Bill Geist's Zeitgeist

More Lemonade

What does one do when the biggest event of the year is canceled because of a pandemic?

Macon GA is home to the annual International Cherry Blossom Festival, the community's largest annual festival, drawing tens of thousands of visitors, including many from around the world. As our friend and DMO COO Aaron Buzza told us, "we field calls in our office about the 350,000 Yoshino Cherry Trees and their bloom dates starting the day after Christmas, and even after the cancellation of this year’s festival, people are still calling to find out how to see the trees."

In partnership with the Festival and the Downtown development agency, Visit Macon put together a Virtual Cherry Blossom Experience with nightly concerts, a Bloom Cam showing the trees, downloadable maps so people can drive the Cherry Blossom Trail plus information on shopping, activities for the kids, recipes and additional information about the trees and festival.

All to tempt you for next year.

Well played, my friends.

How Do You Like Me Now?

They say that crisis brings out the best in so many of us. And, the stories emerging from communities across the country about how Destination Marketing Organizations pivoted on a dime when they realized what was about to descend upon the hospitality community are as heartwarming as they are expected.

Most Americans are just now beginning to understand the importance and fragility of a sector of the economy they always took for granted.  To be sure, airlines and hotels were impacted briefly after 9/11. But, most other facets of the hospitality industry felt no more than a speed bump...because residents were there to continue eating out in restaurants, meeting co-workers after work at the local watering hole and seeing music, theatre and comedy with friends. Indeed, after the initial shock of 9/11 that had us all glued to our televisions, we needed to go out and be with others.

And, in this crisis, we can't.

Never one to say "I told you so," there is the slightest satisfaction that the recent flirtation some communities have had with shopping their DMO contract out to ad agencies should likely now come to an end.  In a recent interview, the Chairman of the Board of Visit Stillwater OK (which last year went through just such an RFP process) was asked what the DMO was doing during the pandemic:  

"We have transitioned our focus from marketing to visitors to communicating to residents to better support our local business partners. Our staff has called almost 200 local businesses to promote their hours of operation, delivery, pick-up or curb-side services, online shopping options and the availability of gift cards. They continue to update the information on our website and social media throughout each day since things are continually changing. Staff has also recently added a coloring contest for kids and adults online, as well as incorporated virtual tours featuring many of our local museums, attractions and restaurants. These 360-degree images will give our residents something to look forward to and visitors' incentive to visit when traveling again."

I'm pretty sure no ad agency could ever do that.

Well done, Visit Stillwater...and all the other DMOs that know that we are the only agency in our communities prepared for days like these for our destination partners.

Kenny Rogers

Last week, we lost a legend. 

Kenny Rogers departed terra firma last Friday evening and Terri and I discussed which way to go on this Music Friday. We typically try to find the under-appreciated gems, so his big hits like "The Gambler" were not in the cards.

I wanted to veer early, when he was a rocker before he became a force in Country Music. She loves his duet with Dolly Parton.

So, we'll share this two-fer. Here's Kenny with his band The First Edition with "Just Dropped in (to See What Condition My Condition was In)" (so makes me want to stream "The Big Lebowski" this weekend).

And, for Terri...here's "You Can't Make Old Friends."

To all our old friends (and new)...stay well. We miss you all.

Inspiring Future Visits

Destination Marketing in the era of COVID-19 is considered by many to be tone-deaf...and we've all seen a few headscratchers over the past couple weeks. Sheesh....

That doesn't mean that Destination Marketing stops...it's just different. It's focused more locally.

But then, there's Discover Puerto Rico which, this week, invited visitors to the island...but virtually.

This weekend, you can learn to Salsa Friday evening on Zoom, take a Cocktail Mixology Class on Saturday and a Cooking Class on Sunday, both on Instagram Live (click the image for times).

I know where I'll be Friday night (Terri's wanted me to learn to Salsa with her for years).

Once again, Discover Puerto Rico...inspired.

Sweet Lemonade

As we at DMOproz exist in the travel space, the impact of COVID-19 has been pronounced. But, just as we talk about those being impacted that are not in the frontlines of our hospitality world (like butchers), there are countless other businesses impacted that we rarely consider.

One of Terri's acquaintances is a professional photographer...who is likely getting a raft of wedding postponements. But, Samantha Cole isn't about to curl up in a ball. Check out this recent post from her:

Since we are all sticking this out together, and most of you are home with your family, this might be a great time to capture some (distance) family photos.

