The latest updates from SDOC Publishing Internet Solutions for our clients, our community, and the web design field. Our Dunwoody, Georgia studio serves clients all over the United States and Canada.
Dunwoody is home to hundreds of entrepreneurs and small businesses that help build our city every day. The professional advocacy group Independent We Stand supports the small independent business owner across the USA and created The Indie to celebrate their impact on local communities.
In 2011, we created the Independent Small Business of the Year Award or "Indie" to help recognize a locally-owned small business that has gone above and beyond to deliver great customer service and community support. If you know of such a company, or own or work for such a company, please take the time to nominate that business and help us promote the importance of supporting locally owned small businesses. The winner will receive a host of great prizes provided by Independent We Stand, its sponsors and partners.
Who fits the bill in Dunwoody and deserves to be honored for the efforts? Nominate them here.
Dunwoody PD has taken up the gauntlet that is the Lip Sync Challenge.
Their final raw footage shooting was last night at Food Truck Thursdays, after lining up locations all over the city.
Here's what you can expect:
Part 1
Part 2
Now as much as I love me some Dunwoody cops (especially when they're waving from their speed traps on Peeler Road and not pulling me over for a ticket....) the truth is that the Pickens County, GA Sherriffs Department broke the internet with their lip sync video.
From the AHA Connection, plus numerous news reports
This one hit me as the mom of a boy that attends special-needs daycamp and relies on the staff and directors to help him communicate and experience camp just like everyone else's kid.
Every company, large and small, that has enjoyed some extended success has the same problem: staying relevant over time as generations discover new tastes and ideas. No one can afford to become "yesterday's news", "outdated", or otherwise irrelevant.
But regenerating your brand image is no guarantee. The desire to reach out to new, usually younger, customers doesn't mean they're going to bite.
Exhibit A: Oldsmobile
One of the original American auto brands, Oldsmobile was founded in 1897. Olds enjoyed success decade after decade into the mid 1980s. Appealing to new generations wasn't a major issue until they ran into new competition from Acura, Lexus, etc. By this time they had earned the stereotype as an "old people's" car. Someone took drastic action: a new campaign centered around a new generation of car buyers. Tagline: "This is NOT your father's Oldsmobile!"
Spoiler alert: the campaign bombed.
The younger buyers Olds was aiming at replied with "Yeah, right, buddy! Not in my universe!" and sales went nowhere. To make matters worse, the tried-and-true "old people" that were buying the brand responded with, "Oh, our business isn't important to you anymore? We'll just take our substantial dollars elsewhere...." Buick and Lincoln were loving this.
The campaign tanked, even with featured celebrities and Oldsmobile never recovered. They plodded along for the next 15 years until it folded in 2004.
Speaking of Buick, they're "Exhibit B".
In the beginning of the 21st century, Buick found itself in the same quandry as Olds. They were stereotyped as the "old people's" car and surviving into the future meant cultivating a younger buyer base.
Buick learned from Oldsmobile's demise and took a different route: they had a little fun at their own expense. For your consideration: "That's not a Buick!"
This one took off. Two years later the ad industry was buzzing about the success of "That's not a Buick!" campaign. (Example from AdWeek)
What was different between the two campaigns?
First, the Oldsmobile ad focused on "change" and the subjective anticipation and excitement that goes along with change. The reason it failed was that it didn't show the younger buyers what the brand was changing *to* and the older buyers were just freaked out. No sale.
Second, the Buick ad campaign coincided with the introduction of the new Enclave and four other models. AND - rather than focus on a voice-over narrative of how new it was, they just showed some funny reactions. "I don't see a Buick..." One of the commercials showed a girl looking for her friend getting into the wrong car.
So Buick used some humor in their approach, but they avoided the idea of "change". The "older" models, associated with "older" buyers (Skylark, etc) were not mentioned. No need, because they weren't "changing". Although some of them (like the Riviera and Park Avenue) were quietly discontinued. They added something new and invited buyers of all ages to rethink a brand they think they know.
The moral of the story is: if refreshing your brand means bridging a gap between generations you have to cater to both; or at the very least, avoid the message that one of them is disposable or no longer significant. Telegraphing that "old people" and their ideas are no longer important is a death sentence. Try avoiding the "change" moniker. Not all change is good and can be greeted with suspicion. What are you *adding* that is new? How does the "new" coexist with the "old"?
