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Author Archive for Summer Teal Simpson
If you’re anything like me then you’re finding it a bit hard to believe that the end of August is upon us.
The good news is: cSpot is tonight, the last one of the summer. The hottest creative networking org in town will set up shop at Hang Fire, one of the hottest bars in town. Seems fitting, yes?
Join us, as we mourn the passing of watermelon and lemonade, fireworks, sandcastles and plentiful sunshine. (Save Fitz, who’s itching to bid a don’t-let-the-door-hit-you-on-the-way-out adieu to sunburns and weather that doesn’t bode well for blazers and pale noggins.)
I know I’ll be schmoozing my seasonal blues away. After all “Summer” is my middle name (first, rather) and I always mourn its passing come this time of year, for obvious reasons. Unlike some of us, I can rack up a killer tan.
So, whether you’re drinking to the “impending temperateness” or drowning your summerless sorrow, come join us at Hang Fire from 5:30 to 7:30 as we fill the place with creative conversation.
Yea, you heard us. ESRI, THE leader in GIS technology (makes ArcGIS, ArcView, ArcInfo, etc) featured SEDA (and their multi-functional property search website) on its community showcase section (scroll down the page).
The Property Search website enables users to search for available industrial buildings, office space, and land sites based on multiple search criteria. Results are viewed on a GIS-enhanced dynamic map and can compare locations to community features and transportation access. There is even an option to save a search in a personal portfolio. (FYI, SEDA maintains relationships with area developers and landowners and manages a database of property from 5,000 square feet to 1,400 acres. )
 
The Property Search website is such a great use of ESRI’s technology that not only did they request to do a case study on it, but they asked to showcase the site at the International Users Conference last week. Not too shabby, huh? We’re beaming with pride and admiration for big econ dev brother. You did good!
(A special shout out to Amanda Blind, GIS Analyst and Research Guru at SEDA, for her mappy muscle on this endeavor. Thanks for all your hard work…you go girl!)
For some, this may be old news. With all this great blog fodder to work with I have fallen a few steps behind in reporting the big news: Savannah is a great place to do business.
According to Inc. Magazine’s Best Cities 2008, Savannah ranks as the number three mid-sized city in America to do business and number fifteen city all-around. The ranking has been around since 2004 and reflects economic trends and employment data in 335 regions nationwide. In 2006, Savannah appeared on the list as the 49th best small city (top 50, baby) and 74th overall. The following year, Savannah made the leap from “small” city to “mid-sized.” (The qualification for mid-sized being 150,000 to 450,000 area jobs.) At just over the 150,000 mark, we jumped to the number 10 mid-sized city, 42nd overall in 2007.
Recognize a 46-place and 59-place jump, respectively, in two years time? So, what gives? What have we done so right to see ourselves kicking butt and taking names?
To start, we’re creating jobs. Here’s how the results are amassed:
At any given stage in an election season, political junkies, policy wonks, strategists, candidates, campaigners and the media know that the politics of voting blocs (evangelists, African-Americans, Hispanics, male/female, upper-class/lower-class, age groups, urban/rural, etc.) must be factored into any campaign. At least if you have any real interest in winning. And great campaign success, like terrific campaign failure, can affect political strategies for decades to come.
Well, hold on to your seats. Because we’re officially somebody. Whether you approve of using the “class” term or not, for the first time in history the “creative class” has been qualified (and quantified) as a voting force. Not only registering on the radars of present-day politicians but set to matter for elections to come. Hot dog!
Going back to the early 80’s, Reagan was the first Republican candidate to truly appeal to the evangelists, thus making them a voting force to be reckoned with, at the heart of the Republican base. And (according to the NY Times), their spiritually-influenced vote has changed campaigns and election outcomes ever since. It appears that, 28 years later, Senator Barack Obama has built the strong base of support of a new bloc. Yes, the creative class.
What was the past has now become the future.
No, no Michael J. Fox time-machine DeLorean DMC-12 here. BUT, our great friends over at the Georgia Historical Society (GHS) have given their old website a facelift. Times ten.
In an effort to beef up and streamline public access to their historical resource treasure trove, GHS got together with the gang at Smack Dab Studios to overhaul their (yes, “historic”) website.
Overall, we dig the whole juxtaposition-of-past-and-future thing. It’s part of what makes Savannah cool. (Plus, it reminds me of one of my favorite old-school TCCa-flavored collateral fortune cookie fortunes: “I see a historic future in your present.”)
