Bill Geist's Zeitgeist

Suspicious Minds

He had been dubbed "The King." He had an amazing run of 115 Top 40 hits...but, by the time the Beatles and Stones burst onto the scene and he spent some time in the Army, Elvis Presley was off the concert circuit and out of mind.

A televised comeback c0ncert in 1968 changed all that and, in early 1969, Elvis was looking for new material; songs that would re-ignite his career.

He found that song, written a year earlier and released by a relative unknown named Mark James. He heard the single, loved it and set down to record "Suspicious Minds," a song that would propel him one more time to the top of the charts.

On the 50th Anniversary of its release, Ozy has produced a great piece on how it all came about, including audio from the Mark James original, early studio attempts, the fateful 8th take and a great live recording made months before the song's release. Treat yourself by going down the rabbit hole.

On this Music Friday, we go with a live version of "Suspicious Minds" from 1970.

Everything Comes Back Around

A number of years ago, tired and late, I pulled up in front of my hotel in Wildwood NJ and let out a long sigh. It was a decidedly '60s hotel, the kind with keys (not cards) and room doors opening to the outside balcony. Not what I was expecting from the client who made the reservation.

Which was a good thing...because I was blown away as I walked into the lobby by the attention to detail the owners had exercised as they made this '60s hotel a '60s hotel. Black and white checkerboard tile floors, a jukebox, formica chairs and period lighting put a big smile on my face. Which broadened when I got to my room and found a lava lamp.

And, that's where the Howard Johnson brand has announced it's going with its remaining hotels...back to the '60s.

“Say ‘HoJo’ and people can’t help but to smile as they think back on the memories they’ve made with us over the decades,” said Clem Bence, the brand’s vice president of operations. He promises a "playful" re-design to evoke the nostalgia gene in everyone who remembers the iconic orange roofline, family road trips and fried clams.

Howard Johnson has committed $40 million to the mid-century redesign. It'll be worth every penny.

The Path of a Guitar

Joan Jett tells a great story about how the Les Paul she used with the Runaways was just too heavy to cart around on stage with her new acrobatic moves as a solo artist. She heard that Eric Carmen was selling his Melody Maker, the guitar he used on "Go All the Way" with the Raspberries...and she snapped it up.

That's the guitar she used on “I Love Rock ’n’ Roll,” “Crimson and Clover,” “Do You Want to Touch Me,” “Bad Reputation”…all those early records.

THAT guitar. Wow.

On this Music Friday, we go with our faves: The Raspberries' "Go All the Way" (the greatest teen lust song ever) and Joan's less known, but so killer, "Bad Reputation."

Turn it TF up.

Unintended Consequences

I remember debating a community development consultant on the Sharing Economy about five years ago. I argued for the need for regulation to level the playing field; that people who played by the rules (taxi drivers) faced losing their jobs (or worse) in the face of a free-for-all of "cabbies" that simply had to sign up on an online platform to compete. She chided me for being "old-school" and not realizing where the economy was headed.

That's the point. I did.

Fast forward to the present and home-sharing plays like Airbnb. Today, it's not so much that we can all be innkeepers without health inspections and, in some cases, not paying the appropriate taxes. The lodging community seems to have absorbed most of the hit in most communities. But, the unintended consequence is far more insidious.

Here in Madison, there was an initial move to limit the number of Airbnbs in a block as on-street parking downtown is already notoriously difficult for residents. Multiply three couples (with three cars) renting a house on a game-day weekend by 5 houses on a block and you've got a problem. Once again, those who play by the rules (hotels) must provide parking. Those who don't, don't. Of course, the State of Wisconsin swooped in and made that conscious consideration mute with a "hey, whatever" law that would supersede ours.

Which is kinda what has happened in Arizona, where a State law now prevents communities from effectively regulating home-sharing. And, particularly hard hit has been Sedona, as 20% of the housing stock there has been taken over by short-term rentals. That means residential housing is becoming scarce...and scarcity drives price.

Many people who work in the area can no longer afford to live in the area.

Sold to the public as a way for homeowners to make extra money, one legislator now says "We never anticipated that somebody would go into a neighborhood, purchase a home and turn it into a mini-hotel." And, that's because no one ever anticipates unintended consequences...until it's too late.

Which is why (as much as it is a creative buzz kill) we should all seriously consider the "what could go wrong" factor for every new initiative that sounds so right.

Truth in Advertising

Far too many Destination Marketing Organizations claim to have something for everyone...so, it's refreshing when one says "It's Not for Everyone."

My travel bucket list is pretty diverse. Oddly enough, Guam has been on mine for decades (which Katie Cook and I chuckled about on her recent DMOU podcast episode). The tiny island of Tuvalu is, too.

On their page on the South Pacific Tourism website, the DMO lists 13 things to know before visiting:

2. There are no ATMs and credit cards aren’t accepted anywhere, so it’s cash-only even at hotels and guesthouses.

8. If you hear an air-raid siren, don’t panic! It means one of the twice-weekly Fiji Airways flights is about to land; it’s a way of clearing the unfenced airstrip of pedestrians, motorbikes and cars.

