Chad Battles is a  25 year veteran of the hospitality industry. He started out as as a room service waiter in Jacksonville, Florida, and ended up opening an award-winning bar, The Bywater, in the food and beverage mecca of Asheville NC. Chad has worked in corporate and family owned establishments, from Japanese cuisine, to an incredibly popular Irish Pub, to the picturesque mountain-top Pisgah Inn. In addition to his work in the restaurant industry, he has a background in technical theatre, professional clowning, construction, and web & graphic design. His skillset makes him uniquely suited to operating an entire operation, from computer issues, to troubleshooting draft systems, there is not much that is not in his wheelhouse.
The construction and opening of the Bywater in 2010 was the perfect conglomeration of those skills. From thoughtful construction of the bar itself, to the business model, to the beer and cocktail programs, and topped off by the incredible event planning & promotion…the Bywater changed the way people thought about a “traditional bar” in every sense. With 50,000 members soon came many imitators along with write ups in Men’s Health, Outside Magazine, Garden & Gun (fall 2010 print version), Paste Magazine, Delta Sky Magazine, Des Moines Register, and awards from the Wilma Dykman Foundation.  The bar was voted Asheville’s best bar for 5 consecutive years until he stepped out to pursue other goals.

   Much of that success was due in part to an incredible social media presence headed up by Cate Battles. Her attention to detail and skills working with the media were indispensable. Coupled with her ability to conceive of, promote, and implement exciting original events, she was key to the prosperity of the business. She has since turned her attention to the promotion of the ArgosyOdyssey travel blog and is achieving great results.

Together, Chad and Cate can help the bar owner diagnose service/personnel, and technical problems, stage unique unforgettable events, fine tune your social media presence, or help set up a new business.