An exciting program is underway in August and September that will connect you to dozens of deals countywide. Welcome back, Sarasota Big Pass—Visit Sarasota County’s one-stop-shop of local deals and discounts in three distinct categories: Buy One Get One Free (BOGO), 25% Off and $5 Off.

If you’re looking for a break from the routine at home, there are plenty of ways to enjoy these limited-time offers at local restaurants, attractions and hotels responsibly. As the media sponsor for this local program, SRQ MEDIA has put together a guide to some of the deals you should be taking advantage of right here in Sarasota County.

Stay

What’s better than a hotel getaway in gorgeous Sarasota County just minutes from picturesque beaches? How about a 25% discount off your stay! Access the private beaches of Casey Key by booking at Escape Resort & Marina, or stay 3 blocks from Venice Beach at Venice Beach Villas. Enjoy walkable Downtown Sarasota from your trendy room at The Sarasota Modern, wake up with a hot Amish breakfast at Carlisle Inn, or enjoy open-air curbside shopping at University Town Center from nearby Hampton Inn & Suites Sarasota/LWR, Courtyard by Marriott Sarasota/LWR, Homewood Suites Sarasota/LWR or EVEN Hotel. Change your scenery stress-free by at one of these homes-away-from-home, many of which have added signs, sanitizer stations and other new cleaning protocols to provide peace-of-mind with your stay.

Sip and Dine

Give those homemade meals a rest and thrill your taste buds once again with a professionally prepared meal from a reopened local restaurant. Many are still offering takeout and curbside to help customers avoid unnecessary crowds. Outdoor seating is also more prevalent than ever for a brief sit down and drink, dessert, dinner or all three! Chianti Ristorante Italiano, EVOQ at Westin Sarasota and Libby’s Sarasota are offering BOGO appetizers. Siesta Key Oyster Bar and Daiquiri Deck are knocking 25% off the whole bill (food only for Daiquiri Deck). It’s a great way to support local restaurants and save!  

Enjoy

Take advantage of big savings at local attractions and shops too. See Sarasota County like never before and save $5 off your ticket with $5 off tours at Discover Sarasota Tours. Feeling wild? Head inland for $5 off tickets to TreeUmph! Adventure Course or BOGO child tickets at Big Cat Habitat. If you’re looking for something a little more relaxing, enjoy 25% off a signature massage at The Spa and Salon at the Westin Sarasota or 25% off any waxing service at Waxing the City. Make Sarasota Big Pass is your ticket to some of the best attractions and adorable shopping in Sarasota County.

All these deals and more are available online. Show the deal’s digital listing on your phone or mention “Sarasota Big Pass” to redeem the discount. 

Visit the Sarasota Big Pass Website to learn more.

SRQ MEDIA is proud to sponsor Sarasota Big Pass in partnership with Visit Sarasota County and local businesses.

Images courtesy of Visit Sarasota

SRQ MEDIA is delighted to introduce the interns selected to participate in the company’s long-standing Summer Intensive Internship Program including Gabriella Alfonso, Grace Castilow, and Winona Nasser. Engaging with the team remotely, this year’s interns join the team to develop their applied knowledge in marketing and advertising, editorial and art and design. SRQ MEDIA founded the program over a decade ago to provide young professionals entering or continuing their post-secondary work with context, exploration and deep dives into the areas in which they have found passion. Having hosted over 200 interns in the company’s 20+ years, SRQ MEDIA made a commitment to continue the Summer Intensive program during the CoronaVirus pandemic knowing the inherent challenges that have emerged in the media industry would be an incredibly rewarding learning experience for both the company and its interns. 

Gabriella Alfonso, Marketing and Advertising Associate, is a student at the University of South Florida seeking a Bachelor of Sciences in Integrated Public Relations and Advertising. She is currently an active member of both the Advertising Club and the Public Relations Student Society of America at USF. Gabriella is eager to expand her knowledge and experience through guidance with SRQ MEDIA. 

“I first heard about this opportunity through my extensive Google internship search and SRQ MEDIA popped up,” says Gabriella. “I’ve been living in the Sarasota area for about 16 years now. I love how this area is constantly growing! Whether it is with the growing skyline or its appreciation within the arts, this area is beautiful and deserves to have more recognition!” When Gabriella is not working with SRQ MEDIA, she loves to explore nature parks, soak up the Florida sun at Anna Maria Island, and play with her two dogs, Dutchess and Luna. 

Currently pursuing a double major in Media and Communication Studies and Editing, Writing and Media at Florida State University, Grace Castilow joins the team as this summer’s Editorial Associate. Grace is involved in numerous editorial works during college including being a Brand Development Specialist with the Florida State Fraternity and Sorority Life as well as a Staff Writer and Social Media Coordinator for Her Campus FSU. 

