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Issue
1.38 | Monday, March 23, 2009 |
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LIST GOOD
NEWS ALSO INSIDE ___::
CALENDAR: Coming events |
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TODAY'S
FOCUS MARCH 23, 2009 -- With Jon Stewart, the "Today" show and The Wall Street Journal all recently covering the topic of Twitter, and the word "Facebook" thrown around every other word these days, social media seem to be a train moving full speed ahead. You might be trying to decide personally if you want to engage in these tools. But have you considered using these tools for your business? If not, you're missing lots of potential customers and referrals that are just waiting for you to find them online.
The term "social media," which implies interaction and the sharing of content vs. the old days of just looking up a Web site and "pulling" information, is the buzz phrase right now. While it can mean reuniting with that long-lost high school boyfriend or catching up with a past colleague, it's also a way to mine for customers and clients. To me, social media offer a more efficient and effective way of networking. Take Facebook, for example. You're engaging with friends, colleagues, contacts you met at a trade conference, family and more on a regular basis, not just the one time a year that you hold the company meeting or attend the family reunion. Let's say you are a mortgage broker and regularly you are sharing interesting articles, news about your business, awards and milestones you've achieved in addition to personal information about your family and daily life. When it comes time that any of these connections needs a mortgage, you're much more likely to be top of mind than the mortgage broker someone mentioned around the water cooler six months ago. And, now these contacts don't have to remember that mortgage broker's name and find his Web site; instead, with one click on Facebook, they can directly reach your site or send you a message.
While Facebook is generally about staying in front of connections you've made in the real world, Twitter, my favorite social media tool, helps you make new friends and connections and stay top of mind. I've had many referrals come directly from Twitter or from contacts I've made there whom I would not have known otherwise. Twitter, to me, is best described as social instant messaging. You choose to follow people who interest you, and likewise, people who are interested in what you have to say choose to follow you. You're allowed to "chat" in 140-character bursts. This might range from you're ready for a coffee break to your latest blog post or your opinion on a political candidate. People talk about everything on Twitter! That said, companies can mine Twitter looking for qualified customers who might need their service. For example, if you're a hotel in Orlando, using Twitter's search function, you can look for people talking about vacationing to Orlando, offer them a special deal, and give them useful information about the area, whether it's kid-friendly restaurants or attractions to see while they're visiting. They'll begin to see you as the resource for all things about Orlando, and they'll remember you when they decide to book their hotel. Before you get your business "social," here are a few rules of the Web to remember: Be transparent and open. Be conversational; don't use sales or promotional verbiage. Provide real, useful information, not just ad copy. Check in frequently; the world of social media moves fast and if you're not responsive, you lose credibility. Decide it's important to your business, map out a strategy and add it to your to-do list. While it's mostly a free investment, it does take time. Now's the time to stop and consider if the social media are right for your business (and I can venture a bet that in most cases they are), and get on the train before your competition leaves you standing empty-handed at the station. Lyn Mettler is president of Step Ahead Inc., www.stepaheadinc.com, a social media, Internet marketing and public relations firm based in Charleston. Also, you can follow her on Twitter. You can learn the latest about CharlestonCurrents.com by following acbrack on Twitter. (Of course, there's no telling what other nonsense you might encounter!) CURRENTS ATLANTA, March 23, 2009 – Over the next week, I'll be traveling the Interstates and backroads of the deep South with the son of an Australian friend.
