Daily thoughts of a Downtown Memphis resident
Yeah I know it’s only January 15, a little early to award it. But, nonetheless. This was tweeted by Scott Stratten (@unmarketing), who spoke at the Geekend conference I attended in November:
“Don’t try to win over haters. You’re not the Jackass Whisperer.”
Well said, sir.
This week a package arrived… the latest book by poker pro Dan Harrington, Harrington on Online Cash Games; 6-Max No-Limit Hold ’em
As I came back from my afternoon break, I thought to myself, “It probably doesn’t look good for me to have a poker book sitting on my desk, given that I work for a company that sanctions bridge.” So I stashed the book under my desk, out of sight, on top of my computer.
Bad idea. I hid the book too well. I forgot to take it home.
So, reading plans canceled for this evening. Time to catch the last hour of happy hour at the Saucer. Possibly other bars on the agenda later tonight.
Lots of stuff today. Too tired to list it all in the title, stayed out late last night.
A Memphis hip-hop unification summit kicks off at the Center for Southern Folklore tonight. Entitled “Mic Check,” tonight’s event features a mixer from 7 to 8:30, then a unity panel and Q&A session, and after than an artist showcase. On Saturday the event moves to Young Avenue Deli, and Sunday it continues at Murphy’s. All-access passes to the entire weekend can be purchased at the Center for Southern Folklore tonight.
The Metal Museum is offering free admission tomorrow, Saturday, January 15, in celebration of the inauguration of Governor-Elect Haslam. Hours are 10 AM to 5 PM.
A very cool sports job is open: Community Relations Manager for the Memphis Redbirds and AutoZone Park. Requires a Bachelor’s degree and 1-3 years marketing experience.
Downtown Memphis restaurants in the blogosphere: Eat Local Memphis blogged about Cozy Corner, and Kerry from I Love Memphis dined at Itta Bena.
No, your zodiac sign hasn’t changed. Here’s why. Still a Scorpio and proud of it.
My blog readers who went to Bama may want to check this out: The school just digitized all previous issues of Rammer Jammer, its humor and literary magazine, and put them on the web.
Kinda cool dept: Wednesday I tweeted that I dreamed I was a freshman moving into the dorm at the University of Arkansas, and hashtagged it #gooddream and #WPS (Woooo Pig Sooieee). It got retweeted by the @uarkansas Twitter account!
Time to go eat some Mexican for lunch. No idea what I’ll be getting into tonight. May just rest up for Winter Warmer tomorrow.
Mayor Wharton will announce a plan to reduce homelessness today. A key component of this is a push to reduce the amount of time the homeless stay in shelters and transitional housing. A major goal is to create 391 rapid rehousing units, and in the meantime offer better training to those who work with the homeless and more specific programs aimed at ending homelessness. Great job Mr. Mayor and all the homeless advocates who pressed him to get this done. As the mayor said, this is not a study plan, this is an ACTION plan.
Max’s Sports Bar is now on Facebook. You can “Like” them here. Hopefully they’ll post their weekend hours, which vary a lot during NFL playoff and basketball season.
If you have an iPhone, PBS has a new app that lets you watch full episodes of their shows.
That’s all for now… won’t be out until later tonight. Reading a 500-page poker book that just arrived from Amazon, so I’m going to get as far as I can with that before I go out. Harp is the Fire Sale at the Saucer, though, and that’s basically imported PBR, so I will stop by for a few at some point.
Other stuff to do: Trivia night at Silly Goose (7 I think), poker night at Bar None (7:30)
Last night I attended the South Main Association meeting at Bar None. Here are the notes I took:
Meeting started with a reminder for everyone to pay their 2011 dues. You can pay online via PayPal on the SMA web site.
The slate of proposed 2011 board members was introduced by 2010 president Carol Lott. She stated that all the members met the requirements for residency and past service. Vote was taken and the slate passed. Congratulations to the 2011 board members.
New president Hank Cowels took the floor. He introduced Center City Commission president Paul Morris.
Paul started off by mentioning that the CCC’s jurisdiction covers just 6 1/2 miles. The city of Memphis is more than 300 square miles.
Paul outlined three reasons why a Downtown strategy is effective and efficient:
1) Downtown is our city’s brand. Even if people moving to a new city don’t plan to live in its downtown, they come downtown and check out what it has to offer. Any marketer will tell you that the key to success is to have a strong brand.
2) Downtown is a talent magnet. It is the part of the city that will attract mobile professionals, “knowledge workers” who often earn $75K and up. Paul noted that one third of new Downtown residents move here from out of state.
