City of Charleston restaurants can finally provide outside seating on the sidewalk! This change passed Tuesday got rid of the city that ranged from hundreds to thousands of dollars a year for outside dining. This change is part of a local economic stimulus plan proposed by Mayor Riley.

According to CRBJ, the sidewalk dining law was enacted in 2004 and restaurants had to pay a $200 application fee, a $500 damage deposit and an annual user fee based on size and location. That user fee ranged from $270 to $4,095 a year. Restaurants now only have to pay the application fee and can serve dinner in sidewalk dining areas until midnight.

The PRSA Board of Directors each interviewed 10 public relations practitioners regarding the impact of the recession on their careers, their thoughts on what’s happening in the public relations profession, how they define success in public relations and how PRSA can help them in this difficult economic climate.The sample was not random, but diverse in terms of age, gender, geography, and employment sector (e.g., PR agencies, corporate, nonprofit, higher education).

FINDINGS:

• Some PR agencies are holding their own, stating that business in the last two quarters of 2008 was the same as 2007 or even slightly better. Other agencies said business is down by 10%, 20%, 50%, or is “horrible.” They also predict that business will slow down this year.
• The nonprofit sector is struggling because many people disposable income has been reduced.
• Some independent practitioners have been hit hard because there are businesses are closing or eliminating PR from their business plan. And some reported they are doing project work only rather than being on retainer. On the other hand, others are picking up more freelance work as companies lay off in-house PR employees.

In response, PR professionals are thinking smarter with their clients, focusing more on customer service to clients and looking at new business opportunities. They are also restructuring workloads, holding off on hiring for new positions and reducing costs by reducing travel and professional development programs. On the corporate side, practitioners are returning to core PR strengths: relationship management, good writing, and planning skills.

“We need to establish new levels of leadership in our profession and greater perceived value for what we do,” said one PR agency practitioner. “It’s more important now because organizations will need public relations to distinguish their work and their outreach to stakeholders as never before.”

Our buddy Robert Prioleau over at Blue Ion recently game us some love at the ThinkTEC Innovation Summit. He argued that having hard data on the creative cluster would help validate the industry and would allow for connections among those involved in creative endeavors, even if they don’t identify themselves with a so-called creative class. He also explained that one of the biggest problems facing the development and growth of the creative class in Charleston is access to affordable and collaborative space and offered a suggestion of following the Atlanta model, where the creative class has engineered its own economic development by energizing an area of town that wasn’t being used commercially.

Other individuals, businesses, efforts and organizations operating as creative industries in the Charleston area, included:

Charleston Arts Coalition

Pecha Kucha Night

Guerrilla Cuisine

Mary Norton

Lowcountry Graduate Center

Art Institute of Charleston

Culinary Institute of Charleston

American College of the Building Arts

Clemson Architectural Center

Source: eMarketer

New Twitter stats from Pew Internet, as of December 2008…

• 11% of online American adults said they used a service like Twitter or another service that allowed them to share updates about themselves or to see the updates of others
• Nearly one in five (19%) online adults ages 18 and 24 have ever used Twitter and similar services, as have 20% of online adults 25 to 34, 10% of 35 to 44 year olds, 5% of 45 to 54 year olds, 4% of 55-64 year olds and 2% of those 65 and older use Twitter
• Please that blog and use social networks are more likely to use Twitter. Additionally, twitter users are also more likely to be using wireless technologies — laptops, handhelds and cell phones — for internet access, or cell phones for text messaging.

“Overall, Twitter users engage with news and own technology at the same rates as other internet users, but the ways in which they use the technology — to communicate, gather and share information — reveals their affinity for mobile, untethered and social opportunities for interaction. “

Twitter has been in talks to charge for commercial accounts for some time, but it looks like it may soon become a reality. Twitter Co-founder Biz Stone, explains that “it could also create revenue-generating features to tap into the way brands use Twitter as a hybrid marketing and customer-service tool.” Some people aren’t sold on this change though and argue that businesses will just find another web 2.0 tool. I personally haven’t quite figured out how to use Twitter effectively for business or pleasure, but it’s amazing to see how quickly Twitter has caught on and is evolving.

Charleston is trying to change the law to allow non-commercial boat owners to keep their vessels in Charleston County’s waters up to 180 days each year without paying a property tax. I guess Charleston waters are an alternative to Northerners vacationing in Florida for winter.

The current law allows boaters to stay in county waters for 60 consecutive days, or 90 total days, before having to pay the tax on their boats. This law went into effect in 2006 to generate funding for Charleston, but instead, boaters leave Charleston water before they have to pay taxes.

The Charleston Fire Department has been training in the Cigar Factory on East Bay Street. Here’s a video of a the training last Monday. The Cigar Factory was happy to lend their building to the fire department, because they are currently in the demolition process so nothing can be damaged. Firefighters knocked down walls to find a missing comrade and dragged another firefighter out by his air tank to simulate a rescue mission.

Here’s a link to the Live 5 New story.