Oldsmobile made all the mistakes and they don't exist anymore. Buick avoided terms and scenarios that threatened their traditional base and the brand is thriving.
Earlier this spring, my husband was walking my first-grade son to school.
They fell on some broken pavement in the street.
Senior wrenched his ankle. Junior broke his arm.
Only a couple of blocks from school, a Good Samaritan stopped in the street and took them both to Chesnut ES.
Senior ignored his ankle. Junior's arm was splinted by the school nurse.
Junior's teacher packed both of them in her car and drove them home. Senior got Junior into his car and drove them both to the CHOA Scottish Rite ER.
This entire sequence, from initial accident to entering the doors of the emergency center, took just shy of an hour. That includes the Legendary Rush Hour Traffic on I-285.
In dire need, my husband was willing to get in a stranger's car for the offering. To this day, we have no idea who this stranger was. We still look forward to thanking them properly.
At NO time, did any of the people involved think of calling 911 for an ambulance.
Because everyone just knew and accepted that they would take forever, or just not show up. Meanwhile, a 7-year-old is in agony and in need of a radiologist to define the type of break, a nurse to provide pain control, and a surgeon to pin the bones together.
Yes, we are getting screwed out of our tax money that is paying the contract for these services. Yes, we have to obey traffic laws while getting to emergency care. Yes, more often than not, these are lay people providing care until arriving at the hospital and they have to "wing it" more than trained professionals.
With response times stretching north of 30 minutes, it has become common knowledge that jack-leg self-transport is better than emergency services.
The stupidity that includes responses about the "shape" of Dunwoody and the structure of the contracts don't deserve the time of day from the tax payers. We're too busy taking care of each other when we need aid.
Further commentary from Councilman Nall when asked about sharing services with Fulton and/or Sandy Springs:
Had my family been closer to the Fulton line, they might have considered this advice.
And Dunwoody's detractors wonder why we incorporated as a city and continue to demand city-operated services. This is why.
This public notice appeared in the Crier on May 22. It was posted by Crim & Associates regarding the corner of Mt. Vernon and Chamblee-Dunwoody that has been a gas station, a car wash, and was supposed to be a "Rize" pizza restaurant before their financial troubles.
Crim is submitting a SLUP with requests for variances on June 5 for further development of this parcel.
Crim is also the developer investing in the "chef driven" restaurant and retail space at Dunwoody Green. Meet at the patio at Marlow's Tavern
If you're interested in seeing the evolution of the Dunwoody Village overlay district, as well as more boutique or "chef-driven" establishments, you'll want to attend this required public meeting on June 4. Crim's flyer describing the development on their corporate website
(Link to video. Or, if you can't see it, remove the "s" from the "https://" in the URL bar and refresh the page. The video player will appear.)
Anything from current traffic, to zoning information, to the next city council meeting date to job postings.
Nick O'Day, the Chief Data Officer, says not to worry, they are not recording private conversations.
"It's about being able to ask a question and get a real answer right away versus having to call somebody and the city and get passed to a planer or an engineer," says O'Day. " We cannot access their name, their location, their voices, we can't access any of that kind of stuff."
This was brilliant and I had no idea it was possible!
Because it simply responds to questions, Alexa can be used by anyone of any generation. Even people with some disabilities that make using a phone or computer difficult.
Alexa can cut down on the number of phone calls to city hall. Or frustration at the website for users unfamiliar with it.
How about running audio from city council and other meetings? Or even from the community conversations on development, like the one about Robers Drive this week?
Congrats, Johns Creek! Dunwoody - will you consider deploying this type of technology to your citizens too?
After a one-week rain delay Food Truck Thursdays kicked off with a live band, courtesy of City of Dunwoody government. We're looking forward to another season, every Thursday through October, weather permitting.
A little bird told me that the rained-out Kosher food night has been rescheduled to May 17.
Weather updates will be posted to the Dunwoody Food Truck Thursdays Facebook page and copied to the DHA page. Anyone can see these updates even without a Facebook account. If the weather looks like it's changing, updates about cancellations will be here.
But wait - there's more!
Tomorrow sees the debut of the all-new Dunwoody Farmers Market. The committee has been hard at work lining up vendors, establishing some managers to oversee operations, and set up a fun communal atmosphere on Saturday mornings. DHA and yours truly will be on site with some goodies so come say hello while you shop for dinner.
