[00:00:00] Speaker A: On this month's show, we have Tammy Veneta with DeKalb county florist. And we also have Susan Slinker with Tennessee memories. Justin will be back giving us all of his tech tips, specifically about blocking spam calls. And he'll also be back with some tech news about CES, which has just recently occurred. You don't want to miss this month's episode of the local Click. Stay tuned. It's coming up next. Learn more about fun local events and interesting people throughout the heart of middle Tennessee, with a dash of everyday tech talk thrown in for good measure. The local click starts now. Hello, everyone, and welcome back to the local click. The local click is the video podcast and audio podcast series brought to you by DTC Communications, where we talk all things technology and all things local people in our service area. I'm Nick Noakes, and with me again today is Mr. Justin Malden. Thanks for coming back.
[00:00:52] Speaker B: You raising the roof always got to bring the intensity.
[00:00:55] Speaker A: I like it. I like it. This is the February edition of the local click. And so what's the big day in February for a lot of couples?
[00:01:06] Speaker B: My wife would be amiss if I did not remember this, but there's a date that is February 14, and some people call it Valentine's Day. Well, probably most people call it Valentine's Day.
[00:01:17] Speaker A: Let me just say. You better call it Valentine's Day for your own safety. But, yeah, it's a very important day, right?
[00:01:23] Speaker B: Absolutely. For husbands it is very, very important.
[00:01:27] Speaker A: That's right.
[00:01:28] Speaker B: It is probably up there and probably top five most important days of the year for a husband.
[00:01:32] Speaker A: Yeah. So don't forget this. Okay, guys? But as far as our guests for this month's podcast, one in particular really has a tie in with Valentine's Day. And that's miss Tammy Vanetta with Dekal county florist in Smithville. And she will be here talking about all things doing with her business as far as being a florist. And of course, this time of year, you're talking about someone that stays busy. She stays very busy for this holiday.
[00:02:02] Speaker B: Yeah. And gentlemen, out there, as this podcast premieres, it is not too late to go ahead and reach out and give her a call.
[00:02:09] Speaker A: That's right.
[00:02:10] Speaker B: Go ahead and make sure that you've got your flowers arranged for Valentine's Day.
[00:02:13] Speaker A: That's right. Do it now. And you can thank us later that you didn't forget. Also, after that interview, we'll have Susan Slinker and she and her husband run Tennessee memories, which is an event center in Las Cassis, Tennessee, where they host weddings and other events like that, corporate events and things such as that. We've also got Justin coming back with his tech tips. He always does a great job with that. And then we'll have the ask the experts segment. We have a special guest. I won't give it away just yet. We've got someone different coming and being our expert for this month. So stay tuned to see who that is. And then Justin will be back later in the show with tech news roundup. And I will also discuss some of the events going on in DTC world. We like to call that, what's up, DTC? So we've got a great show. It's going to be a lot of fun. Stick around with us because you are watching the local click.
And with me now, I have Miss Tammy Vanana with DeKalb county florist. Miss Tammy, great to have you today.
[00:03:12] Speaker C: Well, thanks for having me.
[00:03:13] Speaker A: We appreciate you being here.
[00:03:14] Speaker C: Thank you.
[00:03:15] Speaker A: Especially knowing how busy you're about to be.
[00:03:18] Speaker C: It is a busy season.
[00:03:20] Speaker A: Yes. I'm assuming the busiest of all year.
[00:03:24] Speaker C: It is the busiest of all year. It's the busiest one day.
Takes us about a month to get ready for it. And then usually when it falls on a Wednesday, it's all in one day. If it falls on the weekends, we have several days to do. Schools one day, homes one day. Okay, so it's spread out that way.
[00:03:46] Speaker A: Yeah. So some of that's just depending on the calendar, right? It is for Valentine's Day on the year.
Well, tell us a little bit about your background, about yourself.
Are you a native of decal County?
[00:03:58] Speaker C: I was born and raised in decal county. I started working at the lotus pod when I was 16 years old, after high school, and then when I turned 21, I started doing that full time.
[00:04:13] Speaker A: Okay, great. I remember that name, the lotus pod, owned by Angela. Yeah. So really, you've been doing this almost your entire, absolutely. Professional career, right?
[00:04:22] Speaker C: 37 years.
[00:04:24] Speaker A: Wow. Is that something you knew as a young child that you had a natural inclination to like flowers and that sort of thing, or did you just kind.
[00:04:33] Speaker C: Of fall into it and kind of fell into it? I tried college once or twice, but that didn't work out, so I just stuck to what I knew.
[00:04:42] Speaker A: And you really enjoyed it?
[00:04:43] Speaker C: Absolutely.
[00:04:44] Speaker A: That's great.
[00:04:45] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:04:45] Speaker A: That's great. Well, tell us the name of your.
[00:04:48] Speaker C: Business again, is decapitap county florist. We're at 313 north public Square in Smithville.
[00:04:54] Speaker A: Walk us through some of the things.
[00:04:56] Speaker C: That you have at your shop we have Tyler candles. At our shop we have wind chimes, fresh arrangements, silk arrangements, silk grapevines.
We do candy bouquets. We do weddings, funerals. Just every occasion.
[00:05:13] Speaker A: There's probably not too many times of the year where you don't have something going on. Absolutely.
[00:05:18] Speaker C: There's something going on every day.
[00:05:20] Speaker A: Yeah. I'm sure you do a lot of weddings and that sort of thing.
[00:05:23] Speaker C: We do, yeah, we do.
[00:05:24] Speaker A: Is there a busiest time of year, typically, for weddings, or is it spread out?
