Bill Geist's Zeitgeist

Where Do They Find These Guys?

Colorado has been the poster child for the importance of government investment in Tourism Promotion. In the early 1990s, the State shuttered its Tourism Department. Within five years, the number of visitors to Colorado had dropped by a third.

As did the State taxes generated by those visitors.

In a flash of economic realization, Colorado re-established its Tourism Department. And, the visitors returned. And dropped off more tax revenue for the State. What a concept...and one that has been documented by some of the top researchers in the country.

Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper understands this dynamic all too well...which is why, in the face of declining resources to run his government, his budget proposal holds the investment in Tourism Promotion steady at $14.6 million for the next fiscal year.

But, there is a "Budget Analyst" squirreled away somewhere in the bowels of a State office building that just released a recommendation that the Legislature slash next year's budget by 35%.

WTF?

Honestly...what are the qualifications for being a Budget Analyst? That you are breathing? Because it certainly has nothing to do with being able to read economic analysis documents and form a logical response.

Sigh...

Just a Little Backasswards?

Amazing that it has taken this long...but, apparently, these mailing kiosks are starting to pop up in airports around the country.

Designed to allow travelers that screw up and wander into TSA-land with shit that is verbotten on planes to mail it back to themselves rather than give it up, this is a very cool idea.

Except, the airport in which I saw my first one? It was placed AFTER the TSA check-point.

Ummm, once you get past these guys, you got nothing to mail. Wouldn't it be better to locate these kiosks before people get strip searched?

Just a thought.

No Way to Run a Restaurant

I know better than to frequent airport eateries. But sometimes, it's been a long day with a client and I haven't had a chance to catch a bite.

Sure, some airport restaurants have upped the ante in recent months...but there are so many more that haven't.

Like the one I briefly experienced last week at MSP. Looking for a table with an outlet so I could charge up my laptop, I wandered into the back section of one of these restaurants. The waitress promptly barked at me that that particular section was closed. Which is fine, I guess...but the pictured table was the only one not occupied in the main room.

Once I sat in the section that was "open" (less than ten feet from the section that was "closed"), I overheard the table to the right order the Calamari. She promptly urged them to pick something else. The Calamari there "is not very good," she intoned conspiratorially. The guy to the left ordered the Trout Fingers. She told him that he'd be sorry, because they, too, were horrible.

As she turned her attention to me, I just smiled...and promptly exited the restaurant, preferring a bag of rye chips to anything that would come out of that kitchen.

Don't get me wrong...beyond the barking at me part, I value a waitress that steers me away from a selection that may not be happening that day in the kitchen. But, I'm pretty sure that her manager would flip out if he had witnessed this particular display.

That it was 11:30am and she was the only one on duty in a 20+ table restaurant tells me something else. Somebody didn't show up for work that day...or her manager is worthless at scheduling. Either way, the manager should have been there. That he or she wasn't says volumes about the future of that particular eatery.

Or...maybe that WAS the Manager.

Sigh...

Hard to Get More Perfect Than This

Channelling James Brown, Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding, Kool and the Gang and who knows how many other influences, Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears couldn't be more perfect to get y'all movin' on a Music Friday.

And the video is pretty damn cool, too.

A Sack of Sliders and...a Merlot to Go?

White Castle hamburgers are both an acquired taste and a cultural icon. If you've never experienced "the Crave," I'm not sure I can do the experience justice.

It's a Midwest thang. In the South, Krystal is the equivalent. For the rest of you...trust me. While it ain't gourmet...there are times when a bag of sliders is just simply perfection.

But, the Lafayette IN White Castle is experimenting with serving Beer and Wine. And, frankly, no matter how stoned one is as they shuffle up to place their 2am order...that just has to make the die hard say WTF.

As noted in yesterday's Wall Street Journal piece on the experiment, it costs more for a glass of wine than three sliders with cheese.

In that case, I think I'd opt for six sliders.

