Things We’re Excited About

There are always so many things we are excited about and want to share with you, but for this month, I’m going to stay focused on Love Asheville/Go Local Month and share a couple of more things we’re doing to loudly and proudly support our local independent businesses.

1). The #828GoLocalChallenge.

This is our 3rd year for this challenge and we love all of the pics we get to see of our locals supporting our locals!  #828GoLocalChallenge is for both our Go Local cardholders and our Go Local business members. In a nutshell, here is how it works:

STEP 1: Visit 8 independent businesses that take our #GoLocalCard (sooo easy to find on our new Go Local app btw!) during the 28 days of February

STEP 2: Each time you visit a business, take a photo (i.e. of your purchase, a selfie of you in front of the business itself, your food if it’s a restaurant…feel free to get creative!)

STEP 3: Post your photos to your Instagram *feed* (not just in your stories, although you’ll get a bonus entry if you do!)

STEP 4: Be sure to both: Tag @golocalasheville and *use the hashtag* #828GoLocalChallenge  We’d also LOVE it if you’d shout out/tag the business you visited if they have social media – they love it too, and your visits mean a lot to them!)
STEP 5: Repeat!

Go Local will be tracking all of this awesomeness, sharing your posts, and together we’ll shine the (much deserved) spotlight on our Go Local business members! At the end of the month, everyone who has posted will be entered to win some faaaabulous prizes and local merch.

2). For our Go Local Business Members and Business Partners, Go Local is sponsoring an Ice Cream Social on February 21st. We’ll be handing out free Peach Crumble Caramel Crunch ice cream and have a few other things in store! I sent an email with all the details earlier this week. If you didn’t receive, email me at [email protected] and I’ll resend.

3). SAVE THE DATE: On March 27th, Go Local is teaming up with Asheville’s AIGA (American Institute of Graphic Arts), one of our awesome business partners, to bring you a morning workshop. Titled “Growing Your Brand: How to Hire Local Designers and Marketers,” its purpose is to acquaint you, our local independent business community, with local designers and marketing experts to help build your brand. We’ll be putting out more information soon, but wanted you to mark your calendars! And I’ll add a big thank-you to our sponsors Mountain Bizworks and Venture Asheville for supporting this workshop! Not only will you learn great tips for how to select designers for specific work, but you’ll get to meet some great local talent as well as network with fellow business owners. And as a Go Local member, you’ll get a special discount to the event. More to come!!”