Bill Hawker, an 18-year-old who graduated high school in Sydney in December (that's when they graduate as summer starts about that time of the world in the other hemisphere), spent a few days in Charleston last week getting acclimated to the area, which he never had visited. He met with several leaders, including Alex Sanders, Fritz Hollings and Jack Bass. He attended a meeting of the Rotary Club of Charleston, where as president I joked to members that he would get a good picture of the South in the coming week, albeit a more liberal South than most in the room knew. (Surprisingly, no one took the bait and suggested, “Well it must be a short trip you've got planned, Andy!) In the coming week,we're heading to Anniston, Ala., Nashville and Memphis, where we'll visit the civil rights museum and Graceland on the same day (what a treat). Then we'll tour the Clinton Library in Little Rock, head to the crossroads of Clarksdale, Miss., where legend has it that blues musician Robert Johnson sold his soul to the Devil. We're planning to stop in Jackson and then move to rural Hale County, Ala., where Auburn University has an interesting architecture program that helps poor people to get new structures made with innovative materials. We'll also stop in at Selma and Montgomery before returning to Charleston by way of Plains, Ga. All in all, it's a long trip of learning. But it portends to be refreshing too because it will allow us to see what's happening across the region in what these days seems to be described as “in these trying times.” * * * Another kind of cultural appreciation came to Charleston Thursday as Istanbul Center, an Atlanta organization that seeks to foster a better understand of Turkey among Southerners, hosted a dinner at the Francis Marion. While the evening provided participants with a better understanding of Turkish culture and food, perhaps the most interesting reaction of guests was when they entered. You see, the invitation said dinner would begin at 7 p.m., with a reception starting 30 minutes earlier. When Bill and I arrived at 6:40 p.m., the place was packed with Charlestonians, most of whom (like me) incorrectly assumed the reception would include an open bar. Nope. The refreshments were iced tea and cold water. First lesson in Turkish culture: Islam is the religion and alcohol isn't served. Boy, you should have seen the desperate eyes of the Charlestonians in the room! The evening's highlight was a talk by MUSC President Ray Greenberg, who provided a fascinating look at how Istanbul and Charleston had a history of being religious safe havens in the past. In 1492 when the Spanish king expelled Jews, many were welcomed in Istanbul. Similarly, Charleston's founders in the late 1600s practiced religious tolerance – so much so that Charleston was home to the largest Jewish population in the colonies in the early 1700s. Neat stuff – last week, and for the week ahead. Andy Brack is publisher of CharlestonCurrents.com. He can be reached at: editor@charlestoncurrents.com FEEDBACK
SPOTLIGHT
The public spiritedness of our underwriters allows us to bring CharlestonCurrents to you at no cost. This issue's featured underwriter is Maybank Industries, LLC of Charleston, SC. With broad experience in commercial and government operations, Maybank Industries applies deep-rooted commitment to teamwork, reliability and personal service to provide innovative business solutions for project development, information technology, logistics, vessel design, shipping agency services and marine terminal operations, both locally and internationally. Maybank Industries applies a powerful blend of professional expertise to research, analyze and develop tailored solutions with thorough plans of action, combining a heavy dose of common sense to solve today's needs that can adapt to changing or evolving requirements. More: Maybank Industries and Maybank Systems.
GOOD
NEWS Early indicators from this month's BB&T Charleston Food + Wine Festival indicate that the 2009 festival saw a number of positive gains over past years, including increased attendance, a greater economic impact and increased giving to the festival's charitable partners. "The festival has gained national recognition and has quickly become one of the top five food-and-wine festivals in the U.S., according to ForbesTraveler.com," said Marketing Manager Erika McMillan. While the final stats won't be available for a few more weeks, the festival shared the following initial numbers:
Local inventors to offer movies to benefit lighthouse The Charleston residents who invented a device called the WhirlyBird Repeller are sponsoring two free showings of the Alfred Hitchcock classic "The Birds" on March 26 at the Terrace Theater, 1956-D Maybank Highway.
