October 11, 2018 - Atlanta, GA

Atlanta - A Super City in the Making!

I had the honor of working with The Affluent Magazine and DJ Entertainment in Atlanta this past Summer. We have been planning our work and working our plan to launch exciting social media hubs for the Atlanta market. We've focused on Atlanta because there's so much happening in 2018 and 2019. So much that we simply couldn't ignore the opportunities. As Atlanta is hosting the upcoming Superbowl, we know the City has to be ready to host fans and the world.

Keith Brown and David Jackson asked me to design their cover and submit a feature article about the upcoming Superbowl. Here is a snippet of the article: 

If you’ve ever watched a professional sports draft event, then you understand the pressure each team faces to make the best pick for their team and city. Atlanta is now on the clock! And when February 3, 2019 arrives, Atlanta has to be at its best. Nothing less than a ‘Super City’ will do. If by chance you’ve been living under a rock and you don’t already know, the National Football League has selected Atlanta, Georgia to host its upcoming 53rd Super Bowl in February. And even before the last Super Bowl in Minneapolis ended, the Atlanta host committee had already set the wheels in motion for this year’s mega event. The 75,000 exclusive ticket holders will have the honor of watching the matchup in the amazing Mercedes Benz Stadium, which is still in its infancy when it comes to stadium age. The $1.6 billion stadium was completed in 2017 and is already hosting the ultimate experience for football fans.

 

There’s usually a multi-year gap between Super Bowl hosting honors and Atlanta last hosted Super Bowl XXVIII in 1994 and Super Bowl XXXIV in 2000. Since then, the population of Atlanta has continued to explode while companies are moving into the city at a rapid pace. Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson airport is still the busiest airport in the world, serving over 100 million travellers a year. And during the week of January 26 - February 3, an additional 125,000+ people will funnel into metro Atlanta to take part in some of the Super Bowl festivities. There will be no shortage of celebrations and parties. In past Super Bowls, The NFL Experience and surrounding events attracted a million people into the city. The economic boost to a Super Bowl city can’t be understated. That’s why it’s important for the host city to be ‘Super’ too.

Read the entire article in the Fall Issue of The Affluent

September 24, 2018 - East Lake Golf Course - Atlanta, GA

When your bag has fans too...

Over the weekend, I had the pleasure of attending the 2018 PGA Tour Championship in Atlanta (Thanks PGA Tour). My anticipation was two-fold. After finding out that I actually had tickets to attend on Sunday, I immediately checked the standings on Thursday night to see if Tiger Woods had made the top 30 invited players. I saw that Tiger Woods was winning and my intrigue was intensified instantly. Although I was one of Tiger’s biggest fans during the height of his early career and got to experience some of the most amazing golf shots and victories I had ever seen… anywhere! I didn’t want to get ahead of my skis. After his life hit a few off-the-course hurdles and his body began to give in to the unrelenting punishment of a top tier professional golf career, I was slowly growing out of the expectation that Tiger would win every tournament he entered. In recent years, I had allowed him to raise my blood pleasure and excitement level by teasing us (true golf fans) with near wins. So I supressed my excitement until Saturday night only to see Tiger’s name still at the top of the leaderboard with a 5 shot lead. Now I was pumped!

Secondly, I was excited about taking my twin daughters and son to their first professional golf tournament. The experience is one they won’t soon forget. And when Tiger is winning, like in his glory days, the crowds are massive. This past Sunday was no exception. Golf FANS came to support and they were incredible. The heat was incredible too :- ( But we endured.

One thing that I noticed and wanted to write about was the reverence and fascination the fans have for Tiger Woods. He most definitely changed the game. He changed the entire PGA tour. From the moment his first Nike commercial aired, he had us at, “I guess… Hello world!”

My kids and I couldn’t get close enough to the driving range to see Tiger practicing because half of the attendees at the course surrounded the range. Plus, it was incredibly hot! Did I already say that? So, my kids and I trekked to an unsuspecting area in the shade. Turns out we landed on prime real estate. We ended up in a shaded spot along the path the pros took when leaving the practice area to get to the 1st tee box. Lucky us! The fans standing near us laughed and chatted about who might walk through next. We shared interesting conversations with strangers who loved golf and some who probably only loved Tiger and didn't know anything about golf. Tiger’s position at the top of the leaderboard probably brought even more people to East Lake Golf Course than the Tournament planners could imagine. After a while, we watched John Rahm and Rory McIlroy pass by to wonderful cheers. But then we heard some rumblings in the crowd, “Here he comes”. I smiled and looked at a lady standing next to me and said, “That could only mean one person was coming.” The lady and her friend’s responded enthusiastically, "Tiger!" Their extreme excitement was evident. But what I found so amazing was that Tiger’s caddie, Joe Lacava, walked through the path first alone. The crowd went crazy because Tiger’s golf bag was spotted on his shoulder! People were cheering him on and taking pictures of Tiger’s golf bag like crazy.

You are more than a star when your bag is a celebrity too. Confession… I took a picture of his bag too 🙂

I was close enough to get these pictures!