Capital at Play July 2017 by Capital at Play Magazine

The Sharing Economy

Ben Matchar & Kris Hartrum

Local Industry p.36

Talking Book p.16

Western North Carolina's Free Spirit of Enterprise

colu m ns

Gardening Summer Doldrums p.28 Data Breach: Technology & Protection p.44 King of Grapes p. 64

Song l e i s u r e & l i b at i o n

Summer OF

p. 50

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y the time you read this, we’ll be in the thick of summer—vacation looms, right? (Technically speaking, when you publish a monthly magazine, you don’t really get to “take a vacation”; it’s more a situation of “grabbing a block of days as you can,” in between the copy, advertising, production, and printer deadlines that loom each month like clockwork. But I digress.) As a child, I loved the beach and mountain vacations my parents would take my brother and me on, but as I look back now, I think the trips I most looked forward to were the ones we took to lakes, in particular a small family lake called Welika (that’s right; look it up), along with a place that some of our cousins kept at the much larger White Lake. In my mind I can still see the big screened-in porch, kitted out in rockers and day beds, overlooking the Welika water, where several rowboats would await us and our fishing rods down at the small wooden dock. Maybe a floating dock out in the middle, too, so we could practice our swimming and diving skills. And unlike the crashing waves and shifting tides of the ocean, the lake’s waters were inherently more placid and peaceful, and you could also take a leisurely walk in a circle around the perimeter, maybe over to where the rope swing beckoned. On those lake vacations, time seemed to slow down and even stand still if you were a kid. Maybe if you were a parent as well. This month’s Leisure & Libation feature, about the small mountain lakes that dot Western North Carolina, is dedicated to those lazy summer lakeside days of childhood. I hope that after you read the feature you’ll be inspired to plot out a little getaway of your own. There are so many options in this region, and they’re all in easy driving distance. On a totally separate, but not altogether unrelated, matter, our Local Industry feature in this issue is a look at what’s known as the Sharing Economy. Ride services such as Uber and Lyft have been in the news quite a bit recently, as has short-term rental service Airbnb. The latter, in particular, is a hot topic in Western North Carolina—to a lot of folks in Asheville, perhaps hot button topic—because of its impact upon and implications for the regional tourism industry. We’re not here to take sides, only to report on a significant sector of our economy, and hopefully to draw some sober conclusions. In fact, just a few months ago I was having a lengthy discussion with a good friend who lives just outside the city limits of Asheville, which does not permit shortterm rentals, in Buncombe County, which does. He was in the process of building a small cottage in his back yard for the express purpose of listing it with Airbnb and supplementing his income, and as I write this, he’s just completed his second weekend as a host. “Hey,” he said to me, during that earlier conversation, “summer will be here before you know it. A lot of folks will be coming to the mountains—and they’ll be looking for places to stay.” I sure couldn’t argue with that logic.

Sincerely,

Fred Mills

| July 2017

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Information & Inquiries Capital at Play is Western North Carolina’s business lifestyle magazine. It embodies the idea that capitalism thrives with creativity—that work requires an element of play. Exploring everything from local industry to the great outdoors, Capital at Play is inspiration for the modern entrepreneur. In every edition, we profile those who take the risk, those who share that risk, and those who support them—telling the untold story of how capitalists are driven by their ideas and passions. We cater to those who see the world with curiosity, wonderment, and a thirst for knowledge. We present information and entertainment that capitalists want, all in one location. We are the free spirit of enterprise.

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thi s page : INSIDE THE BOOTH at Talking Book. photo by Anthony Harden on the cover : A BOAT OUT on Lake Toxaway. photo courtesy Lake Toxaway Company

F E AT U R E D vol. vii

ed. vii

READERâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S CHOICE BEN MATCHAR & KRIS HARTRUM

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Ascend Adventure Wellness Tessa Lauren

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nsight

ROBIN FANN-COSTANZO & COREY COSTANZO

photo by Taylor Taz Johnson

Floating A New Idea

With Still Point Wellness, Corey Costanzo and Robin Fann-Costanzo created an entirely unique spa experience.

till Point Wellness, located just north of downtown Asheville, introduced a new wellness spa concept to the region in 2012, salt water sensory deprivation flotation chambers, and has been gaining converts since. Owners Corey Costanzo (LMBT, LCAS, somatic therapist) and Robin FannCostanzo (LMBT, RYT, yoga therapist and teacher, massage educator) had moved to the North Carolina mountains from Big Sur, California, where they had been living at the famed Esalen Institute for a combined 25 years. They wanted to bring Esalen massage techniques to the East Coast and sensed that Asheville would be particularly receptive. The Costanzos initially established their practice out of their home. Then, as Corey recalls, “we were approached by an entrepreneur friend to run his new floatation spa that had not yet gotten off the ground. After my second float, I quickly recognized the incredible synergy of the work that Robin and I had been doing with the float tank and its possibility to help people work through mental and physical blocks, heal pain through deep relaxation, and enjoy life in a deeper and more meaningful way.” The spa’s salt water floatation tank is a 6’ x 8’ chamber filled with 12 inches of water that has had 12

| July 2017

1,000 pounds of Epsom salts mixed in, thereby facilitating an individual gently floating on the water in total darkness. The combined weightlessness and sensory isolation results in pure, undisturbed tranquility for the duration of the 90-minute session, and reports of experiences range from profound endorphin highs and colorful mental visuals, to ultra-relaxed dreamlike states and deeply spiritual feelings of self-awareness. Saltwater floatation is not the only offering at Still Point, however; services include Esalen massage, somatic psychology, cranial sacral therapy, massage workshops, and private yoga therapy, and there’s a full staff of spa coordinators and trained massage therapists. “Our unique blend of Esalen philosophy, massage, psychology, and mindfulness education is what sets us apart,” Corey explains. “Everything we offer at the spa has the simple focus of bringing relaxation and ease into someone’s life. The float tank is an effective tool for anyone to unplug from the stresses of the modern world and easily learn the skill of relaxing the mind and body. Esalen massage is a profound form of massage that brings awareness to the mind and body patterns that are causing distress to the body. Somatic psychology is a way to dive deeper into shifting away

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from patterns, behavioral, and mental habits that aren’t working anymore. Our carefully chosen modalities offer access to the body’s innate mechanisms of wellness.” In recent years, floating-as-therapy has been garnering more and more mainstream attention as professional athletes, CEOs, and celebrities have testified to its effectiveness. Actress Kristen Wiig was in Asheville a few years ago and visited Still Point, and she subsequently went on to describe

“Our carefully chosen modalities offer access to the body’s innate mechanisms of wellness.”

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the experience on David Letterman’s show. (Corey: “Immediately after that, we saw a substantial increase in people interested in floating.”) In 2016 the term “sensory deprivation” was even a Jeopardy! answer, and the show flashed a photo of Still Point’s tank to illustrate the concept. It’s all been immensely gratifying for the Costanzos from both a business and aesthetic-philosophical standpoint, and they not only have been able to extend their hours to be open seven days a week and most nights until midnight, they are currently in the process of searching for a second location in Asheville. “Whether someone wants to be free from pain, or simply curious about what the floating craze is all about, people are floating,” says Corey. “The float tank has been [embraced] by people from all walks of life. It crosses the generational gap, and we are lucky to usher people into a space of deep relaxation.”

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insight

Confidence, Clarity, Purpose Relationship coach Dominey Drew wants to show how the art of attraction truly works.

ife, as the saying goes, is a journey, with all the accompanying unexpected twists, tangents, diversions, even U-turns. It can be an exhausting journey, too. Certain people, however, learn to maintain a particular vision or ideal—intuition, perhaps—from which they derive their strength. Asheville’s Dominey Phipps Drew would probably count herself among that group. “I have studied the spiritual world and personal development world for nearly 15 years,” says Drew. “Four years of that time I spent attending a highly intensive energy healing school, which taught me to DOMINEY DREW perceive energy dynamics that are constantly operating between people. From the first day I began the work, I knew I wanted to teach it.” To that end, since 2010 she has also operated as a relationship and intimacy coach, most recently designing a new online course, Art of Attraction (www.DomineyDrew. com), an eight-week-intensive program intended to help single men understand how they are selfsabotaging and teach them to “get out of their own way” in order to attract a life partner. “I am passionate about creating a safe space for people to explore and embrace the deeper, darker sides of themselves,” she explains. “Choosing to focus on intimacy was the easy part—I love sexual energy. I am drawn to it in all its forms, not just sex and relationships, but dating, f lirting, attraction, seduction, suggestion… It is a deep, rich area full of life force and pleasure, and profound transformation is possible there. However, it is also very vulnerable, and we often shut down this part of ourselves.” This dysfunction has its roots in childhood, when people form deep-seated beliefs that continue to operate within them as they grow older. “Uncovering and releasing these unconscious beliefs takes you off of autopilot,” maintains Drew. “It puts you back in the driver’s seat of your own life. This applies not only to sex and relationships, but to every area of your life. It’s 14

| July 2017

powerful work and the effects are far wider-reaching than just relationships, but I have designed a program specifically for those who are over the dating scene and are ready to do the self-work to attract someone they connect with deeply.” The social/cultural environment of Asheville, of course, is an ideal one for personal and relationship coaches. But Drew is the first to admit that it can be hard to communicate with precision what she does without raising the occasional eyebrow. (“I have tried to open this practice in one form or another for about eight years, with mediocre results. I just wasn’t able to clarify my message satisfactorily.”) There simply are not that many who combine the sexual with the spiritual; psychologists and coaches typically work on one or the other level, not both at once. Her approach is to operate concurrently o n mu lt ip l e l eve l s — m e nt a l , psychological, emotional, spiritual, physical—in order to achieve results far faster than traditional therapy. “The real benefit of this work is that you uncover, explore, and embrace the dark areas of your mind, body, and spirit. Doing so creates and deepens intimacy with yourself, with another person, and with the Divine—whatever your experience of the Divine is. The name doesn’t matter; it’s that deep connection with something greater that links us all. However, a lot of the results and benefits are honestly beyond words. They exist on a deeper level.” In addition to offering one-on-one and small group coaching along with her online course, Drew eventually wants to branch out to doing workshops and public speaking, on the local, national, and even international level. “The formation of this practice has been a long time coming,” she concludes. “It is truly my life’s longing to travel the world teaching this transformational work.” The Art of Attraction online: www.DomineyDrew.com.

ROO & TESSA

Sensory Elevation Tessa Lauren of Ascend Adventure Wellness combines hiking in the outdoors with massage in nature.

t goes w ithout saying that Western North Carolina residents and tourists prize the outdoors, not only for its adventure potential but also just for the sheer beauty and comfort. It is probably equally obvious that this region, Asheville in particular, boasts numerous spas and wellness centers, with people eager to promote both their mental and physical well-being. What’s not common, however, is the literal intersection of these two notions. Enter Ascend Adventure Wellness, launched earlier this year by Tessa Lauren as a means of offering allinclusive, rejuvenating experiences that combine hiking in the outdoors with massage in nature. “I believe there is a renewing quality to connecting with nature,” explains Lauren. “When we detach from the hum of constant electronics and take the time to hear the sounds of birds or a bubbling brook, we are renewed in a way that only comes from the outdoors.” Lauren initially began her career with AmeriCorps’s National Civilian Community Cor ps, ser ving on projects in the Southeast. She later worked in Atlanta as an Outward Bound instructor, ultimately moving to Western North Carolina to be a mountain instructor for the North Carolina Outward Bound School; she instructed for both Outward Bound and the American Adventure and Service Corps. “I led students through backpacking, climbing, and white-water canoeing as a means to gain both technical and interpersonal skills,” says Lauren. “Through those programs, students were faced with challenging situations and offered the support to learn to overcome them. “I enjoyed my time teaching those skills to students, and when I changed careers to the wellness industry, my focus changed to find new ways to offer a different experience in nature. I felt that both challenge and nurturing

were important—as a society, we had gotten so great at challenging ourselves outdoors, but there was still room to grow for seeking nature as a restorative source.” To that end, Ascend leads clients on trails featuring mountain views (memo to self: bring camera), waterfalls, and the intimacy of forest settings; provides a picnic lunch; and then finishes the day with spa treatments customized to the clients’ wishes. (A strong protective canopy is brought in case the weather turns unpredictable outdoors.) It should also be noted that the trips are intended as “day-cations” for adults; currently, only clients 18 and older are eligible. As the photos accompanying this article clearly suggest, the Ascend experience is considerably different from that of the usual indoor spa setting. Lauren is quick to point out that, as Ascend occupies a very unique niche, educating the public about what her business offers can be a challenge, at least initially. “Because this business is truly one of a kind, it has been challenging to work within certain industry standards. We are not just the spa industry or the outdoor industry—we are both. So sometimes we have to think outside the box on certain business related needs.” “Our immediate plans,” she continues, “are to build a solid product our clients will absolutely adore. We are a small company by choice, and would like to always provide the highest quality experience to our clients. Moving forward, we are researching overnight trips, as well as Adventure Wellness trips abroad. “Everyone we have spoken to has been very supportive and excited about what we are doing. We often hear, ‘I can’t believe that didn’t exist already! I want to go!’” Pull on your hiking shoes and get ready to head outdoors! For more info on bookings, rates, and FAQs, visit Ascend at AscendAdventurewellness.com. July 2017 | capitalatplay.com

KRIS HARTRUM, BEN MATCHAR , & DAVE BURR in their acoustical booth

| July 2017

written by jim murphy photos by anthony harden

Readerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Choice With their company Talking Book, Ben Matchar and Kris Hartrum are on track to become the audiobook industry equivalent of indie rock stars.

July 2017 | capitalatplay.com

It began with the spoken word.

efore long, words evolved into sentences, and sentences grew into stories. As the stories became longer, the storytellers began notating them on clay tablets. Eventually, paper was invented, and then ink, and a couple of millennia later, a hand-written Latin manuscript called The Book of Kells made its appearance. Fast forward another 600 years to 1450, when Johannes Gutenberg invented moveable type: People learned to read; books began to circulate. By 1830 paperbacks made their appearance, and books were everywhere. As technology moved on, the tape recorder opened a new frontier. Books moved onto tape, onto compact discs, and finally onto digital platforms, where they evolved into electronic impulses: no pages to turn, nothing to touch, nothing to see. We had returned—finally—to the spoken word. And that brings us to Asheville, where a young company is busily publishing digital books for a young audience born and raised in a digital age. Talking Book is the brainchild of Ben Matchar, a 32-yearold entrepreneur with a creative streak and a liberal arts degree from Bennington College in Vermont. As a student of dramatic arts, he took his degree and his ambition to Hollywood, where he managed to get some work in television and film productions—and where he discovered the relatively new field of digital audiobooks. He realized that producing a 18

| July 2017

digital voice recording was a lot simpler—and cheaper—than trying to make a video, so he established himself as a freelance producer, recording books for publishers and audio production companies. By the time he was ready to leave Los Angeles, he had produced 50 audiobooks and was ready to do more. Asheville beckoned for both its creative buzz and its affordability. “I had gone to UNC Asheville for my first semester in college,” he says. “I felt connected to the area. I saw it as kind of an up and coming town—on the verge, so to speak— and that’s how I felt things were for my business at the time.” Ben arrived in 2014, initially establishing himself under the name Spoken Word, and picked up where he had left off in Los Angeles. He continued to produce audiobooks under contracts with production companies—but soon his business began its own slow process of evolution.

Enter Kris Hartrum. Kris is a partner in Talking Book, but his route to audio production is even longer and more twisted than Ben’s. After he graduated from Appalachian State, Kris gravitated to Japan, where he lived “for most of my twenties.” He pursued a variety of

careers, including “teaching and writing about mixed martial arts and kick boxing for American magazines. I also started a literary community and a magazine.” Now Kris smiles at the recollection of his years in Japan and in his, quiet, offhand manner he adds, “and during lean periods I tended bar.” Years in Tokyo, Nagoya, and then in New York City left him “just a bit exhausted of constantly moving around, and I wanted to get back to a more relaxed North Carolina existence. While he was a student at Appalachian State, among his friends was Dani Harris. During his year in New York, they reconnected, took a previously platonic relationship in a more romantic direction, and by the beginning of 2015, they had moved to Asheville. Now he’s sitting on a sofa in his Asheville living room, leaning back, relaxed, wearing a baseball cap and T-shirt. Dani is keeping their 2½-year old son, Max, quiet in another room. (Max was too shy to say hello to the visitor, but he happily offered an enthusiastic high five.) By the kind of coincidence that nudges evolutionary change, Ben and Kris both happened to sign up for an acting class in Black Mountain. Neither of them had any grand ambitions as an actor, but the class attracted their creative impulses—and it was something to do on Wednesday nights. Kris explains that one night, Ben needed a ride to the class. “I picked him up. We started talking. He said, ‘I have an audiobook production company.’ I thought, ‘Aha. I like audiobooks.’” Ben grins at the memory and shakes his head as Kris continues. “My mind was churning. This could be a cool intro into the publishing game. Because there’s all kinds of cool people who know a hell of a lot about books and writing who were starting as independent publishers, but I couldn’t think of anyone who was doing something weird and cool like that in audio, which I knew from news articles was the fastest growing format in publishing. So I started working with him.” Spoken Word was still producing books on contract, but Ben and Kris also began talking about expanding their role into a full-service audio publishing house. Sign up authors and publishers, turn their printed books into audio productions, and release the audio versions on websites such as Amazon, iTunes, Audible, Audiobooks.com, and Downpour, among others. Kris says they now work with as many as 12 to 15 distributors on any given book.

BEN MATCHAR

KRIS HARTRUM

These two liberal arts, creative types were playing with the idea of launching a serious business—with no real business experience. They recognized that condition as a tried-andtrue formula for bankruptcy, so they registered for a class in entrepreneurship through area nonprofit Venture Asheville, which connects startup entrepreneurs with experienced mentors to help them navigate the real-world hazards and unanticipated complications of running a business. July 2017 | capitalatplay.com 19

(ABOVE) Recording narration track in Adobe Audition. Also in photo: audio inter face and talk-back mic. (RIGHT ) Acclaimed Asheville-based poet Nickole Brown reads from her for thcoming audiobook Fanny Says, originally published in 2015.

