Month: July 2017

Female Owned Long Island Based Frozen Beverage Company Expands to the Lowcountry

July 31, 2017 by 0 Comments
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For Immediate Release

Long Island Based Frozen Beverage Company expands to the Low Country in 2017.

Daiquiri Daddy, a Frozen Beverage & Machine Rental Company is expanding its operations to the Charleston, South Carolina area in 2017. This female owned and operated business has received major success on Long Island, servicing both corporate and private clients from New York City to Montauk since 2014.

Christine and Andrea’s mission was to provide amazing frozen beverages for backyard parties and corporate events.

As lovers of Frozen Margaritas, Strawberry Daiquiri’s and of course who could resist a Pina Colada, we found ourselves constantly filling blender after blender at our personal events.

Enough was Enough!

We researched the best machines to produce our favorite beverages, purchased a bunch, added a truck and we were in business.

Since 2014, we have serviced thousands of private events, weddings and corporate events for companies like Gulbrandsen Technologies, Phillips Art Gallery, & many more.

Since we are completely mobile, we are able to accommodate any event, any size and time

We are thrilled and excited to bring our concept to the Charleston area where Christine will head up operations while Andrea manages Long Island – together with family and friends we aim to be a crowd pleaser.

Interested in becoming a Daiquiri Daddy in your area, give us call.

Daiquiri Daddy Charleston (daiquiridaddycharleston.com) will begin taking reservations for September 2017 for weddings, bbq, or as we like to say, any day that ends in “Y”

We can also be reached at 1.877.DADDY.07 (1.877.323.3907) to answer any of your questions.

Photography

GALLERY: Signs of Spring Street (Charleston, SC)

July 31, 2017 by 0 Comments
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One area of downtown Charleston, SC that has seen tremendous change and personality is Spring Street.  With the recent confirmed decision to make this a two way street and a number of small businesses laying claim to Spring Street as their home, we thought it would be a great time to pay homage to the eclectic personality that is Spring Street.

From the floral beauty of Tiger Lily to the robust smells of Eclectic Coffee and Bearded Cafe, Spring Street is a trendy residential hot spot.

This bustling street, populated by students, locals and business owners is always ready to provide you with an international experience with a Southern smile.

To the yoga studios, salons, restaurants, veggie markets, grocers, Asian cuisine owners and barber shops, we thank you for making Spring Street an experience for all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Make Spring Street part of your next downtown adventure.

 

 

Study: Charleston Hospitality Workers Have Parking Needs

July 31, 2017 by 0 Comments
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CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — A study shows most of Charleston’s hospitality workers drive to their jobs and must take parking costs from their paychecks.

The Post and Courier of Charleston reports the study by the College of Charleston’s Office of Tourism Analysis shows that about 60 percent of downtown Charleston’s restaurant and hotel workers live outside the peninsula. About 80 percent of workers drive to their jobs alone, regardless of where they live.

About 70 percent of the 503 workers the College of Charleston surveyed said they spend at least $25 a month on parking, with about a third paying $100 or more monthly.

Buses aren’t convenient because those working in hospitality tend to work later shifts.

The city council now requires new hotels to provide parking or shuttle plans for employees.

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Information from: The Post and Courier, http://www.postandcourier.com

Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

A Baby Sea Turtle Rescue Story: With a Little Help From My Friends

July 29, 2017 by 0 Comments
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By Mark A. Leon

When a sea turtle egg hatches, the baby sea turtles make a migration from the protected nesting area to their ocean home.  This natural phenomenon happens in the middle of the night as the moon lights the pathway.  By morning, there is no sign of the migration.  Yes on this morning, one got left behind.  Whether born with a limp limb or a predatory attack, this baby sea turtle saw the light of day trying desperately to get to the ocean with three working fins.

As we stumbled on this brave young thing trying to enter safely into the ocean and meet his family, we felt nothing but sympathy and quickly became fans of his plight.  As he tried using his three strong limbs and one limp one, he kept getting pushed back ashore by the incoming waves.  It was at this moment, we put our heads together and called the Folly Beach patrol for guidance.  After two phone calls and several discussions, it was deemed best, we go as deep as we could into the ocean and place him in.  They felt this was his best chance of survival.