So, the result of this transformation? Georgia history being brought to life (ala Frankenstein but much more attractive).
Yea, we know the folks at Smack Dab, and they’re good, creative peeps. So it’s no wonder that the website looks so good and is chocked full of new cool features that make it both user-friendly on the front end and easy to maintain and update on the back end. We’re talking an upgrade from FrontPage 98 (collective MOAN) to a Ruby on Rails‘ custom CMS (Content Management System).
Its the last Wednesday of the month, and there’s nothing like a little pig-latin to mark the glorious one-two punch of hump-day AND cSpot.
cSpot this month (tonight, July 30) will be at Saya Lounge: a happenin’ cocktail spot on Broughton, downstairs from the newly grand-scaled DC2 Design (the LA-based design showroom and retail store).
And if you haven’t been yet, here’s your chance. It’s a kickin’ new sidestreet joint (highlighted by big ole’ Buddha heads, warm tones and tasty martinis) and it’s a great venue to have fun and enjoy the funky, braininess of Savannah.
Heck, you may even meet the business connection of your dreams. Example: TCCa met, courted and hired our former Marketing Priestess, Angel Ratcliffe (now at Paragon Design Group) due to a chance meeting at cSpot. Come to think of it, I met Fitz at a cSpot, and 1.5 years later I’m bloggin’ up a storm for him. Damn!
We’re also extending happy hour (5:30 - 7:30 pm) and bringing in Zunzi’s cultural culinary expertise to provide some cocktail hour munchies for our cSpotters. (Mouth is watering…)
Good Monday, quirky Savannahians. As you transition back into the work week, Fitz wanted me to remind you to put one last thing on your calendar this week.
It’s a biggie: the deadline for applicants for this years TCCa Innovation Awards is fast approaching. In fact, it’s Thursday (July 31)!!
To refresh your Monday memory, the Innovation Awards (to take place on October 23) will honor regional business, education and community organizations that demonstrate innovation and outstanding achievement in education, business, community, government and sustainability. To date, we’ve seen applications from across the board - from janitorial services to transportation to fashion - so join the show and let us know why you’re innovative!
Consider this an INNOVATION intervention. Missing this deadline could be disastrous to you and your business’s long-term health (over-dramatization of facts).
You are the key players in this awards equation. Not only the eyes and ears of the Creative Coast but the true creators, innovators and entrepreneurial heroes. Don’t let a chance for deserved recognition (and a dang good time) slip away.
Let me just start out by saying: I don’t know a ton about this particular subject. I’m sorta new to this whole econdev game. But maybe that’s ok…I’m learning, and hopefully it gives me a “fresh” perspective.
Still, being an diehard enviro-nerd with a flare for the dramatic, when I read my friend and colleague Tommy Linstroth’s op-ed, it kinda made me think: “Mmm, dreams really do come true.”
Head of Sustainable Initiatives for Melaver Inc., Linstroth is one of Savannah’s most learned Champions of the Green. (Plus, he rocks earrings in both ears, Wisconsin style. What’s not to love?)
In the Savannah Morning News this week, Tommy Boy throws out the idea that the solution to this whole mega-site problem is – the New American City.
The mega-site, for those of you who aren’t that familiar (present company included), is the big ole’ hunk of land out on I-16 that the old Gubn’a prophesied would bring the German automotive manufacturing powerhouse (Chrysler) to our sleepy southern town. Only thing is, it turns out he was wrong.
Acclaimed author and authority on creative cities, Charles Landry, is heading to Savannah for a lecture tomorrow, July 8th at 7:00 pm at the Charles H. Morris Center. Landry comes to school us in the ways of creative city-building.
Stealing Jim Morekis’s opener to this week’s Connect Savannah cover story, simply put:
Charles Landry is one of the coolest people you probably have never heard of.
Best known for his books The Creative City: A Toolkit for Urban Innovators and, more recently, The Art of City Making, Landry’s word works are considered THE guides to building a creative community. For those of you who know Richard Florida, the creative (albeit controversial) guru and author of The Rise of the Creative Class and Who’s Your City?, you’ll get a kick out of ole’ Charlie… (If Florida is the guy who described what a “creative” city/economy is and why you might want one, Charles is the guy who wrote the book on how you actually build one and what they look like around the world).
A taste of his acclaim:
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