9. You can buy a pre-paid internet card at some guesthouses, but there’s no guarantee you’ll be able to use it. WiFi is notoriously slow even in Funafuti, when it is working. For peace of mind, why not put on your out-of-office reply before you leave home, and enjoy a holiday from connectivity?

13. Tuvaluan food is predominantly simple, local and tasty. When eating with Tuvaluan people, be prepared to sit on the floor and eat with your hands.

Not for everybody, indeed...but that's what makes Tuvalu the real deal. And, isn't that what so many of us are searching for today?

The New Nomad

We all have our own "Modus Operandi" when we travel. A select few of us abide by Air Laws and are far from the maddening crowd of self-absorbed assholes that make travel almost unbearable. Some of us travel for business. Others for leisure. Some for self-aggrandizing selfies. We all do our thing.

But, an interesting study by BVA BDRC has identified a new cohort in the travel space that they call "The New Nomad." The research shows that 18% of us (virtually 1 in 5) take more than twice the trips as does the average traveler. Conde Nast has indicated that this is one of their new target markets...because this group spends 80% more, on average, than the traditional traveling public.

For those of us that have been in the Destination Marketing world for a while, we instinctively know "when" the travel consumer is in the "consideration" mode. Think again...

The New Nomads are "always on" in their search for travel experiences. 74% say they book spontaneously.

For today's DMO...how will you address the "always on" consumer, 81% who say they are always in the market for an experience?

The Right Thing vs. Resident Taxes

In what was probably my favorite class in my quest for my MBA, our professor would pit members of his class against each other in search of the truth amidst an ethical dilemma. The results were often fascinating, opening our eyes to concepts and realities we had never considered. 

An interesting conundrum is facing my city of Madison. The genesis of a project in our downtown core that was initially designed to provide a second HQ hotel for our convention center has de-evolved into a hodge-podge of special interests that includes office space, retail and residential (and, not surprisingly, not nearly the required rooms needed for the Center). And, it's the residential component that is now gumming up the works.

To make the project financially feasible, a developer has proposed a number of residential units with spectacular views of the lakes and the Capitol, from which the resulting revenue will make the financial package work. The City has requested the developer make a number of the units "affordable." The developer agreed...and set aside some of the lower floors for these units, floors from which they couldn't command top dollar for the somewhat diminished view.

Ahhh, but not so fast. That's not fair, according to the City...which is pushing for "affordable" units throughout the structure so that disparate socio-economic citizens can co-mingle as equals. Noble, to be sure. But, according to the developer, the numbers don't work.

So...here's the dilemma. Should City taxpayers be on the hook to subsidize these units to make the developer whole in the name of social equality?

Thoughts?

Image: Gebhart Development

50 Years On

Woodstock. That it was 50 years ago this weekend seems impossible to those of us that were alive in the late 60s. I mean, that's half a freakin' century!

Music Friday already shared our two favorite moments from the three days of Peace & Music...Santana  & Sly. But, this weekend, let's delve into some of the more sublime moments of the festival.

Best Jam (and porn face) goes to Ten Years After.

The WTF moment when we met the amazing talent that was Joe Cocker.

The Power of Janis Joplin.

And, of course, Country Joe.

That all but Country Joe are now jamming in heaven's house band is a struggle to reconcile.

What a short strange trip it's been.

 

There Was a Plan B, After All

A few weeks ago, the City of Solvang abruptly severed its contract with its Destination Marketing Organization without an apparent Plan B. Realizing its error (shutting down its Visitor Center and festival and event support in the middle of high season), the City then hurriedly extended enough funding for a skeleton crew for the next couple months.

Then, this past Monday, the Council reversed itself completely, restored the contract and pledged to continue discussions and negotiations with the Chamber and its DMO. The City is still not happy with the situation and, at least from afar, it appears that the influence that Chamber membership has on its DMO's marketing is at least partially to blame.

It's why so many DMOs have ditched the "membership model" that restricts visibility to only those businesses that pay a fee. As Chambers have fewer available revenue streams, it's harder for them to operate inclusively. Thus, they are often criticized for favoring only members if the DMO resides within the Chamber.  

Clearly, members of the business community had a lot to do with opening the Council's eyes to their mistake. As one Lyft driver said, “Please, let’s be adults about this. Let’s not get personal. Without marketing we will be Ghost Town USA. We will not be Tourist Central."

True 'dat. Here's hoping cooler heads prevail in the weeks ahead.

What DMOs Do

Those of us in Destination Marketing often chuckle with each other that our families simply have no idea of what we do. Destinations International's Jack Johnson is on a mission to ensure that what we do is a shared community value (see yesterday's Z-News).

In the meantime, we refer anyone that doesn't understand what DMOs do to a recent article in the Grand Rapids Business Journal where the writer really went deep. And, let's be clear...that's a rarity these days.

For those of us in the Destination Marketing world, it's nothing we don't understand. For my friends from the outside, this article is a pretty sensational view of the work that DMOs do on your behalf.