Before 2016 gets too far in the rearview mirror, we wanted to reflect back on some of our favorite entertainment picks from the past year. Here are a few of Hammockers’ recommended movies, TV series, books and (since Hammock HQ is nick-named Music City) concerts of 2016.
John’s top movies were “Hell or High Water” and “A Man Called Ove.” He also loved HBO’s “Game of Thrones,” Netflix’s “Flaked” and BBC’s “Fleabag.” From 2016’s reading list, he enjoyed Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance, but he also recommends Thomas Mann’s classic Buddenbrooks, and a Pulitzer Prize winner, The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt.
Kerri’s favorite movies were “Moonlight,” “Nocturnal Animals” and “Hell or High Water.” She also became a “Game of Thrones” fan, managing to watch all six seasons in 2016. Her concert highlight of the year was seeing Todd Snider at the Ryman Auditorium for his 50th birthday.
Emily’s favorite show of the year was Marc Cohn, famous for “Walking in Memphis.” “He played at City Winery, a great, new-ish Nashville venue that’s perfect for singer-songwriters like him,” she says. Besides regular check-ins on Nashville’s music scene, Emily has also lately been on an Ernest Hemingway kick.
Happy New Year! After fortifying ourselves with a little more coffee than usual (was New Year’s Eve really only three days ago?), we at Hammock gathered today at our weekly meeting to reveal some of the gifts we received and fun stuff we did over the holiday break.
Puppy love was the theme of Christmas for many. Emily, while admittedly not a dog person, enjoyed 
snuggling with her family’s bichon puppy all week. Megan (see left) was thrilled to find out she’ll get to bring home a Maltipoo puppy in February. Natalie‘s new German shorthair pointer puppy proved to be the family favorite despite chewing the household’s shoes. John found out his beloved Portuguese water dog is not actually a Portuguese water dog—it’s a poodle, discovered thanks to a friend’s insistence on—and gift of—a DNA test (see right).
We laughed until our sides hurt when Julia told us about accompanying a friend to see a Nashville cat show sponsored by The Cat Fancier’s Association. Because of her, we’ll all dream of bejeweled cat palaces full of fluffy and temperamental Maine Coons.
Kerri spent the break seeing Oscar-buzz movies like Jackie, Moonlight and Nocturnal Animals. Jamie
traveled to see family in Los Angeles and toured Griffith Park (see right) and other locations from the movie musical La La Land. Taylor, a New Orleans native, enjoyed a Christmas lunch with friends at Antonie’s, a famous Big Easy landmark.
Some of us were more active than others: Lena braved the Polar Bear Plunge, Steve took advantage of the warmer-than-normal weather to plant trees and bushes around his house, and Rex skiied the slopes of Vermont. (We’re happy to say the boss came home with all limbs intact.)
However you spent your holidays, we hope you had a blast and have returned refreshed and ready to take on your corner of the world!
Hammock won five awards on behalf of its clients in the 2016 APEX Awards competition, including its 13th Grand Award for American Spirit, the magazine of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Hammock has been the DAR’s publishing partner since 2002. Other award winners were The Source, HealthTrust’s member magazine, and the H2U newsletter, a custom-published health resource for members in select HCA hospitals.
Projects that received awards were:
Grand Award for Feature Writing for “A Lasting Legacy: DAR Schools” in the July/Aug 2015 American Spirit. (Written by Hammock’s own Emily McMackin)
Award of Excellence for the design and layout of the May/June 2015 American Spirit
Award of Excellence for Custom-Published Magazines: The Source Q4 2015
Award of Excellence for Feature Writing for “Combating the Antibiotic Resistance Crisis,” in the Q4 2015 issue of The Source (Written by Hammock’s own Megan Hamby)
Award of Excellence for Custom-Published Newsletters: H2U’s October 2015 newsletter
APEX Awards are based on excellence in graphic design, editorial content and the ability to achieve overall communications excellence. APEX Grand Awards honor the outstanding works in each main category, while APEX Awards of Excellence recognize exceptional entries in each of the individual categories.
Pat Summitt
Pat Summitt, the winningest basketball coach in NCAA Division 1 history, passed away today, June 28, 2016, at the age of 64. The head coach for the University of Tennessee Lady Vols for 38 years, she retired with a record of 1,098–208. She led the Lady Vols to eight NCAA championship titles, and they were the runners-up five other times.
