Greg Daugherty oral history interview, July 27, 2018

A native of Black Mountain North Carolina, Gregg Daugherty graduated from Western Carolina University with a BA in Art Education. He moved to Atlanta in 1978, where he became the first African American Ad Sales employee for the city's LGBT publications industry (late 1970's through the mid 1980’s). Daugherty managed advertising and marketing for Cruise, David, and Guide magazines and was a contributing writer of articles, "Under the Lights" and "GADABOUT" which were featured in Pulse, Around the Clock, and Guide magazines. These articles garnered him the Peoples Choice Award for Writer of Year in 1986.

Daugherty joined the marketing department of the Academy Theatre (1983-1986), and also managed the Academy’s season ticket telemarketing campaign. While working at Guide magazine (1986-1988), he created Playguide, a performing arts and LGBT pageants / events program / playbill service. He also worked as marketing and promotional manager for many of these event companies.

Daugherty was a member of the Hotlanta Softball League (HSL) for 16 years as a player, coach and (two term) league secretary. HSL is a member of NAGAAA (North American Gay Amateur Athletic Association). He played for the teams of the Bar on Peachtree and Armory and coached the teams of the Prince George Inn and Blake’s on the Park. He was inducted into the HSL Hall of Fame in 2013.

While playing on the Armory Angels Softball team, Daugherty and his teammates were approached to create a new version of the camp drag troupe, The Armorettes. The main focus of this troupe was to promote AIDS fundraising in Atlanta, the United States, and Canada. He was a member of the Armorettes for six years as they traveled around the country competing in softball tournaments at the same time that they performed in AIDS fundraisers. The Armorettes were members of Hotlanta Softball League and not only did they raise significant funds for AIDS charities but they also were HSL league champions and won several national and Canadian tournaments. Daugherty also worked with many Atlanta AIDS fundraisers and was co-founder of The Window of Hope, a cabaret event with many local and national singers that raised funds for Atlanta AIDS organizations, including Jerusalem House, AIDS Survival Project, AID Atlanta, and PALS.

In 1988 Daugherty opened his own business, Performing Arts Media (PAM) a playbill & program publishing company. PAM’s first official publication was The National Black Arts Festival program which he continues to produce. In 1996, PAM produced The Official Cultural Olympiad programs for the 1996 Olympic Games. In 1999, after many years of producing several different arts groups programs, Daugherty decided that it was better to focus on one item, which led to the birth of Lighthouse Communications. Daugherty created Atlanta ShowGuide, greater Atlanta’s performing arts magazine, a bimonthly resource guide of the region's performing arts, which is available in print and online. To this day Atlanta ShowGuide along with the annual National Black Arts Festival Guide are the mainstay of his company.