AFTER LIFE

Here is a piece inspired by the Ancient Egyptian art.

SOUL SUNDAY

This is a rare record for all of you Lovers out there from Skip Mahoney & The Casuals

"We Share Love"

TRAILER OF THE WEEK

Streetcar Extension is Making Tracks

When you hop off the TECO Line Streetcar System at its current terminus near the Tampa Convention Center, you can just about catch a glimpse of downtown. "Just a little farther," you might think, "and it would be right there!"

Well, soon it will be right there. A 1/3-mile extension of the system to the corner of Franklin and Whiting Streets has been underway since October, and is right on schedule to open by the end of this year. Let's take a look!

Here's where the current line ends on Franklin.

First, we'll get our bearings. Right now, the streetcar line ends on Franklin Street, just south of Channelside Drive - which is just about at the front door of the Tampa Convention Center, next to the Embassy Suites hotel.

The extension will take the line north on Franklin, under the Selmon Expressway overpass, through the Brorein intersection, and just past the Ft. Brooke garage. The new end of the line will be between the downtown YMCA and Hattricks, and across the street from the Poe Plaza esplanade.

Got it? If you need more visuals, click here for a map.

Double tracks near the Ft. Brooke garage let streetcars pass

Now that you know where we're going, let's see how we're going to get there. As of this writing, new tracks have been installed from the current end of the line all the way up to Whiting Street, including a section of double track between Brorein and Cumberland that will allow two streetcars traveling in opposite directions to pass each other. In addition, the system of overhead catenary wires that powers the streetcars has begun with installation of the pole foundations.

Lots of work has been done on utilities and stormwater drainage, along with demolition for the new station stop at Franklin and Whiting.

Track installation is expected to be completed this month with the finishing of a turn-out, the Cumberland Avenue crossing, and a short section of double track between Brorein Street and Cumberland.

Looking south from Whiting;
new station will soon take shape on the left

The next big step is construction of the brand new station stop, which begins this month and should be wrapped up in November.

So by Christmas, when you take the TECO Line Streetcar System toward downtown, you won't just have to glimpse those tall buildings. You'll already be there (shout out to our friend Dave Pinero over at the Tampa Rail blog for the downtown photo below).

For more information and updates on the TECO Line Streetcar System's extension to Whiting Street, click here.

Your final destination!

FAMILY FIRST

Our good friend and Loyal Client brought in one of his boys to get a piece to show the love for his family..

Summer Has Been a Blast!

With the dog days of summer at their sweltering peak, what's a teen without wheels to do? Increasingly, they're hopping aboard HART buses with their Summer Blast Passes.
Back in 2006, HART introduced a special pass that lets kids 17 and younger pay one low price and ride all summer long. And this summer is shaping up to be the best yet for the Summer Blast Pass. So far, HART has sold more than 1,200 passes this year - the previous high was in 2008, when just over 800 passes were spoken for.

Why the dramatic increase? A few reasons. In past years, HART promoted the Summer Blast Pass through a paid media program of print ads and billboards, but this year's campaign relied heavily on no-cost or low-cost promotions. In particular, social media played a big role in the promotion this year, with tons of Twitter "tweets" and Facebook posts starting early and often. Our hundreds of followers and fans then helped spread the word by re-tweeting and sharing our posts.

Kicking off the social media outreach even before summer began, HART promoted a "Staycation" week in the spring that "springboarded" (so to speak!) our special offers for families by getting more teens and their parents interested in HART just before sales for the Summer Blast Pass kicked off. The Staycation promotion led to 34,000 trips in April, giving us great momentum and a head start on social media heading into summer.

Also, as the first day of school draws closer and closer, HART dropped the price of the Summer Blast Pass in mid-July so kids who didn't jump in at the start of summer could still get in on the fun. And of course, we let everyone know all about it on Twitter and Facebook!

It's an axiom of business that you go where your customers are. For the 2010 Summer Blast Pass Program, HART found our young customers by diving into the social media pool.

To learn more about HART's Summer Blast Pass, click here to download our PDF flyer. And check out a news story on the Summer Blast Pass that aired on News Channel 8 here.

Transportation Expert in 2010 Leadership Tampa
HART sends congrats along to our friend Karen Kress, the Tampa Downtown Partnership's Director of Transportation and Planning, on her selection to the 40th class of Leadership Tampa. The program, put on by the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce, is a proving ground for future community leaders.

THE LEGEND

Here is a piece on a client who came in to get a piece from the Jesus Helguera archives.