Summitt was known for her stony glare on the court sidelines, but players remember her for the impact she made on their lives, education and athletic careers. In addition to her coaching record, Summitt also boasted a 100 percent graduation rate among players.
In the March/April 2003 issue of American Spirit, which Hammock publishes with our client, The Daughters of the American Revolution, writer Dennis McCafferty spoke with Summitt about her life, accomplishments and coaching philosophy. Continue reading:
The May/June issue of American Spirit*, the national magazine of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), visits Lasell Hall, owned by Schoharie DAR Chapter, Schoharie, N.Y. The home, in DAR’s hands since 1912, was severely damaged during the flooding from 2011’s Hurricane Irene. The building has become a signature restoration project for FEMA, but that agency wasn’t the only one to lend funds or a helping hand. Chapter members and the entire community came together to restore the circa-1795 home, including reinstating the original floor plan and many historic paint colors.
Recently, Hammock helped its long-time client HealthTrust launch reSOURCEs, a new section of HealthTrust’s public website. The site features insightful and helpful related to the healthcare supply chain, industry topics and clinical best practices—all topics of relevance to HealthTrust membership. Materials managers, clinicians and healthcare executives can explore relevant articles and insights from industry authorities, healthcare professionals and HealthTrust subject matter experts.
The site provides fast access to stories originally in the print version of The Source, HealthTrust’s member magazine that Hammock helps publish every quarter. The site also provides a channel for HealthTrust experts and Hammock healthcare writers share fresh outlooks on current challenges and opportunities facing healthcare professionals in the supply chain.
American Spirit*, the national magazine of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), has a strong track record of spotlighting unique preservation efforts of DAR members and others dedicated to restoring the nation’s iconic places.
For the January/February 2016 issue, our cover subject is Ferry Farm, the site of George Washington’s boyhood home. After spending almost a century as an endangered site, Ferry Farm is rising again, as a team of archaeologists, historians and volunteers with the George Washington Foundation work to reconstruct the circa-1740 house and uncover new information about the early life of America’s first commander in chief. DAR members have so far raised more than $125,000 for the restoration.
Because of American Spirit’s focus on the lives of Patriots, we don’t often talk about the lives of Loyalists. Some faced mob violence and property seizures because of their allegiance to the Crown, and others changed their allegiances throughout the war depending on their treatment. Fearing persecution after the Revolutionary War, thousands of Loyalists fled to Canada, where they faced new hardships before becoming a vital part of the fabric of their new country.
Natalie Willis is the first smiling face you see when you emerge from the elevators at Hammock headquarters. As manager of administration, she handles ad sales, production and circulation for various publications, assists the CEO and COO, manages accounts payable, helps with budgeting and expenses, is responsible for events … basically she keeps the office humming in every way imaginable.
Where are you from originally and where did you grow up?
I was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico. My parents were missionaries during the few years of my life, and we moved around during my preschool years. I lived in Indiana, Michigan and Tennessee before we settled in the suburbs of Dallas, Texas, where I started second grade and attended college.
Where did you go to college and what was your degree?
Taylor Zimmermann, project manager at Hammock, is a big part of the management team for H2U’s monthly newsletters, is in charge of magazine ad tracking and approval, and is responsible for social media marketing for Hammock. (Though not an official part of her job description, she’s the primary reason CEO Rex Hammock gets his assigned writing in on time.) Taylor cheers for the Crimson Tide, knows all of New Orleans’ nooks and crannies, loves traveling and (shhhhh!) is a hula-hooping champ.
Where are you from originally and where did you grow up?
I was born and raised in New Orleans. I grew up in a part of New Orleans called Metairie.
Where did you go to college and what kind of degree did you get?
I went to the University of Alabama and graduated with a marketing degree with a concentration in global business.
What did you do before coming to Hammock?
Megan Hamby, writer/editor, graduated in 2011 from Middle Tennessee State University with a degree in journalism, and like every good new journalist, she got a job in retail. Before landing at Hammock, she also spent a couple of years in book publishing. Our early bird millennial recently regaled us with a few details about her life:
What is the first thing you do when you wake up and/or get in the office each morning?
I’m always the first person in the office. I could be an awesome employee and get the coffee started every morning, but I haven’t figured out how the coffeemaker works. The first thing I do is check emails and make a to-do list for the day. I get more done in those first couple of hours than I do the rest of the day.