3) Downtown is sustainable, both economically and environmentally. Some of the most expensive services a city provides are police, fire, and garbage collection. When these services have to cover a larger area due to sprawl, they become extremely expensive to maintain. Downtown, being more dense in population, allows services to be maintained more efficiently. Paul noted that Memphis is larger in square miles than the five boroughs of New York City combined, but NYC has more than 11x the population. Paul noted that Downtown pays more property taxes per square mile than any other part of the city. He also mentioned the benefit of living and working Downtown – by walking or trolleying to work, a tank of gas a week is saved.
Paul then talked about some of the initiatives the CCC has been working on. The first initiative he discussed is restoring order on Main Street. Mayor Wharton, Col. Shemwell of the Downtown Precinct, Director Godwin, and the CCC are all committed to having police on bike patrol on Main. It has made a tremendous difference. Most of the troublemakers have given up and moved on. Deni Reilly of the Majestic Grille commented to me after the meeting, “The ones that are left cower when they see you now. They have no swagger anymore.” I’ve observed the same thing.
Another initiative the CCC has undertaken is enforcement of the no parking law on the Main Street Mall. When Paul got the job as president last July, one of the first things he did was read the CCC charter. He was delighted to discover he had the power to write parking tickets! He delegated that authority to other CCC employees, who have been handing tickets out. He also doubled the price for a loading/unloading permit.
Another intiative: Corrals for newspaper boxes. This is another way to make Downtown look orderly. We’re starting to see these installed Downtown (they look kind of like bike racks). Before we had 8-10 boxes strewn all over the place at busy Downtown corners.
Another initiative: The CCC is working hard to try and get money to fix up Downtown sidewalks. They’re aware it’s a safety risk and it makes the area look bad, and are pursuing several sources of funding.
Another initiative the CCC supports is the Hospitality Hub. If we’re going to fight aggressive panhandling, we need to make sure that no one has the need to panhandle aggressively. The Hub helps the homeless get shelter vouchers, bus passes, and the things they need to find work and get back into the community.
Another initiative: SOS, or Save Our Skyline. A year ago One Commerce Square was down to 25% occupancy, and there was serious concern it would go completely dark. Not good, as utilities for the building cost more than $1 million a year. The CCC saw an opportunity with Pinnacle Airlines. Pinnacle wanted to move Downtown, but negotiations with One Commerce Square had been unsuccessful. The CCC worked with both the city and county mayors to craft an attractive package that got Pinnacle in the building, adding 650 jobs to Downtown.
Pinnacle may be the new big-name Downtown tenant, but by no means are they the only one. Lisa Brumleve of the CCC helped put together a package to get LeBonheur Community Outreach Downtown. That’s another 130 jobs. ServiceMaster by Stratos is moving into the Lincoln-American Tower. Paul mentioned that he’s happy to see people walking around Downtown with backpacks, as four new schools, including the U of M Law School and the MCA grad school, have moved down here. Barboro Flats just opened, adding more apartments to the area. Electrolux has secured office space, and Paul took their transition team on a tour of area apartments and is confident they will locate Downtown.
Despite all these initiatives, Paul noted that we still have a long way to go. There are still empty buildings, broken sidewalks and streets, blight.
Paul finished the speech by issuing a challenge to everyone in the room. He needs everyone to lobby community leaders to help them understand how important Downtown is to the whole city.
Becky Beaton asked about beautification, and why funds can’t be secured to make South Main as beautiful as the Downtown core. Paul said the CCC is working on that. He can’t promise it will happen, but he’d like to see revenue from Downtown parking meters (a half million a year) go toward beautification, rather than the city’s general fund. Deni Reilly noted that you can donate to City Beautiful and request that the money go toward Downtown projects. Future maintenance of planters, flowers, etc. is the biggest expense.
Carl Rosen from the Memphis Grizzlies took the floor. Downtown Night with the Grizzlies, which happened November 10, was such a success that the team wants to do another one. It will happen January 31 when the Grizzlies play the Orlando Magic at the FedExForum. $59 will include food, drink, a game ticket, and a Grizzlies gift.
Jay Sieleman and Joe Whitmer of the Blues Foundation took the floor. The Foundation had long wanted to expand into a new headquarters, having outgrown its space on Union. Lisa Brumleve, Andy Kitsinger, and Paul Morris of the CCC came to them and told them, “We have an opportunity for you, you better jump on it.” As a result, the Foundation will move into its new headquarters at 421 S. Main in a couple of months.
