Here are the notes I took from this month’s SMA meeting at Itta Bena.\u00a0 Note that it’s 11:30 PM as I type this and I’m kinda drunk, so please excuse spelling\/typos\/comments that have nothing to do with the meeting.<\/p>\n
2009 president Brandon Herrington called 2010 president-elect Carol Lott up, and she presented the proposed board for 2010.\u00a0 Passed unanimously, or at least if there were any “nays” I didn’t hear them.<\/p>\n
Joe from the Blues Foundation came up.\u00a0 Fri 11\/27 after Trolley Tour, they will have their annual fundraiser at the Warehouse at Front and GE Patterson.\u00a0 Food by Majestic, beer by Boscos, Joe and some other guy playing blues, $10 at the door.<\/p>\n
Marcy came up.\u00a0 On Sunday, 11\/22 she will have an open house at her place, 514 S. Main.\u00a0 It’s called “The Power of Protein,” a fund and food raiser for the Food Bank.\u00a0 Bring anything protein:\u00a0 canned chicken, tuna, ham, or salmon, dried beans (1 lb bags preferred), peanut butter.\u00a0 Most importantly, bring a check for $20 made out to the Mid-South Food Bank.\u00a0 Do this and you’ll enjoy Marci’s hospitality, with food, beer, and wine.\u00a0 For more info, contant Marcy at 830-7526.\u00a0 Every $1 donated = $4.76 purchasing power for the Food Bank.\u00a0 Goal is $3000 in donations this year.<\/p>\n
Janet from Clean Memphis came up.\u00a0 Help clean up Downtown – meet Sat 11\/4 at Jefferson Davis Park 8:45 AM to check in.\u00a0 You’ll be shuttled to cleanup sites, then back Downtown at noon.\u00a0 300 people have signed up so far including corporate teams – Autozone, Baker-Donelson, etc. but individuals are welcome too.\u00a0 Post-cleanup, there will be a party at the park.\u00a0 South Main is cooking, Ghost River Beer, Jason D. Williams providing the entertainment.\u00a0 janet@cleanmemphis.org to RSVP.<\/p>\n
David from the Symphony came up.\u00a0 They’ll have Beethoven’s Fifth at the Cannon Center on the 21st and a Home for the Holidays sing-along with kids 10 and under free on 12\/5.<\/p>\n
The Memphis Holiday Parade will be 12\/5.\u00a0 No SMA float this year, but a group of South Main residents will be walking in the parade.<\/p>\n
December Trolley Tour has been moved to 12\/18 since 12\/25 is Christmas.<\/p>\n
Ken Neill, founder of Contemporary Media, Inc. came up.\u00a0 (Memphis Flyer\/Memphis magazine\/Memphis Parent\/Memphis Business Quarterly)\u00a0 Their offices have been at 460 Tennessee since 1981.\u00a0 MBQ is going to 6 times a year in Feb 10.<\/p>\n
Then he explained the origin of the Memphis Flyer’s name.\u00a0 There used to be a train called the Dixie Flyer that went from Dallas to Nashville.\u00a0 In the ’70s there was a Highland Strip paper called the Dixie Flyer after the train.\u00a0 The name The Memphis Flyer was done in homage to that paper.<\/p>\n
20th anniversary Flyer issue out tomorrow.\u00a0 Actual 20th anniversary was in February, but they delayed because non one felt like celebrating due to the economy.\u00a0 CMI is the largest locally owned media company in Memphis.\u00a0 96% of their free papers are picked up.<\/p>\n
Then he discussed changes in the media.\u00a0 Most Memphians do not get their breaking news from newspapers anymore.\u00a0 They go online.\u00a0 This shift of eyeballs is the #1 trend in the media.<\/p>\n
Is print dead? Not exactly.
\nIs print media going to be the same as it’s always been? Absolutely not.
\nSome papers will make it, some won’t.<\/p>\n
Two trends regarding the Internet.<\/p>\n
1) Let a hundred flowers bloom.\u00a0 Yeah there’s something of a quality control issue, but overall this is a Golden Age of media.<\/p>\n
2) Print media has relied on advertising.\u00a0 Now more ads are online.\u00a0 That’s where the hundred flowers are a problem.\u00a0 “The Web converts media dollars to media dimes.”\u00a0 Many dailies have operated as monopolies for decades.\u00a0 Now they’re not, where ad dollars are concerned, and are struggling to adjust.<\/p>\n
However, Ken feels the franchises the dailies have are more valuable than ever, because of trust and the strength of existing brands.\u00a0 “If you want to know the Grizzlies score before you go to bed, you know you can find it on the CA’s site.”\u00a0 The power of well branded web\/media combinations will enhance the power of the dailies.<\/p>\n
The Flyer (although a weekly not a daily) has transformed itself into such a hybrid, with fresh blogs going up almost hourly.\u00a0 The Wed. print Flyer is a snapshot of what’s going on at the time.\u00a0 But, “it’s easier to take a printed product to the bedroom, the bar, the beach, and the bathroom.”<\/p>\n
In response to an audience question, Ken said that everyone in the room needs to learn basic Web and graphic design skills if they don’t have them already.\u00a0 You won’t be able to get by without them in 5 years’ time.<\/p>\n
After the meeting ended, Deni from the Majestic Grille pulled me aside.\u00a0 She told me they’re doing an art opening Wed 11\/18 from 5:30 to 7:30 PM.\u00a0 Sophoran McRae, a photo designer, will be exhibiting.\u00a0 “She does graphic design without using a computer, and it’s very beautiful.”\u00a0 Booze, food, the usual.\u00a0 Free food?\u00a0 Wonder if the Nuh-Uh Girl will show up.\u00a0 The artist’s husband is the Main Street Hot Dogs guy.<\/p>\n
Speaking of which:\u00a0 Nuh-Uh Girl report:\u00a0 She was just about the first person to get a plate of food.\u00a0 After that she hid for a while, catching the servers as they were bringing food out and picking what she wanted off their trays.\u00a0 Shortly before the presentation started, she went back for a second plate.\u00a0 After the presentation, she went back for a third.\u00a0 I left at that point, and was told that she had one or possibly two more plates after I left.\u00a0 So, somewhere between 4 and 5 1\/2 plates total.\u00a0 She told me she’s going to Felicia Suzanne’s for Downtown Dining Week tomorrow.<\/p>\n
About 7:30 I changed venue to the Saucer, where John D was captaining the remains of the trivia team.\u00a0 We put in a valiant effort but missed third place by 5 points.\u00a0 While standing at the bar, I heard a tourist ask Brittney for beer recommendations.\u00a0 “Which 3 beers do you like best?”\u00a0 The first beer Brittney recommended was Lazy Magnolia Southern Pecan.\u00a0 Oh, the irony.<\/p>\n
Now I’m home.\u00a0 Going to go to sleep and dream about what a great airport we have.\u00a0 See you tomorrow, or actually, the clock is past midnight since I started typing, so see you later today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Here are the notes I took from this month’s SMA meeting at Itta Bena.\u00a0 Note that it’s 11:30 PM as I type this and I’m kinda drunk, so please excuse spelling\/typos\/comments that have nothing to do with the meeting. 2009 president Brandon Herrington called 2010 president-elect Carol Lott up, and she presented the proposed board … Continue reading “SMA monthly meeting recap”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.paulryburn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5136"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.paulryburn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.paulryburn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.paulryburn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.paulryburn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5136"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.paulryburn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5136\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5138,"href":"http:\/\/www.paulryburn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5136\/revisions\/5138"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.paulryburn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.paulryburn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.paulryburn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}