As each of us said goodbye to Nelson (Yes, we named him Nelson.  He looked like a Nelson), we felt a bond and a very special moment shared.

Thus, our morning was highlighted by our own sea turtle release, reinforcing that there is never a dull moment on the beaches of Charleston.

We wish you well Nelson and hope you are with your family now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nelson, the Sea Turtle from Mark A. Leon on Vimeo.

Who is Hiring in Charleston, South Carolina – Career Pages

July 29, 2017 by 0 Comments
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Here is a one stop shop to all the major companies hiring in the Lowcountry

Top Employers in Charleston, SC

Hall Management Group Purchases No. 5 Faber Events Facility

July 28, 2017 by 0 Comments
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Hall Management Group Purchases No. 5 Faber Events Facility
CHARLESTON, SC— Hall Management Group (HMG) today announced the purchase of No. 5 Faber, a private events facility from 5 Faber LLC. Capital Bank provided financing.

The property, located directly behind HMG’s Slightly North of Broad (S.N.O.B.) restaurant at 192 East Bay Street, can accommodate groups for weddings, corporate or private events. No. 5 Faber has over 7,000 sq. ft. with a 1564 sq. ft. commercial kitchen, full bar with granite countertops, lobby with baby grand piano, and a mezzanine lounge area.

“We receive requests every day for weddings, rehearsal dinners and evening business outings that are difficult to provide for our customers with our current restaurants,” said Bill Hall, Sr., President and CEO of HMG. “This property will provide us with much needed event space.”

According to Hall, “only minor cosmetic changes are planned for S.N.O.B. with the relocation of the restrooms.” Hall added that the new property would enhance S.N.O.B.’s kitchen efficiency and storage with the addition of the walk-in cooler and freezer.

HMG also announced that Jennifer Kleckley (843-724-3808) will manage the new space and future event reservations.

In addition to S.N.O.B., Hall Management Group owns Halls Chophouse and High Cotton in downtown Charleston, Old Village Post House Inn in Mt. Pleasant, Rita’s Seaside Grille on Folly Beach, and Halls Chophouse in Greenville, South Carolina.
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Blackbaud’s Intelligence for Good™ Leverages Advanced Analytics to Transform Data into Mission-Based Outcomes

July 28, 2017 by 0 Comments
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Blackbaud's Intelligence for Good offers the market's only set of fully social-good optimized intelligence capabilities. (PRNewsfoto/Blackbaud, Inc.)

CHARLESTON, S.C., July 27, 2017 /PRNewswire/ — Blackbaud (NASDAQ: BLKB), the world’s leading cloud software company powering social good, today reported that new AI-enabled analytics offerings are available to serve healthcare institutions, higher education institutions and nonprofits. This announcement comes just months after the company announced Intelligence for Good™, its unique approach to optimized intelligence for the social good community.

“As we continue to rapidly innovate, it’s exciting to see customers take advantage of our advanced, AI-enabled analytics to make smarter decisions,” said Richard Becker, president of Blackbaud Target Analytics™. “Organizations are leveraging our intelligent solutions to transform data into high-impact predictive and prescriptive insight that turn their fundraising, advocacy and other interactions into more powerful outcomes.”

Blackbaud Extends Analytics Capabilities within Industry-Leading Healthcare Solution

Blackbaud has enhanced its industry-leading Patient Conversion Model™, which leverages proprietary donor data for advanced insight, to include new capabilities for population health management and patient marketing. The solution leverages a universal patient identifier for identity management resolution and offers a new suite of personal wellness and financial insight that enables both geographic-based prospecting and patient remarketing campaigns.

For the healthcare and hospital market, identifying opportunities to positively affect the population health needs of the community is a primary objective of many hospitals. AI-enabled insight assure cost-effective outreach and audience-specific communication that improves both the population health and addresses the budget concerns of healthcare customers.