[00:05:29] Speaker C: October is pretty busy for weddings. And then you'll have some Christmas weddings and then spring and summer.
[00:05:35] Speaker A: If someone wanted to get your help with a wedding, how soon in advance should they probably reach out to you to try to get it on the books and get it scheduled and that sort of thing?
[00:05:46] Speaker C: Well, if they're just wanting, like, a wedding bouquet, we've had them pop in that day, the day before or the day of the wedding. Fix up a quick wedding bouquet. I've taken weddings a year in advance, a week in advance. It just depends on how much they want done.
[00:06:02] Speaker A: Got you, I guess, too. It would probably be better to not wait too late in case there was another one that was absolutely requesting to be on the same weekend or that kind of thing. Yeah.
[00:06:13] Speaker C: And we go on site. We can decorate the whole wedding venue, or we can just do bouquets, boutonnieres, corsages.
[00:06:20] Speaker A: As a florist, I'm sure you have some people that stop by in person and want to pick up their items. But do you also offer deliveries?
[00:06:29] Speaker C: We do deliver. Yes, we do. We deliver in the Smithville area. Liberty, Alexandria. We have ventured off to Sparta. Matt Menville, Woodbury, Cookville. Just depends on what they want to order.
[00:06:43] Speaker A: Okay. So really, one call, you can take care of us, right?
[00:06:46] Speaker C: Absolutely. I sure can.
[00:06:48] Speaker A: And that takes a lot of stress off people, too.
[00:06:50] Speaker C: It does. I have some people that call me maybe a week or two in advance, and then I have some customers where I put their anniversary, birthday, special occasions on the calendar, and then I call them a few days in advance and say, hey, what would you like to send for your anniversary birthday? So I do that service also.
[00:07:12] Speaker A: Now that's very smart.
[00:07:15] Speaker C: Absolutely.
[00:07:16] Speaker A: I'm not saying that I've ever forgotten any important dates or anything. I don't want to incriminate myself. But that's nice to know. You've got everyone's back.
[00:07:24] Speaker C: I have one customer. I've had him on the calendar probably five or six years.
[00:07:29] Speaker D: Okay.
[00:07:29] Speaker A: Wow. I think more people need to take.
[00:07:31] Speaker C: Advantage of that absolutely. We can email them, text them, or call them a few days before. That way they don't forget that important date.
[00:07:38] Speaker A: So what's a typical day in the life in your business? How would you say, is there a typical day?
[00:07:44] Speaker C: First and foremost, every day is different.
[00:07:46] Speaker A: Is it?
[00:07:47] Speaker C: Some days you have more home deliveries. Some days you have more funeral work. Then some days we go out to the cemetery, pick up cemetery vases, bring them back, fix them, take them back to the cemetery. So every day is different.
[00:08:02] Speaker A: What's the most common call you get?
[00:08:05] Speaker C: It's all over the board. Is it with flowers? Just like the other day, we had more birthdays in one day than we did. Just because or thinking of you.
[00:08:17] Speaker A: What are some good ideas for gifts for someone for a birthday?
[00:08:22] Speaker C: Probably do a diva Tyler candle and do a fresh arrangement. Incorporate the Tyler candle into the fresh arrangement, like a bright and cheery bouquet.
[00:08:32] Speaker A: Having the candle gives them something they can keep a little longer.
[00:08:35] Speaker C: Absolutely. And we can put it in a keepsake container. That way they can have the container afterwards.
[00:08:41] Speaker A: Very nice. I think you've done this a few times.
[00:08:43] Speaker C: Just a few.
[00:08:44] Speaker A: You're not having to really think about it. You're just like, I would do this. I would do that.
[00:08:48] Speaker C: Absolutely.
[00:08:49] Speaker A: Well, that's awesome. Now, how many people do you have.
[00:08:51] Speaker C: Helping you at your shop full time? I have one part time, I have three. And then my husband's there every day also doing deliveries, helping in whatever way he can.
[00:09:04] Speaker A: You had mentioned funeral services a few moments ago. Sometimes you don't want to send the same thing that maybe others are sending. Is that a common request where people go, I really don't want to send the same type of floral arrangement that maybe three or four other people may.
[00:09:18] Speaker C: Have what has been sent, and then we may offer something to take home, such as a fresh arrangement in a vase, fresh arrangement in a basket. Or they could do something to leave at graveside, such as a fresh spray on a stand or a funeral basket. Or they could do a wind chime music box.
[00:09:38] Speaker A: Okay. And so you take care of the delivery for those items to the funeral? We do.
[00:09:43] Speaker C: We sure do. There's free delivery to the funeral homes in Smithville and we just take it to the flower room and set it in there and then the funeral director will take it into the chapel.
[00:09:55] Speaker A: As far as ordering, is that usually done over the phone or do you use the website for that?
[00:10:00] Speaker C: We have a website we have over the phone and then we have customers come in and pick out their items. Some people like to see what they're getting. And also, sometimes we can text pictures to the customer. If they can't come in, we'll text pictures of certain items that they want to see.
[00:10:17] Speaker A: That's a good idea. I haven't thought about that either. So technology really has changed the way you do your business?
[00:10:22] Speaker C: It has, absolutely. We try to keep up with all the trends that are going on and try to change up our items on our website.
[00:10:30] Speaker A: Do you have agreements with florists in other areas? For instance, if you had someone not in your normal delivery area that called in, said, I have a relative that's several counties away, is that something that you could work with someone else, call.
[00:10:47] Speaker C: An order out to another forest? Yes.
[00:10:49] Speaker A: Okay. Now that's helpful, too, because sometimes you don't know where to start, especially if it's in a town that you're not familiar with.
[00:10:54] Speaker C: Absolutely.