“I heard about this internship from a Teacher’s Assistant for an advertising course I took at FSU who was formerly an editorial intern at SRQ MEDIA. I reached out to her and she encouraged me to apply for the position,” says Grace. Born and raised in Sarasota, Grace loves that every connection she has made she is greeted with “kindness and acceptance, which is something you don’t find in every coastal city.” Grace has been “writing” since before she could spell and hopes to write a novel of her own someday.

Lastly, Winona Nasser joins the team as Art and Design Associate. A student at the University of Florida, Winona seeks a Bachelor of Science in the Advertising, agency track. Before working with SRQ, Winona started working with Purility Therapeutics, a startup CBD company as their graphic designer. She has also started her own freelance multimedia design business, Winona Media. 

“I was looking for an internship where I could flex my creative muscles every day and learn more about different design disciplines,” says Winona. “I came across the internship listing on LinkedIn or on the SRQ MEDIA website after Googling local creative companies. I applied after reading about the company’s great community initiatives, and really liked that SRQ seemed like a rewarding place to grow as a young professional.” Some fun facts about Winona are that her elbows are double-jointed, she is fluent in three different languages, and does competitive Greek folk dance on the weekends.

[Sarasota and Bradenton, FL] Are you an architect, contractor, builder, or developer? Have you been working on a multi-unit project that you can’t wait to share with the public? SRQ Magazine is hosting the second annual 4WALLS Visionary Buildings Design Competition to recognize projects that have been designed as public or private spaces and to highlight the region’s built milieu without limits on scale, function or form. The categories for the 2020 Competition includes hospitality projects, commercial buildings, multi-unit condominiums and complexes, public spaces, structures and parks, mixed use buildings, new home communities and future projects. SRQ Magazine highlights the best of the built environment of the creative West Coast of Florida. Entries must exist in the geographic region of Sarasota, Manatee and the barrier islands from, and including, Boca Grande to Palmetto and east to Lakewood Ranch. 

Judges from around the country will review entries based on innovation, function, architecture, aesthetics, place-making and livability to name this year’s 4WALLS Visionary Design Platinum, Gold and Silver awards. 

Regular call for entries must be submitted by Friday, August 21, 2020. Winners will be featured in a special awards supplement in the December 2020 edition of SRQ Magazine and in the 2020 4WALLS Virtual Awards Presentation.

To learn more about the 4WALLS Visionary Buildings Design Competition and submission details, click here. 

[Sarasota, FL] SRQ MEDIA is inviting local medical professionals to nominate their colleagues of choice they feel are making a significant impact in the medical community. Each submission will be compiled to produce the Top Doctors Medical Resource of 2020. This is a reputable, well-rounded list of regional medical providers in the Greater Sarasota region including: Sarasota, Bradenton, Venice, Palmetto and Palmetto Bay, Anna Maria, Holmes Beach, North Port and Lakewood Ranch. Now more than ever, we would like to celebrate and recognize the medical professionals who have been on the front line. SRQ MEDIA has added new Top Doctors program additions this year including, a Legacy component (over 40 years experience in the practice), a Rising Stars component (under 5 years experience in the practice) and Exceptional Nurses. The peer-to-peer survey is now online and nominations will be accepted until July 22, 2020. The Top Doctors Medical Resource results will be published in the November 2020 edition of SRQ Magazine.

The Top Doctors Medical Resource of 2020 is produced by the publishers of SRQ MAGAZINE in partnership with DataJoe, LLC, Colorado-based research company. DataJoe, LLC provides data research, tools, and solutions for more than 75 publishers across the country and has more than 50 years of combined research experience in the publishing space. DataJoe’s research has appeared nationally in prestigious cities and regional magazine titles providing lists ranging from doctors and attorneys to licensed real estate agents and others. They have been located in Colorado Springs, Colorado for the past 15 years.

Top Doctors Medical Resource seeks to be a credible guide solely based on peer recognition. Submissions must be completed by a medical professional practicing in the Greater Sarasota area by July 22, 2020. Surveys and nominations will remain anonymous. A full list of submission guidelines are provided within the Top Doctors Medical Resource survey.

Access the Top Doctors Peer Nominations survey at docs.srqvoting.com.

The resiliency of the Sarasota community proved unstoppable during the pandemic crisis of COVID-19. For weeks on end, time stood still, but the locals who make this city great, keep busy moving from the offices, charities and businesses that were now suddenly stationed at home. Food banks banded together to make sure no Sarasotan went hungry and philanthropies worked over time to raise money virtually. Beyond efforts to keep residents safe, healthy and business prosperous; this creative community showed how even in the midst of an uncertain time, art can help pull people through the darkest of times. Murals popped up downtown, some took to making scenic postcards while others sewed one of a kind fashionable masks for donations. This LOCAL ON issue, showcases how mothers weathered the COVID storm, how the unwavering love of a pet can get us through, and how when you love local, it makes it that much easier to live local.