Enter Jeremy Purbrick. Jeremy is a successful entrepreneur in the tech industry who came to North Carolina from England via Canada and who connected with the duo via Venture Asheville. “They were one of the first companies I worked with,” Jeremy says. “What struck me about Ben and Kris was the thoughtful way they approached their business [and] the flair they showed for various detailed publication and promotional ideas. But what struck me most was the way the two of them worked together. I thought back to my partners at their age, and we were nowhere near as good as they are at working together.” Jeremy worked with them as a mentor, and as the decision to evolve the business became more viable, he joined the company as a principal. His role, as he puts it, was to be “the voice on Ben’s shoulder. There are thousands of distractions in starting a business, and because of my experience I was able to remind him to stick to his vision.” 20

| July 2017

Ben and Kris both say they feel a deeper comfort level in facing their new challenges, knowing they have Jeremy as a seasoned backstop. Ben smiles at the recollection of the meeting they had to discuss a business plan. “Jeremy expected me to have that ready to go,” he recalls, “but I had nothing on paper. He said, ‘We’re going to sit down and make a real plan,’ and it took us about three weeks. He kept us focused, and by the time we finished, it had everything from projections on sales and profit to every line item in the budget.”

Enter Dave Burr. Sitting across from Ben is the fourth member of the company, the essential hands-on participant: the audio engineer. A selftaught techie who records and edits the productions, Dave is responsible for making the book sound like the author

wrote it. When asked about the engineer’s challenge, his conversation quickly goes into professional jargon. “Using various plug-ins, qc-ing it (quality control), compressing the sound…” The words cascade out as Dave loses himself in the intricacies of his craft: “Is the narrator too soft-spoken or too dynamic? You have to watch that it doesn’t go too far. I try to find the narrator’s reading level. Does he have too little pauses or too long pauses? I fix that kind of thing in post (production). Then you gotta lay in the music. The editing system we use is Adobe Audition. As the narrator records a book, I’m listening, and in my head, I’m thinking, ‘At some time this has to become an audiobook that someone wants to listen to.’ We take care of that in the editing.” By the end of last year, they had the elements in place to make the leap from simple production facility to full-fledged studio, buying books, producing the audio versions, and marketing them to the major distribution websites. Ben Matchar’s little

Spoken Word company was ready to change its name and evolve into Talking Book.

The secret ingredient to their venture was Ben’s vision of a company specializing in what he calls “edgy” authors, the alternative, trail-blazing writers working with independent publishers to reach audiences that fall outside the mainstream. Ben sees Talking Book as appealing to a niche market of “twenty-somethings trying to adjust,” and he returns to that word, “edgy,” to describe the kind of writers they are seeking. Kris describes their niche in terms of the overall audio market. “There are many large audiobook publishers—Recorded Books, AudioBooks.com, Audible Studios. What they do is they buy very large, sweeping chunks of all books being published. What we’re doing is finding the coolest, most interesting publishers, July 2017 | capitalatplay.com

the small independents that have a very literary focused angle. The reason we’ve been collaborating with them is not only because our missions are similar, but also because our business models line up.” As an example he points to Darcie Wilder, whose day job is writing for the MTV News Twitter and Instagram accounts. She has more than 70,000 Twitter followers, which, in itself, is a great start for marketing her novel, entitled in lower-case, literally show me a healthy person. Ben and Kris can’t hide their enthusiasm for Darcie. She’s one of those “trailblazing young writers who are changing the way stories are told,” Kris says. Ben adds a personal note. “I’m realizing the dream of collaborating with artists who are doing things that excite me.” (A roster of their authors and titles is listed on the company website, TheTalkingBooks.com.) In pursuit of that alternative vision, Talking Book has also acquired the rights to works by big-name authors who are now dated but were once considered the avant-garde revolutionaries of the lit world. They are producing two erotic novels by Anais Nin, along with works by Henry Miller, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Arthur Rimbaud, and Brazilian novelist Clarice Lispector.

New Directions, a renowned independent publishing house founded in 1936 by James Laughlin, who published early works by Ezra Pound, William Carlos Williams, Tennessee Williams, and many more. “The catalog has about 1,000 books that never made it to audio,” Ben says. “We’re in talks to produce dozens of them, and we’ve already struck a deal for the first eight.” Ben and Kris are aware that other audio producers are plowing the same field. “As time goes by and audiobooks become more popular, we have to stay ahead of the curve and get things before everybody dives in,” Ben says. “We’re looking for titles where the competition would want to get in but hasn’t gotten there yet.” The early authors represent a classic niche within Talking Book’s broader niche, and it is a potentially lucrative area both Ben and Kris intend to pursue. But it does come with a small drawback. Those earlier works are, as Ben puts it, “not quite as much fun because we don’t get to meet the author. It’s really exciting to get to work with the artist. We miss out on that with those earlier authors.” Sitting on the coffee table in Kris’ living room is an open book, The Setting Sun, by Japanese novelist

“As time goes by and audiobooks become more popular, we have to stay ahead of the curve and get things before everybody dives in,” Ben says. “We’re looking for titles where the competition would want to get in but hasn’t gotten there yet.” “The reason we’re also focusing on those writers,” Kris says, “is because for their time, they were those people, the revolutionary writers. They were thought of as experimental, insane people, but they obviously helped change the game back then. Those books have never been in audio, so we’re tipping the hat to those writers who were trailblazers back in the day.” The trail to those early trailblazers brought them to the Anais Nin Foundation, where they secured the rights to A Spy in the House of Love (first published in 1954) and Little Birds (which appeared posthumously, in 1979), and to the back catalog of 22

| July 2017

Osamu Dazai, originally published in 1947. He’s reading the book as a possible addition to the Talking Book repertoire. When he considers the challenge of reading the enormous volume of books the company is considering, he admits, “Dani helps, and sometimes I even outsource a book to some of my readerly friends.” He gestures to a tall bookcase crammed with volumes that he’s considering. “I’m always reading—and I love it,” he says. Ben sees his company as a prime audio vehicle for that alternative market. His short-term ambition? “That all the

Just think of us as the company lifeguard.

Mumbo Jumbo Ben Matchar and Kris Hartrum don’t just oversee the Talking Book audiobook empire—they also helm The Talking Book, an online magazine and, as of last month, a podcast of the same name. At TalkingBook.pub the mission statement is stated quite, er colorfully: “The Talking Book is dedicated to promoting thoughtful discussions on the subjects of literature, art, culture, and the beautiful absurdity of existence. Our small team of contributors, lovers, and drunkards do our best to bring you random-ass thoughts on the state of books, existential dilemmas, audio-lit, dreams, and inter-dimensional travel.” Indeed, recent posts at the site are all over the map, style- and topic-wise, from a commentary by poet Melissa Broder about her latest collection Last Sext, along with a brief reading of the poem “How I Get Over My Life”; to an essay about Hungarian playwright and author Géza Csáth by journalist Sean Kilpatrick; to an excerpt from the novel West Virginia by Joe Halstead. In addition to numerous excerpts and readings, the site also features news, book reviews, interviews, and—as Talking Book describes it—“mumbo jumbo.” You can also scan the company’s Twitter feed. The recently-launched podcast should prove equally interesting to the Talking Book community and for fans of independent publishing in general. The initial installment is a 42-minute reading from a new novel from edgy (and, to some, controversial) indie author Scott McClanahan; at presstime, his new The Sarah Book was slated to appear in print from Tyrant Books and as an audiobook from Talking Book on June 20.

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publishers who are putting out this exciting, trailblazing work know who we are by name, and that people understand that these experimental or literary works are best left in our hands. And the work will speak to that.” As for the long-term, Ben’s dreams are no less ambitious. Looking down the road a few years, he grins at the thought. “We’ll be a household name. The door will be open for all kinds of creative projects. We’ll be involved in new media, other languages, maybe virtual reality. Our goal is to stay on the edge. That’s what keeps me excited.” He sees the gateway to the dream already swinging open: “We’ve seen some movement with authors who are requesting us.” Today, Ben is wearing a short-sleeve T-shirt, and showing beneath the left sleeve is the bottom of a tattoo that looks like musical notes wrapped around his arm. Music notes? His voice grows quieter, reaching a shy, almost embarrassed tone. “I play classical piano,” he says. “The tattoo is Beethoven’s 7th Symphony, the second movement. It’s a funeral dirge.” A funeral dirge tattoo? His response maintains the somber tone of the conversation. “It’s a commemoration for a friend who died as a kid.”

At this point, less than a year into this latest stage of evolution, Ben and Kris sound optimistic, even somewhat confident that they’re on the right track. But at the beginning, the evolution was laden with anxiety. “Oh yeah,” Ben says. “It took me two months and a lot of heartache to shift the focus of the company.” He can smile now at his worries, but they still remain a vivid memory. “The start of 2017 was the moment of tension,” he continues. “Running sales, marketing, and developing the website, in addition to acquiring the books and producing the audio, we had to devote full-time to the new projects. We didn’t have time to continue doing projects for other producers. It was hard for me to let go of something I’d worked on for two years. And it wasn’t clear how we were financially going to do it. We had to commit, and that was a difficult choice. I had a constant headache for a month. I was in a lot of agony about that decision.” Ben was worried about raising the money to acquire the rights to marketable titles, but he had the experience and know-how of his mentor, Jeremy, to guide him through. They set about looking for backers. “Our first investor was another entrepreneur in the Elevate program,” Ben says. “Jeremy was one of the early investors and helped get the ball rolling.” They ultimately raised $100,000 from nine investors. With part of that money, they sent Kris to New York to acquire some books. Sitting in his living room, Kris loses his laid-back attitude, rolling into a fast-paced monologue as he recalls those early meetings. 24

| July 2017

BEN GIVING Nickole direction on her reading.

“The most shocking thing is how receptive people have been. Like, I remember the first time I’m sitting with some of these publishers that I’ve been reading their books since I was a kid, and I’m just star-struck, and why in the hell do I deserve to be sitting here. But just how receptive they’ve been, how welcoming, how interested they are in a slightly new retake on the way things are done—how quickly it’s moved has been the most surprising thing.” He pauses for a breath, glances around the room, and returns to his rapid-fire thoughts. “When you’re the new kid on the block, the rookie, there’s an element of intimidation, there’s an element of, do I know what the hell I’m talking about, are they buying this bullshit that’s coming out of my mouth? But my policy has been extreme honesty, explaining to these people, like we haven’t been doing this for super long, please give me any tips that you think I need. I’ve been very, very open about that. And I think that’s one of the reasons we’ve been successful so far.” To Kris and Ben, and to their mentor/partner, Jeremy, “successful so far” can be measured in their production numbers. By early summer 2016, they had 25 titles in some level of production.

“We’ve gone from two books to 12 books a month in just the past two months”, Kris says. “We had a meeting about that yesterday, about how are we going to make more books without losing part of who we are. That’s an ongoing challenge, but it’s all about balance. Where that balance is, we’re still trying to figure out. But it’s kind of a good problem to have.” The “good problem” is keeping the Talking Book studio running in high gear. Between authors reading their own works and outside narrators adding to the output, the studio is a busy place—despite its location in Asheville, 700 miles from the publishing houses of New York City. Kris says the distance has not hindered their operation; in fact, it may even be helping. “I think Asheville has been a big part of our brand and our image so far. The amount of people who are coming here to us to record to get this intimate experience and see the city and hang out with us, that’s changing in a good way. I just got off the phone with an author the other day. I said, ‘Either I can come to New York and we can work in a studio there, or you can come to Asheville and we’ll hang out.’ He said, ‘No question. I’ll come to Asheville.’ The kind of relaxed mentality July 2017 | capitalatplay.com 25

of what we’re trying to do is very much part of the culture here. I think its part of our DNA.” One of the authors who came here to record his novel is acclaimed “indie-lit” star Scott McClanahan, who spent what he calls “two long weekends” recording his new, semi-autobiographical The Sarah Book. A resident of West

“We’ve always had independent bookstores. Now we need to have independent audio publishers.” Virginia, Scott says he had previously visited Asheville “six or seven times, and I always enjoyed it there.” Despite the heavy workload, he says he had a good time doing the narration. “It was nice getting to know the guys and hang out. They’re super personable. It could have been a nightmare scenario, but it was something I really enjoyed. It was nice.”

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Scott sees independent audiobooks as part of a bigger picture. “The important thing is independent literature has been around forever, but in the course of the last ten or fifteen years, it’s really grown, thanks to the internet. We’ve always had independent bookstores. Now we need to have independent audio publishers.”

The Talking Book studio does have the unpretentious feel of an independent publisher. It occupies a two-bedroom apartment on the edge of downtown Asheville. In an arrangement that seems deceptively simple, one of the bedrooms is outfitted with an acoustical announcer’s booth in one corner, and a sound engineer’s station along the opposite wall. It is a far simpler tech operation than one might imagine. A comfortable couch comes in handy for the many hours spent listening to narrators. A metal shelf unit contains a framed cover of Clancy Martin’s Bad Sex, one of their books, plus stacks of papers and magazines (a copy of Variety is visible on top), an electric household drill, and a vinyl record turntable. The repurposed bedroom strikes a visitor as primitive, but this configuration is a major

improvement of the original set-up, which used the small bedroom closet as the speaker’s booth. The new acoustical booth is a snug enclosure equipped with a chair, a microphone, and a stand for an iPad that contains the copy. Manufactured by a Tennessee company called WhisperRoom, the booth is made of fiberboard and lined with acoustical foam. Prices start at around $4,000. The other component of the booth is the microphone itself, a Neumann U 87, a professional-grade instrument that currently retails new between $3,200 and $3,600. “We bought it used,” says Dave Burr. “Got a great deal.” On a recent Tuesday afternoon, two candidates—a man and a woman—came in to audition as readers. Ben conducted a short interview, they filled out a rudimentary form, then Dave gave them some audition copy to read and set them up in the booth. Ben explains, “We’re looking to build a talent pool of local readers. We’re looking for people who can massage their reading, who can evoke an emotional performance. Then we work with the composer to weave in the music.” The woman, Kim Wilde, steps into the booth. Dave tests her voice for volume levels, everyone agrees that they’re ready to go, Ben closes the booth door, and she begins to read. Her voice translates to dancing images on Dave’s computer screen as it translates her inflections and her

pauses into a visible graph, looking somewhat like an EKG on steroids. She finishes her reading. Ben and Dave seem happy with her performance. “I’ll play it back for you,” Dave says. They all stand there, staring into space as they listen to the playback. It sounds fine, and Kim seems satisfied. It appears Talking Book’s talent pool has added another narrator. The next audition is David MacDonald, an actor with several television credits. He follows the same routine, sitting down in the booth and reading his script, a selection from Arthur Rimbaud’s A Season in Hell. As he reads, Ben is taking cell phone pictures through the window in the booth door. Ben and Dave like his reading, and after he leaves they agree: “This was a good day.”

Sitting in an Asheville coffee bar sometime later, Ben reflects on the evolution that got him here and smiles at the question: If someone had predicted all this five years ago, your reaction? “I would have said, ‘I can’t wait.’” The smile becomes just a shade reflective. “It’s been a long road to get here, but we’re really in a great place now.”

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column

Summer Doldrums

Yes, it’s July, and yes, it’s miserably hot to be working in the garden. But don’t quit now—the payoff is coming.

J C

cinthia milner

is a garden coach at B.B. Barns Garden Center & Landscaping Services in Arden, NC.

U LY I S T H E M ON T H I W I SH I W E R E

a plant whisperer. As I gaze upon my over-planted, over-grown, jungle of a garden, I want to say to the irises, now popped up everywhere, “For Pete’s sake, divide and consolidate yourselves, please.” That crape myrtle, crammed three feet from the house, would politely follow my direction to lumber, Lord of the Rings style, to the western side of the house where space is plenty, and its arching branches could arch away.

The climbing roses that missed their pruning in early June would untangle, cane by cane from each other, and present themselves to my Felcos. Such lovely thoughts, but they aren’t getting the work done. As the garden coach, I’m nudging you back outside. Yes, it’s July. Yes, it is miserably hot. But don’t give up—the payoff is coming. Grab pruners, trowel, sunscreen, and beverage, and head outdoors.

July Task #1: Review the Garden The garden is in full swing now, making it a perfect time to evaluate what needs transplanting, consolidated, pruned, rejevenuated, or completely removed. Plants, unlike furniture, aren’t one and done. Landscapes evolve. Typically, the longer you live in your home, the shadier your landscape becomes. Trees grow, new homes are constructed next door, and neighbors plant trees on the lot lines, changing garden exposure from full sun to shade. Of course, the opposite can happen, as well. A shady spot becomes a sunny one when unexpected storms blow through. | July 2017

Tour the garden with a fresh set of eyes and a notepad. Develop a critieria to determine what needs to go, what can stay, and if there’s room for transplanting. Ask yourself: Are the roses leggy because they’re reaching for sunlight? Did the coneflowers and black eyed Susans quit blooming because the dogwood grew? Make a note, or better yet, flag what plants need moving where, come fall or spring. (Rule of thumb: Spring and early summer perennials, transplant in fall; late summer and fall perennials, transplant in spring. Move decidious shrubs during their dormant season and evergreen shrubs in early spring.) Study the shrubs. Those foundation shrubs you planted ten years ago: Are they eating the house? Are the gold mop threadleaf cypress that started out so cute, now devouring your weeping Japanese maple? Does the garden have the polka-dot look? One of everything, but nothing makes a statement? The garden is not the place for sentiment. Be ruthless. Make the cut. (Unless that peony belonged

C to grandma, then out it goes.) The plants you leave behind will be healthier and that Japanese maple will finally be the focal point you want it to be. You’ll be surprised how much lighter the landscape, and you, will feel. Too many plants crowded together is bad for the plants, and this also gives your landscape a heavy, cluttered, and outdated look. When you begin to add back (judiciously), do so with the concept of unifying the garden. Repetition, planting in threes and fives, and designing with sweeps of color help create a more designed look than one of everything. Pruning is a late spring, early winter chore, but it can be done now to get plants under control, remembering not to cut more than 1/3 of the plant at a time. Rejuvenation pruning, which is cutting the plant back to the ground (18”) to encourage new, vigorous growth (in essence, it’s like getting a new shrub), is done in late fall or early spring. Shrubs that respond well to this are rhododendrons, azaleas, spirea, abelia, lilac, forsythia, and weigela.