[00:10:55] Speaker A: What's some of the more unusual requests you may have received or orders you may have received over the years? I know you've been doing this a long time. You've probably got a story or two in there.
[00:11:05] Speaker C: Back a few years ago, I had a customer come in, and he just wanted a bunch of dead stems.
[00:11:12] Speaker A: Now, that's unusual.
[00:11:14] Speaker C: And he wanted them wrapped in paper for however many years him and his wife have been married.
So I kind of gave him a funny look, like, you're kidding, right? So he got his dead stems, and then he came back in a few days later and said she kept the dead stems. And then every year he tells me how many dead stems he needs. I think he needs 26 dead stems this year.
[00:11:45] Speaker A: Oh, there you go.
[00:11:46] Speaker C: And she keeps them all in a little bunch.
[00:11:48] Speaker A: That's something I've not heard of.
[00:11:50] Speaker C: Absolutely.
[00:11:51] Speaker A: There you go. One of the biggest holidays of the year for you is coming up with Valentine's Day.
[00:11:55] Speaker C: Valentine's Day.
[00:11:56] Speaker A: Give us some gift ideas that we could use for a guy that may be calling in for his girlfriend or wife, but also maybe for, you might have a child in school that you want to send a gift to the school or something like that.
[00:12:12] Speaker C: What would you suggest for a guy with his wife or girlfriend? You could do a dozen roses, dozen red roses dressed. We'll be doing a dozen roses. And then we'll be doing a dozen roses dressed, which is extra greenery, extra filler, nicer vase. Or you could do a fresh arrangement in a vase with bright bow colors. We do have glitter roses coming in again this year. I've gotten three different types coming in, different than last year. And then I'll have confetti roses also coming in.
[00:12:47] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:12:47] Speaker C: And then we'll be having our normal colors, which are pinks, lavenders, peaches, whites, yellows, reds. So that's a good thing to get your wife. And we can add a box of chocolate or a Tyler candle to that.
[00:13:02] Speaker A: Well, you can't go wrong with either of those.
[00:13:04] Speaker C: Women love Tyler candles. Yeah. For a child in school, we could do a little bouquet of candy and a little cup that they could take home that they could fit in their backpack if they ride the bus. If they don't ride the bus. You could do a plush animal balloons. We'll be doing larger bouquets. If your child's in middle school, high school, we could do roses for them also, or a fresh cut arrangement and a plush animal.
[00:13:36] Speaker A: So you have all of that in stock then?
[00:13:38] Speaker C: We do.
[00:13:39] Speaker A: Okay, well, that's great. That's great. Because sometimes a lot of requests probably come in somewhat last minute and you don't have time to think it through. So it's nice to know that you're already stocking a lot of these gift items.
[00:13:50] Speaker C: We're already stocking our Tyler candles. We'll be doing our, oh, sugar cookies again this year. And we'll be doing our freeze dried candies, like skittles from Blake Cantrell. And we'll be doing the plush animals, the mylar balloons. And then I've already got all the fresh and the roses ordered to come in a few days before.
[00:14:14] Speaker A: That's awesome. I bet your shop smells great when those come in.
[00:14:18] Speaker C: Customers say that it does, but I'm used to it and I don't smell the smell anymore.
[00:14:25] Speaker A: Well, let's talk about those just because moments, right? That's a good idea. Just in general, don't you think?
[00:14:31] Speaker C: Absolutely.
[00:14:32] Speaker A: As far as your reaction to a gift goes, I think that's probably one of the best things you might can do in a relationship, right, is give someone a gift. Not because they did anything, right. Not because you did anything, just because.
[00:14:44] Speaker C: You care for them, because you love them, just because you want brighten their day. You're thinking of them, right. We can do those bouquets also. Daisies are good for those type arrangements. Tulips, lilies.
[00:14:58] Speaker A: Well, if someone wants to do that and give you a call and get in touch with you, what's your phone number and web address?
Are you on social media?
[00:15:07] Speaker C: Yes, we're on Facebook, Instagram.
Our web address is cabcountyfloorist.com. Our phone number is 615-59-7443 we're located at three one three north public square in Smithville.
[00:15:23] Speaker A: And your hours, your typical hours are what?
[00:15:25] Speaker C: Monday through Friday, eight to five, Saturday eight to twelve. Now, those do vary with funeral work and just depending on how many orders we have for the day.
[00:15:35] Speaker A: Right. Well, I've learned a lot. I appreciate you being here today.
[00:15:38] Speaker C: I appreciate you offering me the chance to do this.
[00:15:41] Speaker A: Well, I can hear the experience in your voice because I ask you a question and you're just like, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam. Because you've been down these roads so many times.
[00:15:49] Speaker C: Absolutely.
[00:15:49] Speaker A: And that's exactly what you want when you call a florist.
[00:15:51] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:15:52] Speaker A: You want somebody who knows what they're doing and has some great ideas.
[00:15:55] Speaker C: And we have experience.
People at our shop, Becca's been there seven, eight years, and Alexis has been there since June. And they know how to take care.
[00:16:06] Speaker A: Of you and that's why you've been here so long.
[00:16:09] Speaker C: Absolutely.
[00:16:10] Speaker A: Well, Miss Tammy, thank you so much for being with us today, and the best of luck in the upcoming Valentine season.
[00:16:15] Speaker C: Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate it.
[00:16:17] Speaker A: We'll be back with more of the local click coming up in just a moment, right after this. Gaming builds real skills for real careers in esports and beyond.
Project manager.
[00:16:33] Speaker B: Content creator, customer service rep.
[00:16:41] Speaker A: Software developer.
Build your skills with fibergaming network and DTC.
