Mailbag: July 31, end of week 16

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General Feedback

“Sorry for being uber-stalkerish! My husband and I moved to Charlotte from Atlanta a month ago and I just wanted to tell you that the Axios Charlotte has been a GODSEND!!! Being newlyweds in our first non-apartment home, family has come to stay with us EVERY single weekend we have been here. And everyone wants to be dined and entertained! This is where the Agenda is worth it’s weight in gold! Almost every single restaurant, event, brewery, and concert we found out about in the newsletter. So thank you! We just moved here, don’t know a soul, and already feel like ‘locals'” – S

“Please go to Pure Barre class!” – My Mom

“Hey there, Axios Charlotte! I just wanted you to know that I rolled my eyes really hard at ‘A’, calling for all the grammar police readers to please calm down, and also at Ted for agreeing with him (from the ‘Mailbag’ series post on July 17)! Yes, nobody likes those annoying tweeters who point out every time there’s a grammatical error in a newsletter. But wanting higher editorial standards should be something the Agenda staff itself should be striving for. After all, doesn’t your mission, as stated in your Twitter bio, say something about ‘making Charlotte the smartest most human city in the world?’ (Ironically, there needs to be a comma after ‘smartest’, but I guess we’ll let that slide since Twitter does have character limits for bios.) Bottom line: every time there’s a glaring grammatical error in your content, it lowers the credibility of your brand. And credibility is a big deal in a media startup, am I right? So instead of defending yourselves about your grammar, invest in a real copy editor and make AP Style a priority, not an afterthought. Your future brand valuation and ad/sponsorship revenues may depend on it. ‘Namaste!'” – S

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In response to: our series CLT Playlist

“So, I love Danny’s column on music for each week. In fact, I was looking for exactly what he does since I moved here in May 2012. When I met him (for the first and only time) at the Angry Ale’s event, he was talking about add’l columns he was kicking around. He may already be doing this and/or thinking about doing this, but I think it would be awesome if he did a feature on a different local band each week. Could include band history, interesting tidbits about individual members, and a description of style and influences. Maybe also include links to some YouTube videos, Soundcloud, and dates/times/locations for the next few upcoming shows. Would be a neat way to make Charlotte smarter about its burgeoning music scene.” – J

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In response to A sophisticated, analytical approach to the 6,300+ banned NC license plates

“Loved the content today! I would like to note that in the license plate article, I believe this was in error: ‘ASSESRUS – The Assasauras was a short-lived, but beautiful creature, lost to the annals** of time.’ I believe the intent was actually “Asses R’ Us”, a play on the familiar children’s toy store and not a ravenous faux dino. Thanks for taking the time to make this awesome daily and keep it up!!!” – J

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In response to Southern Swagger at the Duke Mansion: 100 Years of money, power, and socialites

“Enjoyed the piece about the Duke Mansion in this morning’s Agenda. Thought you might be interested in this. In the 60’s a family named Lineberger lived there. They were somehow related to the Dukes and the Cannon’s, I believe…. The daughter was a friend of my sister and at some point I think my sister may have dated their son, Clayton. I was 6-7 yrs. old and don’t remember too many details. We lived in Virginia in those days and I remember my mom and me taking my sister to Charlotte to stay with them at the Duke Mansion. I remember it to this day because it was the first time I had ever saw a color TV. In those days (just after the invention of electricity, but, before indoor plumbing J), I think NBC was the only network, of the 3, broadcasting in color. I think the color broadcasts were limited to the evening news, The Wonderful World of Disney and possibly Bonanza. Yes, we didn’t even have flip phones yet!” – B

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In response to Inner Peaks Climbing Center opening second location in South End

“Great job with the plug for Inner Peaks.  I met Cedric and his wife/fiancé/girlfriend in Publix a few weeks ago.  She liked my dress, I told her where I purchased it, they didn’t know the area, lead to a great elevator chat about how they had just moved here from Houston, starting Inner Peaks South End, and how if they wanted to know all CLT has to offer, they needed to sign up for Axios Charlotte to learn about what to do and where to go!  That lead to skimming that days email in front of RedBox!” – M

