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Smitty's City
Phil Glynn
Perspectives Editor

So, you start making plans for the weekend. You decide to have a little get-together and a few people are just hanging around the room or apartment. But before you know it, the doorbell starts ringing, and all of a sudden, your intimate gathering has turned into a full-fledged party.

Know the feeling?

Jeffrey L. Smith, a 38-year-old litigation paralegal and social guru, sure does.

But he doesn’t mind one bit. That is how Smitty’s Notes, the Web site and newsletter he created to bring locals up to speed on the Winston-Salem social scene, got started. What began as an informal notice within a group of friends now keeps the whole Piedmont Triad posted on everything from the bar scene, to concerts as well as non-profit events.

Basically Smitty’s Notes talks up the very things city leaders are saying could help attract the 18-34 year old demographic they seek.

Smith also says the notes could help dispel the notion among many university students that the city outside our walls is a ghost town.

"Don’t look too down on Winston-Salem," he said to those who turn a deaf ear to city boosters’ calls. "You really don’t know what’s going on here if you don’t get out in the city."

But some students aren’t convinced that taking a closer look would turn up more good times.

Senior Chris Smith, another Winston-Salem resident with the nickname Smitty, thinks the city just has less to offer than others places.

"You’re not going to have as good of a time here as you would in Charlotte or Chapel Hill," he said. "Being a college student in Winston-Salem is fun, but if you were a person our age who was working and living here, it would pretty much suck."

In the beginning, there was Smitty

For all its recent growth, the Smitty movement had humble beginnings.

"It was one of those things that got started by accident," said the Twin City native.

In the summer of 1997, Smith began using e-mail to connect with friends, something he says has been enormously effective for Smitty’s Notes.

"There’s two things we do every day," he said of young people. "We check our e-mail at home and we check our e-mail at work."

So he began sending regular notices with ideas on how to have a good time in Winston-Salem.

Smith wasn’t sure of the e-mail’s circulation until the day someone unfamiliar with the e-mail’s origins came up to him at work with a printed copy, suggesting he check it out. That’s when Smith knew the idea had caught on.

Realizing the buzz the e-mails were generating, Smith jokingly titled his next edition "Smitty’s community notes." And as the circulation grew to nearly 50 people, he knew he was onto something.

"It became a little more formal then," he said.

Today the newsletter is published twice a month and the Web site is updated at the same interval.

Over 5,000 people use Smitty’s notes to help make plans and the Smitty brand name has branched out into radio, television and print media.

But while Smitty gains popularity, work is still central to Jeff Smith.

After five years of nurturing his brain child, Smith still balances a full-time job at Syngenta Crop Protection, Inc., with his role as the city’s unofficial arbiter of all things hip. Though he says he enjoys it, the balance is not an easy one.

Earlier this summer, Smith admits he was having doubts about whether he wanted to continue the project or not.

But after much consideration, he saw how ingrained Smitty was in the local culture and asked himself, "If I walked away from it, what’s there to replace it?"

So he is continuing with the project full force because after all, he said, "the public trusts Smitty."

Smitty’s mark

As Winston-Salem works to make itself more attractive to the young professional set that many believe would breathe life into the economic and social scene, Smith has been a resource to local media organizations as well as business and government leaders.

He has worked with Mayor Allen Joines in the past and Smitty’s Notes is also plugged into countless office intranets around the area, as well as appearing on WIN.

Smith also sells his expertise to the Winston-Salem Journal, writes a column for Triad Style, gets the word out with "Smitty in a minute" on Hitz 94 radio and appears on Friday mornings on Channel 12 WXII.

All this puts Smith close to the pulse of the region.

When asked if he thinks the city is doing a good job of marketing itself as a hip, fun place for young people to live and work Smith said, "actually we’re doing pretty good."

But the economic growth that would help make Winston-Salem a destination for that group of people has been slow in coming.

During this summer’s Winston-Salem Economic Summit the 170 leaders invited heard speakers broadcasting more tough times ahead.

And whether the city’s economic and social strategies are working continue to be a matter of debate. But Smith says he is remaining upbeat, doing his part to promote and develop his hometown.

He thinks Winston-Salem does offer a vibrant, interesting community.

Smith and other local leaders have also begun planning a Young Leaders Summit in Winston-Salem that could take place later this fall.

All this has made Smitty into something of a local hero. But he insists that he is still the same old Jeff Smith, no matter how big "Smitty" gets.

"Smitty is a persona," he said.

Something bigger

Like most successful entrepreneurs, Smitty never thought his big idea would create the kind of groundswell it has. His mini-media empire is now held in SCNTriad Event Communications, a company which Smith said is profitable.

Most of the work rests on Smith’s shoulders. He is the company’s sole proprietor but does get help from an editor.

So now the question isn’t whether or not Smitty’s Notes catch on, but how long will it continue. Smith has no successor in mind and after having decided to hang around in July, he says the future is wide open.

"Who knows man?" he said. "Once I made the decision in July I was going to stick it out … who knows?"

And as his name and popularity grow, Smith retains a taste for the whole Triad.

"I have a number of favorites and I’ll leave it at that," he laughed when asked to list his favorite night spots.

"I’m taking the political route on this one."