The International Blues Challenge will expand to 4 days of competition this year, February 1-5. Jay and Joe really pushed Tuesday as a great night for Downtowners to go – it will be the FedEx International Showcase at the New Daisy, featuring blues bands from outside the US. Competition begins Wednesday, with quarterfinals wristbands for Wednesday and Thursday only $10. That gets you into 19 clubs, and for the first time this year two venues off Beale Street have been added: The Flying Saucer and the Westin lobby. Friday is semifinal day, with $15 wristbands. Finals will be held Saturday at the Orpheum.
Volunteers are needed for the International Blues Challenge. Hit Joe up with an e-mail at joe@blues.org if you’re interested.
While there, I saw a couple split the 1-pound Bar None burger. Looked delicious.
Good meeting, and thanks to Paul for coming to speak to the group.
If you’ve never made it to a Memphis Roller Derby event but have thought about going, Saturday would be a good day. They’ll have a doubleheader at the Mid-South Fairgrounds, Pipkin Building, and while there’s usually a $10 entry fee, this Saturday it’s FREE. Cheap beer and good BBQ available for purchase, as well as Memphis Roller Derby merchandise. Doors open at 5, first bout at 6.
Link to the event on Facebook is here.
Learn more about Memphis Roller Derby here.
SMA meeting recap will be up tonight… simply too much info for me to type on a lunch break. Not only will I cover Paul Morris’ State of Downtown speech, but I’ll have info on a second Downtown Night with the Grizzlies, and on the expanded International Blues Challenge coming up the first of next month.
This is just a placeholder to let you know that I’ll have my notes from CCC president Paul Morris’ “State of Downtown” address typed and posted within 48 hours, hopefully. I took a notepad and got over 10 pages’ notes. Takes a while to get them in the blog.
I can say that the slate of SMA board of directors was elected tonight without dispute. Congrats Robert, Clay, Mikey and the rest of the board. Now we can get on with business for the coming year.
After the meeting I went to the Saucer for trivia, then back to Bar None to watch the second half of the Florida-Tennessee game with Frank and the Nuh-Uh Girl. Always good to watch UT lose with UT fans. Shame we didn’t get “Bruce Pearl CouchCam” to see how he was enjoying the game at home.
I was in Kooky Canuck yesterday, and I heard that all the employees had been told to stop checking in on Foursquare. As it should be. Foursquare is a marketing tool and employee checkins mess it up.
Today I found out why they made that rule. The “mayor” of Kooky on Foursquare gets 50% off one meal daily. Reeeeeeally… if you haven’t tried the food at Kooky, it’s pretty damn good. Cornish hen? Steak & Fries? Wings with dill ranch? Yes please. Cookies a la mode… poutine… nachos with cilantro sour cream (which I’ve told Shawn D. he should bottle and sell. The dill ranch too.)
The current mayor, Shawn L., is a good friend, but at 50% Shawn, I have to come after you. Hope I get it before the Nuh-Uh Girl does.
I’d like to make a personal request of readers of this blog who are members of the South Main Association: PLEASE come to the meeting at Bar None (in the former Circa space) tomorrow night, Tuesday, January 11, and vote for the slate that will be presented to be elected to the board. The slate is
President- Hank Cowels
Vice President- Mike King
Secretary- Aleta Boyd
Treasurer- Robert Maloney
Business Representative- Steve Doss
Resident Representative- Clay Thompson
I spoke with Robert Maloney at length about this Saturday, and he told me how important it is that we take care of this vote so the SMA can get on with its business for the year. Social at 6, program begins at 6:30, so the vote should take place not long after 6:30. If you have somewhere else to be and can only stay for the vote, that’s fine. If you can stay, there will be an excellent presentation by CCC president Paul Morris on “The State of Downtown.” Food is excellent and the drinks will be priced for happy hour, so please come down and help us elect these people.
Snow pic on the Main Street Mall:
I was walking from the Saucer to Bardog about 8 PM when I took this. While hanging out at Bardog, I received this text:
“Office closed tomorrow. Enjoy snow day.”
WIN!
It’s 9:39 AM and I’m contemplating my options: Go back to bed for a couple of hours, or hit Bardog again for breakfast with Bloomers. I guess I should do Bardog. I’m rarely down here for breakfast on weekdays.
As for what’s open and what’s closed, not sure yet since I just woke up. McEwen’s tweeted that they’re closed for lunch but will try to get open for dinner. I know that Kooky Canuck always opens on snow days even if Shawn has to personally drive out and pick up his employees. Follow me on Twitter @paulryburn and I’ll tweet more openings/closings in the Downtown core today once I get out.
There will probably be some drunk tweets too, given that Pint Nite could start as early as 11 AM for me.