[00:16:49] Speaker B: Learn
[email protected].
[00:16:55] Speaker A: Welcome back to the local click. Starting this segment, we've got Justin back with us, and he's going to give us Justin's tech tips. So Justin, take it away.
[00:17:04] Speaker B: Listen, Nick, I know that everyone who is listening to this right now, one of the most enjoyable parts of their day is when their phone rings. They look at that number and they don't recognize what it is. And the voice on the other line responds. When they say hello, they say, a very important question.
Do you have an extended warranty on your vehicle? If not, please press this and speak with it or I am calling about your car's extended warranty.
Now, Nick, how many of those calls have you received? I don't know. In the past week, I probably don't.
[00:17:36] Speaker A: Even want to count it. It's been so many and it's nonstop. It's like they never stop. It just keeps coming.
[00:17:42] Speaker B: We all get tired of those spam calls, those robo calls that are just regular and reoccurring. But thankfully, there's something that can be done about it. There's some tools out there and some things that everyone needs to know about that can help alleviate it. I'm not going to say it's going to completely eliminate it, but it can help. One thing that has been around for a little while now, the FTC does have a national do not call registry. That would be the first thing I would recommend to anyone. Go on there. Make sure that you register your phone number so at least you won't be getting calls from legitimate businesses and legitimate entities. That'll help slow things down a little bit, right?
[00:18:22] Speaker A: It's a good first step.
[00:18:23] Speaker B: It's a good first step. But they're still, unfortunately, with technology today and being able to spoof calls and pretend like you're somebody else, you're going to get numbers that may be local numbers or maybe not so much local, but carriers, device manufacturers, Apple, Android, thankfully have some tools to assist. Whether you are an Apple user or an Android user. Within those operating systems, they both have tools and functionality that will allow you to report whether it's a text message potentially that's junk as well, or phone calls to report those as spam and to block those so that those don't continue to call you going forward. Now, it's a manual process, something you have to do each time. But also whether you're using Apple, whether you're using Android, there's some software that you can also use. Each of the major phone carriers at T T mobile, Verizon have extra apps that you can download and install. And they say that they're call filtering or call blocking or spam blocking. They use some different terminology, but they effectively all do the same thing. They analyze the call that may be coming in and say, hey, I think it's junk. I want to kick it out. So your phone doesn't even ring.
[00:19:34] Speaker A: Okay. You never know that it can block.
[00:19:37] Speaker B: It can block it entirely. You could set it up to send it to voicemail, but who wants to have that same question in their voicemail? But it will block the call for you. Now, some of them have features that are free. Some of them you got to pay a little bit for. Some of them will add some additional call identification to it to help you know what's about to be called. Or it may say, hey, we can't tell you specifically that we think that this is a bad call, but there's a likelihood it is. So before you answer this, be aware this may be somebody that you don't want to talk to necessarily. So I would encourage anyone to use those tools. There's free tools that are built in. You've got the FTC's do not call registry, start there, use your software's built in features and expand upon some of the available apps that are out there. There's also third party apps if you don't want to use one of your carrier apps, there are multiple third party solutions out there as well. Those do cost you, though, but they do a good job to help eliminate. I personally use a call identification and call blocking software and I can tell you it helps quite a bit to cut down on it. Not entirely, not 100% foolproof, but it helps a ton.
[00:20:47] Speaker A: Well, that's a very good tip. That will probably save us all some of our sanity, because I tell you what, it seems like you can't get away from it. A lot of times they're relentless in that if you just don't take any actions at all, you're probably going to be quite aggravated by the end of the week at all the abundance of spam calls and that sort of thing that you get. So that's a good one. I'll appreciate those kind of tips that kind of give us the day to day help and make life a little bit better. So thanks, Justin. I appreciate that. And in this segment, we are pleased to have with us Miss Susan Slinker with Tennessee memories. Is that right?
[00:21:21] Speaker D: That's right.
[00:21:22] Speaker A: Okay, just to make sure I get that name right for your business and welcome to the show. Thank you for being here today and spending a little time with us. So tell us a little bit about your history. You and your husband, Mike, right, run Tennessee memories. Tell us what Tennessee memories is and tell us how you guys got started in this business.
[00:21:41] Speaker D: So Tennessee Memories is an events venue. We're located in Las Cassis, Tennessee.
As far as what we do, we host any kind of event you need a space for. We go from anywhere from weddings to family reunions to graduation parties. We've had formal dances, we have bridal showers, baby showers, anything you need a space for.
[00:22:04] Speaker A: Okay, so if you need room for some event, you guys are the ones to take care of that space need, I guess you might say yes. And you're located in Las Casas, right?
[00:22:14] Speaker D: We are.
[00:22:14] Speaker A: Okay. Which is just right outside Murfreesboro. I'm sure everyone knows that, but that's a great location, being so close to Lebanon and Murfreesboro and Nashville and all the surrounding smaller towns, right?
[00:22:28] Speaker D: Yes, we're close to a lot of things, but still get that country feel, that nice and peace atmosphere.
[00:22:34] Speaker A: Yeah. What made you guys want to start doing an event venue? I mean, why choose that as your mission in business.
[00:22:42] Speaker D: So I've always worked in education. I was a bookkeeper for elementary school for about 15 years, and during that time, I would always do events for teachers, teacher appreciation or breakfasts or anything like that. So I have a passion of planning events also. With our church, I would always do women's retreats or events for them, Valentine banquets, that kind of thing. So I just had a passion to do that. And in event planning, you get to meet a lot of different people and see a lot of different events.
[00:23:19] Speaker A: That's for sure.