How is this done? You step outside on your porch quick for a family photo and I stay in my car or just outside of my car and shoot from a distance. I have a great lens to get close from a far distance.

This might be a great way to capture some family moments and also keep our safe distances.

If interested let me know. Email: scolephoto@gmail.com

$35/Family :)

Plus, I would LOVE to donate $5 of each session to our local food banks.

I love the ingenuity of us all...and the care for those that hurt.

We are so going to beat this.

And, yeah...the image is one of her creations.

The Good News

One of the best aspects of this sensational gig is getting to hang with amazingly creative and whip-smart people.

We met some of the crew from Klündt Hosmer a few years ago when I was invited to speak at Visit Spokane's Annual Luncheon. And, while being inundated by COVID-19 related e-mails from businesses with which I have only the most peripheral of interaction (that's called a "Third Tier" e-mail in this great article from Fast Company), their missive from last week was the proverbial breath of fresh air we all need.

Thanks for the reminder that not all of what's happening out there is bad news (like the dolphins' return to the canals in Venice...even if it's not true). And, thanks for being "Tier One" in everything you do.

The Legal Side of COVID-19

Our friend Bryan Grimaldi (formerly with NYC & Company and now with GreenbergTraurig) is intimately engaged with the firm’s Health Emergency Preparedness Task Force, administering matters for the firm on behalf of their hospitality, trade association, not-for-profit and destination clients. 

He reached out over the weekend to offer our readers a curated list of links to some of their Alerts, blog posts and articles from the past week, which may serve as a resource for navigating this rapidly changing crisis and its impact on the legal aspects of conducting business. These represent some of the key topics about which their clients are most concerned.  In addition to the content, there are links via which you can subscribe to additional content from GT, including webinars on hot topics, such as Force Majeure, Employment Matters, and soon, Government Relief Programs. 

Thanks for having our collective back, Bryan. And, stay safe during the NYC lockdown.

Staying Connected

As more and more of us are "sheltering in place," it can become debilitating to those that crave human interaction...not to mention embracing your team culture.

Destinations International is using an online platform to connect its employees at the end of the day for "Happy Hour." And, over the past week, we've seen a number of DMOs do the same.

If you have staff that is working from home...you should too.

Smart.

An Online Concert...or Two

In the last recession, the internet was not yet mature enough to support many of the ways we are all coping with our current state of affairs. But, while many of us are experiencing slower than usual speeds because everybody is now online, digital meetings are helping us all stay connected and get work done.

For musicians, these days are devastating with no place to play. Or, are they?

What about online concerts? With no self-absorbed assholes standing up and blocking your view?

Yeah, the music doesn't reverberate in your soul...but, it's better than not, eh?

On this Music Friday, we feature a track from Ryan Hamilton, who'll be live this afternoon at 4:30 EDT / 3:30 CDT / 1:30 PDT.

This is "Get Down."

Dance!

And this evening, our friends Josh Dupont and Piano Fondue are doing a streaming show at 7:30 CDT on Facebook. Enjoy!

It's Way Worse

American Travel and Tourism Leaders met with the President on Tuesday and revealed that the economic fallout of COVID-19 is expected to be six times worse than the aftermath of 9/11. To put the damage in perspective, the analysis by Tourism Economics estimates that the mobility restrictions being enforced around the country will result in an $809 billion hit on the economy. 44% of that economic carnage is expected in the travel and hospitality space. 4.6 million of us face losing our jobs, nearly doubling the nation's unemployment rate.

If the numbers aren't sobering enough, there's this Facebook post from one of our favorite music venues in the Mad City:

Well, folks...that's all she wrote. Our 10th Anniversary Party was less than two weeks away. Despite all the other issues that this will cause, that fact alone really hurts. We had been looking forward to throwing a party worthy of all the fabulous customers and musicians that have been supporting this joint. Unfortunately, that party will probably never happen.

Today is the last day for the Knuckle Down in the short-term, at the very least. If this national emergency goes on too long, this might be our last day in business altogether. We certainly hope not, but it's not up to us anymore.

If today is truly our last day, thank you all so very much for your decade of support!

If you do it right, putting a place together like this is not about attracting customers...it's about creating a family. If nothing else, we did that.

Yes, you did, friends. Thanks for all the memories...and, we hope your doors open once again.