“Our latest upgrade came with comprehensive data services wrapped in, allowing us to segment and identify potential donors based on demographics and predictive information like household income and whether they had children–information that helped us make smart decisions as we prepare for a capital campaign.” — Lauren Short, Annual Giving Manager at Riverside Healthcare 

Blackbaud Introduces New Campus-Wide Solutions for Higher Education Institutions

Blackbaud released a new Athletic Giving Model™ solution designed to help athletic departments raise more money through the expanded university community and athletic program supporters. “This is the first Target Analytics solution built specifically for athletic departments and booster clubs, expanding universities’ fundraising reach beyond alumni,” noted Becker.

Colleges and universities have many campus visitors including prospective students, ticket buyers, athletics supporters and event-goers. With a dynamic and diverse set of individuals engaging with universities on a regular basis, higher education institutions are looking for intelligence that identifies visiting VIPs in real time so they can build relationships with potential donors. Blackbaud’s Alumni Analytics Solution enables on-demand wealth screenings and provides actionable insight for every campus visitor, putting the power of AI in the university’s hands.

“Our major gift officers now believe that these predictive analytics can get them in the right living rooms, sitting with the right people who really want to make a difference by donating to the University.” —Margaret Williams, Director of Prospect Research for University of South Dakota Foundation 

New Solution Allows Nonprofits to Understand and Use Affluence Data to Grow Donor Base

Blackbaud also recently introduced Affluence Insight™, a new donor segmentation and research tool, enabling the identification of annual, mid-level and major gift prospects. Designed for nonprofits, researchers and direct marketers, it provides detailed financial attributes and an affluence-driven segmentation system that combines giving behavior, demographics and financial information for high-value prospect identification.

Affluence Insight offers the ability to use AI-powered analytics to identify high-value donor prospects and predict a prospect’s likelihood to give with unparalleled accuracy.

“It’s important for us to show our leadership that the technology we have is helping us drive the mission and program further, such as allowing us to confidently reach every individual through their preferred channels. As we continue to ask what is possible within our organization, we are really relying on Blackbaud to help us determine what’s next, and I think the sky is the limit.” — Andy Schroeder, Director of Development for the Sisters of Charity

For organizations driven to make smarter decisions faster, Blackbaud’s Intelligence for Good offers the market’s only set of fully social-good optimized intelligence capabilities, bringing together the power of AI, analytics, big data and expertise built on the world’s most robust industry-specific data set.

For more information about Blackbaud’s latest Target Analytics solutions visit www.blackbaud.com/target-analytics. For more information about Intelligence for Good, visit www.blackbaud.com/IntelligenceForGood.

About Blackbaud
Blackbaud (NASDAQ: BLKB) is the world’s leading cloud software company powering social good. Serving the entire social good community—nonprofits, foundations, corporations, education institutions, and individual change agents—Blackbaud connects and empowers organizations to increase their impact through software, services, expertise, and data intelligence. The Blackbaud portfolio is tailored to the unique needs of vertical markets, with solutions for fundraising and relationship management, digital marketing, advocacy, accounting, payments, analytics, school management, grant management, corporate social responsibility, and volunteerism. Serving the industry for more than three decades, Blackbaud is headquartered in Charleston, South Carolina and has operations in the United States, Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom. For more information, visit www.blackbaud.com.

Media Contact
Nicole McGougan
Public Relations
843-654-3307
media@blackbaud.com

Forward-looking Statements
Except for historical information, all of the statements, expectations, and assumptions contained in this news release are forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Although Blackbaud attempts to be accurate in making these forward-looking statements, it is possible that future circumstances might differ from the assumptions on which such statements are based. In addition, other important factors that could cause results to differ materially include the following: general economic risks; uncertainty regarding increased business and renewals from existing customers; continued success in sales growth; management of integration of acquired companies and other risks associated with acquisitions; risks associated with successful implementation of multiple integrated software products; the ability to attract and retain key personnel; risks associated with management of growth; lengthy sales and implementation cycles, particularly in larger organization; technological changes that make our products and services less competitive; and the other risk factors set forth from time to time in the SEC filings for Blackbaud, copies of which are available free of charge at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov or upon request from Blackbaud’s investor relations department. All Blackbaud product names appearing herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of Blackbaud, Inc.

