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Nigeria is refusing future air access to its airports by ASky Airlines because it apperently transported an Ebola-infected passenger to Lagos.
News tonight is that the United States is transporting two ebola-infected medical workers into America.
What am I missing here?
Vice President Joe Bidden recently quipped that he wished he'd had a Republican kid who could make money.
And, errr, Democrats don't make money?
This so plays to the "lack mentality" that Randy Gage often riffs upon. You know the one...it's not virtuous to make money.
Which is complete bullshit...because Joe, who makes $230,000 a year, "earns" more than 95% of all Americans.
Really...who writes this guy's stuff?
Oh, yeah. He does.
The post conference follow-up e-mails have begun...and, while we enjoy them all (really), one really caught our eye.
It was the one from Smith Travel Research, citing research from DestinationMAP that indicated that only 4% of meeting planners cite Destination Marketing Organizations as important for site selection. Only 2% responded that DMO salespeople influenced them.
Now, to be fair, the top source of information cited (past prior experience and destination reputation) was "Destination Web Sites" at 59%...which clearly are the work of DMOs. And, of course, the wording of the question could have skewed the responses.
However...this indicator of client behavior could be just another harbinger signaling that the role of DMOs is changing before our eyes.
And, dare I say, for the positive?
Two stories over the weekend highlighted the challenge and struggle to secure commercial air service for our destinations.
From India, community boosters in Jaisalmer are protesting the government's failure to secure air service. They breathlessly point to the fact that charter airlines currently bring 100 flights a year to their airport. But, ummm, that's just 2 a week. If private sector airlines saw an opportunity, they'd be on it in a flash.
Then there is the unfortunate news out of Topeka that United has decided to discontinue service to Kansas' Capital City. After just 9 months.
And, after roughly $2 million in subsidization. In just 6 months.
Now, I totally get the need for commercial air to bolster a community's viability as a nextgen hub of commerce and creativity. But $2 million?
Here's a suggestion: If you've got $2 million to burn and an international airport an hour or so away...I'd invest it in some tricked out shuttles or buses (with wi-fi, drinks, snacks and lotsa room to work) for business people to access the real airport. They'll be able to get work done, enjoy the ride and skip the connection hassle.
And, for those pitching Topeka as cool destination for entrepreneurs, I'd think such a quality of life asset would be a cool offering.
Cooler than saying you have two flights a day on a carrier that breaks guitars.
Just a thought.
Relationships. I waxed long about them in this usually quick-bite blog yesterday.
But, it’s so true.
Our trip to DMAI/Las Vegas this week began just as serendipitously last Sunday afternoon as we waited for our flight in the insane fail that is MSP’s newly designed Concourse G.
After hitting the head, I returned to find Terri doing the PLP against a pillar next to a table at which a familiar face was grabbing a beer before his flight.
I first met Robin Zander in the mid ‘80s (click image to enlarge) at an album release event at a major record retailer in Chicago. My radio station was the host as his band signed LPs (big CDs for you younguns) for the fans that streamed into the store.
I next hung with him (quite unexpectedly) when my event manager and I were tooling around Madison’s Capitol Square in a golf cart, overseeing the evening cleanup of the 1991 Taste of Madison. That event manager was none other than Kirk “Wheel” Dyer...the former Road Manager for one Cheap Trick (and “the voice” the opens the classic “Live at Budokan”).
And, who jumps aboard the golf cart with us for the rest of the evening? Robin Zander.
As the three of us, thrown together serendipitously in Concourse G began a conversation, Robin offered that he was in “a little rock band.” Which I absolutely loved.
I chuckled and said, “Robin...I know who you are. We met years ago in Madison. And, how’s Kurt?”
I reminded him of our shared evening on the golf cart and we laughed, remembering that silly night. He confirmed that Kurt, who has had a rough number of years medically, was doing much better...they had just talked by phone the week prior. And, that's joy to my ears.
And then, a magical thing happened. He started asking Terri and me about our business. Our industry. Our personal relationship. Every time we turned the conversation back to him, he’d flip it back to us.
Which is so what most would not expect from one of the biggest rock voices of a generation. But, that’s Robin.
And, y’know...it's pretty much true of a lot of name musicians I’ve had the pleasure of which to hang. And, after a ten year stint in rock radio, that was a fair number. Many are some of the most engaging people you will every meet. Often, much more real than the phony balonies you call your friends.
In fact, the only true asswipe I ever met during my tenure in radio? Conway Twitty. Go figure. You probably don’t even know the name. But (he thought), he was a big deal in the ‘70s.
Damn...another long post. I guess spending a week in Vegas does that to me.
For this Music Friday...there’s a couple directions we could go. We already featured one of my all time Cheap Trick faves, “Tonight it’s You.” And, there are so many more on YouTube...and a bunch of Robin's solo work, too.
For some reason, I'm veering to a Cheap Trick track that got little traction upon its release in 1990...but it's another personal fave: "Wherever Would I Be."
Robin and the boys will be in Phoenix tonight, Vegas tomorrow night and cross country through October. And, the Robin Zander Band will be popping up in between CT gigs.
Go.
Over the past decade, a lot of us became focused on the number of Facebook friends and Twitter followers we could amass. Early in the Social Media movement, I remember one of my daughters chiding me for only having a couple hundred MySpace friends when she had over 800. She was so embarrassed for me.
But, Social Media “friends” are fleeting; real life is about who you really know. And, clearly, how you make them feel. You can be known by all the “important” people you want...but, if they ultimately discern you to be shallow, self-absorbed or a jerk, it means precious little.
