Meet Vica, Adam, Kathryn, and Megan, South End CLT’s Social Media Team

Meet the team behind South End CLT : Vica Bondurant, Adam Rhew, Kathryn Menzie, and Megan Gude. 

Tell us about the team:

Kathryn Menzie (@kp_menzies) is Center City Partners’ social media coordinator. She manages the @SouthEndCLT and @Uptown.CLT handles. She is also an awesome blogger here in Charlotte! Follow her for tips about the latest trends.

Megan Gude (@megangude) is the Director of Historic South End. She is an urban planner extraordinaire and has helped shape South End into what it is today. You won’t find anyone more passionate about making South End an amazing place to live, work and play than Megan.

Adam Rhew (@adam.rhew) is the Director of Communications. He’s a jack of all trades and works on everything from press releases to editorial calendars. He’s also an incredible writer and helps us tell better stories about our neighborhoods. Luckily, he is still writing freelance pieces in Charlotte – check out his restaurant reviews and definitely take his recos!

Vica Bondurant (@vicabondo) is the Director of Marketing. She’s a self-proclaimed marketing nerd whose enthusiasm and energy for great urban places shines through all of the organization’s content.

Instagram Handle:

@southendclt

Twitter Handle:

@SouthEndCLT

Website:

HistoricSouthEnd.com

Brand:

South End CLT

What’s the purpose of your brand?

To share the stories of a vibrant and evolving neighborhood in a way that allows people to better connect with this part of our city – South End.  

How long have you worked with/on your current brand?

Each person on the team has a different tenure from 2months to 2 years.

How many people are on your team?

4

How do you adapt your account to popular/trending themes?

We try to strike a balance of what people already know about South End (dogs and beer) and what we want to remind them about that makes South End unique – local businesses, creativity around every corner, incredible art and more.

Have you ever made a reply on social media that had to go through multiple approvals? Tell us about it… 

We have a great system of checks and balances. We all work together for posts, replies and such in order to make sure what we post is on brand and engaging.

What is the post you are most proud of?

What do you wish people knew about your role/account/brand?

Two things:

1. We want to make info about South End super easy to find and really fun to interact with. The post we’re most proud of isn’t at all. It’s a screen shot of our profile because we’ve integrated LinkTree into our bio to help our followers find and read South End stories more easily. We’ve also started to use Highlights more to showcase all the great things. We try to use our social handles to tell an array of stories about the people and businesses that make this place awesome! Highlights and LinkTree are new ways we have been experimenting with to get beyond the post and deeper into the story.

2. We love when people tag us in their South End photos! We want to highlight our neighbors and what makes South End special.We encourage everyone to tag @southendclt when they’re out and about as we love to highlight user generated content in both our feed and stories. We try to stick to our brand pillars of “shopping, bites + brews, arts + craft, neighbors (both human and not), hidden gems, happenings (events) and move it (fitness/transportation)” for our photos. If people tag us in things that fall under those categories, we save them and try to fit them into our social media calendar. People might see their photos with a cred in our feed!

Whose social media do you admire? (locally or nationally)

So many! 

@railtrailclt – We love the Rail Trail

@neilshea13 – Outstanding story telling and photos

@GirlTribeCo – For engagement being true to life

@NotJustCoffee – Beauty, brand and afternoon caffeine fix

@LincolnsHaberdashery – Food photography and owning their weirdness

@CraftGrowlerShop – Cheese boards

@CampNorthEnd – Varian helped get the South End CLT social handles launched

Anything else to share?

Check out the blog on our website. We actively curate and create South End stories like guides to exploring the neighborhood or the story behind public art you see every day and everything in between. The link is in our bio and we encourage everyone to explore. If anyone has ideas for stories, they can always DM us – we can’t promise we’ll get to every idea, but if certain themes keep popping up, you will likely see it in a post!

Meet SG, The Anonymous And Endlessly Positive Dude Behind @Supportiveguy 

Instagram Handle:

@supportiveguy

Twitter:

@supportivedude

Website:

The Supportive Minute

Brand:

Supportive Guy 

What’s the purpose of your brand?

To spread positivity and whimsy in hopes of creating an internet community that is truly glad online.

How long have you worked with/on your current brand?

1-3 years

How many people are on your team?

Technically just me, but my reach would be nowhere near as extensive without the help of the folks at Sports Channel 8 and The Charlotte Podcast. Also my wife, Supportive Bae, produces The Supportive Minute and is my trusted consigliere.

How do you adapt your account to popular/trending themes?

Current meme templates give me something with which to apply the SG persona. I do a tongue-in-cheek “sponsor” at the beginning of each episode of The Supportive Minute. Trending topics give me a source to draw from. Whether it be emotional support peacocks, avocado toast, or what have you.

Tell us about the craziest mention you have ever received or conversation you’ve been pulled into…

A couple of years ago my account was featured as a human interest piece. It was a fun experience and in the midst of it word of my account reached Monica Lewinsky. She tweeted me her support. Obviously she’s dealt with a lot over the years and I admire her a great deal. She dedicates a lot of her time to fighting cyber bullying and she’s doing great work there.

What do you wish people knew about your role/account/brand?

For most of who aren’t in the public eye, it’s easy to have fun with social media and it can be a great, rewarding experience. Most of the time you can curate your experience to be enjoyable and genuinely connect with people. I see people who are down on social media a lot and I get it, but in most cases you can make it work for you as a positive vehicle to connect with people who share your sensibilities and interests.

Whose social media do you admire? (locally or nationally)

There are so many social media accounts I love. Locally, the first person that comes to mind is Michael Felder (@InTheBleachers on Twitter, @ItsFelder on Instagram). He can literally live-tweet a trip to the hardware store and have me captivated. His Instagram is completely different from his Twitter, but no less engaging. I just try not look at it on an empty stomach. Another thing I admire about him is that he will reply to anyone. As long as you’re respectful, he’ll have a conversation with you about anything. Oh, and he’s also really good at his actual job.

Nationally, I love Shea Serrano. He has a perfect blend of humor and supportiveness. He’s one of the gold standards for Twitter accounts.

Anything else to share?

Thank you for protecting my anonymity. That’s still the first time anyone has seen any part of my face. I moisturized my t-zone for weeks leading up to that photo.

Thank you for including me alongside so many awesome folks. You and your team have the industriousness of a family of beavers that has undergone extensive beaver training.