Watts Consulting

More than you ever wanted to know about Alabama native Joe Watts

Work

Rural Heritage Center in Thomaston, Alabama

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Yesterday, I spent most of the day in the Black Belt of rural Southwest Alabama. The morning involved working with the Ala-Tom RC&D Council on, primarily, the Southwest Alabama Tourism website followed by lunch at one of 3 Chinese restaurants in Thomasville, Alabama–okay, I can’t imagine how a town the size of Thomasville can support 3 Chinese restaurants, but it was a tasty lunch buffet. (I’ve got a rough draft of the front page only developed so far on my server: joewatts.com/southwestal)

After lunch, I struck out, first taking Highway 5 north to the intersection of Highway 25. I turned north on 25 and passed through Vineland then on to Thomaston, Alabama and the Rural Heritage Center. What a neat place. It has been there for years, but somehow I’ve managed to avoid going. I really was surprised that it had as much stuff as it does. If you ever make it to Marengo County, Alabama, it is well worth a stop. From there it was the typical route to Birmingham: through Faundsdale, Greensboro and Moundville and on to Tuscaloosa. From there, the boring but expedient interstate took me home.

Below is a shot from the drive down early in the morning taken along scenic Highway 5.

 

Cataloging Photos of Alabama Scenes

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I’ve always liked this shot (taken in 2003 between Selma, Alabama and Montgomery, Alabama). The grass is green and the water and sky are blue–thanks in part to a little touch up work in Adobe Lightroom. I’m thinking of using this photo in a project I’m currently working on for the Southwest Alabama Rural Tourism group (www.alabamasfrontporches.com). It is in large part thanks to Adobe Lightroom that I’m even able to track it down. I’ve since gone through and done a better job of keywording some of my photos with place specific tags (they already have keywords relating to the specific city/town but not to the larger region. I’ve gone through and tagged about 500 or more with Southwest Alabama in addition to rural or byway or Marion or Greensboro. Hopefully, this will help me in this project and in the future.

Alzheimer’s Notecards Available Online

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We did these specifically to sell at the Garden Art Party earlier this month, but they are so popular and unique that they are now being offered online for a limited time–until they run out…

Buy Beautiful Alzheimer’s Art Notecards. Available for a limited time! Each set of six cards contains a variety of beautiful bird art painted by Alzheimer’s patients. (only $10.00 and includes shipping).

http://www.alzca.org/donate.html

May 2008 Postcard for AccuPrint

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Quick job for my friends at AccuPrint, downtown Birmingham, Alabama. We’re sending out a monthly postcard with the calendar for the month. Margie decided to have me take a different scene of downtown Birmingham each month. Here’s the second scene (around 3rd Avenue North and 20th Street North):

Yes, Another Newsletter

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alsierran0508.jpgFinished another newsletter yesterday. I actually finished several newsletters so far this month–the first half of each month seems to hold at least three newsletters and on some months six or more. In the issue of the Alabama Sierran:
River Action Day Success; Tom’s Top 10 Hikes; Montgomery Water
Festival; Alabama’s Attractions; Scenic River Trail; And the Winner Is
the Trees; Outings and Events; Contacts, and more. Download the newsletter on the Sierra Club’s website (no, I don’t do their website): http://alabama.sierraclub.org/statenewsletters.html

Also finished up several other projects yesterday:

  • A series of ads for Underwoods Jewelers (a sister company to Birmingham, Alabama based Brombergs). There were something like 20 different ads with 4 sizes for each ad. Mostly just simple work resizing and correcting copy.
  • Although I basically finished this project several weeks ago, we officially launched the American Mining Insurance Company’s new website on Monday: www.americanmining.com.
  • The Ala-Tom RC&D website. Located in Thomasville, Alabama, I’ve dealt with them before on the statewide annual report for the Alabama Association of Resource Conservation and Development Councils. I’ve also worked with them on the Clarke County Development Foundation, and I’m continuing to work with them on the Southwest Alabama Tourism project: www.alabamasfrontporches.org. Mostly complete a few weeks ago, I finally got almost all the changes made. The site is now live: www.ala-tomrcd.org.

Trip to the Black Belt

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Enjoyed a late morning drive down Highway 5 to Marion, Alabama this past Wednesday. Met with the Cahaba Trace Commission to discuss scenic byways and their possible interest in having a section of their route designated as a byway. We met over lunch at a restaurant (Lottties, I think is the name) right off the courthouse square in Marion. What a beautiful courthouse, too. The food was actually good: fried okra, cole slaw and grilled pork chops. No bread, though. I think the large crowd had them a bit off their game.

Had an opportunity to meet with Nisa Miranda of the University of Alabama Economic Development Institute briefly. We discussed www.alabamasfrontporches.com for a few minutes before she headed off to Camden and then to Ezell’s in Lavaca (the cole slaw is much better at Ezells).