Bill Geist's Zeitgeist

Can We Stimulate Something Meaningful?

All the talk about stimulus packages makes me wanna puke. And CEO for Cities nails it when they question why concrete and steel are the only worthy projects out there.

Let's be honest...the move to reduce CEO compensation and curtail travel and conventions is being driven by politicians that want to show the "common man" that they're going to stop the chosen few from living the high life. It's pandering to the jealousy of those that made shitty decisions early in their lives and hate that others get to live lives that they wish they could.

But, when the clowns in Washington decide incentive travel and conventions should be cut because they look like perks...do they realize that they are driving the recession to even deeper depths? Sure...you can punish management and sales professionals all you want. But, when you do, you end up causing the elimination of jobs in the hospitality and service sector. Yeah, the very people who are your base. The people that most need a paycheck.

It's like when Madison WI banned smoking in bars...ostensibly to protect the working girl that was forced to risk her health by working in said establishment. While they achieved that goal, the city also managed to significantly reduce the amount of nights that area musicians get to perform. Hey...fewer patrons doesn't just mean leaner profits. It means less reinvestment in the arts and culture of a community.

When will the people that we so foolishly elected realize that cuts to the travel and hospitality industry deepen the economic crisis in which we find ourselves?

Oh, yeah...only when our industry begins to grow a voice and vote as a block.

Lost No More

Travolution's Dimitrios Buhalis recently ID'ed the "24 Things You Need to Think About if you are involved in Online Travel." Among them:

This is the last generation that will ever be LOST...due to the proliferation of GPS and geo-services.

But, we'll still be lost when it comes to finding meaning and true love in this world.

At least until somebody creates an app for that.

Do We Sometimes Forget to Ask?

I noted last Friday that I was hearing Foghat over the speaker system at one of my grocery haunts last week. Surreal.

I've been about a twice-a-month customer of this particular establishment for the past year or so. That would mean I've purchased items roughly 25 times. And, on each occasion, they ask if I have a Copps Key Savings Card. On each occasion, I have responded "no."

AND ON NOT ONE OCCASION DID THE PERSON BEHIND THE REGISTER ASK IF I'D LIKE TO APPLY FOR ONE.

That would be 0-for-25, Sparky.

Which got me to thinking...how many of us (me included) forget to ask the consumer if they'd like the process to be easier, more cost-effective and more customized?

Just because you have a loyalty program doesn't mean it's effective. Which is evidenced by the fact that Copps is one of five grocery stores I currently shop. And, they could be one of two.

A Sad Day for Tourism

Last Friday ended on a depressive note. I learned that two of my industry friends lost their gigs due to the worsening economy.

Now, I'm sure that you have already had a similar experience. If you haven't, you surely will. And while one was a trickle down layoff (one industry slows and impacts another), the one that really hit hard was the news that the Destination Marketing Organization known as Mystic Coast & Country was laying off its entire staff and transitioning to an all-volunteer organization.

Privately funded, the organization's six major investors have indicated an inability to continue writing the checks that have powered the 17-year old entity...and enabled it to be one of the more innovative DMOs in the country. At the same time, Governor Jodi Rell is proposing to slash funding for the state's Regional DMOs and eliminate the Connecticut Commission on Culture & Tourism.

The only good news that comes out of Mystic: if your DMO is looking to fill positions, there are some extremely talented DMO pros available, including Chris Jennings...one of this industry's brightest and most creative minds.

You're in our thoughts, Chris. We look forward to the next chapter in your career. And, we hope your state's industry can rally its significant muscle to stop the Governor's insanely simpleminded plan to eliminate agencies that actually generate the taxes she so needs. Florida did. Connecticut can too.

Is This How We Think Friends are Made?

America needs as many friends as it can get these days. With nation brand approval ratings at all time lows last year, the Obama Presidency has, over the past few months, opened many doors that had been slammed shut.

But, what crazy fucked up logic was in play by the US Military when it wanted to "promote friendship between Japan and the United States" on Thursday as it docked the warship USS Blue Ridge in the harbor of...Nagasaki!

Hey, maybe it's just me...but showing up on a boat full of guns, missiles and general mayhem doesn't exactly bring thoughts of whirled peas and friendship to mind.

Much less in a city that the owners of said boat once freaking obliterated with a nuclear bomb.

"Friendship" my butt. We still can't stop trying to prove how big our stones are.

You really wanna make friends? Next time, try docking a cruise ship with a couple bands, an open bar and strippers.

Thanks to Rob McNealy for the TweetTip!

When did Foghat become Musak?

As I strolled into the Renaissance Hotel in Chicago's North Shore yesterday, I couldn't help shaking my head at the incongruent (at least for me) music being piped into the lobby.

Joe Walsh and The James Gang's "Walk Away."

Returning home last evening, I swung by one of the several grocery stores I frequent...and heard Foghat's rendition of "Sweet Home Chicago."

Don't get me wrong, I love both artists. But, isn't it a little weird for the music of a subversive era to be the background music of today's hotels and grocery stores?

Of course, Peter Sellars predicted this years ago at an IEG Conference when he told the crowd that today's wild-eyed and subversive art will be etched on tomorrow's dinner plates.

Truer words....

A Complicated Circle

Interesting piece from New York Times reporter David Segal that points to the current mantra that a portion of the current financial crisis can be blamed on the overspending by consumers like you and me.

"But personal consumption amounts to some 70 percent of the American economy. So if we don’t spend, we don’t recover. In other words, shopping was part of the problem and now it’s part of the cure. And once we’re cured, economists report, we really need to learn how to save, which suggests that we will need to quit shopping again.

"So the mall we married has become the toxic spouse we can’t quit, though we really must quit, but just not any time soon."

Damned if we do and...

Thanks to CEO for Cities for the catch.

Airline to Follow Air Law 10

Well, "follow" may be an overstatement...but Continental (which has had it's share of stranded-on-the-tarmac issues) appears to be close to implementing a 3-hour limit on tarmac holds for passengers.

Yeah, I know Air Laws says 2 hours...but it sure beats JetBlue's "generous" offer of 5.

Nina is Alive!

In keeping with the 24 thread from yesterday...

First, Tony comes back from the dead. And now, Nina Myers.

Of course, unlike Tony, it's on another show. She's sleeping with Will (of Will and Grace) on the new TNT show Trust Me. Only, he's not Will. But he looks like Will.

Looking like Monday may be the night where I don't get much done.

House > 24 > Trust Me

Save Us, Jack!

When last we checked in with 24, a sinister plot to sabotage a chemical plant in Kidron OH was being launched by the insidious Col. Dubaku.

Last week, the local CVB converted their traveling billboard into a plea for help from Jack Bauer.

Now, the writers of 24 have never had too much trouble bending the time-space continuum. But, uh, Jack's in DC right now. The previews showed plant workers succumbing to toxic gases within the hour.

He's. Not. Coming.

I feel real bad for the plant workers. I do. And, I'm guessing we're gonna lose some Amish folk along the way (Kidron's real claim to fame)...and some monster potatoes.

And, I hope that CVB chief Marty Starkey still has a destination to promote tomorrow.