Thursday, February 23, 2012

USCB‘s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute hosts rescued sea captain Richard Phillips

Hilton Head Island, SC –The University of South Carolina Beaufort’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute welcomes nationally renowned speaker, Sea Captain Richard Phillips, to Hilton Head Island. Captain Phillips will recount his 2009 Somalia pirate hostage experience and subsequent rescue by U.S. Navy SEALS. 

This event will take place at Hilton Head High School’s Visual Performing Arts Center on Saturday, March 3 from 10:00am to 11:30am.

Captain Phillips will be available to sign his novel, A Captain’s Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALS, and Dangerous Days at Sea.  Columbia Pictures has purchased the movie rights, with Tom Hanks slated to play the lead.

Tickets are $25. To purchase tickets in advance please call the OLLI office at 843-208-8247.  If space is still available, tickets can be purchased at the door the morning of the event.  All proceeds of ticket sales will go to the OLLI program at USCB.
 
Drafted by Stefny Ankney, USCB Social Media Intern
     

About OLLI

The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) is a university-affiliated, not-for-credit, program that has been in existence in the Lowcountry for over 20 years, currently serving more than 1,500 members. For more information, visit us as www.uscb.edu or call the OLLI offices at 843-208-8247 

Media Contact:
Andréa Sisino, Director
Osher Lifelong Learning Institute
University of South Carolina Beaufort
843-208-8249, Sisino@uscb.edu

USCB students provide invaluable research to local event organizers






Hilton Head & Beaufort, SC- When people think of the Hilton Head Island region, beach going and vacations typically come to mind. But Hospitality Management students at the University of South Carolina Beaufort (USCB) know there is a lot more than sunbathing taking place. 

Lead by Hospitality Management Professor John Salazar, USCB student researchers have become an integral part of all major tourism events in the area.  Salazar and his research team can be found polling hundreds of out-of-town visitors and event participants, entering substantive data into their tablet computers, amongst the festivities. Student Ellen Jones says, “Conducting these surveys at local festivals has given me the real life experience of how information/data is collected, analyzed, and interpreted to provide solutions to the problems that event organizers encounter. To combine the classroom sessions with the real world training is the ultimate learning experience.”

The community impact is further felt after the event concludes when students present their findings to event organizers.  According to the Hilton Head Island Motoring Festival and Concours d’ Elegance President, Carolyn Vanagel, “ Dr. Salazar and  his student team have been critical to the success of our event.  We use their results to market our event to sponsors.  And without fail, these prospective sponsors note that no one else representing similar events has the same level of data demonstrating performance.  We are so fortunate to have this instrumental data, which drives the financial success of our event, because of Dr. Salazar.”

Certainly, USCB students gain market research and event management experience by working with Salazar.  However, their findings hold even greater significance throughout the region.  Based on their findings, community leaders can actually see which events have the biggest return on investment (ROI) of the use of Hilton Head Island accommodations taxes. The work has been cited by the Hilton Head Island Accommodations Tax Committee as extremely valuable whereas the committee has recommended to the elected officials to fund an ongoing festival and event ROI analysis program through collaborating with Salazar and the USCB Hospitality Management students.

As a result, this collaborative research between Salazar’s students and county-wide events has been spreading quickly, with event managers from Houston, Greenville, and North Carolina contacting Salazar about replicating his efforts in their regions.  “It’s exciting to see student research be applied to real world concerns and that various hospitality and tourism organizations recognize the value of the work. That is something I have always wanted to achieve for the students as university professor.”

Various events USCB Hospitality Management students provide research for:
·         The RBC Heritage Golf Tournament
·         Hilton Head Island Motoring Festival and Concours d’ Elegance
·         Hilton Head Island Wine Festival
·         Taste of Beaufort Shrimp Festival
·         Hilton Head Island Recreation Center Festivals
·         Hilton Head Island Italian Festival
·         MCAS Air Show
·         Hilton Head Island Public Art Exposition


MEDIA CONTACT:                                                                                                              
Candace Brasseur
USCB Public Information Director
843-208-8030 
brasse@uscb.edu

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Internationally acclaimed Brooklyn Rider Quartet to perform at USCB Festival Series


Beaufort, SC-  University of South Carolina Beaufort welcomes the internationally acclaimed Brooklyn Rider Quartet for their first performance in Beaufort on Feb 19. The quartet will join artistic director and cellist Edward Arron in performing music by Purcell, Boccherini, Beethoven, and Sollima, to name a few.

The USCB Center for the Arts on 801 Carteret Street in Beaufort will open at 4pm, and the quartet will start performing at 5pm.  Tickets start at $40 and can be purchased at the door the day of the event, or in advance by calling 843-208-8246. For more information, please see www.uscb.edu/festivalseries.

About the Brooklyn Rider Quartet

The Brooklyn Rider Quartet is comprised of Johnny Gandelsman-violin, Colin Jacobsen-violin, Nicholas Cords-viola, and Eric Jacobsen-cello. They combine a wildly eclectic repertoire with a gripping performance style that is attracting legions of fans and drawing critical acclaim from classical, world and rock critics. NPR credits Brooklyn Rider with “recreating the 300-year-old form of string quartet as a vital and creative 21st-century ensemble." The musicians play in concert halls and clubs, in venues as varied as Joe's Pub in New York City, the San Francisco Jazz Festival, Todai-ji Temple in Japan, the Library of Congress and the South By Southwest Festival. Through creative programming and global collaborations, Brooklyn Rider illuminates music for its audiences in ways that are “stunningly imaginative” (Lucid Culture).

MEDIA CONTACT:                                                                                                              
Candace Brasseur
USCB Public Information Director
843-208-8030 
brasse@uscb.edu