Timeline of events

TIMELINE

April and May 2010 | Two full-page ads in each month’s issue of Southern Living magazine to promote Coastal Uncorked

April 12, 2010 | The Brandon Agency sends a $145,839.60 invoice to the chamber for the Southern Living ads

May 20, 2010 | The chamber pays the invoice for the Southern Living ads

June 1, 2010 | Coastal Uncorked sends a $300,000 invoice to the chamber for festival marketing and promotions

Dec. 21, 2010 | The chamber approves payment of the Coastal Uncorked invoice

Dec. 28, 2010 | Coastal Uncorked receives a $300,000 payment from the chamber

Dec. 30, 2010 | The chamber requests and receives a refund of its $300,000 payment to Coastal Uncorked

Fourth-quarter 2010 | The chamber says in its accountability report that it paid $300,000 to Coastal Uncorked

Feb. 1, 2011 | Scott Brandon, president of The Brandon Agency, tells The Sun News that most of the chamber’s $300,000 payment was spent on Southern Living ads

March 25, 2011 | Chamber President Brad Dean criticizes tourism tax opponents and details for city officials how the chamber’s $300,000 payment benefited Coastal Uncorked, citing the Southern Living ads among other things

April 2011 | Dean tells The Sun News that the largest expense from the chamber’s $300,000 payment to Coastal Uncorked was for Southern Living ads

August and September 2011 | The Sun News reviews the chamber’s financial documents as part of a Freedom of Information Act request the newspaper filed early in the year

Oct. 12, 2011 | The Sun News sends an e-mail to the chamber’s lawyer asking questions about apparent discrepancies in the chamber’s financial documents regarding the payment to Coastal Uncorked

Oct. 19, 2011 | The S.C. Secretary of State’s office announces that the $300,000 payment the chamber made to Coastal Uncorked was refunded two days later

Source: Invoices and documents made available by the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce, interviews and emails.

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