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In response to 3 Charlotte establishments that have lost my business forever

“It reeks of entitlement, and nowhere in the article did the writer make any indication that she attempted to constructively criticize the business by speaking to an associate or manager, or even emailing or calling the store after the fact. She jumped straight to her platform and wrote a clickbait-titled post, poorly written at that. As a widely visited online media platform, I feel like you have a responsibility to write quality articles, and I am so embarrassed when I read many of the articles on this site. It’s not entertainment, it’s not news, it’s a social networking advertising loop. It’s entitlement. It’s written poorly. I beg you to take a close look at the quality of your content. I can’t stand it anymore. This is the trash TV of blogs. I’m sorry for being harsh. I just wanted to share my thoughts.” – P

“I understand the concept behind this story, I understand that it has the best interest of the Charlotte public at heart… But deep down it feels a bit in poor taste. An article whose sole purpose is to smear local business where only minor personal slights were made against the author seems a little low for Agenda. With the hostile demeaning voice, This read like a nasty yelp review. And because of Agenda’s awesome readership I feel like their punishment may be a tad disproportionate. A complaint on her part to the company seems reasonable but publishing an article on a well read website in a direct effort to hurt their business? It doesn’t reflect well on Agenda, its vindictive and not at all constructive. ‘One up and down? Fair. I’m wearing a Bojangles’ t-shirt and a sports bra. Two up and downs? Unforgivable.’ Unforgivable? This is ridiculous! Is that constructive criticism? No, thats perceived rudeness being mocked and retaliated against. They may be a horrible business undeserving of any kind of patronage but I believe this article might cross some lines.” – J

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In response to Top 5 places to get fried chicken in Charlotte, ranked

“Carpe Diem has the best fried chicken in town. I know it’s a nice restaurant, but if King’s Kitchen is included you have to include Carpe Diem.” – R

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In response to Katie discussing how she’s not sure about her purpose in life

“WAS trying to get things done before the weekend. Now I’m thinking about moving to the Caribbean and opening a beach bar (with hilarious consequences). Thanks! (from me, not my wife. She’s not going to be happy to hear about this)” – R

“Good morning Katie, I truly enjoy your writing style and spunk (who says that anymore, right? Lol). I moved to Charlotte 2 years ago from Brooklyn and my husband and I are excited for the humor and insights to what’s happening around Charlotte delivered to our inboxes each morning. Keep up the awesome job! As a Christian, I know with certainty that the reason I exist is to glorify God…in my work, relationships, family -in everything! For those who don’t follow Christ, the reason ‘why we exist’ seems to be everything but. In pursuit of an ‘answer’ one may often look to be happy, accomplish great things, make a name for oneself, achieve job satisfaction, admiration, financial success, meaningful relationships, etc… You ended today’s agenda intro with TGIF, and I truly do thank God for this day and everyday. I pray he reveals the true reasons for why we exist to you in a way that satisfies….for all the other things of this world will inevitably disappoint, but HE never will. If you want to chat and chew sometime, feel free to hit me up! Stay blessed.” – C

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In response to Shots! Shots! Shots… of protein powder. Label repurposes nightclub for fitness classes.

“Katie is dead-on about LabelFitness class this past Saturday. The event was advertised to be 1-4 pm, for $16.82 (including fee). Being a fitness enthusiast, I was excited to come out and work out for 3 hours, which would let me take it easy or even skip my regular cardio funk classes the following week, and the price was set right for a 3-hr workout; however they started late, and ended way early, which makes me feel gypped. And, no water was provided?!?! As a habit, people usually bring 1 bottle of water to class, but 1 bottle is surely not enough for a 3-hr fitness class, Label definitely dropped the ball on that one. (Previously, all 1.5+ hour fitness classes I’ve ever attended have ALWAYS provided water. free.) From what I understand this was their launch/first fitness event, but it was disappointing. If it wasn’t for Mike with CarolinaSweat (who made the $16 worth it), I’d be asking for my money back.” – T