Latest news with #BryanQuigley
Technical.ly
11-04-2025
- Business
- Technical.ly
Calling all data nerds: OpenDataPhilly needs your help to get back to its prime
The team behind a longtime Philadelphia data project is calling on users to help improve it — and the city to help fund it. OpenDataPhilly, a catalog of publicly available datasets across Philly, is run by a small team of volunteers who have stayed committed to the site and its mission despite a lack of money and participants. The more people that contribute to its success, the more it can help Philadelphians get engaged with issues they care about across the city, they said. But there's only so much this small team can accomplish as volunteers. With more help and financial support, the site could add features that make the data easier to find. 'There are about [10,000] active users of the site a month,' volunteer Bryan Quigley told 'I don't know what they use the data for, but I hope it makes it a little easier to be civically engaged and make Philadelphia better.' It used to cost $25,000 to $45,000 per year in staff time and $3,000 to $5,000 in AWS hosting costs to maintain the site, volunteer and 'godfather of open data' Robert Cheetham said. Now, it costs a few hundred dollars per year in hosting costs, which Cheetham pays himself, but that doesn't include compensating people's time spent working on it. In the past, charitable orgs like the Knight Foundation have given grants to support the project, but Cheetham found that it's harder to get grants to maintain a project rather than to start something new, he said. 'I wish the city would put in funding to maintain the system,' Cheetham said. 'We've continued to do what we can to keep things running without and do so as we have time as volunteers.' OpenDataPhilly, one of the platforms where the city publishes its troves of data, aims to make that information more transparent, from tracking crime to understanding voter turnout. It was previously maintained by the staff at local GIS software company Azavea. The company was acquired by Element 84 in 2023, which deprioritized the project. Cheetham, who is the founder of Azavea, took the project with him when he was laid off at the end of 2023. Since then, he's been working with a handful of dedicated volunteers to keep it going, including Quigley, a former Azavea employee, who continues to contribute to the project because he cares about the region and the tech, he told Beyond just a data resource, for some of the volunteers OpenDataPhilly provides access to information in a way that builds community. Working on OpenDataPhilly is a way to give back to the city, volunteer Lydia Scarf said. 'We have this sense that there's a lot of people who really care about the project and are getting a lot out of it,' Scarf told 'But I want more and more people to feel like they can be active stakeholders of the project as well.' Losing key functions to stay afloat Before the acquisition, Cheetham and his team made moves to make the site more cost-effective, secure and easier to keep up with. OpenDataPhilly used to be a CKAN site, an open-source data management system, allowing contributors to easily update and share information. However, the system relied on a lot of plugins that were time-consuming to sustain, Cheetham said. The team chose to move to a JKAN site, a lower-cost catalog that stores the links to data. The site is now hosted and managed on Github and using internal tools. These changes made the site more secure and easier to maintain, Cheetham said. 'All of that means the website has no longer got a database behind it,' Cheetham said. 'There's no longer a dynamic programming language. It's simply what's called a static website.' However, the transition came with some feature regressions, like the search function, Scarf said. Now, a lot of the work that Scarf and Quigley do involves coordinating with the city's Office of Innovation and Technology and other orgs to manage pull requests. This means that when the city makes a change to one of the data sets on the site, OpenDataPhilly volunteers need to approve it. Making these changes made the site more realistic to keep up with, especially now that it's a volunteer project, Scarf said. 'We don't have a ton of maintenance to do. Besides that, that's mostly how we're keeping the lights on,' she said. 'But there's a lot to do to get us back to where we were when it was a CKAN site.' A call for more volunteers to get back to ODP's prime The OpenDataPhilly team has a vision for how the site could upgrade its usability, but they need more people to help make it happen. Scarf would like to see a more advanced search function and an updated user experience and design to make it more accessible to people who are using it for the first time, she said. 'The priority in all of this development is around visibility and accessibility, making it much easier to comb through all of these datasets and see what's in there,' she said. 'But [also] to quickly find something that might be relevant to you.' The old site also had a function that tracked how frequently datasets were updated, which Cheetham would like to bring back, he said. He would also like to set up a system that periodically checks to make sure data sets are still available. Ultimately, Cheetham would like to see more data sets from more sources, like academic and nonprofit institutions. A similar mission is in the works at the Economy League of Philadelphia. The non-profit recently got a grant to develop a civic data platform that would make it easier to find and use data. Still, that level of collaboration requires a lot of time and effort. 'There's an affinity of things that could be done,' Cheetham said. 'Without funding and only as volunteers, we're going to chip away at it a little at a time.' Sarah Huffman is a 2022-2024 corps member for Report for America, an initiative of The Groundtruth Project that pairs young journalists with local newsrooms. This position is supported by the Lenfest Institute for Journalism.