WEEDS COMPETE FOR WATER AND NUTRIENTS, SO THEY HAVE TO GO. STAYING AHEAD OF WEEDS IN JULY IS A DAUNTING TASK, BUT THE GOOD THING IS, THEY ’RE IDENTIFIABLE. Lastly, consider calling a certified arborist for a report on your trees. Is the one leaning toward the house a real hazard, or can it stay a few more years? As difficult as it is to watch an old tree come down, the dangers of not doing so are far worse.

July Task #2: Weeding and Watering While you’re reviewing the garden, don’t forget that weeding and watering are essential to the health of your plants. Weeds compete for water and nutrients, so they have to go. Staying ahead of weeds in July is a daunting task, but the good thing is, they’re identifiable. In early spring we don’t always know if it’s a weed or a plant we planted. Weed identification is as helpful in your garden as plant identification. Knowing your enemy, and all that. There are several online sites that provide information and thumbnail pictures. Start with Rutger’s New Jersey Weed Gallery. If you’re escpecially ambitious, try the book Weeds of North America, by France Royer and Richard Dickinson. Be sure to remove weeds before seed heads form, to keep them from sowing seed for next season’s crop. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. (Sorry, the clichés are just flowing.) July 2017 | capitalatplay.com 29

column

July Task #3: Start Your Fall Vegetable Garden

MAINSTAGE • JUL. 7 - 22

Summer solstice is our cue to start planning the fall vegetable garden. That may seem early for fall plantings, but many seeds need to go in the ground mid-July to early August, since our average first frost date is October 23, and most seeds have a 60-80 day maturity rate. Planting a fall vegetable garden is similar to the spring garden. Plant vegetables like spinach, radishes, peas, cauliflower, carrots, broccoli, lettuces, Brussels sprouts, kale, and cabbages.

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The good thing about a fall garden is that the weather doesn’t heat up quickly like it does in spring, and lettuces don’t bolt, giving you a longer harvest (assuming we don’t have an early frost). Contact the North Carolina Extension Service for an annual fruit, vegetable, and herb planting guide. It lists dates and maturity times for each plant. It may seem too hot to plant anything in July, but in November when you’re picking Brussels sprouts for the Thanksgiving table, you’ll be glad you did.

July Task #4: Scout for Pests Start scouting for pests and disease. Since it’s July, that’s an easy task. The pests are likely in full view munching on your plants. Try simple methods first for getting rid of them. Japanese beetles? Pick them off and drop them in a bucket of soapy water. Squeamish? Get your kids or the neighbor’s kids to do it. Pay them a penny (or a nickel, if you’re a big spender) for every one they get. Aphids? Wipe leaves down with water and a few drops of dishwashing solution. Save the chemicals for big infestations that would wipe out an investment. Most plant diseases are fungal like powdery mildew (other diseases are bacterial or viral, but home gardeners deal primarily with fungal issues), which is easy enough to remove

DOWNTOWN • JUN. 29 - JUL. 23

Gardens require an inch of water a week. A good rain gauge is helpful, especially in the drier months of summer when afternoon rain showers can be deceiving. It’s good to know exactly how much rain the garden is getting. New plantings should still be watered faithfully, at least twice a week, deeply, so roots will stretch downward. During drought days, three times a week is best, and for smaller annuals and perennials, every other day is good. Don’t forget to water established plants, too. Once a week is good. If you’re planning a new garden bed, consider drought tolerant plants.

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simply by pruning, but a little thought before planting can be the biggest help. Plants need air circulation, so make sure to space them with enough room to grow and not crowd each

LEARN TO LIVE WITH A BIT OF IMPERFECTION IN THE GARDEN. OBVIOUSLY, IF A SHRUB OR TREE IS COMPLETELY DEFOLIATING, MEASURES NEED TO BE TAKEN, BUT A FEW YELLOWING LEAVES OR BUG EATEN BUDS ARE NOT REASON ENOUGH FOR THE CHEMICALS. other. Proper placement of plants is critical, too. If the plant is a full sun plant, planting it in part shade stresses it, making it susceptible to pathogens.

Avoid crowding plants against the foundation of the house. You should be able to walk behind the plants to prune and, again, allow for sunlight and air circulation. If you have irrigation, then making sure the plants are not under the soffits isn’t too crucial; but if you don’t, then it can be crucial if you want to benefit from rainfall. The biggest tip I can give you is to learn to live with a bit of imperfection in the garden. Obviously, if a shrub or tree is completely defoliating, measures need to be taken, but a few yellowing leaves or bug eaten buds are not reason enough for the chemicals. Your garden and the environment will be better off for it.

July Task #5: Go for the Win Yes, we’ve hit the doldrums of summer, and to quote Katharine White (fiction editor and writer at The New Yorker magazine, and wife to E.B. White, of Charlotte’s Web fame), “There is war in the borders”—but the payoffs are coming. Think juicy red tomatoes, sweet bell peppers, and fresh cucumbers in August, anemones and asters in September, and carrots and cabbage in October. The payoff awaits, dear people. Don’t quit now.

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July 2017 | capitalatplay.com

CAROLINA in the

WEST [

news briefs

Who Knew? jackson county

On the evening of May 30, a police chase took place on Main Street in Sylva. The town closed down two-thirds of the road and rerouted traffic, and the police department sent out advance notices. The occasion was the filming of a choreographed demo pitching a new “docu-reality series,” with the working title Wrenchmen. The program would give a behind-the-scenes perspective on what goes into building movie cars. The scene was produced by Mark Zoran, owner of Razorfly Studios, located in nearby Whittier. Razorfly is an award-winning maker of multimedia costumes, replica and custom-order props, and screen-accurate replica movie cars. The film industry uses replicas because, for example, there is no such thing as

| July 2017

]

a time-traveling DeLorean, and nobody wants to buy several DeLoreans for several takes of a crash scene. Razorfly’s work has been featured at comic book conventions and in film and television productions. The company also builds as an original equipment manufacturer and a supplier for private collectors. Jackson County’s Chamber of Commerce looks forward to working on future projects with Zoran and Razorfly, as Sylva has the Americana charm sought by many Hollywood producers (Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri was also shot there last year).

Laser-Focus Training henderson county

Blue Ridge Community College (BRCC) hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony for

the Southeastern Advanced Molding Technology Education Center (SAMTEC). Luminaries present included Carlos Vasto, general manager of Linamar; Michael Edney, chair of the Henderson County Board of Commissioners; Molly Parkhill, president of BRCC; and Will Buie, chair of the Henderson County Partnership for Economic Development. SAMTEC will train Linamar employees in the art of high-pressure die casting to facilitate the company’s production of lightweight aluminum magnesium parts for power trains and other applications. The facility will also provide training for plastic molding for at least a half dozen area factories. SAMTEC was made possible by a $550,000 Economic Catalyst grant from the Golden Leaf Foundation and $80,000 from the North Carolina Community College System Customized Training Program. Georg Fischer, Linamar, and their suppliers donated or provided at a discount most of the program’s equipment, which is valued at over $2 million. Located in the Advanced Technology Building, SAMTEC will draw on the talents of faculty in the mechatronics, computer integrated machining, welding, and engineering technology disciplines. Two faculty members traveled to Austria and Switzerland for specialized training on the equipment.

Denali: A Difficult Climb henderson county

In April Tax Administrator Darlene Burgess told the Henderson County Board of Commissioners there were 77 issues with the software being used for the 2019 revaluation. In an update a month later, she said there were more like 100. The number had increased as staff tried to execute more functions and the company’s onsite project manager discovered more. Burgess told the commissioners she was no longer confident the county could complete a successful 2019 reappraisal with the software, Denali, a product of Farragut Systems. Of the known problems, 32 were designated “critical,” meaning they impacted all or a substantial portion of business operations, and no workaround was available. Fifty were substantial, but with a workaround. After listing a few undoable and questionable tasks, Burgess added several processes not yet having been attempted, like billing, and that, she said, has to be working by August 28. Burgess asked the commissioners if they wanted to continue to work with Farragut to resolve the problems or change vendors immediately. The board agreed to take the advice of County Manager Steve Wyatt and continue with Denali. The

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county’s tax department would then fast-track a corrective action plan that includes revisiting the issue if targets aren’t met. Henderson County has historically performed revaluations every four years, while the state only requires an eight-year interval, so breaking with tradition is an option.

Weed Eater buncombe county

Anheuser-Busch (AB InBev) has purchased Asheville craft brewer Wicked Weed, whose management will continue to run the company as a high-end AB InBev brand. The small brewer of worldclass ales entered the scene four years ago as a small brewpub with 60 employees and grew to a company with four locations and 200 employees. With the opening of its Candler brewery, Wicked Weed’s distribution was sufficient to trigger a state law that required it to use a third-party distributor. Wicked Weed representatives explained the crafter agreed to sell to gain access to better ingredients and wider distribution, “to innovate, push the boundaries, and grow.” Other indie brewers around the country that have been purchased by Anheuser-Busch include Goose Island,

carolina in the west

Breckenridge Brewery, and 10 Barrel Brewing. Wicked Weed’s decision was not without backlash, though. Aficionados of the local craft scene took to social media to scowl at the sellout to “Big Beer,” and some wholesalers said they would no longer carry their brand. Not only was AB InBev part of “the establishment,” some of its marketing campaigns have made fun of the craft beer scene for its delicate pretension. Wicked Weed expects to see an initial dip in sales due to disaffected customers and then recover with new products in more markets. (CaP featured Wicked Weed in our October 2014 issue.)

Why Bands Have Weird Names buncombe county

Following a weeklong trial, a federal jury ruled that Nu U had willfully infringed on the Biltmore Company’s trademark name. Nu U, which owns over 60 bridal and prom dress shops, had used names like Biltmore Bride Prom & Tux, and it had registered multiple web addresses with variations of the Biltmore and Vanderbilt names. Nu U defendants argued branding with a locational identifier was important for business

July 2017 | capitalatplay.com

carolina in the west

and Asheville Bridal had already been taken. The Biltmore Company, however, owns trademarks on names, including Biltmore and Biltmore Estate. It has used those names for more than fifty years. The Biltmore Estate has been a wedding destination, hosting 400 wedding events a year. “Biltmore Brides” is a term girls married on the estate had adopted on social media. Nu U’s use of the name exposed the Biltmore Company to risks for the public to “confuse, mistake, or deceive as to the affiliation, connection, or association.” Biltmore has spent years building an exclusive brand, and were it to allow its trademarks to be eased into the public domain, it would be difficult to win a case against another organization that actually did sully its name. Biltmore was not suing for damages, but only asked for an injunction. The lawsuit was filed in 2015 after Nu U did not comply with a less formal request to stop using the Biltmore name.

Keeping the Logo on a Chalk Bag watauga county

A team of five students from Appalachian State University’s Thomas W. Reese Graphic Arts and Imaging Technology program won the 10th Anniversary Phoenix Challenge College Competition. Teams must choose for their project an industry-relevant flexographic challenge. Appalachian’s students met several hours a week for the entire school year rebranding and marketing Moosepacks chalk bag line. (Moosepacks is a student-owned manual manufacturer of high-end, durable outdoor bags.) Chalk is used by rock climbers, just as it is used by gymnasts, to reduce moisture and improve grip. Students Lorna Galloway, Savannah Cyzick, Sunny Turner, Erin Donohue, and Grant Murry, led by faculty advisor Tom Reeves, worked up a new hang tag and decal label for the challenge. 34

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The competition gave students realworld experience outside the standard college curriculum. Working with an industry-grade flexography system, they learned first-hand what it is like to fidget with and fine-tune the printing process for quality work. They also had to communicate effectively with clients and technical support. This year’s competition was judged by a panel of industry experts at the Annual Flexographic Technical Association Forum in Phoenix, Arizona. Projects were scored on “concept, execution, design, and research.”

Bright, Polished Apples henderson county

Seventeen inches of rain, including over two inches in one day, lifted Henderson County from long-endured drought conditions; but it posed concerns to apple growers. When wet, apples are likely to host fungus that can discolor them, decreasing consumer appeal, and thus decreasing their value. Rain tends to wash off fungicides, which can’t be reapplied until the apples dry out. Since a lot of the county’s orchards grow on sloped terrain, it would be longer before spraying tractors could treat those apples. Jason Blackwell, president of the Blue Ridge Apple Growers Association, estimated prolonged rain could affect up to 50 orchards. With about 200 orchards, Henderson County produces 65% of North Carolina apples, the state ranking seventh in the nation for production. Of the 5,000 to 20,000 varieties believed to have grown in the state since ancient times, sixteen are grown for marketing in Henderson County. Harvest times range from August to October. By the beginning of June, no serious harm had been done to this year’s crop. The March freeze came too early to damage most varieties. The next worry for growers will be hail, which wrought extensive crop damage in 2008. Last year, Henderson County’s

apple crop, judged good but not full, was valued at $40 million.

The Logic of Supply Lines buncombe county

Local luminaries converged to formally announce the expansion of Riverbend Malt House. The expansion was made possible with $4.7 million in equity debt and tax incentives pending approval by the Buncombe County Commissioners and Asheville City Council. Riverbend has been steeping, germinating, drying, cleaning, and packaging grain for craft brewers and distillers the old-fashioned way in a rustic facility on Pond Road since 2010. It now supplies over 120 craft breweries and distilleries in North America. The new, 74,000-sq.-ft. facility near Gerber Village will add automation and modern kilns and quintuple Riverbend’s capacity to stay apace with demand. Whereas approximately 170 million pounds of malt are consumed within a 500-mile radius of Asheville, only about two million pounds are produced locally, with Riverbend currently accounting for almost a third of the total. Even though it is more expensive, using local malt is appealing to craft brewers because the lower environmental impact is appreciated by consumers, and more restrictive terroirs help with branding. Riverbend buys grain from Kentucky, Virginia, and distant portions of North Carolina because working with geographically-diversified growers keeps operations running smoothly in spite of crop damage. Riverbend currently malts barley, wheat, and rye, some of which it hopes to begin sourcing locally; and it will likely add additional grains like corn and spelt to its inventory. (CaP featured Riverbend in our March 2016 issue.)

July 2017 | capitalatplay.com

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The Sharing Economy written by jay sanders

Also known as the Peer Economy, and as epitomized by such digital platforms as Uber and Airbnb, it has rapidly become a major economic driver throughout much of Western North Carolina. 36

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local industry

CARNIVAL TIME IS ALWAYS AN EXCITING season in New Orleans. Like the Appalachian mountains of Western North Carolina, the city is one of America’s greatest cultural treasures—a place that lives and breathes music, food, and life. When traveling to Mardi Gras, one must always seek an authentic experience, the core of which is meeting locals and finding your way off the well-trodden tourist path. Fortunately, this is a golden age of accessibility made possible by the Sharing Economy. Before flying out of Asheville, we dropped the dog off at a local farm outside of Hendersonville that we discovered on DogVacay. The local family was thrilled to keep her for the week, even allowing our tail-wagger to sleep on their daughter’s bed. Upon landing in the Crescent City, we opened the Uber app on our phones and found a ride with a local driver who knew exactly how to navigate the parade route street closures that cut us off from the Lower Garden district. We were greeted at the door of our traditional shotgun house by our Airbnb host. She was full of valuable tips and information about the neighborhood. She told us about the best places to watch the parades, which tiny corner store sold the spiciest crawfish, and the best bar to enjoy a late-night cocktail without witnessing “the other side” of Mardi Gras. She even made sure that we had appropriate costumes and provided extra supplies of glitter. In all of these experiences, everyone was a winner. Our spending made it directly into the pockets of local residents, while$we enjoyed personalized service with very little effort. This is what the Sharing Economy is all about.

RENT

Making Friends While Also Making The Rent u

You may rent a room on your next vacation from a someone using Airbnb. You may catch a ride the next time you go out for cocktails with your friends using one of the popular ridesharing services like Uber or Lyft. Do you have an important overnight trip coming up, but don’t want to leave your family pet in a kennel? You might try Rover to find a neighbor who is willing to keep them overnight. Touted as “the nation’s largest network of

five‑star pet sitters and dog walkers,” Rover is a network of dog people who are willing to board your dog, take them for a walk, stop by for daily canine check-ins while you’re at work, or even house sit with them while you are away. Need a handyman to hang your fancy new television on the wall? Head over to Thumbtack where you can hire an experienced, vetted professional to help accomplish your personal projects. Founded in 2009, Thumbtack is an online network of qualified contractors. “From house painting to personal training, we bring you the right pros for every project on your list,” they advertise. Feeling like doing some outdoors adventuring, but don’t own the appropriate gear? (Or, if you’re a visitor to the area, don’t want to lug it along with you during the vacation?) Check out Adrenture, a peer-to-peer style company that connects owners of gear not currently in use with the folks who need to use it temporarily— the company was profiled in 2016 by Capital at Play, in fact. These are just some of the services currently available in Western North Carolina, and in all cases you will meet someone local who can help you out. According to the World Economic Forum: “The Sharing Economy refers to economic activity centered around online platforms, based on sharing underused assets or services, for free or for a fee, on a peer-to-peer basis. Cars and bedrooms are the most cited examples, but the Sharing Economy includes everything from household appliances to land use. Typically, rates are set by the technology platform—the software that links supply to demand—as with ride-sharing services, for example. In some instances, providers can set their own prices, RENT such as with holiday rentals or contract work. In the vast majority of cases, the platform takes a cut of the fee. The seller takes home the rest.” Also known as the Peer Economy, this new economic system operates on a person-toperson basis without an intermediary. The only “middlemen” are the technology platforms through which the connections are made and the transactions occur. This allows people with assets or unused capacity to generate revenue, while providing a less expensive and frequently friendlier alternative to the consumer. In a

The Sharing Economy is estimated to grow from

$14 BILLION in 2014 to

$335 BILLION by 2025. This estimate is based on the rapid growth of Uber and Airbnb. Source: the Brookings Institution

July 2017 | capitalatplay.com 37

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local industry

2016 TED Talk, Airbnb’s co-founder and chief product officer, Joe Gebbia, described it as a way to “make friends while also making the rent.” A supplier works whenever they want, earning money on their own schedule, often as on-demand part-time work. Anyone with an extra room in their home, extra time to drive people around in their car, or a handy skill for maintenance and repair, can either supplement their income or use it as their entire livelihood. The consumer is rewarded by what most people consider a more personal experience. In many ways, this can be viewed as a more efficient use of resources; available space can be monetized without the need to maintain fleets of cars, hotel rooms, dog kennels, or even rental

“1099 Economy Workforce Report” 2015 Survey* shows

With tourists come tourism dollars, and the Sharing Economy has introduced an entirely new way for visitors to explore and experience the region.