[00:23:20] Speaker D: So we just decided that that's kind of the path I wanted to take for my career and started looking for a property and was lucky enough to find where we're at now.
[00:23:32] Speaker A: Well, Las Cassis is a beautiful area in general, so I can understand exactly why you guys might choose that part of the world to start a business like this. Tell us a little bit, maybe, about what's the most common few types of events that you host and then what's maybe some of the less common events that you've asked to host.
[00:23:53] Speaker D: As far as common, we are. A wedding venue is one of the more major ones that we do. We do host a lot of baby showers, weding showers. We also do host corporate events. So we have a realtor company that are coming in next month, and they'll do their award ceremony there. So as far as unusual events, I would say some of the weddings and the different cultures. We had an african wedding one time.
[00:24:21] Speaker A: Oh, wow.
[00:24:22] Speaker D: Which was very neat to learn. Come to find out, they do, per se, a traditional african wedding on one day, and the next day they go. And the grooms family host a white wedding, is what they call it. So it's neat to see their different backgrounds and to get to know the people, too, the client, as you're working with them, you kind of get attached to people.
[00:24:43] Speaker A: There's a human element in there because you're really sharing in a very special moment for a lot of these families. Right.
[00:24:49] Speaker D: When you're working with them, even baby showers and wedding showers, a lot of times you get to know that family, and I'll follow up after the mom has the baby to kind of check on them.
[00:25:00] Speaker A: You almost feel part of the extended family because you've got so much time invested in those special moments with these families, don't you?
[00:25:07] Speaker D: You do, yeah.
[00:25:08] Speaker A: If someone wanted to contact you to rent the space out for an event, do you have a list of other businesses that could help with things such as music or djs or chairs or food? Those kinds of things we do, we.
[00:25:25] Speaker D: Keep a vendor's list and we're constantly updating to it, adding to it.
If I have a vendor that does a really great job, I'll talk to the couple ahead of time, kind of get a feel of what they're looking for in general, and then make suggestions.
[00:25:41] Speaker A: Right.
[00:25:41] Speaker D: So we all kind of work together to make sure everything happens the way it should.
[00:25:45] Speaker A: It takes everybody to pull some of these events off, especially depending on the size and complexity.
[00:25:50] Speaker D: Yes, most definitely.
[00:25:52] Speaker A: How far in advance do you typically like to get a booking request? If someone wanted to contact you to book the event center, usually at least.
[00:26:00] Speaker D: Two to three months. For weddings, they're booking a year, a year and a half out. Kind of depends on the season, too, especially fall. We're booked pretty solid. But a lot of times, even if we do have a wedding on that weekend, we can kind of squeeze in something maybe on a Sunday afternoon for some of the smaller events. So as much notice as they can.
[00:26:21] Speaker A: Give, the more the better, right?
[00:26:23] Speaker D: Yes.
[00:26:23] Speaker A: You'll never call too early.
[00:26:25] Speaker D: That's right.
[00:26:26] Speaker A: Well, tell us a little bit about maybe the size of some of the buildings on the property there and how it's set up.
[00:26:33] Speaker D: So we have three different buildings right now. We have one that we call the Eagles nest. It's a screen in Pavilion and being up on a hill, we have the gorgeous mountain views that you can take in there. It is more open, so that's available about 3000 sqft there. And then we have what we call the Sunset Lodge. So the Sunset Lodge has a small room that has a bar area in it, a little bit of history. The wood came from the grand del Opry stage, so that's kind of cool as a background, but it does have an open area in there as well. And then we currently have a bridal suite too that people can get ready in. And it also has a bedroom in it where they can stay the night if they choose to. They can rent that as well.
[00:27:20] Speaker A: So really you kind of thought about the entire picture because it takes a lot of those behind the scenes areas to get ready for some of those as well. That's a very important part that you don't sometimes think about when you're trying to pick a location.
[00:27:31] Speaker D: Right. And as far as ceremony goes, we have 54 acres, so they can pretty much pick and choose wherever they want to have their ceremony at. We've had them out in the middle of the field facing the mountains, and we have a pergilla. We've done them inside the buildings too. Whatever their desire is at the time.
[00:27:49] Speaker A: I'm sure it's beautiful. If people wanted to get a better view of your facilities there, do you have like a website that they can go visit to get some pictures and that sort of thing?
[00:27:59] Speaker D: We do. It's at tennesseememories.org.
[00:28:02] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:28:03] Speaker D: But we have all kind of pictures there, from corporate events to wedings to showers, birthday parties, everything we've pretty much had there. We try and post pictures so they can get a better idea of what we can offer.
[00:28:14] Speaker A: And if they wanted to get a hands on look, so to speak, before booking event, could they contact you and set up an appointment to look around at the venue?
[00:28:23] Speaker D: Yes, most definitely. They can send a link through the website, or they can call me personally and I would be more than happy to show them around and give them a tour.
[00:28:32] Speaker A: Awesome.
Talk about how maybe technology has influenced the way you run your business. I'm sure. First and foremost, what we just talked about, having a website is a big deal, right. Because that could market the beauty of the venue itself without having to physically drive to the location. That could get someone started in the conversation of the booking, right?
[00:28:55] Speaker D: Yes, it is. They can go on there and see the pictures. We try and update them as soon as we can, but we don't want to step on anybody's toes as far as wedding goes and be the first one to post pictures. So we do post pictures on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, you know, a lot of the major social medias. But we also do encourage them to come out and take a tour because once they get there on site, it's kind of hard to picture things through a picture, but when you see it in person, it makes a big difference.
[00:29:25] Speaker A: Yeah. The perspective changes when you're there in person sometimes, doesn't it?
[00:29:28] Speaker D: True.
