NextLeft, a digital content and marketing agency, has relocated its corporate offices from 1010 Turquoise St. in Pacific Beach to La Jolla Shores. Now located two blocks from the beach at 2255 Avenida De La Playa, the new office space is designed to cultivate an energetic and outdoorsy company culture as well as accommodate company growth, said CEO John McKusick. The 1,600-square foot space, split between two large areas, has an open-floor layout for a collaborative and creative work environment. “We’ve grown quickly over the past three years and needed a space that reflected not only our design aesthetic, but also our values as a company,” said McKusick. Founded in 2016, NextLeft said its staff of digital marketing strategists has an average of 10 years each of agency and in-house digital marketing experience.
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Southport Marketing, a San Diego marketing agency that specializes in organizing special events, and radio station operator iHeart Media San Diego will present the San Diego Margarita Fest from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 17, at Waterfront Park in Downtown San Diego. The age-21-and-older event will feature concert entertainment, a cornhole tournament with cash payouts, cooking demonstrations and interactive experiences. Music acts will include Everclear, One Drop Redemption, Alinea, Spazmatics and Pan Paradise Steel Drum Band. General admission is $40 per person, VIP admission is $150. Food and beverages will cost extra. Entry fee for the cornhole tournament is $120 per team (two players). More details are available at www.SDMargFest.com.
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Veteran journalist Manny Cruz, who has reported on San Diego politics, business and breaking news for nearly 50 years, has moved out of San Diego and relocated to Michigan, but he is continuing to write the San Diego Metropolitan’s “Daily Business Report” weekday column and edit the Metropolitan’s monthly magazine. Cruz, who turned 77 on June 29, recently arrived in Smiths Creek, Mich., a rural community in the Kimball Township (population: 9,358) in St. Clair County. “I will miss my sisters and the wonderful friends and professional relationships I’ve developed over the years, as well as the wonderful climate and progressive California politics, but I will not miss the high cost of living in the state,” said Cruz. In 1970, Cruz joined the Daily Californian newspaper in El Cajon as a reporter and later as editor (today, the newspaper is published weekly and called the East County Californian). After 20 years with the Californian (1970-1990), he spent 11 years (1990-2001) as special sections editor and wire editor with the San Diego Daily Transcript, before the weekday Transcript folded in August 2015. Then, Cruz spent two years (2001-2002) as editor of the Star-News in Chula Vista and two years (2002-2004) as editor of “Antique & Collectables” magazine, before joining the San Diego Metropolitan as managing editor and editor of the North Park News in June 2004.