Food & Bev

What to Say to Make a Charlestonian Mad

July 27, 2017 by 0 Comments
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By Mark A. Leon

You really want to know what to say to put Charlestonian’s in a mood; make us mad; crank our gears; light the flare of fury?  You get the point.  Not much makes us upset or fuels our loins, but here are a few things folks can say to locals to get them going.

Things You Can Say to a Charlestonian to Make Them Mad

  • Tell us we are not a top Southern foodie town – We take our food seriously.  We take our chefs even more seriously.  In Charleston, a chef can be treated as well as an A-List actor in Hollywood.  Food is a cultural apex in Charleston and if you step foot onto our soil and tell us we are just “ok” in the culinary arts, we will most likely send you out of town, but not before we give you a mouthful (words, that is).
  • Tell us that guns should be illegal – You want to strike up a heated debate on any Charleston street corner, mention the need for gun control or the elimination of guns.  SEWE (Southeast Wildlife Expo) is one of the biggest events in Charleston for a reason.  There are few locals without at least one firearm to go with their fishing and golf gear.  Many have multiple.  Careful what you say if you are a big anti-gun lobbyist.
  • Tell us we love having Northerners move to Charleston.  It adds to the diversity – Have you seen a “Go Back to Ohio” bumper sticker.  I would be surprised if you haven’t.  Since the economic slide in late 2008, northerners have migrated in droves to sunny Charleston.  They have looked for new opportunities and a new beginning.  The economy has recovered, but not the pace of the migration.  Many want to put the plug on this for good.
  • Traffic isn’t that bad compared to other big cities – That is a pretty stupid comparison.  New York, Chicago, Los Angeles are massive urban sectors with 20 to 40 times our population.  Charleston is a coastal peninsula that was not built to handle the roadway traffic with its current infrastructure.  Don’t bring up traffic if you don’t want to experience some road rage.
  • Tell us that housing is really cheap here – A one bedroom in downtown Charleston will run you about $1100 – $1300 with an average of $100 a month for electric (we need our air-conditioning) and $120 for cable and internet.  Don’t forget you have to pay an annual tax for your vehicle as well.  So $1500 a month for a one bedroom is cheap.  Check other parts of the country.  We are peaking up quickly as one of the higher costs of living.
  • Tell us we have ample parking for a mid sized city – In 2009, a parking ticket was $10.00.  Now it is $45.00.  The Battery used to be 2 hour free non-residential parking and free after 6 PM until 8 AM the next day and free on weekends.  Now it is 1 hour from 8 AM to 8 PM (including weekends).  The number of meters in relation to the activities (SC Aquarium, College of Charleston, TCF Bank Arena, Theater District, Restaurants, Market, Art Galleries, etc.) is not proportionate.  Also, the rates in parking garages have increased comparatively to the cost of living adjustments .
  • Tell us the dating scene is easy – If you ask around, you are going to hear crazy ratios of male to female with females having anywhere from a 4:1 to 7:1 ratio.  The truth is that Charleston is 52.5% female and 47.5% male.  Yes, females have an advantage, but that isn’t the core issue.  With so many transplants and growth of businesses like Boeing, BenefitFocus Volvo and Blackbaud, online dating has increased in popularity.  Add the factor of our drinking and social culture and nailing down a commitment is one of the hardest things to do here in Charleston.
  • Ask us if flooding is an issue in Charleston – Some of us may just laugh at you, while others may show off their insurance claims.  Many of us have more than one flood damage claim that we can lay stake to.  Either way, we don’t like to talk about the flooding.  It is almost impossible to avoid.
  • Tell us Hyman’s has the best seafood – Billy Joel ate there.  Their coupons are everywhere from the Visitor’s Center to every cruise ship that docks.  They are situated right off the market.  Still, great marketing, but not the best in town.  Not even close.  They are a fine restaurant, but they are as known in these parts as George Sink and Jeff Cook.
  • Ask us our thoughts on the Confederate Flag – Do I really need to explain this one.  Just look at any given local news broadcast since June of 2015.
  • Ask us to openly talk about racism and race related issues – We keep relatively quiet about any discussions about race and we seem to be alright with that.  We are not saying there is or is not an issue, but we reserve those conversations for friends and family, outside of the public eye.

