Bill Geist's Zeitgeist

A Deal That's Hard to Refuse

The 'VID has taught us all that remote work in many industries is, indeed, both possible and, for many, a more desirable alternative to office politics and distractions. And, the elimination of the office commute...and all those minutes and hours we can reclaim? And then, there was just the belief that urban environments were less safe than more urban settings...and we've begun to see a significant migration to the country for those city dwellers with the means.

Even before the pandemic, some States and communities were rolling out incentives for people to move to their locales. But, our friend Amir Eylon (Longwoods International) just tipped us to this insanely lucrative offer from West Virginia.

Powered by a $25 million investment from Intuit's Brad Smith and his wife Alys, the program offers an incentive that is worth $20,000 in cash, free workspace and a year of free outdoor recreation passes and rentals for those that want to work remotely in the Mountain State.

The details are at AscendWV.com. First destination up: Morgantown.

Wow. Simply wow.

And, this ties in so perfectly with former Colorado Tourism Director Cathy Ritter's recent comments on targeting visitors that share your destination's appreciation and respect for the environment on the DMOU podcast. That episode drops later this week...and you can hear the conversation first, if you follow DMOU in the upper right hand corner of our vault site. 

I Can't Let Go

I'm not sure what cosmic forces are in play...but I've been hearing this song a lot lately on internet radio. So clearly, it is destined to be a Music Friday feature.

The hit was by the Hollies, who perfected the harmonies from the original.

Linda Ronstadt covered it, and breathed a sensual growl into it.

But, I still love the layers and vibrancy of the original by Evie Sands...this is "I Can't Let Go."

Sorry (not sorry) that this song will be running through your head all weekend. 'Cause it will.

It's $17.99

Word out of Lorain County OH is that officials there failed to renew the URL for their DMO...and it now directs visitors to a gaming website in Indonesia. Amid the finger pointing going on, one County official said that the lost URL is a moot point because they want all their websites to be .gov, because that's the way the public knows that a site is a legitimate government website.

Excuse me? A legitimate government website is the last place I'd go for travel inspiration and information. 

But, here's the learning moment (which we've touched on several times before). When a DMO (or really, any enterprise) decides to move on from one URL to a better URL, you must keep renewing (and owning) the old URL...forever. Every destination has visitors that have learned or love a past URL (we were fans of the no longer used nawlins.com). But, New Orleans & Company was smart enough to know that, while the old URL didn't produce the traffic they had expected, they needed to retain the URL and have it redirect to neworleans.com. Once you acquire a URL...you hafta continue to own it til the day you die...or face the consequence of having it snatched up by someone else.

What happened to Lorain County isn't the worst we've seen. That would be DMOs that have dropped old URLs only to have them picked up by porn sites. But honestly, walking away from a URL is never a good idea...even if you know you'll never use it again.

Do you know the renewal date for yours?

Boycotts and Cancellations

A few years ago, North Carolina and Indiana infamously passed "bathroom bills" and quickly lost major sports events and future corporate investment. Both States ultimately backed off...but the damage was done to their national reputations.

Today, it's Georgia. After passing a law that many believe will restrict voter rights, Major League Baseball has pulled this year's All-Star Game from Atlanta. Will Georgia legislators blink?

Don't get me wrong, I abhor restricting voting rights for any citizen of this country. But, does pulling the All-Star game hurt the citizens of Cobb County more than the clearly teflon politicians that passed this tone-deaf measure? Will they back down as other States have done? Or does this reaction inflict further pain on a travel industry that has been decimated this past year?

I caught this interesting take yesterday from WSB Radio in Atlanta. Yeah...lots to unpack here.

The law still sucks...but, if Georgia legislators won't budge, who gets hurt?

The unintended consequence, indeed.

Fright Sight

There's a debate going on in Gulf Shores on whether Alvin's Island Surf Shop should be allowed to hang a replica of "Bruce" (the shark from Jaws) outside their recently renovated retail operation. In an effort to upgrade the aesthetics of the beach destination, new design and zoning guidance has attempted to reduce kitsch...but some believe that is robbing the destination of its uniqueness by encouraging new development that looks like every other destination.

Across the street is one of those selfie-rich storefronts (pictured) that is also iconic to the Gulf Shores experience; the entrance to Souvenir City. Visitors flock to this store to take the obligatory picture in the jaws of a shark. So the rational for denying a shark across the street is a head-scratcher for a fan (as I am) of Gulf Shores. But, some city officials believe the proposed installation will scare children and adults.

Except, let's consider this. I've known people that are terrified (to point of actually peeing their pants) of clowns. One of my daughters was petrified on Santa's lap until she was 5. Other kids lose their freaking minds when they come face to face with an adult-sized Easter Bunny. And, what about Halloween...the ultimate Fright Night?

I don't see anyone trying to shut these experiences down.

Just sayin.'

Cocaine Country Dancing

The story line behind this song (and the album "Room 41") is that it is a recounting of Paul Cauthen's descent into an alcohol and drug-fueled period after a painful break-up. And, while some of us may not have gone as far as he did, we all have had that moment.

This track blends a sinister, sexual groove with lyrics that perfectly capture life after Midnight. On this Music Friday, it's some "Cocaine Country Dancing," filmed at the Electric Cowboy in Fort Worth.

"It's a quarter to two, whatcha wanna do?"

Be a Midwesterner for a Day

Over 20 years ago, a couple Midwest DMO CEOs, miffed that the then-IACVB Annual Convention was going to be held in Hong Kong (like they'd be able to defend that expense to their Board or community), decided to stage their own DMO-centric conference in the Heartland that year for the rest of us. And, it was so well received that the conference continues to this day.

Like with most events, the 'VID caused last year's Upper Midwest CVB Fall Conference to cancel...but, they'll be back this September in Des Moines. To whet attendees' appetites for the Des Moines event, UMCVB is hosting a virtual half-day Spring Summit next Thursday, April 8th.

I'm honored to keynote the event...but, check out this line-up: Rockford's John Groh and Martesha Brown, CFO by Design's Julie Hart, Visit Tulsa's Ashleigh Bachert, Branson's Greyson Miller & Rachel Wood and closing out with Destinations International's Jack Johnson. All packed into three and a half hours.

Oh yeah...did I mention that registration is free? 

Join us.