[00:29:28] Speaker A: Yeah. What gives you the most satisfaction about doing this kind of business?
[00:29:33] Speaker D: I would think probably seeing it come to the end, making them happy, making sure that they get what they want. It is their big day mainly for the bride. They look at it a little better than the groom does most of the time. I can see that even baby showers and wedding showers and graduation parties, that's a huge accomplishment for people. So we like to celebrate that time with them.
[00:29:59] Speaker A: If someone wanted to give you a call to talk to you, do you have a phone number that they could call?
[00:30:03] Speaker D: Sure. It's 615-339-5384 awesome.
[00:30:09] Speaker A: Awesome. Well, Susan, I've really enjoyed learning about the venue, and again, it's called Tennessee memories.
[00:30:15] Speaker D: Correct.
[00:30:15] Speaker A: And I think you guys, if you're looking for this kind of location for anything, any kind of event coming up in the near future, you owe it to yourself to give them a call and check out their website. I think you'll be very pleased with what you see, and I know they'll take great care of you over there. Thanks, Susan. Appreciate you being here.
[00:30:32] Speaker D: Thank you.
[00:30:33] Speaker A: All right, stay tuned. We'll have more of the local click coming up after this. You know that DTC provides great products and services to your home, and you can get the same great value for your business with DTC business solutions, whether you're making sales over the phone or online to customers around the world, we deliver the reliable business solutions you need at a competitive price. And we do it all with uncompromising service.
Let's talk about what matters to your business. Call DTC Business Solutions today.
And welcome back to the final segment of the February edition of the Local Click. And Justin's back with me. But we also have a new expert for this month's episode, Mr. Shane Turner. Shane, hello. Thanks for being here.
[00:31:24] Speaker E: Thank you for inviting me.
[00:31:26] Speaker A: Yeah. And a lot of people here will know you because you've probably worked at their home or business, especially in the security side, right?
[00:31:33] Speaker E: That's correct, yes, sir.
[00:31:34] Speaker A: Yeah. So for our ask the expert segment, we're going to let you talk a little bit about some of the items that you've brought with us. But before we do, we want to also give a recap from last month when we talked about some new technology that was coming out by Ray ban, the meta glasses. And Justin is not just trying to be suave and cool with his new look with these glasses. These are the metaglasses. They actually have cameras in them that will do recording and other features. And Justin is going to attempt to record some of the demonstrations that Shane is going to show us with some of this equipment with the glasses themselves. So I'm going to step out of the way and let the experts here take over. So, Shane, tell us about what you brought with us today and what does this system do?
[00:32:22] Speaker E: Okay, so what DTC is offering now in security, we're doing a basic three one one kit with the individual customers for home and small businesses. So the three one one contains the main control panel, three window or door sensors, a motion sensor, and a key fob to remotely control the unit.
[00:32:48] Speaker A: So all of these items that you're showing us today are part of, I guess, the basic security system. If someone were to call in and want a security system in their home, right this would be where you would basically start. Like a starting point, if you will.
[00:33:01] Speaker E: Yeah, it's a spot for the customer to start at. And the system itself is expandable out to 120 zones. So if they want windows, extra doors, smoke, heat, glass breaks, this single system will do a very large house. But it's a good starting point for most residential houses.
[00:33:30] Speaker A: Show us the key fob. Show that to Justin, if you will.
[00:33:33] Speaker E: Okay, the key fob. It's real easy. You've got arm away, disarm, arm home, and a panic if we were to need it.
[00:33:42] Speaker A: It looks like a very simple setup. I mean, a lot of times I think something that intimidates people when they're thinking about getting a security system in their home is, can I work it? Is it going to be too complicated to use? But honestly, it really doesn't look like it's that bad.
[00:33:58] Speaker E: No. We have a wide focus point of all kinds of different customers, elderly and even younger people. That's just starting out in life.
This system is great because if they don't own their own residence and they're renting, it can be moved from one location to the other. The other thing is two.
It offers abilities to control it. That really simplify it. Some customers don't understand what all they have to do there. But this very small key fob, they know that arms it, they know that disarms it. Really simple.
[00:34:45] Speaker A: That's kind of what I was thinking. I mean, if you were intimidated by maybe having something with the lcd screen, different settings, which honestly, it's really not that intimidating. It's more about giving you feedback on if the system is armed or disarmed and those sorts of things.
[00:34:59] Speaker B: That's what I was going to say. Sitting here looking at it. It's very clear.
You can easily read it because of the size of the font. But I can tell that this system is disarmed. And to arm it, there's an arm button on there. And I also like the other features on there. We got the time, we've got the weather.
[00:35:15] Speaker A: So you've got a. Yeah, I think that's really neat.
[00:35:17] Speaker B: If you want a quick place to get some of that info, you can get it as well.
[00:35:21] Speaker E: And if you've got like small kids at the house and stuff, even though you may not be arming it during the day, if they go out the door, it will let you know.
And that's simply just by the contact being opened and closed.
[00:35:35] Speaker A: Right.
So it's actually speaking to us, telling us which door has just been triggered with the sensor. That's really nice to know, too, because if you hear some of the older systems, they would have a chime when somebody would go in and out, but you never really understood which door it was possibly that you were entering or leaving. But this actually verbally speaks that and lets you know where the action is.
[00:35:57] Speaker E: Right, right. But these new systems, they're so much more than that.
They have the ability to control other devices also. Also, too, with the same sensor, it may not be part of the alarm system to set the alarm off, but let you know if somebody accesses something like a medicine cabinet by simply opening the contact.
[00:36:22] Speaker D: Yeah, medicine cabinet open.