68%

of Sharing Economy u workers are ages 18-34.

equipment. The consumer is paying for access rather than bearing the cost of ownership, while the supplier is capitalizing unused capacity. A November 2016 report from the Pew Research Center noted that “24 percent of Americans report earning money from the digital ‘platform $ economy’ in the past year. The extra income they make is a luxury for some, but a necessity for others.”

*survey conducted as a partnership between Silicon Valley venture capitalists and Stanford graduates Source: Bloomberg RENT

A More Authentic Experience

Since the early 20th centur y, when many people transitioned from agricultural occupations to in-town jobs in factories and retail, folks have been coming to vacation in Western North Carolina. Whether it be scaling the peaks of Mt. Mitchell, winding along the Blue Ridge Parkway, gazing at the majesty of the Biltmore, or listening to the sounds of the region’s many waterfalls, the cooler climate and breathtaking scenery have always been a draw to the “Land of The Sky.” With tourists come tourism dollars, and the Sharing Economy has introduced an entirely 38

new way for visitors to explore and experience the region. The affordable options provided by Airbnb and VRBO actually increase the appeal of tourism by making the market more affordable for travelers on a budget, opening the area to many people who may not otherwise visit. In a similar sense, many guests who stay in Western North Carolina are looking for a more authentic experience. Staying in someone’s home, or catching a ride with a local driver, can expand the wealth of information and reveal secret “locals only” tips to the savvy traveler. For all of these reasons and many more, t he S ha r i n g E c onomy, a nd shor t- t er m rentals specifically, are booming in Western North Carolina.

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In a recent press release, Airbnb revealed that revenues in the Asheville market, which includes all rentals with an Asheville zip code, totaled $13 million in 2016. This amount is more than Charlotte, Raleigh, Wilmington, Durham, Boone, and Chapel Hill combined. The release further noted that the Asheville area hosted 104,500 guests in 2016. According to the Asheville Citizen-Times, Buncombe County reported that between July 1, 2015, and June 30, 2016, short-term rentals comprised about six percent of the $312 million in total tourist lodging sales. These rentals were second to hotels, which made up 83 percent. Current Asheville statistics as of May 2017 on Airdna, a website that tracks statistics and insights about the vacation rental market, and Airbnb specifically, lists 780 active hosts, 144 multiple listing hosts, and 498 “superhosts.” The Asheville area is home to 1,034 active Airbnb rentals, 782 of which have ten or more reviews, and 717 with five-star ratings. Regionally, Airdna lists 247 active listings in Banner Elk, 210 in Boone, and 228 in Lake Lure, which, along with Highlands, is listed as one of the most expensive rental markets in the state, with average prices hovering around $220 per night.

Airbnb strives to be supportive of local tax requirements. In June 2015 the company officially went “on the books” when it began remitting tax payments to Buncombe County on behalf of its hosts. Sales numbers went from $344,177 in May 2015, to $1.4 million in June 2015, according to the county tax department and the Asheville Citizen-Times. While these revenues were likely not new money, they demonstrate the popularity and appeal of short-term rentals in the county. As is often the case with large evolutions in economics, the short-term rental market has spawned an entire service industry, creating real cottage industry jobs in the process. Airbnb travelers tend to divert funds away from traditional tourism businesses and contribute their resources directly to the local economy through the service provider—but this also has the effect of redirecting funds away from more traditional service jobs. Home cleaners, photographers, marketing professionals, and writers have all found a place supporting the vast and growing inventory of short-term rentals by doing something akin to “selling pickaxes during the gold rush.” Some locals have even built fully hosted Airbnb management services that will build your profile, answer your reservation requests, secure cleaning services, and handle the post-rental reviews—turning your short-term rental into a passive income machine. While all of these earnings, tax revenues, and supportive jobs look great on paper, there’s a fundamental problem with it all, at least in one city in Western North Carolina—Asheville. It’s illegal to rent a property in the city limits for less than 30 days. (Outside Asheville, however, Buncombe County allows short-term rentals.) Asheville’s hot and contentious debate around short-term rentals, and its effect on the housing market and property rights, is not unique. This is a battle that is being played out in hot tourist destinations all over the world. (See sidebar, p. 40) Short-term rental advocates say that platforms like Airbnb and VRBO enable local homeowners to bring tourism revenues closer to the community, and into the city-wide tax base, while supplementing their income. Affordable housing proponents suggest that these activities affect local renters and potential homebuyers$by artificially driving up prices and consuming available, and potentially affordable, longterm rental inventory.

Defining The Sharing Economy Fast Company magazine, in a 2015 report, “Defining The Sharing Economy: What Is Collaborative Consumption–And What Isn’t?”, outlined several key criteria that define the Sharing Economy. The core business idea involves unlocking the value of unused or under-utilized assets (“idling capacity”), whether it is for monetary or non-monetary benefits. The company should have a clear values-driven mission and be built on meaningful principles, including transparency, humanness, and authenticity that inform short- and long-term strategic decisions. The providers on the supply-side should be valued, respected, and empowered, and the companies committed to making the lives of these providers economically and socially better. The customers on the demand side of the platforms should benefit from the ability to get goods and services in more efficient ways that mean they pay for access instead of ownership. The business should be built on distributed marketplaces or decentralized networks that create a sense of belonging, collective accountability, and mutual benefit through the community they build. RENT

MILLENNIALS

are more likely to u participate in the sharing economy than other generations. RENT

34% of United States residents between the ages of 16 and 34 say they utilize a sharing service or expect to within the next year. Source: poll by marketing company Havas Worldwide

“Technology Based Logistics Platforms” The Sharing Economy emerged as a natural and innovative evolution from the modern technology and July 2017 | capitalatplay.com 39

local industry

Subvert & Disrupt: REGULATING THE SHARING ECONOMY

Airbnb opened for business in 2008, and

for many years was under the radar of state and local governments. Recently, regulators and administrators are starting to realize the implications on local tax revenues. This has led to a constant battle of systemic control and regulation. The online platforms are smart and employ legions of lawyers and lobbyists, who are pointed both at the government and the public in a massive marketing campaign to protect the public trust. Uber and Lyft avoid taxi rules that fix rates and cap supply. Uber and Handy, an online cleaning and maid service, classify their workers as independent contractors, thereby avoiding all employment liabilities.

Consumer-wise, about

7 10 IN

AMERICANS (72%)

have used some type of online or shared service.

COLLEGE GR ADUATES u Those RENT with higher household incomes and those younger than 45 are most exposed to these services.

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Perhaps the biggest challenge that Sharing Economy companies face are from the very industry groups they are trying to subvert and disrupt. In 2016, according to the New York Times, Airbnb became a target of the Federal Trade Commission. Three senators sought an investigation to discover how companies like Airbnb are affecting housing costs. In October New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a bill that would levy steep fines on hosts who broke local housing rules. According to the Times, both actions were triggered by the hotel industry, and that is no small significance. The hotel industry takes the future threat of Airbnb very seriously. Their strategy includes $ enforcement on the state and federal level, as well as “advancing a national narrative” focused on reining in commercial operators. Cities specifically have taken notice and started making an effort to impose local regulation on Airbnb and Uber. Two very high-profile battles have taken shape in New York and San Francisco, where Airbnb has come under high scrutiny from both lawmakers and affordable housing groups. Airbnb recently settled lawsuits in both cities. In New York the company agreed to drop a lawsuit pushing back against the newly passed state law, and in San Francisco the company agreed to be more transparent about its hosts

and to help enforce existing laws. Other cities such as Amsterdam, Miami Beach, and New Orleans have been paying very close attention. In a recent New York Times article, Arun Sundararajan, a professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business, said, “As Airbnb gears up to go public over the next couple of years, creating a stable environment with less regulatory uncertainty is good for them.” He added, “While it is well past the point where regulations pose an existential threat to the company, regulatory issues are still the biggest source of uncertainty about its future revenue streams.” According to CNBC, 34 states and more than 69 cities have passed legislation regulating ride-sharing services such as Uber and Lyft. Some of the techniques to reign in the services have included driver fingerprinting, extra vehicle inspections, higher insurance requirements, fees, and limits on where drivers can meet their passengers. (For example, some municipalities restrict Uber and Lyft in their ability to pick up and drop off at area airports.) With both companies investing heavily in research and partnerships around autonomous, or self-driving vehicles, the regulatory battle is sure to get heated. The threat is real. According to the research firm CB Insights, Airbnb has raised more than $3 billion and secured a $1 billion line of credit, with an eye towards going public. Investors estimate Airbnb’s value at around $30 billion, a valuation that is congruent with rival Hilton’s market cap of $19 billion and Marriott’s $35 billion. Uber is a behemoth. Even though they are losing $100 million per quarter according to Reuters, the company is valued in some private markets at around $70 billion. Lyft recently received a $500 million investment from GM for the development of driverless cars, raising the company’s valuation to $7 billion.

entrepreneurship environments. Websites and mobile platforms have become powerful tools that drive this new economy by creating a means of connection between supply and demand, reducing friction and transaction costs, and empowering users to rent or share things with other people over the internet. Companies like Uber and Airbnb see themselves as much more than car services or travel agencies. They are the future of logistics and are positioning themselves to become the infrastructure of a bigger and more flexible business model. In many ways these new logistics platforms are using technology to realize their maximum potential using the same foresight as some of history’s most successful companies. In the early 20th century, Sears leveraged the new rail and road systems and its comprehensive catalog of goods to become the country’s most dominant marketplace. In the late 20th century, Amazon, which started out as an online bookstore, followed a conscious evolution to become one of the world’s most prominent retailers and web hosting services. In a recent article for New York magazine, author Kevin Roose observed that one day Uber may become more valuable than Facebook. “Eventually, like Amazon, [Uber] can become something akin to an all-purpose utility—it’ll just be a way you get things and go places. There’s a reason the company recently changed its tagline from ‘Everyone’s private driver’ to the much broader ‘Where lifestyle meets logistics.’” $ In February of 2016, Uber changed its logo from the classic U based icon, to an image that more closely resembles a wheel or a node, representing its intention to create connection between people, places, and things.

Overcoming Stranger Danger In this new global paradigm, trust has become a commodity. Think about it… would you go stay in a stranger’s home or catch a ride with someone you did not know? Would you leave your precious pet with a neighbor who you just met or let “some guy” into your kitchen to fix the sink? That is exactly what all of these companies are asking you to do. In a recent post on Airbnb’s design blog, Experience Design Lead, Charlie Aufmann,

noted, “Airbnb hosts in over 190 countries around the world open their homes to provide [authentic] hospitality to over two million guests per month, who, when they walk through the front door, aren’t family, friends, or even acquaintances. And what helps make this all possible? Trust.” Airbnb has been extraordinarily successful at using design as a tool to help establish and cultivate trust between a host and a guest, especially if they have never met and may come from varied and different backgrounds. In his post Charlie describes the role of the platform as being “the mutual friend who invites you to the party,” also noting that first impressions are important and trust takes time to establish. But we’re talking about economic technology platforms, not therapists and support groups, so how do you take the time to create a quality first impression with a website? The online markets created by these companies are self-regulated by user reviews. Both sides of the transaction are held accountable in a public forum, establishing the foundation of trust. Your rating is your RENT net worth, and all of these platforms design their user experience in a way that encourages users to participate in the review process, while keeping reviewers honest and preventing abuse. According to a survey by 2016 BrightLocal, 84 percent of consumers trust online reviews as much as a personal recommendation, and seven out of ten consumers will leave a review for a business if they’re asked to. What is most impressive is that online reviews are typically posted by total strangers. Most Sharing Economy platforms implement an internal payment system to handle the transaction. This alleviates the need for cash to change hands, increasing the sense of trust and security, although many hosts and drivers encourage tipping if the consumer feels they have enjoyed exemplary service. In April of 2013, Airbnb added identity verification to its platform, adding more transparency. Uber requires drivers to be over 21 and have a valid insurance policy, and it conducts driving record and criminal background checks before allowing drivers to join their service. Companies like Uber and Lyft have been quick to employ the features on the now ubiquitous cell phone to enhance communication and accountability. Location services allow the passenger to know exactly when and where

of Americans are considered HIGHLY ACTIVE USERS, having utilized six or more services (out of a total of 11). Source: Study by the Pew Research Center

July 2017 | capitalatplay.com 41

local industry

$ A recent consumer marketing survey found

50%

of respondents are more likely to support businesses that are part of the sharing economy. Source: aytm.com

their ride will arrive, while also allowing the driver to quickly locate their passenger. Once on board, GPS applications help the driver find the quickest or most efficient route to the rider’s destination. It quickly becomes easy to see these companies as logistics platforms cleverly disguised as a taxi service. Of course, everything is not always roses. Implicit trust also means implied mistrust; as with any form of transaction, the potential always exists for someone to try to game the system. For example, currently, most of these online services have been successful at avoiding regulation, creating the opportunity for discrimination. The more information that is shared on an online platform, the greater the likelihood of racial or gender bias. Companies that participate in the Sharing Economy put great importance on combatting discrimination by continually improving the algorithms that match suppliers to consumers, and utilizing design techniques to discourage bias. Customers can also manipulate the systems of trust for their own financial advantage. There are several documented cases of Airbnb customers leaving bad ratings of a host in pursuit of a refund. This has caused the company to create an Extortion Policy that specifically prohibits “guests threatening to use reviews or ratings in an attempt to force a host to provide refunds, additional compensation, or a reciprocal positive review” and “hosts requiring a guest to leave a positive review or rating, or to revise a review in exchange for a partial or full refund, or reciprocal review.”

Collaborative Consumption by Democratizing Capitalism

RENT

Is the Sharing Economy the future of American employment? Collaborative Consumption is $the idea that sharing is being re-envisioned through technology. Democratizing Capitalism is the idea that you take the economy into your own hands and make of it what you will. The Sharing Economy is where these two economic philosophies meet: distributing under-utilized assets in a way that generates income, while providing a valuable, more personal service. It’s a form of leveling the playing field and loosening up the “free” market. Both of these concepts are

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at the core of the Sharing Economy, where one is given the power to control one’s life and reward those who do the same. Most Sharing Economy employees are not W-2 employees with benefits, but rather 1099MISC employees who carry a greater tax burden and must provide their own retirement savings and health insurance. “To succeed in the Gig Economy, we need to create a financially flexible life of lower fixed costs, higher savings, and much less debt,” Diane Mulacahy, a senior analyst at the Kauffman foundation writes in her book The Gig Economy. This requires a more acute employee. One who is familiar with the traditional practices of freelance work, and is capable of self-managing their income and expenses in a way that can sustain their livelihood. For consumers, it is rapidly becoming an indispensable aspect of their daily lives. There are many parallels to the growth patterns of eCommerce. Was it scary the first time you put your credit card information into an online form to make a purchase? Did it get easier with each successful transaction? By the time Alibaba and Amazon rose to become the world’s largest online retailers, were you extremely comfortable with the idea of online commerce and did you have faith in cyber security? eBay initiated the concept of peer-to-peer sales online in the late ‘90s, but then came the run of Power Sellers who established cottage industries and created new companies. Then there’s Craigslist, the behemoth classified advertising website founded in 1995 by Craig Newmark. Craigslist started the transition away from traditional advertising methods such as the Yellow Pages or the local newspaper, and became many people’s first experience looking online for jobs, housing, personal ads, items for sale, want ads, professional services, community activities, gigs, résumés, and just about anything else you can think of. As is often the case with disruptive innovation, what may have seemed strange and exotic at first, has rapidly become an accepted norm in daily life. Airbnb is now a preferred alternative for many travelers who seek value and an authentic experience. Uber is now favored as a transportation option because the company’s app makes hailing a ride much easier and more transparent. Many people are supplementing their income or building a full-time job by leveraging their home or car.

This peer-to-peer economy represents the evolution from people swapping things between themselves, to commercial enterprises stepping in to make the transactions a little more straightforward, and with fewer risks and downsides—it is here to stay. When Airbnb’s co-founder, Joe Gebbia, first blew up an air mattress in 2008 and invited strangers to come and stay at his “air bed and breakfast,” he created something much larger than a place to spend the night. The Sharing Economy has become a tool to reunite us as a city, a country, and an economy. It is a new way to meet your neighbors; something that is desperately needed in these rapidly changing times.

eBay initiated the concept of peer-to-peer sales online in the late ‘90s, but then came the run of Power Sellers who established cottage industries and created new companies.

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Pirates, Pierogies, & Primanti’s Time to hit the road again. This time we’re heading to Heinz country, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It’s getting to be summer and we’re ready for some Iron City beer, pierogies, and Pirates baseball. We’ve already located an Airbnb convenient to the ballpark, and the host says he knows all the best spots. The dog has a reservation back at the farm, and the daughter is already making room on her bed $ to share with our best friend. I’m confident that the Uber driver will know the best way to get to our spot, even if we ask him to first stop by Primanti Bros. for a quick bite. It’s going to be a great trip. Maybe we’ll also rent our house while we’re gone… it would help cover the cost of the trip, and we just might be able to help a new friend discover everything that is wonderful about Western North Carolina.

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Data Breach

Eight steps to protect your company, its employees, and clients.

allan tarleton

is a senior partner and attorney at The Van Winkle Law Firm in Asheville and certified by the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP).

O Y O U H AV E A P L A N I N P L A C E I F

your business experiences a data breach? Unfortunately, for most companies, it is not a question of if you will get hacked, but when. Technology is changing every day, which is why it is important to be vigilant about your organization’s data security.

Despite the best efforts of businesses and nonprofits, data breaches are inevitable. The key is to have a clear, written, data security policy to minimize the chances of getting hacked and to communicate what your business will do if data is compromised. Potential liability and damage to your company’s business reputation arising from data management and security risks are governed by a thicket of regulations and industry practices businesses must understand and negotiate to remain competitive. We recommend the following steps to ensure your business is doing all it can to protect the sensitive information of customers and employees.

Step 1: Determine your data inventory. The first thing you will need to do is take an inventory of the data you have on hand, including digital and hard copy files. This includes employee information and customer or client data. Make note of any highly sensitive information in these files, such as medical records, financial information, and/or social security numbers.

