Atlanta Loses An Olympic Contributor

It was troubling to learn that one of my clients and new friends of the last year, Holly Mull of Holly Mull & Associates, suffered a major stroke last week.

Very sad to learn today she died Thursday, just a couple of weeks after her team produced the successful Midtown Festival of the Arts, which more than 20,000 people attended.

It was only through the Atlanta Journal-Constitution obituary, Maria Saporta's blog post and numerous Facebook messages of condolences that I learned of Holly's many connections spanning Atlanta's Olympic bid (all the way back to the late 1980s through September 1990 -- note, the AJC.com hyperlink takes you to an archived report which incorrectly lists Denver as the home of the U.S. Olympic Committee, which has always been based in Colorado Springs -- this uncorrected error from 1996 led to a factual error in today's AJC.com obituary -- where are the copy editors of 1996, and 2010?) and eventual work with the Centennial Olympic Games.

Holly mentioned her Olympic work from time to time, but never the full extent of her five-ringed contributions. Holly was just a couple of years younger than my mother, and seeing Holly in action at meetings and events reminded me of witnessing my mom's work with community events back home.

I will miss working with Holly. Condolences to her family and many friends and associates.

Photo via AJC.com, which attributes the photo to the family. This photo also appeared on the Holly Mull & Associates website

Atlanta's New Midtown Festival of the Arts Arrives!

After two years of planning, Atlanta's new Midtown Festival of the Arts (a client) finally arrived on Peachtree Street yesterday.

It's awesome to witness the throngs of residents and visitors shopping, dining and strolling between 10th Street and 5th Street, just a few blocks from my Midtown residence.

I first learned about plans for the Midtown Festival of the Arts on a call during June 2009. A small group of Midtowners was working hard to secure sponsors and permits to set a very high standard for future event planners seeking to close Peachtree Street. By all indicators on Friday and Saturday, the work of this core group, as well as hundreds of additional volunteers who came on board during the last year, has paid off big time.

One of the best things about Midtown Festival of the Arts is the food. My girlfriend and I shared a break on Saturday to dine at "Plates On Peachtree," where we were treated to gourmet samples from Bacchanalia, Ra Sushi, Gordon Biersch, South City Kitchen, Ecco and other culinary arts establishments across Atlanta. I highly recommend the sweet corn ice cream and lobster corn dogs, courtesy of Park 75.

Several media outlets previewed or reviewed the Festival this week. Today's weather is bound to cooperate, making for a pleasant afternoon in Midtown Atlanta.

We're heading back to the Festival on Sunday to pick up some hand-made pottery art from a couple of the artists along Peachtree Street. Hope to see you there!