And to round out the weekend.....
DHA Board meets on Sunday at 7:30 at the North DeKalb Cultural Center. Everyone is invited to be part of the conversation. There will be candidates for office introducing their campaigns and local legislative updates that will impact Dunwoody's direction. Join us on site or watch the live stream on Facebook.
I wanted to let you know Crim has just begun designing a new restaurant driven development which will be located in Dunwoody. It’s a new development with an “old world” feel! Our site overlooks Georgetown Park, a 1 acre City park that is available for our use-music, tastings, you name it! Also, the City will allow us to obtain an open container permit for the development! Great spot for a brewery/brew pub! *2,400 apartments within a 5 minute walk *126,100 people within a 15 minute drive *Avg. HH Income $123,495 within a 15 minute drive *Average age in Dunwoody- 37 Please let me know if you would have interest in discussing further. Proposed delivery of spaces in 4th quarter of 2019. Thank you for your consideration! Archie C. Wanamaker Crim & Associates 678-516-6958
Our Convention and Visitors Bureau is using this article and other outlets to promote Dunwoody hotels and the development of greenspace features for those hotel visitors.
So what's the problem?
Last weekend I attended a major conference at the Crowne Plaza Ravinia. The leader of the host organization is a friend of mine. We talked about the hotel and amenities and other moving parts of the conference.
She had NO idea that the hotel was in Dunwoody!
During the conference, Governor Deal visited and welcomed the attendees to the "City of Atlanta".
The governor of the state of Georgia had no idea he was speaking in Dunwoody.
According to the Dunwoody CVB, there are no hotels in Dunwoody.
They're all in "Atlanta".
Here's a screenshot:
Three hotels are listed in this image; if you visit the page, the rest of the hotels listed also give their address as "Atlanta".
With all of the chatter about "place making" and "Shape Dunwoody" and other slogans being tossed around in press releases, would it really be so hard to get some agreement and consistency about the name of the "place" being made? Dunwoody. D-U-N-W-O-O-D-Y.
We really need our CVB and other agencies to get on board with reinforcing the city's NAME before delving into the minutiae of academic "place making".
Earlier this month, I received an email sent to the DHA from the Convention & Visitors Bureau office about the promotional efforts their agency was making.
I replied via email and pointed out the inconsistency between their bureau and the city listed in the address of "Dunwoody's" hotels.
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
--George Santayana
The Life of Reason: Phases in Human Progress
Vol 1: Reason in Common Sense
As we approach Dunwoody's 10th anniversary of incorporation, here is a snapshot of the circumstances that drove the desire to form our own city. Many of today's active citizens were not residents when these events occurred and many long time residents have forgotten. There is a lot that cannot be repeated, for the sake of our future as a city.
A veritable invasion of apartment developments has begun along Dunwoody’s southern boundary, one that is reminiscent of Sandy Springs’ long fight against apartment zonings there.
“We could easily end up with more than 4,000 new apartments on top of what we already have,” said Bill Grossman, a zoning specialist with the Dunwoody Homeowners’ Association.
Grossman may be understating the issue, especially since a two-year-old DHA estimate had 2,500 units zoned in various live-work-play projects within the Perimeter Community Improvement District and around the Dunwoody MARTA station. Another 3,500 units have been zoned on the Sandy Springs side of the PCID.
Jaws dropped and audible gasps were heard Sunday night when a Boston-based developer showed the board of the Dunwoody Homeowners’ Association a rendering of a mega-development it proposes for Dunwoody and the Perimeter business district.
...
Four office buildings are on the property, but much of it is vacant land. Over the 10-12-year build out of what will be called High Street, three of the buildings will be razed.
GID proposes a vast mixed-use project with a pedestrian focus to include:
a housing component of 1500 high-rise condominiums and 1500 apartments, including a 30-story condo tower.
A basic tenet of high density residential growth is ensuring a cross section of age demographics live in the area. It is important to ensure one age demographic does not dominate the growth. The alternative result produces too many negative consequences.
For example, if all the residential units were designed for young singles, you get businesses that cater to them, namely the night clubs, bars and events that naturally go along with this market. Midtown Atlanta or Buckhead are nearby examples. When such uses dominate an area, they become incompatible for families, kids and empty nesters. They also create public safety issues, e.g. impaired driving.