Step 2: Assess how you are storing this information. Now that you have a good idea of what type of information you are storing, look at how you are

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storing it. Is it filed away in folders on a bookshelf? Perhaps saved in a web-based network your employees can access through their smartphones or home computers? Or maybe it is stored in a software system that is only accessible in the office on a desktop computer.

Step 3: Consider how you are protecting highly sensitive information. Ask yourself the following questions: • How are you storing and destroying sensitive client or employee information? • Do you have a security policy in place, and are you following it? • Are you doing all you can do to protect your customers’, clients’, and employees’ sensitive information?

Step 4: Write or update your data security policy. We always recommend having a clear, up-to-date, data security policy. If you do not have one, now is a good time to meet with your attorney to make sure your policy addresses all of the current privacy regulations and standards.

A THE INNOVATORS OF COMFORT™

Step 5: Train your employees on the policy. Not only should you be well-versed with your data security policy, your employees should receive training and regular updates on the company’s policy. Consider putting a system in place that allows you to communicate the policy to your team on a regular and recurring basis and to discuss ways to improve your security practices.

Step 6: Evaluate your company’s physical security. When we think of data breaches, we often think of online hackers. But it is not just your digital information that’s at risk. You should also consider how you are protecting your paper files, laptops, employee or company smartphones, thumb drives or removable storage devices, and even computer screens that can be seen through a window or by the public if the desk is in an open space. Think about who has access to your office. Do they need a key or badge for entry? Do you have a system for obtaining keys or changing passwords if an employee leaves the company? Consider if you need to have a security officer or team in place at your business. You do.

Step 7: Assess what information is available to employees remotely. As the workplace becomes more fluid, you may find yourself with employees working remotely or through mobile devices while they are traveling. Mobile information is available to employees— and anyone who has access to their digital devices—at all times. If a team member’s laptop or smartphone is stolen, what steps are in

place to make sure sensitive or private information is secure? In most cases it is not practical to prevent employees from working remotely or using digital devices. But it is important to look at all of the vulnerabilities that exist so you can take steps to eliminate or minimize your risk of a data breach. One prevalent and often overlooked vulnerability is commonly exploited because of the increasing availability of Wi-Fi. These “Man-in-the-Middle Attacks” arise when a bad guy creates a network similarly named to what you’re looking for: Starbucks-wifi, AirPort-wifi, HamptonInn-Public, for example. Your internet traffic goes through the bad guy’s computer and you never know it. Recommended risk reduction: Connect your laptop to a Verizon Hotspot or tether it to your own mobile phone. (iPhone calls it “Personal Hotspot” found in Settings.)

Step 8: Grade yourself or—better—have someone else conduct a security audit.

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Worth The Effort Dedicating some time and resources to data security planning is well worth the effort. You want your company to have a culture of security and safety. Ask yourself: Are you doing all you can to protect your customers, stakeholders, and employees? It is their information and trust and your company’s reputation that are at stake.

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THE OLD

NORTH

STATE [

news briefs

I’ll Cry If I Want to durham

Parion Sciences of Durham has licensed an experimental treatment for dry-eye disease to Shire, PLC, of Lexington, Massachusetts. The entirety of the agreement was not made public, but Shire will pay $20 million upfront and an additional $20 million if nearterm milestones are reached. Additional payments, totaling as much as $535 million, would be made for future achievements. In exchange, Shire will have exclusive worldwide development and commercialization rights, with Parion retaining an option to co-fund in exchange for royalties. The product of interest is a molecule, P-321, which inhibits the reabsorption of fluid on the eye by epithelial sodium channels, which are proteins that regulate ionic

| July 2017

]

flow. Prescription products now available for dry eyes treat ocular inflammation. P-321 is currently undergoing mid-stage Phase 2 patient studies, so further clinical trials are required, by the United States Food and Drug Administration, to demonstrate safety and efficacy.

three entrepreneurs-in-residence, up to four faculty fellows, up to 70 international internships for students, a lecture series, an executive director, and an internship director. Matching the gift, the college will fund positions for one entrepreneur-in-residence, at least three new faculty members, and one administrative staffer. The program will fortify the university’s mission to provide problem-based, interdisciplinary, and immersive learning experiences. The donors were Jim Shuford (CEO of STM Industries), Stephen Shuford (CEO of Shurtape Technologies), and Dorothy Shuford Lanier, all alumni and great-grandchildren of Abel Alexander Shuford, class of 1900.

Conscious Investment

Smashed, Loaded, & Delivered Warm

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The Shuford family of Hickory has contributed $18 million to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s College of Arts & Sciences to more than double the size of the institution’s undergraduate entrepreneurship program. It constitutes the largest one-time personal gift made to the college, outside of bequests. Bearing the Shuford name, the program will fund

Greenville-based Smash Waff les launched in December 2016. It began as Justin Cox and Hunter Harrison decided to create a mobile app. They first thought about delivering biscuits, but everybody was doing biscuits. So, they considered waffles, but that required a recipe that wouldn’t get soggy. Research uncovered an idea from Belgium that would hold

carolina in the west

national & world

the old north state

up a few days and stay warm a couple hours. They used it to develop a line of fist-sized waffles infused and loaded with toppings like Nutella, chocolate chips, and breakfast cereals. The flagship operation smashed the waffles in a private kitchen and delivered them about town, selling for $21 a dozen plus delivery charges. In the first five months, the operation grew to employ 15 drivers and delivered 75,000 waffles in Pitt County. By February, Cox and Hunter expanded to Raleigh, opening to a waiting list of over 500 customers. As business continues to boom, the duo announced it will open a sit-down restaurant in Greenville this July. The friends plan to open eight more Smash Waffles locations in the next 18 months.

academic assistance to help with work and interpersonal relationships. Clients work toward personalized goals with a mental health therapist, an equine therapist, and, of course, a horse. Allen believes horsemanship can help people build confidence and improve communication and leadership skills. She says the program works because horses are nonjudgmental. They don’t care about how people look, what they’ve done, or how much money they have. They only respond to how they are treated, and they’re sensitive to intentions. Horse work creates metaphors and gives people the opportunity to solve real problems and achieve tangible results instead of telling themselves they can’t.

just in time for North Carolina’s, which tides over Canadian markets with fresh potatoes until Ontario’s crop is ready for harvest. Florida’s season typically ends just as North Carolina’s starts. To celebrate before the fast and furious harvest, Elizabeth City Downtown hosts the North Carolina Potato Festival. The event has its roots in the 1940s, but was on-again, off-again until 2001. Nissan of Elizabeth City, Toyota of Elizabeth City, the United States Coast Guard, and Bojangles were among this year’s top sponsors. Forty-thousand visitors were expected to turn out for food, entertainment, rides including a Ferris Wheel and bumper cars, and competitions like the National Potato Peeling Contest.

A Horse is a Horse, Of Course

Matched Potatoes

House Flies

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Potato seasons typically last only six weeks, so brokers have to line up crops from multiple regions to ensure yearround fresh potatoes. From mid-June through the end of July, 17,000 acres of farmland around Elizabeth City help fill in gaps in growing seasons up and down the Eastern Seaboard. Prince Edward Island’s crop normally wanes

Patrick Phillips is among the early adaptors of drone technology for marketing real estate. Phillips, founder of Aerial Innovations of North Carolina, is a second-generation Realtor with a background in television. He owns seven drones for capturing images of a home’s grounds, and uses a handheld camera for walkthroughs. He will first visit a

Yet another entrepreneur is capitalizing on horsemanship as a pathway to mental wellness. Elizabeth Allen said she kept seeing parallels in her hobby and her work as an educator. She now runs Successful Strides, offering equine-assisted learning and psychotherapy. Offerings range from reading and general

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site, make a list of things he thinks a buyer might want to see, and give the owner ideas for adding visual appeal. Then, when the weather is favorable, he will capture two to three hours of film, which he will spend about fifteen hours editing down to a couple minutes for marketing. Phillips says trees are one of the most challenging parts of the job. A second stressor is his drive to keep up with the latest advances in drone technology. A third would be maneuvering ever-changing drone regulations. Phillips tries, but says he can usually fly within the lines as long as he lets neighbors know what he’s going to be doing and strictly honors any requests.

Better Connector Inspector apex

G2 Technologies has developed a customizable, automated 3D inspection system for electrical connectors. To date, technicians have relied on incomplete assessments from visual inspections and 2D instrumentation. G2’s system first uses special lighting to make an image of a connector with anywhere from four to 32 pins. The image is next analyzed to assure all pins are present, that they are the correct pins, and that they are aligned properly. If defective, the part goes to a reject bin; if not, it advances to laser scanning. Pairs of lasers scan both the board side and mating side to make sure all pins are the right height and not bent. Two scans are needed for each view to eliminate shadows. Parts not rejected at this stage are cleaned, tested electrically, engraved with a time stamp, and then advanced to packaging. The entire process takes about 3.5 seconds per part. G2 is a company that designs and develops systems for automated testing and inspection for the automotive, aerospace, and defense industries. Its clients include Honda, 3M, BE Aerospace, and NASCAR.

And Then There Were Three charlotte

Branded as Banktown, Charlotte is slipping in some financial-sector categories. Standard & Poor’s recently reported San Francisco had edged the Queen City out to reclaim its title as the nation’s second-largest financial center, based on total assets of banks headquartered. The $2.279 trillion to $2.266 trillion advantage was aided in no small part by San Francisco-based Wells Fargo’s acquisition of Wachovia. In 2007 Charlotte was headquarters for eight banks. Now, pending transactions affecting Park Sterling and Capital Bank are likely to leave only Bank of America, NewDominion Bank, and Carolina Premier Bank. The absorption of smaller banks continues a national trend attributed to resources needed to keep pace with regulations’ evolving complexity, combined with low interest rates. Charlotte, however, remains a hub of financial talent, employing 64,288 in the financial sector compared to 59,236 pre-recession. The number of banks chartered in North Carolina is almost half what it was in 2009.

Closed Knits lumberton

Alamac American Knits announced it would shut down its 415,000-sq.-ft. facility. The decision was described as abrupt but expected. Alamac enjoyed a seventeen-year run, going against the grain as America’s textile industry moved to China, Central America, and Canada. Its success was attributed to two profitable niches: uniform/trade and flame-retardant fabrics. Both markets were on the decline, but management was optimistic about a turnaround strategy. The final blow, however, was Hurricane Matthew back in October. Although the facility is sturdy, having been built in 1962, and well above the

flood line, it suffered damage when a 30,000-sq.-ft. piece of roofing blew away. Management struggled with costs for replacing the roof and electrical machinery soaked by the rain, compounded by downtime; but catching up became too “overwhelming.” CEO Mark Cabral assured the company is working with the state on outplacement for its 154 employees, and all vendors and creditors will be paid in full.

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You’ve got the small stuff covered. Let us help you make a greater lasting impact. We’ve been helping people put their money to good use, with socially responsible investments and customized financial plans, for more than 16 years. So, if you’d like to work with a small, independent, local business deeply invested in our great community, call us.

The Retail Beverage Council: Retail on Tap raleigh & charlotte

It’s no secret that North Carolina’s booze industry is continually changing, and it’s hard to keep up with. Each year, North Carolina lawmakers introduce legislation relating to alcohol, and the state’s alcohol system is highly complex, with complicated compliance and regulations. Beer and wine shop owners will have the opportunity to join industry experts from the NC Retail Merchants Association (NCR M A) in Raleigh (August 14) or Charlotte (August 21) for an in-depth review of compliance and regulatory issues surrounding marketing, promoting, and advertising beer and wine, worker safety and worker’s comp issues, possible tax or other general business issues, and more. Among numerous initiatives, NCRMA wrote the Growler Bill and worked the bill through the Legislature and the ABC Commission, and worked on the sanitation rules with the Division of Public Health (2013); passed the wine tasting bill (2001 & 2005); passed the malt beverage tasting bill (2009); assisted in the passage of the wine shop permit; prevented split case fees from being charged by wholesalers to retailers (2005); and ensured that beer and wine wholesalers had to continue to service all retailers to whom they distributed alcohol to (2013). For details and to register, email Jeanne Eury at jeannee@ncrma.org.

440 Montford Avenue, Asheville NC, 28801 | 828-285-8777 | 877-285-7537 | www.starksfinancial.com Securities offered through Raymond James Financial Services, Member FINRA/SIPC. Starks Financial Group is not a registered broker/dealer, and is independent of Raymond James Financial Services. Investment Advisory Services are offered through Raymond James Financial Services Advisors, Inc.

Your source for Hearth & Patio needs 264 Biltmore Ave. Asheville, NC | 828.252.2789

July 2017 | capitalatplay.com 49

Song Summer OF

written by emily gl aser

THE

The small mountain lakes of Western North Carolina definitely make a splash.

I Summertime, and that means the It’s

irresistible, irreplaceable,

call of the water.

| July 2017

n some places it’s a gurgle, others the crash and hush of waves; but here, in our mountains, it’s the quiet lapping of the lake. The call of the lake isn’t a single note or voice, but a harmonious and polyphonic melody. The thumping bass notes of pontoons and trawlers, the reedy growls of Jon boats and speedsters. The creak of a rope swing and the sequential percussionist cannonball crash. The steady, shushed cadence of oars. The plunk of hungry bass and harried snapping turtles as they delve up and under that steady surface. The frenzied, joyous cries of kids—in floaties, on tubes, strapped to skis, and slick with sweat and sunscreen and pure joy. It’s a mellifluous refrain we mountain folk know and love well. For many of us, it might be the soundtrack to summer camp season; for others, the song we hum on family vacation or

leisure & libation

photo courtesy High Hampton Inn Lake

weekend getaways. With dozens of lakes tucked into the reaching folds of our mountains, these are lyrics we know by heart, and with summertime in full swing, it’s time we sing them.

What Makes a Lake? “The definition of a lake is not hard and fast and depends on context,” says Dr. Tamlin Pavelsky, associate professor of geological sciences at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “One definition is that lakes are deep enough that light doesn’t penetrate to the bottom, but this isn’t always useful because, (a) the clarity or cloudiness of the water can vary in time; and (b) there are some very large bodies of water that are also very shallow and that no one would call a pond.”

Science aside, we personally like to think of lakes as bodies of water big enough to breed fun. Somewhere a boat can sit, a hook won’t snag, and a butt can flop into a tube without hitting bottom. Our favorites, however, are the smaller lakes, the ones you can navigate without maps and catch the curves of in the snap of a picture. If you define lakes this way, our mountains are riddled with them, small oases of sunshine and good times—though not necessarily naturally-formed bodies of water. As much as we love the idyllic imagery of mountain springs bursting forth and drenching the ground, filling natural gullies and grooves in the mountainsides in some prehistoric conception, it’s a model we have to debunk. As resources such as NCpedia.com and Ashevilleguidebook.com point out, the lakes in our mountains, those buried in dense old-growth forests and lined with young manicured trees alike, were carved and July 2017 | capitalatplay.com

leisure & libation

photo courtesy Junaluska Lake

shaped by human hands. Or more accurately, by human tools, which makes them reservoirs. “A reservoir is simply a lake that has been constructed by humans,” explains Dr. Pavelsky. We may berate those pesky beavers, but it’s the muddy footprints of the rodents we follow when we create reservoirs. With cement and thick earth serving as our sticks and twigs, we dam the flow of rivers and springs, flooding valleys and forming lakes. The reasons for reservoirs are as varied as their shapes: Water is held back to prevent flooding or released to assuage drought; many are used to generate electricity; and some—like many of our own mountain lakes—serve as playgrounds for water sports, boating, and fishing. Though reservoirs have been dug and filled by humans for thousands of years (the earliest would be the Jawa Dam in Jordan, which was built in 3000 BCE to hold water for irrigation), our reservoirs are fairly young. Our largest reservoirs, like Chatuge in Clay County, Cherokee County’s Apalachia, and Fontana, which serves Graham and Swain Counties, were funded through through ‘40s-era New Deal programs like the WPA, CWA, and TVA, simultaneously alleviating the effects of the Depression and bringing resources like electricity to laggard Appalachian communities. Even some of our smallest recreational lakes, like Black Mountain’s Lake Tomahawk, are the product of such beautification programs. As times change and science advances, scientists are caught in debates of the ramifications of such bodies of water. “As for the ecological impact of reservoirs, that’s complicated,” notes Dr. Pavelsky. “They definitely do disrupt natural ecosystems, but they can also provide habitat for some native species and

There are a lot of boxes to check when it comes to defining the consummate small mountain lake. There must be deep, cool water. It should be outlined in hiking trails. Amenities like boat rentals, campgrounds, and watery cruises and tours should be easily accessible, and the lake itself simply navigable. other species that are introduced.” It’s this balancing act of pros and cons that define our lakes on a scientific level as they affect our ecologies and environments. Dr. Pavelsky points out that although there are some questionable repercussions of reservoirs, there are some unquestionable benefits as well, like greener power. “These reservoirs are used to generate hydropower, which does not produce greenhouse gasses in the same way that [the] burning of fossil fuels does, which is good from a climate change perspective,” he explains. But even that is contested when it comes to relative costs and benefits. 52

| July 2017

While scientists debate the consequences of our reservoirs, we get to enjoy them. They may not be all-natural, but they’re all ours.

The Lure of the Lake There are a lot of boxes to check when it comes to defining the consummate small mountain lake. There must be deep, cool water dotted with boats small and large, trailing shrieking tubers, agile skiers, or fishing lines. It should be outlined in hiking trails with lush, grasshopper-green canopies. Amenities

photo courtesy Rumbling Bald Resort

like boat rentals, campgrounds, and watery cruises and tours should be easily accessible, and the lake itself simply navigable. The surrounding hills should harbor plenty of places to throw back a cold one or fill a hungry hankering and to rest your head for the night (whether that’s on a freshly laundered pillow or a warm tent floor is entirely at the discretion of the visitor). The shores should play host to a festival or two. And the best small mountain lake will have a warm, sandy beach, a lifeguard, and, if you’re really lucky, a waterslide or two. What we’re trying to say is, Lake Lure is the examplar. Slung in the deep valleys between Chimney Rock and Rumbling Bald, its 720 acres glitter from the steep trails and winding roads that surround it. Like many of our regional destinations, the lake and the town with which it shares its name were the product of ill-health. It’s a common tale: Wealthy tourists like Biltmore’s George Vanderbilt and Grove Park Inn’s Edwin Grove were sent with their families to the cool mountains for healthful respite, only to fall in love—and capitalize on—the beauty of our region. Such was the case with Dr. Lucius B. Morse, who, standing atop Chimney Rock, envisioned a sprawling resort and lake in the valley below. Over the next two decades, Morse purchased 8,000 acres and commissioned the dam that would create the bucolic lake, which was completed and the town founded in 1927. It was in that same year that the Lake Lure Inn & Spa (lakelure.com) first opened its doors to guests. The grand Inn, decked in red shingles and emerald shutters, still holds the appeal today as it did nearly a century ago. With a spa, signature

photo courtesy of the Bryson City / Swain County NC Chamber of Commerce.

