It can happen anywhere at any time
The month of June began with Birmingham, Alabama returning to the national spotlight, though for different reasons than those enjoyed at the end of May. The abduction of a young lawyer from a downtown parking lot led to a mainstream media swarm on the Magic City. The situation ended with the safe recovery of the victim, though many were ready to point out how dangerous it was downtown. We decided to make sure that people were aware that it’s not guaranteed that anywhere will be safe, but to not use it as an excuse to not help the area reach its potential. Now if we can just convince everyone that this is the case instead of sticking their heads in the sand.
City Stages 2006: The Year of Taylor Hicks
Our local music festival, once one of the largest and most revered in the southeast, entered this season unsure of its future. The lineup was interesting this year, with some great acts that were performing just under the radar screen. Among the highlights for us were performances by Mr. Hicks himself and Brandi Carlile, who incidentally is preparing a new studio album as we post this and I’m still enjoying the occasional visit to Rantings of Eva’s MySpace page. Hicks seemed to appear everywhere, from a performance with Snoop Dogg to going on stage with Lynard Skynard. While preliminary numbers state that it did not necessarily meet expectations, many wonder about the future of the festival, leading to current efforts that include a website and continuous conversations. This year appears to be the test for the venerable festival. We’ll see what happens. To see what we thought overall, click here to view my friend Chris Davis’ t-shirt design, then work your way forward for about 4 or 5 entries.
The Ramblings in the Big Easy
We tackled a few of the 101 in 1001, crutches and all, by visiting New Orleans to attend the National Trust Main Streets Conference (by train no less). My first full day there led to a heart wrenching experience driving through several areas in the New Orleans metropolitan area and seeing the damage firsthand; hopefully the post and the images it’s linked to give people a sense of what life is like for those that chose to come back, nearly a year after Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast. We decided that we’d have to eventually do something about it however little it was, leading to this effort on August 29 at WorkPlay. Nick Spitzer’s (of American Routes) remarks at the closing plenary for the conference led to this post, providing a list of website that continue to provide a great resource for those interested in the area’s continued rebuilding efforts.
Random tidbits (scroll down to find them)
Salary.com picked us #2 in their mid sized city salary index
Consultants for Red Mountain Park announced
Images from the annual Rickwood Classic
A post on the emergence of new music venues
More later.
Cheers.
See also:
The Year in Review: January and a little December ‘05 too
The Year in Review: February 2006
The Year in Review: March 2006
The Year in Review: April 2006
The Year in Review: May 2006
The Year in Review: June 2006
Published by Andre on December 27, 2006It can happen anywhere at any time
The month of June began with Birmingham, Alabama returning to the national spotlight, though for different reasons than those enjoyed at the end of May. The abduction of a young lawyer from a downtown parking lot led to a mainstream media swarm on the Magic City. The situation ended with the safe recovery of the victim, though many were ready to point out how dangerous it was downtown. We decided to make sure that people were aware that it’s not guaranteed that anywhere will be safe, but to not use it as an excuse to not help the area reach its potential. Now if we can just convince everyone that this is the case instead of sticking their heads in the sand.
City Stages 2006: The Year of Taylor Hicks
Our local music festival, once one of the largest and most revered in the southeast, entered this season unsure of its future. The lineup was interesting this year, with some great acts that were performing just under the radar screen. Among the highlights for us were performances by Mr. Hicks himself and Brandi Carlile, who incidentally is preparing a new studio album as we post this and I’m still enjoying the occasional visit to Rantings of Eva’s MySpace page. Hicks seemed to appear everywhere, from a performance with Snoop Dogg to going on stage with Lynard Skynard. While preliminary numbers state that it did not necessarily meet expectations, many wonder about the future of the festival, leading to current efforts that include a website and continuous conversations. This year appears to be the test for the venerable festival. We’ll see what happens. To see what we thought overall, click here to view my friend Chris Davis’ t-shirt design, then work your way forward for about 4 or 5 entries.
The Ramblings in the Big Easy
We tackled a few of the 101 in 1001, crutches and all, by visiting New Orleans to attend the National Trust Main Streets Conference (by train no less). My first full day there led to a heart wrenching experience driving through several areas in the New Orleans metropolitan area and seeing the damage firsthand; hopefully the post and the images it’s linked to give people a sense of what life is like for those that chose to come back, nearly a year after Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast. We decided that we’d have to eventually do something about it however little it was, leading to this effort on August 29 at WorkPlay. Nick Spitzer’s (of American Routes) remarks at the closing plenary for the conference led to this post, providing a list of website that continue to provide a great resource for those interested in the area’s continued rebuilding efforts.
Random tidbits (scroll down to find them)
Salary.com picked us #2 in their mid sized city salary index
Consultants for Red Mountain Park announced
Images from the annual Rickwood Classic
A post on the emergence of new music venues
More later.
Cheers.
See also:
The Year in Review: January and a little December ‘05 too
The Year in Review: February 2006
The Year in Review: March 2006
The Year in Review: April 2006
The Year in Review: May 2006
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