The new glossy magazine is a public relations vehicle for a group of businesses on Harbour Island.
By DENISE WATSON BATTS
Published January 16, 2004
The idea among the Harbour Island business owners started out tiny: Let's put together something, maybe a newsletter, to let people know we're here.
The businesses, snuggled together along Harbour Post Drive on the island's north edge, were less than a year old when the talk started three months ago. Greg Jasso, president of an advertising and marketing agency, was among them and handled most of their marketing. A bigger idea grew.
"Let's pool our resources and promote this entire area as a destination," Jasso said.
HI emerged, a 32-page, glossy magazine about the size of Reader's Digest. It promotes some of the banks, real estate agents, pet-sitting services and restaurants on Harbour Island, which is enjoying a wave of new residential and commercial development.
Jasso, 38, produced 20,000 copies and mailed them to zip codes 33602, 33606 and 33609 - essentially downtown, Harbour Island, Davis Islands and Bayshore Boulevard from up to Howard Avenue to Gandy Boulevard. The goal: promote a fast-growing area that has gone largely unnoticed, he said.
The first edition was a hit, said Andrew Bonnemort, who owns Cafe Dufrain with his fiancee Ferrell Little.
"It's been good," he said. "We're tucked away here, and it's up to us to put ourselves on the map."
The magazine is a side business for Jasso. He started his advertising work four years ago from his home, initially dealing with commercial landscape clients and recently branching out to South Tampa businesses. He moved into his office on Harbour Island almost a year ago.
Jasso, who lives within walking distance, is planning the next issue for March. Based on feedback, it will have more stories, such as the history of Harbour Island. It will again feature Harbour Island companies and services, as well as some businesses downtown and at Channelside.
Jasso hopes to produce a quarterly HI magazine, in addition to publications for other downtown neighborhoods. He's researching a possible magazine featuring Hyde Park/SoHo businesses.
"They want people in their own neighborhood to know that they're there," he said.