July 2017 | capitalatplay.com

photo courtesy Vinton Murray / Lake Logan

photo courtesy High Hampton Inn Lake

restaurant (The Veranda), and bar (Moose & Goose Lounge), the hotel—which is just a stone’s throw from the lake’s beach park—remains a popular destination. The community may be drenched in historic charm, but there are plenty of modern luxuries, too. Over the past 70 years, Rumbling Bald Resort (rumblingbald.com) has grown from a humble boathouse into a 3,600-acre resort community. “Rumbling Bald is situated at the north end of the lake,” says Adam Shirah, director of food and beverage at the resort, who has spent the past six months revitalizing the resort’s menus. “There are two 18-hole golf courses, three restaurants on the property including options for golfers, full spa facilities, workout facilities, an indoor pool, and two outdoor pools for families to enjoy.” Shirah pauses, then smiles. “Family is the important word.” Folks who rent or buy one of the resort’s mountain homes will find plenty to do with their family on or around the lake. From the Beach Cabana you can rent pedal boats, kayaks, canoes, and stand-up paddle boards. The grounds are home to a series of celebrations, too, from an Independence Day Celebration to the annual Vintage Tin Car Show in October. 54

| July 2017

The festivals and celebrations of Lake Lure certainly aren’t relegated to private lands. The Lake Lure Olympiad Sports Festival (lakelureolympiad.com) takes place every summer (this year’s shindig is August 11-13), and is a weekend of sporty celebrations that includes four races: the 10K Dam Run, Lake Lure Triathalon, Race to the Rock 5K, and Race to the Rock 25-mile bike race. The weekend also includes a golf tournament, pickle ball tournament, junior Olympiad, and lots of events to foster friendly competition in little ones. Earlier in the summer, the lake is home to the Lure of the Dragons Race & Festival (lureofthedragons.org). The thump of drums beats out a cadence for paddlers in 30-foot long dragon boats decked in thick scales and fiery heads. Dancing more your style? There’s a festival for that, too. Dirty Dancing, that is. The iconic flick was filmed in these very waters, and the town plays testament to the movie with an annual Dirty Dancing Festival (August 18 and 19). It’s a weekend of live music, dancing, watermelon races, and, of course, a screening of the film. The picturesque shores of Lake Lure have inspired more than one filmmaker. Vigilant eyes will make out the lake in scenes from Thunder Road, A Breed Apart, Forrest Gump, The Last of the Mohicans, and Firestarter. And it’s no surprise, given the stunning beauty that’s risen from Dr. Morse’s mind. The lake itself is a paradisiacal example of nature. Anglers will find a trove of fish in its burnished waters, including rainbow trout, brown trout, large and small mouth bass, crappie, white bass, catfish, bluegill, and sun-perch. There are plenty of guide services to help out you novices, including Lewis No Clark Expeditions (lewisnoclark.com). Michael Lewis

Courage to drive

POSITIVE CHANGE BE GREATER

has been a guide on Lake Lure for 18 years and can attest to the allure of Lake Lure’s fishing. “Number one is the scenery. This is one of the prettiest lakes in Western North Carolina, if not the United States,” he drawls, painting a picture of a crisp morning out on the lake. “You might see a bald eagle fly by and pick up a fish. Chimney’s Rock’s in the background; there are beautiful views; the climate’s usually pretty good; and you can fish all year. It’s kind of a quiet, private lake, so getting a guide’s probably the best way to get to know the area.” Lewis hosts half-day excursions on the lake, the only guide in the region to offer both regular fishing and fly fishing. (He even teaches fly fishing and tying at local community colleges.) According to the expert, the fishing is only getting better. “Since four to five years ago, the fishing is better because they used to stock the lake with trout but they stopped, which allowed the bass population to really grow.” And business is booming; whereas Lewis’ was always busiest in summertime, he says that spring and fall visits have boomed in recent years to match that of the hottest season. If fishing’s not your thing, there are plenty of other ways to enjoy the lake. Lake Lure Tours (lakeluretours.com) offers guided boat tours with a narrative of the lake’s history. Thrill seekers can make reservations with Lake Lure Adventure Company (lakelureadventurecompany.org) for lessons in water skiing and wakeboarding, or to rent a pontoon, kayak, or stand-up paddle board. And then there’s the beach: Hot white sand, a water park and slide for raucous little ones, snack bar, changing rooms, and picnic table make for a charming day of fun in the sun.

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July 2017 | capitalatplay.com

leisure & libation

photo courtesy of the Bryson City / Swain County NC Chamber of Commerce.

Privacy, Please Lake Lure may have it all, but that also means it has all the crowds. Many lake goers are looking to escape the barrage of society; they seek a quiet refuge, somewhere to slip away with their family or closest friends to listen to the quiet lap of the lake’s waves. For these vacationers, Western North Carolina holds a store of private lakes, rife with sumptuous and simple amenities alike, and absent of those pulsing crowds. These aren’t just bodies of water carved from the Carolina dirt; they’re often communities of friends, cultivated and curated for the refined lake-goer. Take, for example, Canton’s Lake Logan (lakelogan. org). “In the 1930s the land on which the lake now sits was a logging town called Sunburst,” explains Lake Logan

In this whirlwind digital age, the campus offers a welcome respite from technology—no phones, no television, no problems. volunteer Vinton Murray. “The mill town lost its value and its residents when the surrounding mountains had been clear cut and the paper company was relocating the mill.” The president of the company, Reuben Robertson, convinced his board of directors to dam up the Pigeon River and create the lake as a back-up source of water for Champion Paper. The idyllic scene the new reservoir created was too sweet to ignore. “In the 1940s Robertson built Sit ‘n Whittle, a collection of historic cabins to be used as a corporate retreat for Champion’s executives and their clients,” says Murray. “It has been said that if the walls of the main lodge could talk, some fascinating tales would be heard.” Today, the lake is the centerpiece of the 300-acre Lake Logan Conference Center, with 15 cabins (including those of Robertson’s making) that house anywhere from two to 17. The ranging property is perfect for larger groups looking for an escape, like family reunions or wedding parties (total occupancy is 85), but you can also rent a cabin for a weekend getaway for two—or one. The serenity of the lake is available for the day, too; a one-day guest pass is $25, or $35 including lunch. The little lake hosts wholesome fun, like swimming, canoeing, fishing, and quiet relaxing. The Conference Center 56

| July 2017

photo courtesy of the Bryson City / Swain County NC Chamber of Commerce.

WHAT’S WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE?

Take a Hike Many of our lakes are surrounded by winding, ascending trails, perfect for hikers of all levels to enjoy the view of the lake as much as it’s water sports. PRICE LAKE HIKE Just off the Blue Ridge Parkway, between Grandfather Mountain and Blowing Rock, sits Price Lake and Julian Price Memorial Park. Trails loop around the lake (which also offers canoe and kayak rentals), and in winter cross-country skiing draws snowbirds. Begin at Boone Fork Overlook (behind the boat rental building), and follow the path through thickets of rhododendron to a lakeside fishing deck. This one-mile hike is wheelchair accessible and fairly flat, an easy hike for eager kiddos. More serious hikers can continue around the slim, lengthy fingers of the lake, over bridges and the dam, looping back around to the overlook.

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CLIFFSIDE LAKE HIKE At just six acres, Cliffside Lake in Highlands may be small, but its trails are many. A half-dozen quick trails offer variety for hikers. The 1.5 mile Clifftop Vista Trail culminates with striking mountain views from a quaint gazebo, though hardy hikers can continue along the rocky ridge. Outdoorsmen looking for a different kind of watery view can follow Skitty Creek Trail to Dry Falls, which are so-named not because they’re arid but because you can pass behind them without getting wet. NANTAHALA LAKE HIKE Deep in Nantahala’s wilderness winds the Bartram Trail. This lengthy, multinight hike is not for the faint of heart, but it does offer all the spectacular views for which hikers could hope: rolling mountains, dense mountain laurel groves, and plenty of glimpses of the very large Nantahala Lake.

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7O THE

OF THE

CRAFT FAIR SOUTHERN HIGHLANDS

JULY 21 - 23 U.S. CELLULAR CENTER DOWNTOWN ASHEVILLE F R I - S A T: 1 0 A M - 6 P M SUN: 10AM-5PM

leisure & libation WORK SHOWN: LARRY ALLEN

Small Mountain

LAKES

All lakes mentioned in this story are mapped on the facing page.

1. Price Lake Blowing Rock

15. Hurricane Lake Hamburg

2. Lake Lure Lake Lure

16. Holly Berry Mountain Lake Cashiers

3.Lake Tomahawk Black Mountain W W W.C R A F T G U I L D.O R G 828.298.7928

4. Lake Summit Green River 5. Lake Julian Arden 6. Lake Powhatan Asheville 7. Lake Logan Canton 8. Lake Junaluska Lake Junaluska 9. Lake Toxaway Lake Toxaway 10. Whisper Lake Sapphire 11. Hogback Lake Cashiers 12. Bear Creek Lake Tuckasegee 13. Cedar Cliff Lake Tuckasegee 14. Hampton Lake Cashiers

| July 2017

17. Whiteside Lake Whiteside Lake 18. Ravenel Lake Highlands 19. Harris Lake Highlands 20. Randall Lake Highlands 21. Cliffside Lake Highlands 22. Nantahala Lake Nantahala Lake 23. Fontana Lake Fontana Lake 24. Chantuge Lake Hayesville 25. Lake Santeetlah Lake Santeetlah 26. Cheoah Lake Cheoah Lake 27. Apalachia Lake Apalachia Lake

Minnesota may claim the title of land of a thousand lakes, but the mountains around Cashiers and Highlands could come in a pretty close second. There are nearly as many lakes as there are valleys in these rolling hills, and each offers something unique. The two towns are separated by just ten miles and are roughly a 1 ¾-hour drive southwest from Asheville.

1 m it

ell

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is also beginning to incorporate more public programming and events into its lineup. June held the inaugural Cold Mountain Music Festival and featured the Grammy-winning band Steep Canyon Rangers, and a new lecture series started this year as well, with a focus on spirituality (the Center is Episcopalian and opens it arms to folks of all faiths). “The lecture series includes a stimulating talk on a subject related to spirituality and other topics our regular patrons are interested in hearing. The next one is Divinity Professor Lauren Winner, on September 21,” says Murray. Perhaps the greatest advantage to private lakes—besides the privacy, of course—is the level of amenities. Cashiers’ 35-acre Hampton Lake is under the care of High Hampton Inn and Country Club (highhamptoninn.com), which was recently acquired by Alabama-based property operators Daniel Communities. (See last month’s regional news briefs for details.) While the sprawling, 1,400-acre property is ideal for gatherings, it’s also uniquely appointed for small-scale getaways. With roots that stretch back into the 19th century and a 95-year history as a resort, the property is renowned for

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welcoming generations of families year after year to its rustic inn and charming cottages. In this whirlwind digital age, the campus offers a welcome respite from technology—no phones, no television, no problems. Though the resort offers a bounty of activities—tennis, llama hikes, a spa, and a falconry program, among many others—the star of the show is, as always, the lake. Here the theme of stepping back in time continues: No motorboats allowed. The tranquility is broken only by the trickle of laughter and the swish of oars, as guests sail, canoe, row, and pedal boat on the Inn’s small fleet. A wading pool and swimming area are great for a dunk or dip after sunbathing on the sandy beach, and two docks and swim platforms make for excellent cannonball launches. Haywood County’s Lake Junaluska (lakejunaluska.com) is at the heart of the Conference and Retreat Center that shares its name. The sprawling, 100-year-old property, which is partnered with the United Methodist Church, is large enough to house mega-conferences, performances, and lecture series, but small enough to feel homey for family vacations. “We hear every day July 2017 | capitalatplay.com 59

leisure & libation

photo courtesy Lake Toxaway Company

photo courtesy Rumbling Bald Resort

about people who visit the lake and are transformed by their experience here,” says Executive Director Jack Ewing. “From staying in one of our lakeside hotels to walking our gardens or paddle boarding across the lake, we welcome everyone to visit and experience Lake Junaluska.” The summer season brings guests in droves to the center for events and concerts. “The most prominent is our Independence Day Celebration, which consists of three concerts (Balsam Range, Laura Story, and the Lake Junaluska Singers), a BBQ picnic, hometown-style parade, and a spectacular fireworks show. That is taking place from July 2-5,” notes Liz Boyd, the Center’s marketing assistant manager. When it comes to the lake, there’s plenty to get visitors on the water. Paddle boards, kayaks, and canoes stand in neat rows, awaiting their turn to skim easily across the lake’s calm surface. In the summer season, the Center fires up the resident pontoon, the Cherokee IV, for tours of the lake. The boat embarks on a sunset cruise every day at 8PM, or you can schedule a private group tour for a more personal chug. Not all private lakes come with conference centers and multistory inns; some, like Lake Summit in Tuxedo, are private enough for private residences. Personal cottages dot the ten miles of shoreline, providing quaint shelter for permanent residents and summertime wayfarers alike. The waters of the 60

| July 2017

lake form a placid arena for power boating, sailing, skiing, wakeboarding, kayaking, swimming, and leisurely pontoon cruises. The lake’s several camps, including Camp Greystone and Camp Green Cove for girls, and Camp Mondamin for boys, have offered young ones a taste of the lake life (and a rope swing) for decades. Though Lake Summit is certainly a community, Lake Toxaway (laketoxaway.com) is in a different league when it comes to private lake communities. Lake Toxaway—located in western Transylvania County, and the largest privatelyheld lake in North Carolina—is available exclusively to the residents of Toxaway Estates or those renting the community’s vacation homes. Residents of the Estates can ascend to the next level of private exclusivity if they’re inducted into the Lake Toxaway Country Club, which is dependent on application and approval of the membership committee. But once you’re in, you’re in, with access to the newly renovated clubhouse (the doors just opened in June), the Kris Spencedesigned 18-hole championship golf course, the 20-acre Tom Fazio Golf Learning Center, fine dining, and a state-of-the-art fitness center, plus exclusive social events. These aren’t the crowded lakes of country songs, but exclusive destinations that offer up a manicured taste of the lake life.

photo courtesy Junaluska Lake

photo courtesy Buncombe County Recreation Services

Gone Fishin’ A tackle box holds the same glittering appeal as a jewelry collection. Open the plastic lid, speckled with mud, and a scintillating trove of bait and tackle is revealed: Flies that trail feathers fluffed and fluorescent or slim and muted; plastic molds in the shape of bugs and worms and amorphous nothings; tiny lead weights as wee as kernels that catch the sun; bobbers covered in a web of old moss. But all this, this cachet of color and captivation, is useless without a good lake to lay it on. Now, there’s something to be said for fishing on those larger lakes we’ve mentioned. Good boats, deep water, hot sun— unquestionably a recipe for a good time. But there’s something about a really small lake, one with a name most folks won’t recognize, that appeals to the true fishermen. These are the lakes where locals have been coming for decades, using their helms as rovers to map out the sweet spots. They know where to drop their lines to find the gaping mouth of a bass or the whiskered bite of a catfish. They’re a little secret and a little tricky, but with some patience they can be wonderfully rewarding. Fontana Lake, one of the dam-created reservoirs discussed above, is an overwhelming maze of fingers and inlets, but its sister lake, Cheoah Lake, is the kind of secluded and navigable lake of

fishermen’s dreams. Bordered by the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the shores are undeveloped, providing a serene backdrop for dropping a line. Because Cheoah is relatively narrow, there’s not room enough for louder, more raucous sports, leaving the water placid and the air free from the shrieks of revving engines and voices. When it comes to amenities, there are none—just a single boat ramp where the tires of dozens of anglers have left their mark. You’ll find rainbow, brown, and brook trout in these quiet waters, as well as small mouth and large mouth bass and a booming muskie population—which, with plenty of trout to feed on, is growing heartily. (Details on both Fontana and Cheoah are at greatsmokies.com/fontana.) Jackson County’s Cedar Cliff Lake, which is tied to the larger, meandering Bear Creek Lake and is buried in the Nantahala National Forest, offers similar levels of seclusion. You’ll find whitewater rafters and languid tubers on the lake, shot in from the west fork of the Tuckasegee River, but like Cheoah, Cedar Cliff is too narrow for water sports. Instead, it’s an oasis for largemouth bass; unlike other Carolinian lakes, these fish aren’t stocked by the Wildlife Resources Commission, but swim their fins in via the Tuckasegee (much like those tubers). Anglers can also cast their hooks for trout, muskie, smallmouth bass, crappie, rock bass, sunfish, and bream. Fly fishermen have luck on the lake’s sandbars and thin outlying streams. Another lake with shores in the Nantahala National Forest is Lake Santeetlah. A small town of the same name carves into the northern side of the lake, but the majority of its waters are crowned by pristine forest. The United States Forest Service keeps the lake and lands in tip-top shape, with facilities for camping and picnicking (you’ll find more than 50 camp sites in the vicinity), as well as fishing and boating. There are plenty of fish waiting to be plucked from these quiet waters, like small and large mouth bass, walleye, crappie, bream, and lake trout; in fact, the lake held for some time the state records for both largemouth and walleye. Intimidated by the presence of a town? Don’t be; as of 2010, the permanent residents only numbered 43. Serenity, undisturbed. July 2017 | capitalatplay.com 61

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Lakes for City Slickers Speak the words “mountain” and “lake” together, and figments of misty, secluded pools drift into focus, scenes of remote havens accessed via muddy treks and four-wheel drive, remote locals where phone service is questionable and poison ivy is guaranteed. Although that’s certainly true of some of our lakes (see above), they can take very different, citified forms. These mountains also cradle manicured pools lined with walking paths, dog parks, and well-behaved shrubs. These lakes are special not because of their isolation, but their neighborliness and convenience. Sometimes you want to appreciate the great outdoors while still feeling the ping and buzz of your phone’s notifications. Sometimes you can only handle a quick trip into the sun, sealed with the cool promise of afternoon’s air-conditioning. And sometimes, us city folks need a little nature, too. Arden’s Lake Julian is one such urban oasis. It’s a favorite destination for all types—weekend warriors and picnickers, kayakers, and sunbathers—because it’s so easily accessible. “Lake Julian Park is a real gem in the middle of South Asheville,” says David Blynt, the park manager. “It is the most utilized park within Buncombe County Parks and Recreation Services, and

one of the most utilized in Western North Carolina.” Asheville’s outdoorsmen (of which there are so, so many), have easy access to plenty of big-lake amenities in a convenient, little-lake package. It’s a great destination for city-dwellers because the park offers rentals—like paddle and fishing boats—which means you don’t have to lug around or store big-ticket equipment. It’s the kind of park made for summertime, with picnic tables, a playground, disc golf, volleyball, horse shoe pits, and picnic shelter rentals perfect for a party. And because it’s operated by the county, that means the park can offer cool programming like kids’ fishing tournaments, or pontoon boat rides that are free for senior citizens, people with disabilities, and touring local students. The community makes the most of these convenient waters, with festivals both their own (Fall Festival, typically in October) and others’ (like Diamond Brand’s Paddlefest, which took place this past April). Asheville-area residents and visitors looking for something a little more rural but still local can visit Lake Powhatan, located slightly southwest of the city near the North Carolina Arboretum. The lake’s bright, sandy beach is a natural playground for wee ones, and the surrounding lands harbor lots of hiking and mountain biking trails for the big kids. If you do decide to stay overnight, camping sites abound. Plus, there are hot showers.

