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I know...not nice to do in public. But, the KLM "Meet and Seat" campaign that merges social with travel has been interesting to watch.
And, kinda creepy...as we noted a few months ago.
To combat the creepy-ness factor, KLM has developed a masterful campaign to show just how cool the concept is.
OK, I'm in.
I'm an unabashed fan of the action that produces multiple benefits. It's probably why I have opted to apply my talents to the destination marketing industry.
We all understand that attracting visitors to a community means that hotels, restaurants and attractions benefit from their spending. But, it doesn't stop there. Those business buy from other businesses in town...and they employ our neighbors. In turn, those employees buy from grocery stores, clothing stores and car dealerships using money that started with the visitor. And the taxes generated on each transaction power our governments. And on and on.
Yeah...I like me some multi-level benefits.
So, I was taken by a post from my friend Reyn Bowman on the impact of trees on crime. While we all support trees as a beautification and aesthetic advantage to our communities, it turns out there is a clear correlation between trees and a reduction in crime.
A two-fer if there ever was one. And, if you're a destination marketer or community advocate...you need to use these findings to beautify (and safe-i-cize) your city.
Oh...and I so love this shot by Csaba Molnar. You can purchase the image HERE.
When people are dismissive of those who work in the services industry, it puts on display for all to see just what kind of person they be.
Yes...there are two kinds of service workers. Those who just do their job and those that redefine their job. The former makes life for the dismissive person easier. The latter makes you smile. Both are noble...as being in service to another is one of best things one can do.
But my thoughts today run toward the service workers that redefine the genre. Like Brock Calmes, a former hawker at baseball games in the Fox Cities of Wisconsin. I never had the chance to meet or experience Brock...but, for those that did, he was "da man."
To the point that, for many Timber Rattler fans, they would only buy from him. His "call," his personality and his genuineness made him as big a part of the ballpark experience as the players.
It is a skill set not taught...but inherent inside each of us that choose to serve. And, for guys like Brock...it just happened.
Sadly, I'll never get to experience his coolness, as he recently passed...but I love that his voice carries on in this video.
RIP, Brock. You are an example to us all.
I don't know what it is...but it seems we often see Madison-based artists everywhere BUT in Madison.
We discovered Bascom Hill in Rock Island. And, earlier this week, we caught the inimitable Freedy Johnston in Portland.
Great show in a cool club called the Missisippi Studios (if you're ever in Portland. go).
For this music Friday, I'm sharing the song that I can't shake: Bad Reputation.
And, all the best for a great weekend!
Don't get me wrong. The rulings that have created access for millions of this nation's disabled are a good thing.
But, this heavy handed approach to installing permanent lifts in the nation's pools is just so wrong. Thankfully, another reprieve has been issued...but, is this just another stay? Or, will the government realize that its totalitarian approach simply doesn't play.
It's one thing to demand access for all...but another to demand access when that access denies access to others. For, there is no way that thousands of pools across this country will be able to meet these new government regulations. And, thus...these pools will close. To everyone.
Pools that provide access to hundreds of people each day...but will be forced to close because a handful of people are unable to use the pool in its present configuration? And this makes sense how?
I don't pretend to know what it feels like to be disabled and not able to access a swimming pool.
But, I do know this. I'd never want my government to deny access to a pool for all my friends just because I couldn't.
How has it come to this?
Those familiar with "Broca's Area" understand the magnetic powers of this region of the human brain. Recent research indicates that it latches onto new and different stimuli, causing us to react positively toward unique images.
Like the recent billboard campaign by Wyoming Tourism seen in Madison WI. Not only does seeing a board from a non-Midwest State catch just about every Broca's eye...the creative really seals the deal. You see...these boards are personalized.
"Badgers...Meet the Bison." For the unintiated, while we may be "cheesheads," Wisconsinites (and especially Madisonians) are known as Badgers, a tip of the hat to the University of Wisconsin mascot, Bucky Badger...not to mention that a badger adorns the head of the guilded maiden on the top of our State Capitol.
I had the chance to chat with Wyoming Tourism Director Diane Shober last week at the Utah Tourism Conference and asked how Wyoming decided to market to Wisconsin. She smiled and said that they have been for a number of years on TV.
And...that they decided to divert some of that buy to outdoor this year to catch those consumers that don't watch much TV.
Yeah...like me.
Diane...it so works. And, congratulations to you and your agency on an extremely smart campaign.
There is something so gut-wrenchingly painful in this simply stunning work from The Airborne Toxic Event.
You can feel the tightness in the protagonist's chest, the sly, planned coquettishness of his former love and the helplessness of the hour. The raw wire, sparking on a beer stained floor. The naked desperation.
It's "Sometime Around Midnight." And, we've all felt it.
Here's hoping you won't on this Music Friday.
It's been am interesting month so far for this nation's leaders as they take their first meaningful steps to develop a Tourism Strategy for America.
This good news, of course, is that the Commerce Department unveiled its strategy for reaching 100 million international visitors by 2021 last Thursday. And, for the most part, reviews have been favorable.
At the same time, however, the President used a mallet to address a problem with which the government had already dealt...namely, the GSA mess. Instead of moving on, the the Obama administration has placed new restrictions on federal travel and meetings. A 30% reduction from 2010 levels has been ordered to be the law of the land through 2016.
Then there was the good news that the U.S. Travel Association's Geoff Freeman has been named Chair of the Passenger Advocacy Subcommittee of the Aviation Security Advisory Committee at the Transportation Security Administration. A shorter way of saying that is what Geoff said in a prepared statement: "Travelers deserve to have a voice in Washington when it comes to the aviation screening process and entry procedures." True Dat.
At the same time, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (the what?) announced that demand for gasoline this summer will be at an 11 year low. At the same time, MMGY Global and U.S. Travel revealed that intent to travel this summer is up significantly over last year.
What's it all mean? America has a tourism strategy (at least until the Republican House takes another whack at it). Cutting federal meetings and travel is a typically hamhanded response to a media-inflamed issue. Summer travel will be up but we'll drive shorter distances.
And, there is finally a glimmer of hope that TSA might become more customer focused.
OK...not really. But, we're excited that Geoff will shake a few cages in the process.
Not really...but that's what only reading the headlines might make you believe.
What GM is doing is discontinuing it's advertising on Facebook because they maintain the ROI has been insignificant. And, there's a perfectly good reason for that...as my friend Harvey Briggs opined today.
To paraphrase Ferris Bueller:"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't read the bodycopy, you might miss the real story."
Prince was da bomb in the 80s. When I was in radio, my station helped break a lot of new talent to an unsuspecting audience...and Prince was one of those artists. By the time 1999 hit, we were four or five tracks deep, turning our listeners on to way more than the title track. When Purple Rain came out, it was the entire album...not just the "hits."
In time, as with most artists, the flame dimmed, the hits were less omnipresent and the artist faded from view.
But, Prince is one of those artists that, when he walks on a stage...it's like the '80s. Or, at least 1999. It's like he never left. And every eye is on him, every ear focused.
For your consideration on this Music Friday, a twofer: his solo at George Harrison's induction into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame. While Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne handle the vocals...it's Prince that seals the deal with a searing guitar solo.
But, if you only have time for one...check out his smoking duet with Lenny Kravitz on the Guess Who classic "American Woman."
Welcome to a purple weekend...hell yeah.
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