But...that's just me.

It's Not What You Say

A few weeks ago Terri and I had the chance to hang with the amazing Frank Luntz and his posse in Myrtle Beach (that’s him with Hannity backstage at the Republican Presidential Debate). I hadn’t yet had the chance to read his latest book, “Win”...but quickly devoured it on my next couple flights. And, for anybody that depends on influencing others (which would be, ummm, everybody), the book is a must.

Throughout “Win” (as well as Frank’s earlier works), he stresses that it is rarely what you say...but what people hear. Thus, those who win are those who craft their messages to resonate with what’s important to their audience.

I thought of Frank and had to chuckle the other day as I prepared to depart Omaha. The flight attendant apologized to the first class cabin that she wouldn’t be able to serve a pre-flight cocktail because they were running late...and that she knew we all wanted the airline to maintain its on-time record.

Actually...no, I don’t care about your on-time record.

I want a drink.

How Well Do You Know Your Product?

I marvel at how so few owners and managers know their product. I mean really know it. As in live it. Use it. Experience every facet of it.

It happened the other night in a hotel on a heavily traveled highway. If they were running at 30% occupancy that night, it would have been a miracle. Thus, the front desk manager had more than enough rooms to put all her guests on the non-highway side of the building. The side that looked out over the woods.

It was the loudest hotel stay of my life. And, I’ve spent many a night at airport hotels and sandwiched between rooms of “lovers rollin' round in bed, screamin' as if they’re gonna die.”

So, I had to ask myself, why not put everyone on the wooded side. Scared the hotel would tip over?

Nah...it’s because whoever employs her has never spent the night in his hotel on the highway side. Of that, I am completely sure.

Like Comfort Food

Admit it, Van Halen is a guilty pleasure. No longer hip...but there's still something about the band that attracts attention. Past the drama.

The VH2 years with Sammy were sensational, but a departure from the core essence of the band. Which, of course, was Diamond David Lee Roth.

Don't get me wrong...the driving force was always the Van Halen brothers. The essence, however, was Dave.

And, now he's back. And somehow it feels right. Like comfort food.

The subject matter may be so last decade...but, admit it. It's kinda fun to see them together again on this Music Friday.

Creepy...but Kinda Cool

Word from Wired (via Iconoculture) is that KLM Royal Dutch Airline will be debuting a new service called "Meet and Seat" this year, allowing passengers to select their seatmates based on their social media profiles.

And, for all of us beautiful, trim and exceptionally interesting conversationalists, this sounds like a pretty cool idea. A little creepy...but cool.

Except, I have this nagging image of all the people that never got selected for pick-up games in elementary school or asked out on dates all ending up awkwardly bunched together in the back.

Or the front.

Whadya Expect to Find?

Whenever I hear of a local government choosing to put its contract for Destination Marketing up for bid, I have to suppress a giggle. OK...not a giggle. More like a chortle.

Oh, it always sounds real good on the surface. Transparency. Accountability. Competition. Stuff like that.

It's usually that somebody on Council has a bug up their butt about the DMO and uses the RFP process to make 'em sweat. Because, really, is any politician that cluesless to think that there are a bunch of DMOs hanging out around town, just waiting to bid on an RFP every three years?

And for those that think DMOs are just glorified ad agencies...you gotta think again. What separates DMOs from any other organization or business that might covet such a contract is a deep understanding of the destination and a database of meeting and event planners that just can't be duplicated without years of effort.

Thus, no matter how badly government may want to make a move, it can't...not without forfeiting a few years of serious productivity while the new "DMO" gets acclimated.

Instead of jerking DMOs around with this type of childish gamesmanship, a government that is unsatisfied with its DMO should sit down and work with it to become the impact agency the community deserves. Honestly...it's the only way.

Because, in the vast majority of these cases, you get what Gilbert AZ got...their DMO being the only bidder that met the minimumn requirements for the contract.

Uh-huh.