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Nearby Lake Tomahawk is the nucleus of Black Mountain and was another project of the CWA. This wee lake is a quick stroll from downtown, plopped in the midst of a quaint, polished park. No motorized boats are allowed, but you’ll likely find a fisherman lazily casting on the shore or in a small craft. Highlands’ Harris Lake Park is a popular picnic spot. Like Lake Tomahawk, it’s a short jaunt from the charming downtown’s bustling streets. Few amenities make this small mountain lake a good choice for lunchtime escapes from the daily grind. There may be magic in those secluded, remote lakes, but there’s a lot to be said for the convenience and municipal management of their urban counterparts.

slogan, we’d say the real treasure of our state lies here, in our mountains. They wink eager, sunshiney hellos and wave gentle goodbyes to passing boats; they host parties and vacations; they buoy our little ones and our beers in cool, cradling arms. And when we sing their song, they

Let the beach keeps its salt and sand, the river its rocks, and give us the calm, melodious waters of our lakes. That’s the mountains’ summer siren call.

One Last Lullaby In the Carolinas we have a series of sayings regarding our ability to travel from mountains to coast in the span of a few short hours. Although that makes one heck of a marketing

sing it back: Sometimes a loud, lauding number of whoops and revving engines; sometimes a simple percussionist tap of drumming raindrops and gulping fish; and sometimes a simple, sweet lullaby, a hushed send-off of crickets and tickling leaves and the soft lap of waves. Let the beach keeps its salt and sand, the river its rocks, and give us the calm, melodious waters of our lakes. That’s the mountains’ summer siren call.

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King of Grapes

Do you really know the King? A look at Cabernet Sauvignon from around the world.

HER E’ S A R EASON THEY CA LL IT

the king of grapes. Almost everyone who has had even the most fleeting brush with wine knows it by name. With the exception of tomato Italian fare, Cabernet Sauvignon pairs with nearly every dish loved by Americans—from burgers to haute cuisine. It is overwhelmingly represented on wine lists from steakhouses to French restaurants.

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is the co-owner of Metro Wines located on Charlotte Street in downtown Asheville.

And you’ll always find it among the assortment of bottles crowded on the kitchen countertop at every neighborhood party. It’s pretty much every red wine lover’s go-to grape. So you think you know Cabernet Sauvignon. When people ask me to recommend a Cab, they often look at me askance when I ask if they’d like to try one from Italy. People know the Cabs from Bordeaux and Napa, as well as the California value brands. But even with a grape this popular, surprisingly few venture beyond the well-known regions. This reticence allows you to take advantage of wine’s golden rule: Unpopular wines, no matter how good, are linked to popular prices. Before we go much further, I think it’s important you realize that you live in the best of times. Cabernet Sauvignon has not always been on this planet, and wine lovers went without for thousands of years. King Charlemagne never tasted anything so grand, and the eight popes of medieval times had to settle for the Grenache based blends from France’s southern Rhone valley. Cabernet Sauvignon is a recent invention, only four centuries old. It’s the hybrid offspring of two

| July 2017

ancient grapes, Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc. Both make respectable wines in their own right but achieve synergistic bliss as a combination. The next time you take a sip of Cabernet, think about the flavors of the two ancestor grapes. I’ll bet you can discern the characteristics of both in the glass. The good news is that Cabernet Sauvignon grows so well in so many different terroirs that you’ll find it in nearly every wine region. This versatility delivers the familiar taste you love so much, but lets you enjoy a wine with its own terroir-driven twist. For the rest of this column, I’ll introduce some less known places where Cab strives to be king and try to coax you into giving an off-beat Cab a chance at your table.

*** Our first step off the beaten path won’t venture too far from California. If you want to drink the best on a budget, you should know that Washington state has the lowest average cost for Cabs rated “outstanding” (90 points or higher out of 100) than any other world class wine region.

J Washington Cabs share many of the characteristics of those from Napa and Sonoma, except that they tend to be smoother and less tannic. Less tannin really makes the fruit stand out. There is a blending trick used by some Washington vintners that has been long prohibited throughout France. When a Bordeaux vintage produced a wine that was a bit thin, vintners would bolster it by adding Syrah from the Rhone valley. Syrah adds depth to both color and flavor, mimicking the richness found in better Bordeaux vintages. The practice ceased when the purists stepped in and restricted Bordeaux to the indigenous grapes of the region.

SOUTH AFRICA’S CABERNETS ARE BEGINNING TO BE RECOGNIZED IN MAJOR CITIES. THESE CABERNETS HAVE A DISTINCT STYLE WITH FRUIT SIMILAR TO CALIFORNIA, BUT THEN CHANGE THE GAME WITH A EUROPEAN FINISH.

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The flavors of Syrah can be surprising in a Cabernet blend. But it didn’t take me long to appreciate it. Not all Washington state Cabs have Syrah. And Syrah is now used as a booster in so many different wines (How do you think Meiomi Pinot Noir got that rich?) that you’ve probably been enjoying it for years. If you’d like to try a couple of Cabs from Washington State, consider Hedges CMS at about $16. CMS stands for Cab, Merlot, and Syrah. Or try Hedges’ higher end Red Mountain blend, a premium Cab around $30. The mountain’s unusually July 2017 | capitalatplay.com 65

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large range of temperatures from warm sunny days to quite cool One of the best value Cabs is Faithful Hound, which has nights produces depth and complexity. Among the very best is appeared in the New York Times’ “Top 20 Wines for Under Leonetti Cabernet, which is well priced for ultra premium at $20” series for the past several years. And on the back label about $120. is the sad but true story that Next, we’ll head towards the inspired the wine’s name. For southern hemisphere to South ultra premium, try Mvemve THE WORLD’S STYLES OF Africa. This country is better Raats de Compostella at about known for Shiraz and Chenin $90, which has earned its place CABERNET R ANGE FROM Bla nc, but S outh A f r ica’s in several critics’ top 100 wines. FRUITY TO SAVORY, TANNIC Cabernets are beginning to be Next, we’re off to Italy. Cabernet TO SMOOTH. BUT THEY ALL recognized in major cities. These is the grape that helped save SHARE THE FOUNDATIONAL Cabernets have a distinct style Italy’s wine industry. Through with fruit similar to California, the 1960s Italy was known for FLAVORS THAT MAKE but then change the game with cheap red wine often sold in CABERNET SAUVIGNON THE a European finish. bottles ensconced in a basket. WORLD’S FAVORITE RED. They also tend to have a hint of Antinori thought that he could smokiness. The smoke is added only get the world’s attention by to the wine by toasting / charring adding Cabernet Sauvignon to the inside of the casks. Traditional cask makers use the timethe Tuscan grape Sangiovese. And he was right. His Cab blend, honored practice of turning the cask upright and placing it over Tignanello, at about $120, put Italy back on the map, and it a small fire. Much like a twist on your toaster’s dial, vintners resides among the very small club of iconic brands like Opus can buy casks burnt to a level of charcoal made to order: light, One. Because this blend has become Tuscany’s as well as Italy’s medium, or dark toast. bestselling wine, it has earned the nickname Super Tuscan. CAPJUly17

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There are Super Tuscans with prices not as flighty. Consider Perazzeta, produced by a small, family-owned winery, which will set you back about $20. Personally, I think there is nothing better than the taste of French grapes grown in Italy. It’s now time to head west across the Atlantic. South America has made Malbec so famous that many people believe the grape originated in Argentina rather than France. Malbec overshadows the five other reds of South America, but Cabernet is quietly working its way into the spotlight. Argentine Cabs are a similar style to California, but at a fraction of the price. Among my favorites is Decero, a rich and highly rated Cab for about $17. You’ve got to be a little careful with Cabs from Chile. Cabernet is one of the slower maturing grapes and Chile is known for short growing seasons. If planted in the wrong place, vintners must harvest the grapes before they are ripe, or risk losing them to the cold. Premature picking gives Chilean Cabernet its herbaceous, green pepper character. I love their Cabs when the green pepper is in the background, but a few can be over the top. Don Melchor is another revered, worldclass Cab that sells for at about $100, far less than its Napa or Bordeaux peers. But great Chilean Cabs can be purchased for as little as $14.

Our last stop is the Middle East, a truly unlikely place for Cabernets. It may sound like a back handed compliment, but Chateau Musar is the best winery in Lebanon. Gaston Hochar, who founded the winery in 1930, is quite proud of the fact that he has missed only one vintage due to war. This achievement is partly due to the flak jackets worn by those tending the grapes. Chateau Musar’s Cab tastes quite French because the founder was trained in Bordeaux. If you’ve always wanted to try a back vintage, but don’t want to wait a decade or two for the privilege, you’ll be glad to know that you can purchase Musar’s vintages going back up to 20 years. The price of the 2008 at $65 is not inexpensive, but a steal when compared to its peer wines from Bordeaux.

*** This should get you off to a good start. Once you’ve explored these regions, you can continue your journey by trying Cabernet Sauvignon from India or Eastern Europe. The world’s styles of Cabernet range from fruity to savory, tannic to smooth. But they all share the foundational flavors that make Cabernet Sauvignon the world’s favorite red.

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Breaking Out of the Cell berkely, california

Synvitrobio is using cell-free biotech to reduce the time needed to identify potential antibiotics. To start, ribosomes are isolated from cells, usually of Escherichia coli, and mixed into a substrate of amino acids, sugar, and adenosine triphosphate. Synvitrobio uses a robotic system to pour each batch into 384 micrometer-scale test tubes, after which up to eight strands of DNA, each with up to 10,000 nucleotides, are added to each tube to replicate. Because antibiotics first attach to dangerous molecules before destroying them, Synvitrobio also adds agents of interest to the mix. The agents are modified with an appended indicator compound that glows when a molecule attaches. Should a test tube glow, Synvirobio will turn the causative

reduces reflection. The telescoped edges serve as a diffraction grating, the design of which would control the color, opacity, and finish of a surface. Lal set out to develop a solar cell with a perovskite layer to absorb green visible light and higher wavelengths and a silicon layer to absorb lower wavelengths. The test cell performed with a record, albeit shortlived, 26.4% efficiency.

]

DNA sequence over to another company for further research. This method is considerably faster than relying on living organisms to grow antibiotics.

Creators Advance in Music War los angeles , california

Butterfly Effect canberra , australia

Dr. Niraj Lal, working with the Australian National University, has discovered a technique he thinks could be the beginning of the next-generation of solar cells. The concept is derived from the wings of the blue Morpho Didius butterfly. The surface of the wings is simulated by depositing chemical vapors that self-assemble into telescoped cones with base diameters on the order of half a micrometer. The cones create a refractive index gradient that, like moths’ eyes,

The main theme of Techstars Music 2017 was how artificial intelligence can improve creation and monetization in a music industry now dominated by trillions of micropayments. Warner Music Group and Sony Entertainment partnered to demonstrate the work of eleven startups supported by the accelerator’s portfolio worth about $7.8 billion. Hurdl captures cell phone numbers of concertgoers for communicating during and after a performance; Robin helps fans get tickets while providing real-time demand analytics to organizers; Popgun is able to learn from musicians and accompany songs; Amper composes, performs, and produces

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music; Pacemaker mixes and remixes from streams instead of digital files; Weav remixes songs to postpone burn; Jaak uses blockchain technology to collect payment and apportion royalties; Syncspon pairs brands for shared promotions; Pippa allows the insertion of personalized ads into podcasts; Shimmur lets fans pitch content to celebrities; and Superpowered streamlines code for music distribution.

A Glitch Felt ‘round the World london, england

British Airways CEO Alex Cruz is promising customers it won’t happen again. May 27, at the onset of a week-long school vacation, a power surge hit the airline’s computer systems, taking out even its redundancies. The call center, website, and check-in computers went black, 800 flights to or from Heathrow and Gatwick were canceled, and 75,000 passengers were stranded. It was initially estimated the airline would lose $68 million on refunds and more for booking passengers in hotels. Most systems were operating again the following Monday, but the airline had to rebook customers and reconnect them with their baggage. Cruz dispelled

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rumors that the surge was due to any of the company’s cost-cutting measures. Back in September, 157 BA flights were delayed due to a computer glitch. Around the same time, IT glitches caused Delta Airlines to cancel 2,300 flights; Southwest Airlines, more than 2,000.

Bye-Bye, Stubborn Cruel Shoes new york city, new york

True Gault co-founder Sandra Gault got the idea for her company as she was standing in painful high heels at a party. True Gault is an app for custom shoes. After downloading the app, which is now only available for later model iPhones, users register, providing basic information like height, weight, standard shoe size, and style preferences. They then scan their feet. Instructions and assistance are available, but once the green lights appear, a scan is good. Three photos from different angles of each foot must be taken, the process lasting about fifteen minutes. Next, the user selects from one of nineteen styles and over 70 fine European textiles. Shoes cost $250; boots, $350. Shoes are handmade in Spain, so delivery takes four weeks, and

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the app tracks orders for clients. Shoe data is stored by the company for future purchases. If there is a problem with the fit, the app accepts specific information for sending a corrected pair free of charge.

Perks You Love to Hate seattle, washington

For years, Starbucks has seen same-store sales in the United States rise, but sales dropped 2% in the first quarter of 2017 and leveled in the second. In response, the company launched a two-year North Star agenda, which started on the wrong foot. Employees were read a letter from corporate headquarters that convinced many that leadership was out-of-touch. Baristas already felt stretched, with labor cuts, newer and fancier drinks, and multiple methods of taking payment. A classic example was the Unicorn Frappuccino, a social media sensation that caused serious backups in stores. On top of that, baristas were getting mixed messages on whether or not they’re really supposed to be cultivating relationships with customers. Still, while earning around $9.50/hour, employees remained hesitant to seek work elsewhere, deeming it difficult to beat the company’s scholarship program, 401(k) matching, and health insurance.

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About an hour before the last contract expired, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) was able to find common ground with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. The WGA had threatened its seventh strike since 1960. It would have immediately affected late-night programming, which depends on writers for current-affairs content; the impact on the motion picture industry would have been more gradual. The 2007-2008 strike is estimated to have cost writers $287 million in lost opportunities and shorted the California economy $2 billion. The Guild wanted updated terms mainly to address the greater market share streaming media like Netf lix and Amazon are consuming, the shift in the number of program episodes per season (from around 22-24 to 6-13), and a health insurance plan described as “troubled” and “unsustainable.” The contract was ratified with only 30 of the 3,647 votes cast in opposition. A memo to members said the deal netted them $130 million more than expected.

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A San Francisco court judged retired professor Douglas Shaw to be guilty of patent infringement and violating an agreement signed with the University of California, Davis. Shaw had been head of the university’s strawberry breeding program for twenty years before starting his own for-profit, California Berry Cultivars. Upon retirement, Shaw sued the university for $45 million, saying much of his work had been destroyed, and seeds that remained were locked in freezers instead of being made available to benefit humanity. In partnership with Kirk Larson, Shaw is credited with developing the breeds cultivated by most California growers. Their 24

varieties have qualities like an extended growing season, denser yield, stronger disease- and pest-resistance, and better durability for long hauls. California’s $2 billion strawberry industry is first in the nation, and growers were counting on the duo to keep it competitive. But the university countersued Shaw, saying he used seeds without permission. A separate jury will decide how much he owes in damages.

Zero-Emission Natural Gas Plant houston, texas

Bill Brown wanted to incubate something in the energy sector because of its potential for low-risk and high-yield. Miles Palmer had previously worked on a zero-emission project that burned coal in pure oxygen to produce concentrated carbon dioxide, but proved inefficient. Rodney Allam then pulled from 1930s Russian research the idea of replacing steam at a coal-burning plant with the output CO2, circulated at super-critical and gaseous stages. The technique would afford greater thermal control and replace energy-intensive compressors with pumps. But coal would have to first be converted to synthetic gas, which would release sulfur and mercury when burned. So, the engineers settled on working with natural gas and received $140 million in funding from Exelon and Chicago Bridge & Iron for the zero-emission, fossil-fuel NET Power demo plant, scheduled to fire up later this year. If all goes as planned, it will generate power at a cost competitive with high-tech natural gas plants.

