NEWS

Visit Savannah President Joseph Marinelli serves as the face of a new initiative that seeks to bring the tourism community together. The program, Java with Joe, is an email that will go out to Chamber members regularly. The intent of the initiative is simple: a brief conversation with Marinelli and a local business leader. One of the lessons learned from the pandemic is the importance of personal contact. With many members of Savannah’s business community still working remote and many not even working back in their offices yet, this communication seeks to help to bridge the gap in our in-person conversations. One community leader will be interviewed in each issue of Java with Joe. The goal is to be timely and topical and brief enough that will encourage people read it. The questions will almost always be about business, but a question or two about sports may be included from time-to-time to keep it conversational. But no politics or religious topics will ever be covered. The first Java with Joe is with Sherrie Spinks, the Savannah Convention Center’s general manager, will debut this week.

The hope is that through Java with Joe, members of the business community can get to know each other a little bit better as we work our way out of where we’ve all been this past year.