Creative Mailings to Our Valued Partners and Potential Clients

For years, SEDA has opted to think outside of traditional holiday communications and create custom greetings to stand out from the rest. In 2016 we continued this effort for both Thanksgiving and St. Patrick’s Day. We developed mailers that were uniquely Savannah, driving top-of-mind awareness for clients, consultants and allies while also expressing sincere appreciation for the support and interest SEDA receives year after year.

St. Patrick’s Day 2016

How do you convey the authentic experiences of Savannah’s business success AND St. Patrick’s Day Festivities? With ice cream of course! In 2016, SEDA worked with a Savannah-born and incredibly successful business, Leopold’s Ice Cream, to send its partners a true sampling of Savannah. Single-serve cups of ice cream in two flavors, Thin Mints & Cream and Guinness, were creatively packaged and delivered in a timely, frigid fashion. The Thin Mint flavor (of Girl Scout Cookie fame) was a tasty nod to the founder of the Girl Scouts and Savannah’s own, Juliette Gordon Low, while Guinness toasted the merriment of Savannah’s Irish festivities and the native land from which the dark brew hails. Similar in their Savannah ties yet vastly different in flavor, the distinct ice cream samples gave recipients a taste of the many diverse sides of Savannah. We encouraged all those lucky enough to indulge in the delicious Leopold’s creations to ‘dig in’ to discover the depth of flavor – and opportunities - unique to Savannah.

Thanksgiving 2016

Upholding the mission of SEDA is – in all respects – a collaborative effort. A single action, person or even group cannot propel business in our region. Rather, it requires layer upon layer of insight, connections, phone calls, meetings, conventions and more to achieve continued economic growth in the Savannah area. With that in mind, in 2016, our Thanksgiving mailer was designed in order to reveal layer after layer of varying autumn-leaf patterns, with each one representing the pooled talents, efforts and contributions of SEDA’s many strategic partners. And for that, we most certainly give thanks.

NYC Media Trip

In October 2016, SEDA, Visit Savannah and the Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport partnered to welcome more than 75 editors and reporters to a reception in New York City.

SLAAM Ventures principal and The Grey Restaurant owner John Morisano volunteered to host the reception at the famed National Arts Club on Gramercy Park. Guests dined on Southern fare while enjoying the work of Savannah artists Betsy Cain, Cedric Smith and Marcus Kenny.

SEDA Annual Meeting

SEDA Board of Directors Bob James, Cathy Hill, current Chairman Steve Green and Kevin Jackson at the 2016 SEDA Annual Meeting.

On Jan. 8, 2016, SEDA held its Annual Meeting to a sold out crowd of 650 people. The meeting featured keynote speaker, Mike Abrashoff. He is the former commander of the USS Benfold and author of “It’s Your Ship.” When Abrashoff took command of the USS Benfold, morale was low, turnover was high and the ship’s performance ranked near the bottom of the Pacific Fleet. Just twelve months later the USS Benfold was ranked number one – using the very same crew. The lesson was clear – leadership matters and culture is everything.

Also during the meeting, SEDA presented its 2015 highlights and installed the 2016 officers, which included the passing of the Chairman’s gavel from Bob James to Steve Green.