Inventors Bud Doty and Rob Turkewitz will be giving away WhirlyBirds through drawings, and members of Lowcountry Local First will be on hand to talk about the importance of supporting local entrepreneurs. While the event is free, donations will be accepted to benefit the preservation of the Morris Island Lighthouse. Doty and
Turkewitz designed the WhirlyBird Repeller, a contraption to ward off
birds, in response to problems they were having on their own docks and
boats. The device has been tested and used successfully by the U.S. Coast
Guard on its navigational aids and has also been successfully used by
Irvin House Vineyards on Wadmalaw Island. In addition, the WhirlyBird
has helped the Ministry Center at St. James Episcopal Church on James
Island solve its problem of crows crashing into its windows during services,
and has made it possible for the Terrace to once again light its marquee. The film showings will be held at 6:15 p.m. and 8:45 p.m. March 26. Learn more about the WhirlyBird online. Community Day draws hundreds of families, kids A total of 571 people enjoyed free admission to the Gibbes Museum of Art on March 14 as part of the Junior League of Charleston's Community Day. With the theme "Spring Into Color," the event allowed families to take part in art-making activities, tour the museum an d listen to concerts. Musical performers included classical guitarist Gregory Guay and choirs from Mount Pleasant Presbyterian Church and Sedgefield Intermediate School. Junior League volunteers offered "Kids in the Kitchen," in which youngsters had the chance to taste healthy foods and then use the items to create their own art - for example, using heads of broccoli in to make prints and stamps. The activity tied in with March as National Nutrition Month. The Junior League sponsors Community Day at the Gibbes quarterly. The next one will be held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. May 16, with the theme "Art Discoveries." REVIEW
Immaculée Ilibagiza tells an amazing story of survival in her book "Left to Tell." In 1994, during the Rwanda genocide, she hid in a tiny bathroom for three months with seven other women, praying for survival. She takes the reader through the terrifying ordeal of her hiding and her incredible ability to forgive those involved in the massacre. Readers will shed tears for her pain and share joy in her triumph. It is truly an incredible story of one person's faith and inner strength.
HISTORY
SPOTLIGHT (First of two parts) The Charleston Renaissance (circa 1915-1940) was a multifaceted cultural renewal that took place in the years between World Wars I and II. Artists, musicians, writers, historians and preservationists, individually and in groups, fueled a revival that reshaped the city's destiny. Such organizations as the Charleston Sketch Club and the Charleston Etchers' Club, the Society for the Preservation of Spirituals, the Jenkins Orphanage Band, the Poetry Society of South Carolina, and the Society for the Preservation of Old Dwellings provided opportunities for groups to foster artistic expression deeply rooted in Charleston's past. Many individuals, largely natives, were responsible for shepherding these organizations: Alice Ravenel Huger Smith and Elizabeth O'Neill Verner; Augustine T. Smythe and Herbert Ravenel Sass; DuBose Heyward, John Bennett, Josephine Pinckney, and Julia Peterkin; Susan Pringle Frost, Alston Deas, and Albert Simons.
The Charleston
Renaissance benefited from a large number of books, many illustrated with
paintings and prints by local artists, as well as documentary photographs.
A seminal volume was "The Dwelling Houses of Charleston, South Carolina,"
published in 1917 and consisting of house histories by D.E.H. Smith accompanied
by picturesque drawings by his daughter, Alice Smith. Ten years later
Albert Simons and his partner Samuel Lapham issued the lavishly illustrated
volume "The Early Architecture of Charleston." Both books instilled
a sense of pride in Charleston's architectural past and stimulated the
historic preservation movement. That same year the spiritual society issued "The Carolina Low-Country," a compendium of essays on plantation life, with an emphasis on spirituals. These and the many other books published at this time served to document Charleston's cultural heritage, and because they were accessible and easily transported they served to disseminate the charms of the lowcountry to a broad audience. One story, more than any other, brought national attention to Charleston: the tale of Porgy, by DuBose Heyward. It appeared in 1925, first as a novel, then as a play on Broadway in 1928, and finally in its best-known form, as the folk opera "Porgy and Bess" in 1935. Coming Thursday: America becomes "Charleston-conscious"
SISTER PUBLICATIONS We encourage you to check out our sister publications:
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© 2008-2009, Statehouse Report LLC. All rights reserved. CharlestonCurrents.com is published every Monday and Thursday by Statehouse Report LLC, PO Box 22261, Charleston, SC 29413. |
After a financially challenging 2008-2009 season, the Charleston Ballet Theatre is thinking positive with last week's announcement of its 2009-10 season, which has the theme "Alive & Kicking." The season, which begins in the fall, will feature these five performances that mark the debut of choreography by CBT resident choreographer Jill Eathorne Bahr. For performance specifics or tickets, call 723-7334.
