International Women's Air & Space Museum about the future of NASA. It was fantastic to learn directly from Johnson Space Center Director Vanessa E. Wyche about what is currently being developed at NASA.

Data Days Cleveland 2024 | I have been following the activities of Data Days CLE on social media for years, but I have never been able to attend any of their events. I knew I would be in for an impressive day, and what I got was even more. It ended up also being a reunion with people I had not met in person for a while, and gave me the opportunity to meet new people who were attending or presenting.

Cultivating Gamification for a Better World | I was fortunate that an opportunity was presented to me as I was invited to attend the Eighth Annual Better World Day -- Cultivating Gamification for a Better World 2024 -- that took place at Hyland. I want to encourage you to learn more so you can help spread the word about this great annual event that provides support to nonprofits!