Step right up, folks, to claim your prize. This was the largest giveaway PCBDaily’s ever done; thank you Panama City Beach (and abroad) for letting us give you guys so much free stuff! Up for the giveaway were 10 prizes (listed below – thanks sponsors!), and with over 300 entrants, we had a large pool to pick from.
I made a video of the drawing, click the read more to watch and see if you won!
Continue reading “$1,824 in FREE STUFF, Winners Have Been Picked!”
Bring your taste buds and sipping hands for this venue will be an international wine tasting experience with over 300 wines to taste and food samplings from various Bay County restaurants. Held at Pier Park in Panama City Beach, proceeds from the tasting go to benefit various local charities dedicated to helping underprivileged children. 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm.
For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.tasteofthebeachfla.com
On Halloween day, Pier Park will be hosting Malloween and will invite those looking for a fun place to Trick or Treat in Panama City Beach to come to the stores between the times of 6 pm and 7:30 pm and get candy and treats. Bring your costumes, treat bags and your sweet tooth.
You may have noticed the Festival ads all over our web sites. Part of the media trade we did with the Panama City Beach Seafood Wine and Music Festival includes a booth for us, so we’ll be at the festival promoting our web sites in our very own vendor booth. We’ll have a table with a projector playing some of our videos, displaying our web sites, etc. We’ll also have some laptops so you can surf our sites as we’re supposed to have Wi-fi.
Continue reading “Free Pier Park and Hofbrau Beer Garden Gift Cards”
Saturday October 24th, Buddy Wilkes, a local author, will be signing copies of his new book, Overboard, at Borders Books and Music in Pier Park at 2 pm. Overboard is a fictional story inspired by the real life disappearances of passengers from cruise ships.
Continue reading “10/24/09 – Book Signing with Buddy Wilkes at Borders”
If you are looking for Halloween activities on Panama City Beach, spooky times and fun costumes are sure to be found at this year’s Boo at the Beach in Pier Park. With cool activities including pumpkin carving, pet costume contest, Rescue & Runaways Fashion Show, Spooky Stories read by Creepy Characters and a kids costume contest, Pier Park will be the place to be October 24th.
Massage Envy at Pier Park hosts Massage for the Cure benefitting Susan G. Komen for the Cure on Tuesday, Sept. 15.
During this one-day event, Massage Envy will offer $35 one-hour therapeutic massage sessions, with $10 from each massage being donated directly to the Panama City Beach, FL affiliates of Susan G. Komen for the Cure.
The event is open to the public, but does require an appointment with Massage Envy.
Since the first Massage for the Cure event in 2005, Massage Envy has raised more than $800,000 for Susan G. Komen for the Cure.
Appointments can be made by contacting the Pier Park Massage Envy at (850) 563-0070, or visit www.MassageEnvy.com.
Along with many beach residents, I have spent the whole of summer’s slow decline anxiously anticipating the Fall Season. I love the cool weather, the colors and the ripples of pumpkin spice in the air. In my opinion, fall is Panama City Beach’s very best season, transforming our town from a hot, tourist-filled circus to a quiet and festive jewel of home for anyone who lives in this great city. There are a number of reasons to be excited about the season from something as simple as less traffic in the streets to traditions as beloved as Halloween and Thanksgiving. But, in Panama City Beach there are even more reasons to get excited about the season to come; here are 5 of them
Fall Art Show September 18 – 20 – Pier Park
If you like art and enjoy seeing totally unique creations, the Fall Art Show will be an exciting place for you this fall. Throughout Pier Park you’ll see artwork on display and being created various artists. While you’re there enjoy Pier Park’s great restaurants and shopping.
Thunder Beach Fall Rally – September 24 – 27
Thunder Beach Motorcycle Rally is held twice yearly on Panama City Beach and the fall event may very well be the best of its kind during the season. Bikers, vendors and exhibitors from around the country descend on Panama City Beach, Florida for Panama City Beach Bike Week and locals get to ride into all the fun. They share stories, see great bands and live entertainment, find the hottest custom motorcycles and motorcycle accessories available, and to experience a scenic ride on The World’s Most Beautiful Beaches!
Taste of the Beach – November 6 – Pier Park
Wine enthusiasts and aficionados, gourmets and gourmands, philanthropists and successful friends will combine talents and passions to create an unparalleled 4 day gala at the “Taste of THE Beach-Wine.Dine.Donate”. This 4-day extravaganza will be held in the Northwest Florida Gulf Coast, also referred to as THE Beach
This fabulous venue will hit Panama City Beach with an international wine tasting experience with over 300 wines to taste and food samplings from various Pier Park restaurants.
Oktoberfest – October 2 – 4 – Downtown Panama City
The Annual Oktoberfest transforms quaint downtown Panama City into a bustling German-style village. From accordion players to carnival rides and sausage eating contests, this Uber-Strassen-Fest has it all. Large food tents are concentrated near the bandstand.
Food enthusiasts will be serenaded by local musicians of a variety of styles, so practice your polka. Oktoberfest offers plenty to keep the little ones busy, while the adults savor a huge selection of beer. Carnival rides, face-painting, clowns and other family activities are part of the fun. More than 25,000 people are expected to attend the event, from the ceremonial tapping of the kegs to the Oom-Pah-Pah band concerts.
Seafood Wine and Music Festival – October 9 -11 – Frank Brown Park
If this event doesn’t get you excited about the season, nothing will. Panama City Beach’s signature Festival will be held during Columbus Day weekend and could be the most fun you will have all year.