"Dance like it hurts, love like you need money, work when people are watching."
CALENDAR: THIS WEEK (STARTS TODAY) Old St. Andrew's Tea Room: 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday, March 23 to April 4, Old St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, 2604 Ashley River Road. Tea room features local favorites for lunch and an array of homemade desserts. Proceeds benefit the mission and ministry programs of the Episcopal Church Women of Old St. Andrew's and the church's Preservation Fund. More info. Economic Outlook Conference: 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. March 26, Charleston Place Hotel. The Charleston Metro Chamber's Annual Economic Outlook Conference and Luncheon includes the 18- to 24-month forecast for the key economic sectors of the region. Keynote speaker Jeffrey M. Lacker, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, will present the views of the Federal Reserve on the state of the national recovery and the outlook for future economic conditions. Also speaking will be College of Charleston President P. George Benson, who will speak about the challenges facing South Carolina and our ability to compete in the global economy. Cost: $95 for Chamber members, $125 for nonmembers. Details/registration. Women in Business Conference: 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. March 27, Francis Marion Hotel, corner of King and Calhoun streets, downtown. Sponsored by the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce and the Center for Women, the fourth annual conference includes workshops, speed networking, lunch and a fashion show featuring career wear. Cost: $100. Registration/more info. Garden Club of Charleston House and Garden Tours: 2-5 p.m. March 27 and March 28, various sites downtown. Tours of historic homes and gardens, including the Heyward-Washington House garden, whose parterre is planted only with flowers and shrubs known in the city in 1791. Proceeds benefit ongoing projects of the Garden Club of Charleston, including maintaining the gardens at the Joseph Manigault House, the Heyward-Washington House, the Gateway Walk and the Healing Garden at MUSC. More info: E-mail thegardenclub@aol.com. CALENDAR: ONGOING AND SOON Film Series on Jim Crow: 2 p.m. Tuesdays and Saturdays, March 10-April 4, Charleston Museum, 360 Meeting St. In conjunction with the exhibit "From Slave to Sharecropper: African Americans in the Lowcountry after the Civil War," the museum will host a four-part documentary film series, "The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow." The Peabody Award-winning documentary, offers a comprehensive look at race relations in America between the Civil War and the civil rights movement. Cost: Free with general museum admission of $10 for adults, $5 for children 3-12. For details on specific shows and schedules, call 722-2996 or go here online. Historic Charleston Foundation Festival of Houses and Gardens: Ongoing March 19 through April 18, various sites. Tours feature the interiors and gardens of approximately 150 historic private homes in 10 colonial and antebellum neighborhoods during the peak of the city's springtime blooms. Other events include Plantation Picnics at Drayton Hall Plantation, daily walking tours through the Old and Historic District, "Eat and Run" luncheons, harbor tours, book signings, etc. Proceeds benefit the work of the Historic Charleston Foundation. Tickets/more info: 723-1623 or by clicking here. Pet Fest: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. March 28 and noon to 4 p.m. March 29, Palmetto Islands County Park, Mount Pleasant. Charleston County Parks and Recreation Commission's annual pet event expands to two days this year. Dock diving will be featured for the first time, along with past fest favorites such as Lowcountry Dog magazine's "cover model contest," a dog show, Frisbee dogs, a microchipping clinic and several dog contests. Cost: $5 or three Greenbax for adults, per day; free for kids age 12 or younger, leashed pets and Gold Passholders. More info or 795-4FUN. (NEW) 'The Hills Have Thighs': 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. April 5, Olde Village Talking Picture House, 1080 E. Montague Ave., Park Circle. The not-for-profit