The relationships I have cultivated over my sensationally blessed life continue to amaze me with the power of often "3-degree of separation" connections. Friends in my industry continue to hire us. Those true friends from outside my industry continue to greet me warmly when we connect in clubs, at events or around town.
Our local business magazine recently (and kindly) featured me...and my answer to the question, “What’s the most important piece of advice you’d give to someone just starting out in the business world?” And, in true “The Graduate” style, I responded with one word: “Relationships.”
A prime example of my mantra came to play once again Monday afternoon in front of over 1,000 of my friends and industry peers in a Las Vegas meeting hall during the opening keynote of the 100th Annual Convention of Destination Marketing Association International.
During one of the best opening keynotes I’ve ever witnessed (and I often skip them because so many are so lame), famed graffiti artist and author Erik Wahl tossed a ball from the stage into the hands of audience member Julie Jensen, the freshly minted CEO of the Rapid City CVB. In return for catching the ball, he informed her that she was to be his “volunteer” for a “Fear Factor-esque” example...on stage.
Julie demurred. She was both new to this huge group of peers and not a big fan of being the focus of a “Fear Factor” challenge. Hey, wouldn't you?
Erik accepted that reticence gracefully and informed Julie that she could pick anyone else in the room to replace her on stage.
She said, somewhat unsure of herself, “Bill...ummm, from Madison?”
My friends sitting around me whooped, pointed and laughed. There was no getting out of this. No opportunity to look around with a feigned “who’s that?” look.
I stood...my mind racing...and began making my way toward Erik from the cheap seats waaaay in the back of the hall. Which, of course, gave my mind more than ample time to imagine what horror awaited me upon that stage.
Erik greeted me warmly, quickly suggesting that “Interpretive Dance” would be my challenge. In front of 1,000 friends and peers. Wonderful.
After a suitable build up (click image to enlarge), which incrementally increased my fear, he instructed me to open the envelope for the revelation of just what kind of dance I would be performing.
“Read it!” he said, with a smile that was beyond mischievous.
“The painting of Bono (which he had magically and magestically painted in all of 4 minutes and 10 seconds just moments before) is yours to keep! Congratulations.” I grabbed and shook his hand, in equal parts of gratitude and relief. By standing up and willing myself to take a chance to do something out of my comfort zone, I was rewarded with an amazing piece of art that will enjoy a central position in our office for as long as I take breath.
And, I was also rewarded with hundreds of handshakes, thumbs up, pats on the back and nods from my friends and associates for the next three days of the conference.
But...here’s the thing. Julie Jensen didn’t know me from Adam.
She had been “on the job” as the CEO of Rapid Cities for three days. She didn’t know a soul in the room. So, when tasked with coming up with a name in order to avoid the Fear Factor challenge, the only name that emerged in her mind was mine.
All because, earlier that morning, her predecessor (and dear friend and now former Rapid Cities CEO) Michelle Lintz had e-mailed me to be on the lookout for her successor. While Michelle hasn’t been a client since 2006, we’ve been friends for much longer.
I responded to Michelle’s e by encouraging her to tell Julie to swing by the pool cabana Terri and I were hosting that afternoon or the reception that we were attending the next evening with our friends Dave Serino, Tom Martin and Dave Bratton & Erin Francis.
In a sea of, at present unknown but, surely future friends, the only name Julie knew was mine.
All because of a single relationship. They are truly everything in life.
Thanks, Michelle. Thanks, Julie.
And, thank you Erik. You rock!
From the stray thoughts that swirl through my head:
New tattoos "weep" ink for a few days, staining clothes and sheets and furniture, if the tattooee isn't careful.
It's just a guess...but I'd figure that more people visiting Las Vegas get tattooed than say...visiting pretty much any other place in America.
Thus, do Las Vegas hotels lose more sheets to weeping tattoos than other destinations?
Just curious...
Recent research into the travel habits of Millennials reveals that 97% post on at least one social media platform while they travel...and three quarters post at least once a day while they are away from home.
For those of us in Destination Marketing, it's time we get real serious about providing cool backdrops from which to post.
Just a thought...
Inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame a decade ago, Jackson Browne rolled into Madison the other night and simply mesmerized those of us in Overture Hall.
Just Jackson...his guitars...and a piano.
He had a few songs in his head that he was going to play...but a lot of the night was in response to suggestions from the crowd. He clearly shifted gears when someone shouted out "Somebody's Baby," as he chuckled, clearly pleased by the rare, non-album track request.
On this Music Friday, we debut a new look for post 2,001 (still very much a work in progress)...and offer up to you a solo Jackson two-fer from the Jools Holland Show. He did both "These Days" and "Running on Empty" for us in Madison.
Listen to both if you can. But, if short on time, jump to "Running." One of the beauties of that album was that some of it was recorded live on the tour bus. In this accoustic studio version, you can almost hear the highway under Jackson's guitar. We heard it the other night.
It is a show so worth seeing. He's in Minneapolis tonight, Cedar Rapids tomorrow night and Wichita on Monday before heading back east through August. Here are the tour dates.
Go.
While I'm pretty opinionated...I guess hitting the 2,000 post mark on this blog seemed an impossible target when I started this screed back in the autumn of 2006. It was, to be sure, a vastly different world a mere 8 years ago.
This is Number 2,000.
And thank you, dear reader, for giving me the motivation to continue to aim higher.
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