Enjoy fantastic entertainment including performances by country singer and Dancing with the Stars’ Julianne Hough, the legendary Styx, plus John Anderson and Grand Funk Railroad. Sample delicious culinary treats and fine wines from around the world, and take part in fun activities for the whole family.
Honorable Mentions: EVP Pro Tour Labor Day Festival – September 5 – 6, Jazz by the Bay – October 16 -17, Holly Fair – November 12 – 15, Iron Man Triathlon – November 7, Emerald Coast Cruzin Car Show – November 9 – 14
If you were out there, then you know that the party Pier Park sponsored at Aaron Bessant Park this year was nothing short of amazing. I just want to take a moment to thank the team at Pier Park for caring so much about the community and really becoming involved when it comes to being sure our perfect slice of paradise is not only beautiful, but also clean.
Recently in a discussion with Paul Ajdaharian, one of the VP’s at Simon Property group, he was telling me that the closely manicured landscaping and near always meticulous look of the property is very intentional, he quoted saying “you wouldn’t beleive how much money goes into keeping this property looking this great every month.” You see, this does more than make Simon look good, it makes Panama City Beach look good as well. The premier shopping and dining complex in Panama City Beach is going to attract near every tourist that vacations in Panama City Beach, and if they don’t have a great experience there, they’ll remember it.
I was talking to someone a few weeks back who was telling me the reason Felicia and Ashley (the marketing girls at Pier Park) do so well in involving the community with events at Pier Park is because they work so hard. And, although I do agree that they work hard, that’s not why all of this is so successful. This all works so well because they LOVE what they are doing and their passion shows greatly in everything and everyway they participate in the community.
While its easy to criticize Pier Park and complain to me about giving them so much coverage, Pier Park has single handedly done more for this community than any one entity has for a long time, and it has given us a way to come together as Panama City Beach in a way that’s never before been seen – just look at the crowds for New Years and July 4th!
So, enough of the mushyness, here’s the video. Great work Pier Park!
Pier Park, without doubt, has become Panama City Beach’s premier shopping destination and has created a Panama City Beach buzz all throughout the Emerald Coast and vacation markets. The stunning 1 million square foot open-air regional lifestyle center provides some of the best restaurants and stores anywhere. It’s addition has changed and will continue to change Panama City Beach. Below are 5 ways Pier Park has changed Panama City Beach as a tourist town as well as a community.
Centralizing: In a previous article, I said that Pier Park is quickly becoming Panama City Beach’s new downtown. Well, that statement grows truer every day. Years past, the beach was spread out from end to end with tourists making it more difficult to keep the place clean and to police it all. That still occurs today, but Pier Park’s size, draw and location has become the primary place of congregation. While, to some, that may not sound like a big deal, but in doing so it reduces traffic, makes it easier to police any happenings. Also it takes away much of the congestion at the Front Beach Entrance and the City Pier where, before, drew large crowds without providing much to do. Large crowds and no attractions lead to problems. Pier Park provides loads to do and more than enough space to do it in.
Business: In April, 850 Business Magazine published that despite a worsening economy, Pier Park has continued to do well. While retail stores are closing all over the place, the report stated, “The [Simon] company reported an 8.8 percent growth in funds from operations, which chairman and CEO David Simon attributes to the company’s high quality portfolio and strong balance sheet.” Mark Gilbert, executive vice president of Schwartz Media Strategies, was quoted as saying, “The better properties are still doing well,” he says. “(Pier Park) has a great location and better tenants, which is why it is able to sustain its status.” What all this means is that without the Pier Park location businesses could, well, be out of business. Pier Park has provided an attractive lifestyle setting for local and chain businesses to set up shop and flourish.
Buzz: These days, buzz is everything. You can call it whatever you want; buzz , viral or word-of-mouth advertising, but getting customers to spread the word about a you through their social or professional networks is the hottest ticket in the marketing world. Pier Park has created a buzz Panama City Beach hasn’t seen since, well, I can’t remember when. What this means is that people are talking about Pier Park and if they are talking about Pier Park they are talking about Panama City Beach. Providing a venue for things like free concerts, jazz festivals and street fairs, all of a sudden Panama City Beach has new dimensions and people are taking notice.
Competition: If you noticed, during the 4th of July weekend, something happened over on the East side of Panama City Beach that previously had never been done. Capt. Anderson’s restaurant, Boatyard restaurant, The Treasure Ship restaurant, Lighthouse Marina and Pirates Cove Marina, places that had competed intensely for years, coordinated to have their own fireworks show. This was in direct competition to Pier Park’s firework’s display. This is one account of many where business all over Panama City Beach are stepping up their game in order to compete. Places like Mr. Surf’s Surf Shop have revamped and added awesome features to their business to draw tourists away from Pier Park and is a better store for it.
Mindset: Mindset, in my opinion, is the most important factor. For so many years, and in some ways even still, Panama City Beach has been known as a Spring Break destination. A part of that stigma was based on the fact that the city didn’t have anything else on which to hang its hat. With Pier Park, we now have something more. Whether you love or hate Pier Park, it has improved the quality of shopping, dining and activities and provided a reason for tourists to come back to Panama City Beach. That confidence, that “hatrack”, means that the TDC and local business can better focus their advertising and marketing efforts. Because of Pier Park, Panama City Beach is more than just a beach and a lifestyle. With the airport on the way, Pier Park will play an integral part in bringing more people here to visit and to live.
With all that said, I won’t even go into the rumors of the resurrection of Miracle Strip Amusement Park in Pier Park West.
Imagine what that would do.
PCBDaily 