Yahoo
24-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
SURFSIDE LAUNCHES NEW "SURF N' TURF" CAMPAIGN CELEBRATING NATIONAL CHEESESTEAK DAY AND COCKTAIL DAY WITH FUN TWIST
Leading RTD Brand Promoting Surfside + Cheesesteak Combo with Sports Bars and Restaurants Nationwide Ahead of Baseball Opening Day PHILADELPHIA, March 24, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Surfside, the Iced Tea + Vodka / Lemonade + Vodka ready-to-drink (RTD) category leader, announces their nationwide "Surf N' Turf" promotion in honor of National Cheesesteak Day and National Cocktail Day – both coincidentally fall on March 24. In celebration, the beloved Philadelphia-based RTD brand is inviting hundreds of sports bars and restaurants across the country to participate in the "Surf N' Turf" combo, featuring Surfside canned cocktails and the iconic hometown Philly cheesesteak throughout the month of April. Founded by Philadelphia natives and brothers Matt and Bryan Quigley, and Clement and Zach Pappas, Surfside has experienced rocketship growth since its launch by independently owned parent company Stateside Brands in 2022. From the start, the brand has gained a passionate following in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware before expanding nationwide to all 50 U.S. states, and the Bahamas, Grand Cayman and St. Thomas. Surfside ended 2024 as the #1 fastest growing brand in the U.S. across all alcohol beverage at scanned retail and has had no signs of slowing down.* Heading into this baseball season, the brand is reimagining the gameday experience with their award-winning, 100 calorie, 0 bubbles canned cocktails – continuing their partnership as the official RTD Vodka Iced Tea and Vodka Lemonade of Minor League Baseball (MiLB) and growing its MLB baseball partnerships to a total of 11 teams for the 2025 season. To kick off the "Surf N' Turf" campaign in hometown Philadelphia, former Philadelphia Phillies All-Star shortstop Jimmy Rollins will be in attendance for a special meet and greet opportunity at Chickie's & Pete's, South Philadelphia from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. on March 24, 2025. "My first endeavour as an entrepreneur was opening a Philly cheesesteak shop in the South-Central region of the U.S.," said Stateside Brands President and Co-Founder, Matt Quigley. "Now that Surfside is available in all 50 states, it feels fitting to have a 'Surf N' Turf' menu combo sold at bars and restaurants across the country." "It's apt that National Cheesesteak Day and National Cocktail Day fall on the same day; a fun and authentic way for Surfside to celebrate with our 'Surf N' Turf' pairing," said Stateside Brands CEO Clement Pappas. "From local small businesses to regional chains, we're honored to be working with our outstanding partners from coast-to-coast." Whether you enjoy your cheesesteak "wit or witout," there's an accompanying Surfside for easy, flavorful sipping. Surfside canned cocktails have only 100 calories, 2g Sugar, 0 bubbles and are very sessionable at 4.5% alcohol by volume. Proudly crafted with vodka and real tea / lemonade, the lineup of fan-favorite flavors includes Iced Tea + Vodka, Half & Half + Vodka, Lemonade + Vodka, Strawberry Lemonade + Vodka and Green Tea + Vodka. Consumers can visit and type in their zip code to find bars and restaurants participating in the "Surf N' Turf" promotion near them. To see more from the brand, visit Instagram and share how you enjoy #SurfsideSurfNTurf @drinksurfside. *Source: Nielsen IQ Total US xAOC + Liquor Open State for Beer, Wine and Spirits L52 weeks ending 12/28/2024, brands with minimum 100,000 cases sold in 2023 About SurfsideSurfside is a line of premium iced tea + vodka, lemonade + vodka and green tea + vodka canned cocktails recognized for its delicious full flavor taste and sunset stripes on the can for good vibes ahead. Surfside has experienced a meteoric rise since launching in 2022 from a beloved Philly ready-to-drink brand to achieving triple-digit growth within each of the last two years, becoming the spirit-based Iced Tea & Lemonade category leader. The brand has been widely celebrated in the beverage industry with recognition from Brewbound as the "Beyond Beer Company of the Year" and VinePair "Next Wave Awards Rising Drinks Brand" for 2024. These honors build on a list of notable achievements such as Shanken's IMPACT Magazine "Hot Brand" award in 2023 and Brewbound "Rising Star Award" in 2022. At 4.5% ABV, Surfside is made with vodka and real tea with just 2g of sugar, 100 calories and 0 bubbles. Available in 4-packs (SRP: $9.99) and an 8-can variety pack (SRP: $19.99), Surfside is a perfect complement for a day at the beach, by the pool, at the baseball game or on the golf course. To learn more, visit and follow on Instagram @drinksurfside. About Stateside BrandsStateside Brands was founded in 2016 in Philadelphia, PA, by two sets of brothers: Matt and Bryan Quigley and Clement and Zach Pappas. Driven by a bold vision to make the highest quality craft vodka in America, Stateside Vodka is meticulously crafted from 100% U.S. grown corn and pot-distilled seven times to deliver a velvety smooth mouthfeel. Building on the success of its award-winning vodka, Stateside Brands introduced Stateside Vodka Sodas in 2021, a refreshing and flavorful line of ready-to-drink cocktails crafted with premium vodka, real fruit juice, sparkling water, and natural flavors. In 2022 the company launched Surfside, a line of award-winning premium iced tea + vodka, lemonade + vodka and green tea + vodka canned cocktails recognized for its delicious full flavor taste and sunset stripes on the can for good vibes ahead. PR Contact: KLG Public Relations | surfside@ View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Surfside Sign in to access your portfolio