There you have it.  What you can say to a local Charleston resident to get them mad.  Please don’t.

Charleston Mixologist Wins National Cocktail Competition

July 27, 2017 by 0 Comments
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The USBG “Make It Exotico” Cocktail Competition
Crowns Grand Prize Winner at Tales of the Cocktail
Mixologist Megan Deschaine wins all-expense paid trip
to Exotico Tequila’s distillery in Jalisco, Mexico

NEW ORLEANS, L.A. (July 27, 2017) – The USBG “Make It Exotico” Cocktail Competition has named its inaugural grand prize winner. At the competition’s final round, held July 19 at Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans, a four-person judging panel crowned Charleston, S.C., mixologist Megan Deschaine the overall winner with her cocktail, “The Napoleonic Complex.”

Along with the trophy, Deschaine receives an all-expense paid trip to Exotico Tequila’s distillery – Destiladora González González – in Jalisco, Mexico. While there, Deschaine will visit the agave fields in the highlands of Jalisco and tour the distillery, which is located in the heart of Guadalajara.

“I think the partnership Exotico Tequila has created with the USBG is so enriching to the whole bartending community, giving us bartenders a platform to meet one another,” Deschaine said. “I am so excited to go to Mexico, because I actually paid for college with bartending, to be a Spanish high school teacher.”

Deschaine’s “The Napoleonic Complex” cocktail recipe:

Ingredients:
1.5 oz. Exotico Blanco Tequila
.75 oz. lime juice
.5 oz. agave syrup
4 dashes Bittermen’s Hellfire Bitters
2 dashes Scrappy’s Celery Bitters
1 ripe roma tomato, quartered
8-10 basil leaves

Instructions:
Rim half of a rocks glass with salt and pepper. Muddle tomato quarters and basil in a mixing tin, then add remaining ingredients and shake vigorously with ice. Double strain cocktail into dressed rocks glass over one large ice cube. Garnish with a skewered mozzarella ball and basil leaf.

The USBG “Make It Exotico” cocktail competition invited mixologists from across the country to submit their best cocktail recipe using Exotico Blanco or Exotico Reposado 100% agave tequila as the base spirit. The six finalists competed against 47 other contestants in semifinal events in Nashville, Tenn; Philadelphia, Pa.; Denver, Colo.; Portland, Ore.; Seattle, Wash.; and Charleston, S.C.

As with the semifinal events, at the final round, finalists had a maximum of seven minutes to make their cocktails live for a panel of judges, who judged the cocktails on appearance, aroma, creativity, taste and overall impression. Judges included USBG professionals, tequila and cocktail experts, and local media personalities.

Earning second place was Elizabeth Powell with “Play in the Sunshine,” and in third place was Brandon Paul Weaver with “Piñata Punch.” The other finalists and their cocktails included Ryan Williams with “Bigly,” Katie Loeb with “Javelina,” and Nate Maston with “Beber Esta.”

The USBG “Make It Exotico” Cocktail Competition is organized by the United States Bartenders’ Guild and sponsored by Exotico Tequila. This is the competition’s inaugural year.

About Exotico Tequila
Handcrafted with tradition by the Gonzalez Family, one of Mexico’s most respected makers of tequila, the award-winning Exotico Tequila is made from premium 100% Blue Weber agave grown in the Highlands of Jalisco. Available in Blanco and Reposado, each bottle of Exotico Tequila is crafted with care as a way to honor all spirits unbound. Follow Exotico on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/exoticotequila and on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/exoticotequila or visit http://exoticotequila.com.