The Power of Zero greenville county, south carolina

Touring Sport of Greenville was selected to retail Zero Motorcycles. Touring Sport is the region’s retailer of BMW, Ducati, and Triumph cycles. The Zero models are manufactured by a company formerly known as Electricross in California. They are 100% electric, and each year the designs get more lightweight and streamlined, with longer ranges and other perks. Zero bikes come in street, dual-sport, and law enforcement/military models. They take advantage of a brushless, permanent magnet Z-Force® motor. Range is boosted by removable lithium-ion power packs and an optional fast-charging accessory. Zero Motorcycles have won races at Pikes Peak and Bonneville, and they set a Guinness world record as the first electric off-road motorcycle topping a range of 500 miles in 24 hours. While their performance justifies Zero’s place as one of the leading electric motorcycle companies, both in engineering and sales, the bikes still lag their fossil-fuel counterparts when it comes to long-haul touring because of their relatively short range and slow charging times. Touring Sport offers test rides of demo models and retails the various models, which qualify for a 10% federal tax credit, for around $8,500$16,000. The City of Greenville already uses two in its fleet. July 2017 | capitalatplay.com

People Play at

8 6

1. Amy Hendrick Hall, Michelle Grasty-Colont & Christine Garvin (CE)

| July 2017

2. Adam Bennett, Hannah Randall (MANNA CEO), Julia Redmond (MANNA), & Kendall Roberts (CE) 3. Deb Reeves, aka Griselda the

Palm Reader, & Donna Woods (CE) 4. Jasmine Galvin & Josh Rollins 5. Rita and Russ Truluck 6. Jack Bogdanovich, Anne

Kimmel, Liz Button & Tom Culver (CE) 7. Phil Carland & Marlene Champagne (CE)

18th Annual MANNA FoodBank Blue Jean Ball: Pirates of Swannanoa

MANNA FoodBank, Asheville | June 3, 2017 Photos by MANNA FoodBank and Carlyle Ellis (CE)

8. Amy & Doug Rose 9. Lori Theriault & Matt Clark (CE) 10. Jimmie Cochran Pratt (CE) 11. Chuck & Jo Anne Williams

12. Eric & Julie Simes 13. Sunny Mathews (CE) 14. Emmy Bowers & Britt Arndt (CE) 15. Steve Lipe aka Captain Greybeard (CE)

16. Cassie & Kyle Gustafson, with Dr. Thomas German (CE)

July 2017 | capitalatplay.com 73

events

july

EVENTS

Donizetti’s comic opera into the Wild West, but it is still sung in Italian, with English subtitles. The production is critically-acclaimed.

>Tickets: $35-$55 > 828-862-2105 > brevardmusic.com

The outdoor historic drama probes questions of loyalties. Daniel Boone is the narrator; yes, a big narrator. He steps in and out of the script to join the ragtag freedom fighters who ran for their lives into the hills. Grounds open at 5:30PM.

>Tickets: Adult $25, Student (13+) $17, Child $13, Infant in Arms (0-2) FREE

july 1

Summit Crawl & Classic Car Cruise-In

> 828-264-2120 > horninthewest.com

july 1-23

The Little Mermaid

Sugar Mountain Ski Resort 1009 Sugar Mountain Dr, Sugar Mountain, NC

Flat Rock Playhouse Downtown 125 South Main St, Hendersonville, NC

“Run, hike, or crawl” up the 5,300’ peak, or cruise in with your classic car or truck (at least 25 years old or older) and park before 9AM. There will be lift rides, live music, food, and refreshments.

‘Life is the Bubbles’ in this play adapted from Disney’s The Little Mermaid Broadway production of the Academy Award winning motion picture. Since it’s a play, Ursula won’t be as scary.

> 800-SUGAR-MT > skisugar.com/crawl

>Tickets: $13-$25 > 828-693-0731 > flatrockplayhouse.org

july 1

Don Pasquale

july 4

4th of July Fireworks 9PM

Sugar Mountain Ski Resort 1009 Sugar Mountain Dr, Sugar Mountain, NC There will be lots of fireworks, but this presentation is special because you can watch from a mountaintop 5,300 feet above sea level. Sponsored by the Village of Sugar Mountain Tourism Development

july 1 - august 5 Horn in the West

2PM Porter Center, Brevard College 1 Brevard College Drive, Brevard, NC

8-10PM

Former Brevard Music Center opera director David Gately transported

Horn in the West 591 Horn in the West Dr, Boone, NC

>Tickets: Ground: FREE, Ski Lift RT $14/person, Ski Lift Day Pass $35

> 800-SUGAR-MT > skisugar.com

P O P U P9

AM – 6PM

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Estate Sales IN

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FOR MORE INFO CALL OR GO ONLINE | 828-575-2509 | CAREPARTNERSFOUNDATION.ORG

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9AM – 6PM

THURSDAY thru SATURDAY

JULY 6–8 and JULY 20–22

| July 2017

340 GREENVILLE HIGHWAY

BREVARD NC 28712

Across from Brevard Elementary School

july 5 - 9, 12-16 , 19 -23

Tryon Riding & Hunt Club Horse Shows Tryon International Equestrian Center 25 International Blvd, Mill Spring NC The July 5-9 event is their Charity II / Summer 2 Horse Show; July 12-18, the Summer 3 Horse Show; and July 19-23, the Summer 4 Horse Show. See the April issue for our report on Polk County, including details on the Equestrian Center.

> 828-863-0480 > tryonridingandhuntclub.org july 6 - 9

62nd Grandfather Mountain Highland Games

MacRae Meadows Highway 221 South, Linville, NC

More than just men in skirts heaving telephone poles. Event organizers are on a mission to preserve Scottish heritage through a gathering of the clans for craft, song, dance, and athletics. Participants and spectators must shuttle in to the event; a parking map is available on the website.

> 828-733-1333 > gmhg.org

August for thirty-three years. The character sketches cover the range of what a drag it is getting old in an insightful, humorous way.

july 7-15

Mary and Myra 2PM (Sun, Wed), 7:30PM (Tue, Fri, Sat) Historic Banner Elk School 185 Azalea Circle SE, Banner Elk, NC Embel lished stor y of Mar y Todd Lincoln after her sole surviving son confiscated her wealth and had her committed to an insane asylum. Mary drifts between calm mental clarity and volcanic delusion; her brilliant attorney, Myra Bradwell, is always dismissed in a man’s world.

>Tickets: Adult $22, Student/Senior $20, Child (0-16) $11 > 828-414-1844 > ensemblestage.com

>Tickets: $30-$50 > 828-693-0731 > flatrockplayhouse.org july 7 & 21, august 4

Classic Car Show

5-9PM Downtown Main St, Hendersonville, NC

People with cool old cars are invited to park them for showing off and see all the other cool cars people are showing off. (Note: Additional dates July 14 and 28 are for Corvettes only.)

> 828-702-0448 > hendersonvilleantiquecarclub.com july 8 , 15 , 22 , 29

july 7-22 The Dixie Swim Club

Stories on Asheville’s Front Porch 2017 Jubilee!

Flat Rock Playhouse Mainstage 2661 Greenville Highway, Flat Rock, NC

10:30-11:30AM 46 Wall Street, Asheville, NC

Girls on a high-school swim team reunite at a summer beach rental every

The summer lineup, geared for kids of all ages, is: John Thomas Fowler plus

YOUR KEY TO TR ANQUILIT Y TRANQUILITY POOL Private Estate U n i c o i , Te n n e s s e e

M A R K D O R S E Y D E S I G N S

Mark Dorsey Designs and Medallion Pool Company Asheville, North Carolina MedallionPool.com • 828-684-5381 July 2017 | capitalatplay.com 75

events

Pansy Jo and her clown troupe, July 8; “Moonshine in the Mountains” with Jon Sundell, Sandra Gudger, and Milton Higgins on July 15; “World Tales” with Daphne Darcy, Kirsten Mitchell, and Walter Ziffer, July 22; and “Mountain Tales” with Joe Penland on July 29.

> 828-252-5335 > jubileecommunity.org

- august 6 Sacred Ground: Bringing New Mexico Home july 14

11AM-5PM (Tue-Sat), 1-5PM (Sun) Gallery at Flat Rock 2702A Greenville Hwy, Flat Rock, NC Lucy Clark is not your average potter. Her clay creations evoke fire with a swirly, cutout look. Their raveled uniformity is complex and random. An opening reception will be held July 14, from 5-7PM.

> 828-698-7000 > galleryflatrock.com july 14 -16 , 21-23 , 28 -30

Gruesome Playground Injuries 7:30PM (Fri & Sat), 2:30PM (Sun) 35below, 35 E Walnut Street, Asheville, NC Attic Salt Theatre Company mounts Rajiv Joseph’s bittersweet romantic comedy in which Kayleen and Doug probe their “odd connection as they find a certain kinship in a series of life-altering calamities.” Featuring Nina Troy and Patrick Brandt in the main roles, the play is directed by Attic Salt artistic director Jeff Catanese.

> 828-254-1320 > ashevilletheatre.org

| July 2017

july 16 , 23 , 25

Broyhill Chamber Ensemble

4PM (Sun), 8PM (Tue) Rosen Concert Hall Broyhill Music Center 813 Rivers Street, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC

Artistic director and violinist Gil Morgenstern will be accompanied with violin, viola, cello, and piano for performances of Max Reger’s Serenade in G, Op. 141a; Beethoven’s Piano Trio in D major (“Ghost”), Op. 70, #1; and Dvorák’s Piano Quartet in E-flat major, Op. 87.

>Tickets: Adult $25, Student/Child $15

> 828-262-4046 > appsummer.org july 20 -30

Folkmoot Festival

Multiple Times and Venues

In ten days dancing ambassadors converge from Argentina, Israel, India, the Netherlands, Russia, Slovenia, Taiwan, and Wales to celebrate exciting traditions of choreographed athleticism, color, and sometimes fire. Native Cherokee and Appalachian dancers perform, too. Shows will be in about a dozen venues throughout the region.

> 828-452-2997 > folkmoot.org july 21-23

The Craft Fair of the Southern Highlands

10AM-6PM (Fri, Sat), 10AM-5PM (Sun) US Cellular Center 87 Haywood Street, Asheville, NC Approximately 20,000 visitors patronize the semiannual event, now in its 70th year. The 200 makers showcasing this year are those who survived two juries.

> Admission: Adult $8, Child (0-11) FREE > 828-259-5736 > craftguild.org

– august 6 The Lion King, Jr. july 21

7:30PM (Fri, Sat), 2PM (Sun) Hendersonville Community Theatre 299 South Washington St, Hendersonville, NC Abridged version of the Broadway musical, which was an adaptation of the Disney movie. It takes a bold critter to speak truth to power, dispel the darkness, and restore the “Circle of Life” to its “Hakuna Matata.”

>Tickets $15 > 828-692-1082 > hendersonvilletheatre.org july 22

From Board Roads to the Swinging Bridge

10AM-4PM Grandfather Mountain 2050 Blowing Rock Hwy, Linville, NC

2010 North Carolina Historian of the Year Michael Hardy leads participants on an indoor and outdoor journey celebrating the works of people on the mountain through history. Part of the Adult Field Courses series exploring the mountain’s ecosystem through fieldwork and classroom study.

>Tickets: General $40, Member $20 > 828-733-2013 > grandfather.com july 23

Gran Fondo Asheville

7:45AM New Belgium Brewing Company 21 Craven St, Asheville, NC July 2017 | capitalatplay.com 77

events

“When I Look in the Mirror Now I can Smile More!” - Another satisfied patient of Dr. Robinson

BEFORE

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Advanced implant treatment from an experienced oral surgeon

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Giving you a new smile in one day!

The fourth annual bike race (part of the Giordana Gran Fondo National Championship Series) raises funds for Friends of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The ride starts at New Belgium and travels along country roads into mountain ridges. It takes in part of the Blue Ridge Parkway and goes through downtown Asheville.

> Registration: 100 miles $130, 60

miles $110, 30 miles $70 > 765-247-BIKE > granfondonationalchampionship.com

AFTER

june 24

Hear more from our satisfied patients by visiting

reviveasmile.com 828-277-7770

Western North Carolina's Free Spirit of Enterprise

Drums & Dragons

8AM Lake Julian Park, 406 Overlook Rd Extension, Arden, NC

Two great tastes that go great together. CarePartners Foundation has decided to raise money through corporate teambuilding with the ancient art of dragon boat racing. By the time you read this, it will probably be too late to pull 20 of your coworkers together and raise the $1,500 entry fee and do the crowdsourcing thing; so you may as well come watch – and get ideas on how your team can win at the second annual event!

> drumsanddragons.com

Join us on Social Media!

july 26

Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons 7:30PM Whittington-Pfohl Auditorium, Brevard Music Center 349 Andante Lane, Brevard, NC

f o r t i c K e t g i v e aWay s , e X c l u s i v e s , a n d m o r e ! 78

| July 2017

This is only one of the wonderful classical performances packed daily into the Brevard Music Center’s Summer Music Festival. The headline performance is the brilliant, invigorating culmination of Vivaldi’s life’s work. William Preucil

will handle the violin. Pre-concert talk in Thomas Hall one hour before showtime.

>Tickets: Reserved $26-$57, Lawn $15 > 828-862-2105 > brevardmusic.org july 27-30

Asheville Yoga Festival This is four days chock full of yoga classes around downtown Asheville. Academic and participatory courses will be offered in all kinds of schools and styles. You’ll need something to center after reading the mind-boggling smorgasbord of an itinerary for health, awareness, and wellness. The event is under new ownership and direction.

LOCAL INSTITUTE NOW OFFERING STEM CELL THERAPY

“In time, it’s our hope that this truly amazing therapy will eliminate the need for drugs and surgery.” - Dr. Andrew Wells, DC.

> 828-633-5065 > ashevilleyogafestival.com july 27

Kool & The Gang/Commodores 7:30PM Biltmore Estate1 Lodge Street, Asheville, NC

These guys dominated the music scene in the 1970s. Kool & The Gang handled the pop funk while the Commodores took care of the softer side. Grammy, Grammy, Grammy. Tickets must be ordered in advance; no children under 10 will be admitted.

>Tickets $71 and up > 800-411-3812 > biltmore.com july 28

Symphony by the Lake at Chetola

5:30-11PM Chetola Resort 185 Chetola Lake Dr, Blowing Rock, NC

Over 65 musicians from Tennessee, North Carolina, and Virginia are conducted by Cornelia Laemmli Orth in the verdant outdoor venue. Patrons may bring a picnic or sample cuisine provided by the resort. The night is capped with fireworks.

>Tickets: Adult $50, Child (0-11) $12 > 828-295-7851 > symphonybythelake.com

Superior Healthcare is now offering state-of-the-art stem cell therapy at its Asheville and Hendersonville locations. For more information on this amazing regenerative treatment, call (828) 575-6244.

This painless and safe stem cell injections are particularly effective in treating such conditions as: DEGENERATIVE ARTHRITIS BONE SPURS DEGENERATIVE JOINT DISEASE

DEGENERATIVE CARTILAGE AND LIGAMENTS BURSITIS TENDONITIS

They do this by pinpointing the impaired areas, removing the swelling with powerful anti-inﬂammatory properties and healing them by regenerating new cells and tissue.

The practice will be holding a

FREE EDUCATIONAL SEMINAR on stem cell therapy

at the Country Inn and Suites in the Westgate Shopping Center near Earth Fare and downtown Asheville.

Please call for the date and times, and to reserve your seat, as space is limited! Superior Healthcare | SuperiorHealthcareAsheville.com 79 2017 | NC capitalatplay.com 38 Westgate Pkwy,July Asheville 28806

events

GOING GREEN

ALL-ELECTRIC MOTORCYCLES HAVE ARRIVED

– august 5 Legally Blonde, The Musical july 28

Hayes Auditorium, Lees-McRae College 235 Main Street, Banner Elk, NC A girl charms her way into Harvard to win her boyfriend back. The musical is described as true-to-form with the screen production. Rated PG-13.

>Tickets: $19.22-$42.70 > 828-898-8709 > lmc.edu july 28

Touring Sport | 1431 Laurens Road Greenville, SC 29607 www.touringsport.com

WORD: Gwenda Ledbetter with Scott Ainslie Trade and Lore Coffee House, 37 Wall Street, Asheville, NC

David Joe Miller Presents Gwenda, who has been telling stories since the 1960s, starring on WLOS and at Pack Memorial Library, and bluesman Scott, who started picking out songs on the piano when he was three.

>Tickets: $18-$20 > 828-424-7291 > storytellingcalendar.com july 29

LOCAL BEERS ON TAP OVER 50 TEQUILAS FRESH JUICE MARGARITAS

- historic biltmore village (828)505-7682 call ahead for preffered seating OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK CATERING AND PRIVATE DINING AVAILABLE

| July 2017

Asheville Anime Regional Convention 9AM-7PM US Cellular Center 87 Haywood St, Asheville, NC

This is an Anime, Manga, and video game convention. People can dress like their favorite Japanese video game characters, collaborate with other aficionados to make even more clever products, or get ideas on how to monetize the scene.

>Tickets: $15 > 828-259-5736 > uscellularcenterasheville.com

july 29

Charlotte Ballet

8PM Schaefer Center for the Performing Arts, Appalachian State University 733 Rivers St, Boone, NC Suffice it to say, these peeps will awe and inspire with swirls, grace, strength, and balance. The show is a diversified collection of classical and modern performances by multiple famed choreographers.

>Tickets: Adult $35, Student/Child $25 > 828-262-4046 > appsummer.org

july 30

Beach Boys

7:30PM Biltmore Estate 1 Lodge Street, Asheville, NC Mike Love is the only original member. The other guys are Bruce Johnston, Jeffrey Foskett, Brian Eichenburger, Tim Bonhomme, John Cowsill, and Scott Totten. They’ve all been Beach Boys for a while, and they’ll be singing all the old favorites. Children under 10 will not be admitted.

> General Admission: $55 > 800-411-3812 > biltmore.com

If your organization has any local press releases for our briefs section, or events that you would like to see here, feel free to email us at events@capitalatplay.com. Please submit your event at least six weeks in advance.

Enjoy performances as

captivating as the view.

Summer Music Festival June-August 2017 TUESDAY PATRIOTIC POPS JULY 4, 2:00PM featuring the 1812

Overture with live cannon

SATURDAY E.T. THE EXTRAJULY 8, 8:30PM TERRESTRIAL IN CONCERT

Steven Spielberg’s epic movie on the big screen with live symphony

FRIDAY DVOŘÁK CELLO JULY 28, 7:30PM CONCERTO

conducted by Keith Lockhart and featuring Johannes Moser

SUNDAY SEASON FINALE: AUG. 6, 3:00PM VERDI REQUIEM

conducted by JoAnn Falletta

Visit our website for a list of all 80 performances.

brevardmusic.org | (828) 862-2105 | Tickets start at $15

Keith Lockhart Artistic Director

July 2017 | capitalatplay.com

| July 2017

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| July 2017