Uses friendly to kids temper uses by singles and encourage uses designed for empty nesters. A mix of residential and commercial uses work together, not to the exclusion or detriment of others. Dunwoody and Perimeter attract all age groups.
The other major impact of residential growth is experienced by local schools. This has been ameliorated in part by the Dunwoody Homeowners’ Association’s insistence the majority of residential units remain owner-occupied; ensuring our new neighbors have a more than a transient interest in our community.
If it were up to board members and those in attendance at the monthly meeting Sunday of the Dunwoody Homeownwers’ Association board, the incorporation of Dunwoody couldn’t come soon enough.
The meeting’s attendance was swelled by a contingent from the Georgetown neighborhood spurred by re-zoning signs near them.
Coro Realty, owner of the Georgetown shopping center and some property around it, has approached the neighborhoods and the DHA with a plan to raze a two-level medical building off Old Spring House Lane and replace it with more than 200 apartments.
They would be in addition to the more than 600 apartments being finished at the former Dunwoody Park site on Dunwoody Park Drive.
...
Coro Realty has told the DHA it will bring a larger site plan for its properties to its next meeting with the DHA. Jackson and a DHA vice president, Bob Lundsten, agreed that developers were encountering a tough market for owner-occupied housing and were trying to get apartment zonings into the DeKalb County pipeline before Dunwoody can become a city. It votes July 15 on incorporation.
One major problem is the continuing proliferation of apartments in Dunwoody. The overbuilding of apartments in Dunwoody that has been allowed by DeKalb County endangers our property values and threatens to increase our property taxes due to the higher consumption of public services required by high-density, rental developments. The county code even allowed land zoned as office to be developed with multi-story apartment projects - without any zoning approvals at all. Developers were just issued building permits. The work of the Dunwoody Homeowners’ Association fixed that.
A community out of balance between owner-occupied and rental apartments is a community in deep trouble, financially and otherwise. The lack of vigilance or interest by DeKalb County has caused an excessive number of apartments in Dunwoody in relation to single family/owner-occupied dwellings, which in turn causes serious overcrowding in our highly ranked schools. If not corrected moving forward, this problem will drive up school property taxes, drive down property values, and threaten the quality of the education our children receive.
(Editor's note: at the time of these articles, no one imagined there would be a call for more rental housing from within the homeowner community!!! According to the 2010 US Census, there were 21,671 housing units in Dunwoody. In the years of 2012 - 2016, the owner-occupied rate was 52.9% rental rate 47.1%)
There may be another vote taken on Election Day - this one on a resolution to litigate Dunwoody’s incorporation. On September 23, the Board of Commissioners deferred the resolution for the third time, postponing a decision to its November 4 meeting after a lively public hearing in which DeKalb CEO Vernon Jones blamed Crier publisher Dick Williams for promoting division in the county and called the city government “bleached” with no diversity.
Jones said creation of Dunwoody was done in an unconstitutional manner and he hoped the commissioners would go forward with litigation.
The All Saints Knights of Columbus distributed this request today. A local charity needs help finding sufficient office space to continue their work. We've got lots of real estate agents and business owners in Dunwoody. Can anyone out there make a connection for I CARE, Inc?
I CARE, Inc. a 501 (c3) Non-Profit Corporation, is looking for a new "home."
I CARE’s needs are minimal- approximately 15’ x 15’, would be sufficient to: House two desks, file cabinet, two computers, and two printers. Internet access (we could install our own Internet). We have our own phones to conduct business. Additionally, we would occasionally conduct volunteer driver interviews, host meetings with funding partners, board meetings, collect mail, etc. Volunteer/Program Coordinator, Shannon Streiter, and Director, Tom Simon, work at the office and at home, so there is flexibility.
If you know of any space that might be available to fit our needs (ideally in the Decatur area, but we are very flexible) we would greatly appreciate any insight, ideas, and thoughts. Being a small Non-Profit, FREE space would be ideal.
For more information, please contact: Tom Simon, Director, I CARE, at 404-377-2273 or 770-378-8999 Shannon Streiter, Volunteer/Program Coordinator at 404-377-2273 /404-376-6415
I CARE, Inc. has been in business since 1998 in Decatur, providing FREE transportation to DeKalb County seniors, in order for them to get to their medical appointments and remain healthy, continue to be productive members of their community, and allow them to continue to “Live in Place” which is what all Seniors want.
