Our good friends at SEEDS are hosting their 3rd annual pie social in their beautiful garden today from 2-6pm. We have fabulous memories of this event from last year and highly encourage folks to attend. The only downside? They ran out of pie. But, hey, why wouldn’t they when the pie comes from the likes of Watt’s Grocery, Toast, Foster’s Market, Durham Catering and more.
This just in from our beautiful and talented friend, Sarah Almond of Shed Letterpress as inspired by Endangered Durham: The card pictured above was faithfully reproduced from photos of the original sign and printed by hand on eco-friendly bamboo paper - includes a matching envelope. Purchase HERE.
In 1913, the Durham Traction Co. (later Duke Power) offered to pay to erect a large electric sign lauding Durham, as a gesture of thanks to downtown merchants who had purchased electric lights. The Commercial Club (later the Chamber of Commerce) sponsored a contest to decide the slogan. The winning entry, from WW Weaver and JE Banning was “Durham: Renowned the World Around”
The sign was erected on a moonlight night on December 15th, 1913. In addition to the slogan, it read “Health, Wealth, Progress, Success” around the circumference. The sign was 31 1/2 feet wide and topped by a “10 foot sphere”. It required 1200 bulbs to operate. It was illuminated to a crowd of either “hundreds” or “thousands”.
Springtime in Durham, NC… Time for round two of teaching Social Media for Entrepreneurs at Durham Tech.
For Immediate Release
Smoke Signals PR Welcomes Beth Fenton as Account Guru
Sonoma, CA January 25- Smoke Signals PR is proud to announce the hire of Beth Fenton as Account Guru. Originally founded in Durham, NC, Smoke Signals expanded its operations to include a Northern California- based office in the San Francisco Bay Area in September 2010. A resident of Sonoma, CA, Mrs. Fenton will play an immediate and vital role in the California operations.
Mrs. Fenton brings with her 10+ years of public relations experience and valuable knowledge of the culture, media and industry of Northern California. She specializes in communications for the high tech sector, with a focus on developing technologies. Beth delivers a broad and deep skill set that will be an enormous asset to Smoke Signals’ clients.
Fenton received her M.A. in Journalism and Mass Communications from the University of Minnesota where she was a classmate of Smoke Signals co-founder and Fire Starter, Molly Leutz. As Account Guru she will join Molly and co-founder and Chief Optimist, Margaret McNab in all facets of Smoke Signals’ operations, providing turn-key communications strategies to accounts.
Most recently working as a freelancer after several years with Porter Novelli in San Francisco, Beth lives in Sonoma with her husband and two-year-old daughter. She does not own a winery but enjoys a good Cabernet Sauvignon, and a rosé in the summer months. She begins her tenure as of Tuesday, January 25, 2011 and can be reached at beth@smokesignalspr.com. Inquiries on specifics of her hire should be directed to molly@smokesignalspr.com and business inquiries should be sent to Margaret@smokesignalspr.com.
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We at SSPR have been a tad quiet lately. Fear not attentive legions! We are still here. Well, actually some of us are “here” and some of us are “elsewhere.” You probably recognize the International Orange paint of the Golden Gate Bridge above, or at very least you recognize the omnipresent fog. So the “elsewhere” is San Francisco. Our beloved Molly has been living in San Francisco for the past six weeks while Margaret is still living, working and rocking in Durham. SSPR was born, got TOTALLY AWESOME, and then boom! We expanded to a bi-coastal operation. Life, work and perhaps destiny have brought Molly to Northern California. And while we are sad (really, it’s a mutual admiration society) we are not putting SSPR on a shelf or in a corner. Instead we are letting it fly, blossom and surf into new territories. What we love to do - strategize and implement unique, customized, modern communications plans for great people, organizations and companies - remains steadfast. Like communication, we are flexible. Look at it this way, we’re learning more in a creative hotbed and meeting more amazing people. Moral of this tale? We are still SSPR! And, we are ready, willing and able to work for clients from the Atlantic to the Pacific and most places in between.
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