Greater Park Circle Film Society will offer a showing of "The Hills Have Thighs" (not rated), a comedy directed by former state senator James Bubba Cromer. Cromer will be speaking at the evening screening and autographing copies of DVDs, posters and T-shirts, which will be available at both shows. Tickets: $2 for film society members, $5 nonmembers. Free popcorn. More info online or 478-3911. Palm Sunday Spirituals: 5 p.m. April 5, Citadel Square Baptist Church, 328 Meeting St., downtown. The Charleston Symphony Orchestra Spiritual Ensemble will repeat its recent sold-out concert, which featured 35 vocalists from the CSO Gospel Choir performing traditional African-American spirituals. The performance will highlight the importance of preserving the legacy of the spiritual and its significance to the Lowcountry. Tickets: $10; available at the Gaillard Auditorium Box Office, 77 Calhoun St., from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday or one hour before the performance. (NEW) Immigration Law for Businesses: 7:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. April 9, Lowcountry Graduate Center, 5300 International Blvd, Building B, Suite 100, North Charleston. The Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce's Latin American Business Council will host a workshop, "Immigration in the Current Economic Environment," to educate the business community on new immigration laws affecting the workforce. Cost: $25 chamber members, $35 nonmembers. Registration here. (NEW) Lowcountry Oyster Roast: 4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. April 10, Drayton Hall Plantation, 3380 Ashley River Road, Charleston. Held in conjunction with the Historic Charleston Foundation's annual Festival of Houses and Gardens, the oyster roast and picnic includes local steamed oysters, a Lowcountry buffet supper, beer, wine, and soft drinks. Guests can also take a guided tour of Drayton Hall's main house. Tickets: $45 adults, $20 children ages 6-18, and free for children under 6. Tickets: HCF Events Office, 722-3405. Founders' Day: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 11, Charles Towne Landing State Historic Site, 1500 Old Towne Road, west of the Ashley. Celebrate the 339th anniversary of the "Birth of the Carolinas" during Founders' Day. Living-history programs, demonstrations of the firing of black powder cannons and muskets, re-enactments and other activities showing how Charleston's first English settlers lived in 1670. Cost: $5 adults, $3 ages 6-15, $3.25 for S.C. seniors or disabled. Details are online. "Run Forrest Run 5K": 4:15 p.m. April 11, beginning at Joseph P. Riley Jr. Park. Sponsored by the Charleston RiverDogs, Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. and Coburg Dairy, the race is a fundraiser for the Storm Eye Institute at MUSC. The race finishes at home plate, where runners are greeted by the RiverDogs' players before the start of that evening's game against the Rome Braves. Registration: $25 if received by March 27 (includes T-shirt, one ticket to baseball game and post-race party with dinner from Bubba Gump's); $30 after March 27. Registration forms available at the RiverDogs Box Office at Riley Park, Bubba Gump Shrimp Co., The Extra Mile Running Shop and online at www.riverdogs.com or www.active.com. (NEW) 'Fun is Good' Conference: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 17, Charleston Marriott, 170 Lockwood Blvd., Charleston. Presented by the Charleston RiverDogs and the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce, the conference is designed to show business owners and organization managers how to empower their staffs and achieve success. The RiverDogs' famous "Fun is Good" philosophy emphasizes that laughter is not just the best medicine, but can also be the key ingredient in turning a floundering business into a profitable one or jump-starting a stalled career. Keynote speakers include RiverDogs co-owner Mike Veeck. Cost: $125 per person. Registration here. In this section, we offer a list of good reads that you might want to consider reading:
FOCUS ARCHIVES 8/20:
Yarian:
New local music CD THRASH ARCHIVES 8/20:
Good,
bad, spineless BRACK ARCHIVES 8/17:
RIP
to old clunker LIST ARCHIVES 8/20:
You
know you're from... |