[00:36:26] Speaker E: Not only is it doing that, it's dinging my phone, letting me know that somebody opened my medicine cabinet even when I'm not at home.
[00:36:36] Speaker A: Okay. So if there's an event that's triggered on the system, even if you're not in your house, no matter where you are, as long as you have, I guess, Internet activity on Internet or cell service. Yeah. Then it will alert you to what's going on in that event.
[00:36:49] Speaker E: Right.
[00:36:50] Speaker A: Oh, that's really neat, too.
[00:36:51] Speaker E: And we have several customers where people are living at home by theirself, elderly. They do not understand this at all, but their daughter or son may have the app on their phone and they can help them keep up if they're taking their medicine during the days and stuff.
[00:37:12] Speaker A: That's very neat. That's very helpful, too. That's not just a security item in your home. That's actually a quality of life issue.
[00:37:21] Speaker E: That you're helping with and helping them retain independence.
[00:37:25] Speaker B: Well, it's interesting. We think of it as security, but when we think about the technological aspect of it, this is another way to use the technology benefits of the security, like you said, as something that is part of our everyday lives.
[00:37:39] Speaker E: Right.
[00:37:40] Speaker A: And if you never want to touch a keypad, you can grab the key fob, right?
[00:37:45] Speaker E: That's correct.
[00:37:46] Speaker A: You don't have to use the touch screen if you want a simple button that says arm, just like starting or unlocking the doors in your car. Right. Little key fob. It's the same concept. You could just sit there and hit that button and you're good to go. That's right. Even I could use that. I like that, Shane. Sure.
What do you think about it, Justin?
[00:38:05] Speaker B: Listen, the use case that you used about having children is something that I can personally attest to because that's a way that I utilize my system in my home. And it gives you the peace of mind because I've got two young boys, and if they get out that front door, I'm going to know it. I don't have to know worry that they've wandered off and I'm not going to have a neighbor knock on the door going, hey, is your kid out there played in the street and there's a few cars going by.
[00:38:32] Speaker A: Did you know that? That's a good point.
[00:38:34] Speaker E: And not only that, a lot of people that live by theirself, even if they're at home and somebody comes in the basement door, it's going to notify them that somebody's entered their house without having to keep an eye on everything.
[00:38:50] Speaker A: Right. It kind of lets you relax a little more at home. You feel more at ease because you know that your home and your environment is being monitored when you can't have your eyes on a swivel outside at all hours of the day. Yeah, that's great. I love that. If someone wanted to learn more about this, they said, hey, I think I want this system. What do they need to do?
[00:39:14] Speaker E: All they have to do is call DTC. They'll get in touch with a CSR and we'll get an order made up, come out and look at it.
And from there we can just keep going forward.
[00:39:27] Speaker A: And really, I guess I don't have to know what I'm asking for and what I need. Right. If you will walk me through the process and make recommendations on what? For my particular home.
[00:39:37] Speaker E: Right. We work on these every day.
We can come out and you can tell us what you're mostly worried about, whether it's when you're at home or not at home and what areas are your largest concerns? If there's small kids in the house and you're worried about them opening windows, we can control those areas and help you have peace of mind that in the middle of the night that nothing's not getting access that shouldn't.
[00:40:11] Speaker A: Right. Great job, Shane. Thanks for what you do.
[00:40:13] Speaker E: Thank you.
[00:40:14] Speaker A: You really keep a lot of people safe and you help them out. So we appreciate your help. So you do a good job.
[00:40:19] Speaker E: Thank you.
[00:40:20] Speaker A: So now I guess we're going to turn the tables a little bit and give it back to Justin sporty glasses. By the way, regardless of the technology involved, it may be a new look.
[00:40:28] Speaker B: For, listen, you know, we've got all kinds of technologies. We're talking, know, today we're talking about these metaglasses and we're following up from what we did last month. But things change drastically in the technology world. And the main thing that I'm going to focus on today is CES. So CES is a consumer electronics show. It takes place every January, and it is at the beginning of the year. It kicks the year off. This is where you're going to get your new gadgets, your new gizmos and different things introduced and announced by your manufacturers and your vendors. So they kick the year off. Some of these things we're not going to see for a while. Some of these things are still in prototype, and some of these things we may never see, they may be a little too far out there, or sometimes things happen or things change. But AI has been the thing that we talk about on here a lot, and AI was all over ces, and I'm not going to mention too much about AI today, actually. But there was a gadget introduced called the Rabbit R one, which I thought was interesting. It's a little what we may think of as a new school PDA that goes in your pocket, but it is going to use natural language software for you to speak to it. And I think they're aiming it more towards ease of function. And so it's using the artificial intelligence and the neural learning for it to be a new assistant that you can have in your pocket that is separate from your phone. I don't know how successful it will be because most of us have those phones. And that's another device that you have.
[00:42:08] Speaker A: To carry, another thing to put in your pocket and remember to bring with you when you leave the house.
[00:42:13] Speaker B: But that was probably the hit of Ces this year. A little tiny, probably two by three device, pretty small, fits in your pocket device. But big thing swapping from tiny to big is tvs. And you think of the t and tv and you think television. But one thing that was a big hit at CS is that t stands for transparent this year, and so LG introduced a massive television, that's an OLED television, that is a transparent screen. So when nothing is on it, you can see through the screen like the screen is not even there. And so that's very.
[00:42:53] Speaker A: We need one of those at home, don't you think?
[00:42:55] Speaker E: Yeah, maybe we need to get a sample.
[00:42:56] Speaker A: I think we need a sample of that. We need to experience this technology for ourselves.
