December is my favorite time of the year. The month brings celebration, reflection and a time to plan for the upcoming year.
Here at The Creative Coast we look back on a hectic, yet productive, year and we are filled with joy to have served so many amazing people in our community who are doing so many different and innovative things.
When we look to the coming year and beyond, the excitement nearly knocks us out of our chairs: We know Savannah’s potential is unlimited because we see our future every day, up close and personal.
When I’m out and about town, people often say “I love The Creative Coast.” Their declaration is immediately followed by the question “what exactly do you do?” Inevitably the irony makes me laugh. My steady answer is, “I meet cool people all day.”
Our mission is to nurture the members of our community engaged in creative or innovative endeavors and to cultivate an environment in which they can thrive. We are able to make meaningful impact each year only because of the continuing support and generosity of The Savannah Economic Development Authority, the city of Savannah and a host of corporate sponsors and individual members.
On a micro-level, we do everything from helping individual entrepreneurs refine business concepts and making introductions to the appropriate city officials to help with new business licensing and permitting. On a macro-level, we help connect Savannah’s entrepreneurial community with each other as well as the world.
With a limited, but dedicated, staff and volunteer team, we’re coordinating local events throughout the year to create a stronger and thriving start-up ecosystem in Savannah. A number of organizations in Savannah are willing, able and ready to help local entrepreneurs succeed, and each has its respective strengths and service niches. Their identities are an alphabet soup of brainpower: TAG, ASAP, SCORE, SBDC, ATDC, COBA, Thinc, SBAC, SSU, GT, GSU, ASU, SCAD and more.
I enjoy collaborating with these members of Savannah’s
entrepreneurial “ecosystem” as each and every day I see the direct benefits local start-ups receive from these dedicated resources. A perfect example of great collaboration amongst many partners, including TAG, ATDC, SEDA, SCAD and The Creative Coast, was Investor Weekend event, which led to $260,000 invested directly in two Savannah startups. How cool is that?
Raising the profile and awareness of our local entrepreneurial and start-up community is paramount to building Savannah’s reputation as a center of innovation. Success attracts success. That’s why we put so much effort into hosting and co-sponsoring high profile events.
I want to share a few numbers with you.
TEDxCreativeCoast had more than 75 applicants for 14 speaker slots with a sold out audience at 250. FastPitch attracted more than 50 applicants vying for 22 presentation spots across three categories. StartupLounge brought in 50-plus applicants for 25 opportunities to connect with more than 30 investors from Savannah, Atlanta and Greenville.
Three free RailsBridge programming workshops filled up with local learners, and GeekEnd drew more than 350 registered attendees from across the country.
People are making valuable connections at and through these events. I love seeing great people challenge each other to new heights.
The Creative Coast is constantly connecting start-ups with a variety of resources for capital, talent, technology and more. We’re grateful for the more than 10,000 Creative Coast fans and followers who help spread the word about Savannah and its start-up community each week.
We use a variety of orchestrated tools to reach our audiences, from Twitter to Facebook to LinkedIn; from weekly blogs and podcasts posted to www.thecreativecoast.org to articles and columns published in traditional and online media sources.
In turn, these nuggets get shared with sources all over the country. Reality is proof: Geekend generated national buzz among media giants including the Wall Street Journal, the Denver Post, CNN, TechCrunch, and Fast Company.
As we look to 2015, I am most excited about the Creators Foundry. This 16,000-square-foot innovation hub offering co-working and collaboration space, individual offices, leased space for innovative companies and an incubator is transitioning The Creative Coast daily. In the past we were a periodic and largely online organization. Now we are a physical home to innovation and innovators, daily encouraging “collisions” between brilliant and energetic minds.
Savannah is happening. Hope to see you be a part of it in 2015.
Bea Wray is the executive director of The Creative Coast, a not-for-profit organization that promotes the creative and entrepreneurial community within the region. Bea can be reached at 912-447-8457 or bea@thecreativecoast.org.