#LIVELOCAL #LOVELOCAL

• Pets We Love: A roundup of this year’s paw-sitively paw-esome animal friends and the stories our readers share about them.
• Unmasked: The hands behind Sarasota’s selfless sewers.

FEATURES:

GIVING BACK:

• Virtually Unstoppable: The Giving Challenge faced its own challenge this year – falling right int he wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Feeding Our Region: Food banks and hunger programs face a greater challenge than ever amid a global pandemic.

AGENDA:

• Road to Recovery: The COVID-19 pandemic delivered a rapid blow to Florida’s economy, with job losses unseen since the Great Depression. SRQ MEDIA convenes economic leaders to discuss the impact on the region and the path forward.

WELLNESS:

• Brain Boost: How the brain health initiative provides world-class insight and resources to mobile devices.

RESTAURANTS:

• Foragers Ahead: Local Farms and food vendors prove tenaciously nimble as farmers markets are forced to pull the plug.

PHOTO FEATURE:

• Moments: Capturing local vignettes during the pandemic.

CHERISHING LOCAL:

• 3D Illusions: Seeing is believing at this irreverent pop up museum.
• Postcard Art: Tim Jaeger revisits memories captured in humble swatches of mail.
• Stitch in Time: Cassia Kite soundstiches Mable’s roses.

FLIP SIDE: SHE ROARS

• Mom’s World Mid-Pandemic: Five local mothers adapt during the COVID-19 pandemic (and celebrate Mother’s Day in a whole new way).
• Roar of a Survivor: From hopeless to homeless, a young Sebrena Pawley would eventually come to learn that falling ill to a life-threatening virus is just another survival obstacle to overcome.

Get in on all the goodness and check out the SUMMER 2020 issue today!

-The SRQ Team 

Now available to view and download, the PGT Innovations BrandStory celebrates 40 years of innovation.

Published in the SRQ April 2020 magazine, this BrandStory delves into PGT Innovation’s rich history and its commitment to building products that protect.

Read the PGT Innovations BrandStory HERE 

Now available online to view and download, the Achieva Credit Union BrandStory tells the story of this community-focused institution.

It all started in 1937 when seven Pinellas County teachers were denied a loan from a bank. The teachers soon banded together to form a financial institution of their own – a credit union – with just $99.25. Today, Achieva Credit Union has more than $1.7 billion in assets, and over 160,000 members across 26 branches. 28,000 of those members are right here in Sarasota.

Read more from the Achieva Credit Union BrandStory HERE

 

 

 

TICKETS ON SALE NOW! Join us for the New Date for the TGIF 2020 Best of SRQ Local Party: FRIDAY, JUNE 5, 2020 from 5-8pm at the Aloft Hotel in Downtown Sarasota! Don’t miss out, click the link below for tickets!

srqmagazine.com/2020/bestof

We’re hosting an incredible BEST OF SRQ LOCAL TGIF PARTY for the 4200+ readers who voted in SRQ Magazine’s biggest ever 2020 Best of SRQ Local Readers Competition on Friday, June 5, 2020 from 5-8pm at the Aloft Hotel in Downtown Sarasota. You are invited to to join us to taste and experience the best restaurants and cocktails voted by our readers and share a hip evening with the area’s passionate localvores and foodies.

Attention party-goers! The Best of SRQ TGIF Party has been moved to Friday, June 5. Tickets will go on sale tomorrow, March 13 as planned. We look forward to celebrating the very best of SRQ with you at the Aloft Hotel on June 5th! CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS

Skip the happy hour just one Friday and head over to the atrium of the Aloft instead for the BEST OF SRQ LOCAL TGIF PARTY. This one’s for the 5000+ readers who voted in SRQ Magazine’s biggest ever 2020 Best of SRQ Local Readers Competition. Join us to taste + experience the best restaurants and cocktails voted by YOU, and share an evening getting your photos taken and mingling with fellow avid localvores + foodies.

Tickets go on sale Friday, March 13! A complete list of vendors soon to come!

Our lovely event sponsors include —
Aloft Sarasota
Berlin Patten Ebling
Marina Jack: Sarasota Bayfront
Cheney Brothers, Inc. Headquarters

Photos from last year’s BOSRQ TGIF Party — https://www.clicksrq.com/SRQEvents/2019/04-02-BoSRQ/