[00:43:00] Speaker B: But for the first time, the US consumer market is going to see tvs over 100 inches be introduced. Now, these were already happening in China, but when you have a tv that is 115 inches, you've got some logistical shipping issues that you've got to figure out.
[00:43:19] Speaker A: Big box.
[00:43:19] Speaker B: So multiple manufacturers, TCL, and high sense have both introduced 115 inch tvs that will be available this year in the United States. So if you want a theater at home, you are going to be able to get it without a projector screen. You don't have to have a projector screen to get that big size cinema like experience on your wall anymore. You'll be able to get it in an actual television that are still considering it's 115 inches, still just a couple of inches wide, it's pretty fascinating.
[00:43:50] Speaker A: I can almost hear Tim Allen from home improvement going, oh, yeah, you know it. That's awesome.
[00:43:58] Speaker B: I would have liked to have been. It would have been neat to be on their showcase floors, to be able to witness and see these in persons. And technology is allowing us to do it. The lighting technology, everybody hears the term led and they know it's a light, but what's done is those leds are getting smaller and smaller and smaller. Until you have leds, you have mini leds now you have micro leds. And that's really what's fueling this and allowing it to be able to be produced. So they can make these tvs bigger by using these smaller light sources, and they're much more efficient and provide much better picture clarity and uniformity on the screen. So it's interesting. The theaters, I think, have been worried post Covid, less and less people have been going to theaters. But I think if we get some of these tvs in people's living rooms, there may be even less people because they may not see the use in it anymore.
[00:44:47] Speaker A: Not only that, but I don't know if you've noticed this, but it seems like sometimes some of the bigger movies that have been coming out are hitting the streaming areas a lot quicker. Have you noticed that?
[00:44:57] Speaker E: I have, yeah.
[00:44:58] Speaker A: It used to you have to wait many, many months to watch them at home, but now if you want to pay a premium, a lot of times you can stream them pretty soon after the release hit the theater themselves three.
[00:45:07] Speaker E: Or four weeks later.
[00:45:08] Speaker A: Exactly.
So you can imagine having a screen that size at home and having a brand new release come out and just staying home. Yeah.
[00:45:15] Speaker E: Invite people over.
[00:45:16] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:45:17] Speaker E: Fix some popcorn, some hot wings, man.
[00:45:19] Speaker A: It sound like a party already. I like this. Yeah, that's awesome. Thanks, Justin. I appreciate it. We're going to keep our eyes open for that because I think that's definitely where it's going. Seems like the screens are getting bigger in general. They have for several years, but this is like a new big, if you will.
[00:45:35] Speaker B: Well, my father and I'm going to tell on him here a little bit. Don't get in trouble me a message a couple of nights ago and he said, son, I need your help. He said, I've got to get a bigger monitor for my work computer. He said I need it. And he specifically said, I need it to be at least 32 inches or larger because I'm having difficulty seeing. So I want the biggest screen that I can get that's going to be reasonably priced. Can you help me with that? And hey, he's not alone in that regard.
[00:46:00] Speaker A: So are you going to recommend one of these new screens for him?
[00:46:04] Speaker B: One of these new screens may be a little bit higher than he's willing to pay for a monster.
[00:46:09] Speaker A: It might be a ways down the road before the average Joe can afford one of these monsters, it sounds like, but it's going to be. I tell you what, it won't be long if you've noticed that technology trickles down pretty quick so the price gets reasonable in a quick manner.
Well, thanks, Justin. I appreciate it. That's exciting. I always like talking tvs because that's kind of my of. We work in video for a living around here, so we kind of like that.
Before we wrap up the show for today, I do want to touch a little bit on what's up DTC. That's where we kind of talk about different things going on in DTC land for the month of February. So some of the events that we have going on this month, high school basketball is continuing and some of the games got moved around a little bit during the weather, all the snowpocalypse of January, but it's back up and going and we have a lot of that coverage on DTC three. And you can learn more about that at DTC Three TV. And in addition to that, the bot score talk show is continuing where we talk about different games that have gone on the previous week and upcoming games in the basketball season. And you can watch that on DTC Three TV as well as on channel three. So you don't have to have the DTCTV service each week to see that particular show. You can actually watch that on our website. So we invite you to go each week on Thursdays at 06:00 and check that show out as well. And then as far as places that DTC will be setting up, we will be at the southern home and Garden Expo at the Wilson County Expo center on February 9 and 10th. So if you're planning on being there, we hope that you'll stop by our booth and say hello and introduce yourself. And if you have any questions about any of the services that we offer, we're more than happy to talk to you about those things, including some of the things that Shane actually discussed today. So we hope that you'll join us if you can during that.
So I think that's going to wrap us up for this episode of the local click. And like we said at the beginning of the show, February Valentine's Day guys, don't forget, because if you do, she may remind you for eleven months until you get a chance to redeem yourself for the next holiday. So don't say we didn't remind you and we didn't warn you, but we appreciate everyone being with us today. Shane, thank you for joining us for the first time on our show today. Thank you for having me and I'm sure we'll have you back. We may talk security cameras next month if you don't mind bringing a few along and giving us your expertise on that.
[00:48:42] Speaker E: I've got plenty. We'll go right through.
[00:48:44] Speaker A: Sounds great. And Justin, as always, thank you for being with us.
[00:48:47] Speaker B: Hey, same time, same place next month.
[00:48:50] Speaker A: You got it. And as always, thank you everyone that listens and watches each month to the local click podcast. We appreciate you being a part of this community and joining us every month. And until next time we'll say so long and hope you have a very happy February. Learn more about the show by visiting us online at. Also, be sure to subscribe to us on your favorite podcast or video platform so you won't miss our next episode of the local click. See you next month.
