Bill Geist's Zeitgeist

Darrell Scott

One of the truly great singer songwriters out there, Terri and I had the chance to see Darrell Scott in concert a few years ago and we've been fans ever since, From the mournful "You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive" to the nostalgic Ben Bullington cover "Born in '55", Darrell is as gifted a storyteller as they come.

As we break into Spring, this one seems pretty appropriate right about now on this Music Friday. This is "It's a Great Day to be Alive."

I got rice cookin' in the microwave.
Got a three day beard I don't plan to shave.
And it's a goofy thing but I just gotta say, hey
I'm doin' alright.

Hope you are, too.

New on DMOU > Community Engagement

It's not a part of the primordial DNA of DMOs, but Community Engagement is an increasingly vital component of our work. Visit Anchorage's Jack Bonney joins the show and shares his philosophies on how to build a rock solid community relations program that is based in the yin and yang of what your DMO can do...and can't. And, from that, building a relationship based on trust, service and admiration can be a beautiful thing.

It's just one of over 100 interviews waiting for you in the DMOU vault. 

A Cautionary Tale

This isn't the story of a clueless Destination Marketing Organization. Indeed, two of their six Directors within the past decade have gone on to work at the State Tourism level, one as Director of the State's Tourism Association. So, it's not that they haven't been blessed with experienced talent.

Rather, this is the story of a careless DMO Board that, according to a just settled lawsuit, passed over an experienced Number 2 to install an individual with no apparent experience in the hospitality and travel industry as its new CEO. The lawsuit claimed the reason for the hire was that he was Black and she was White. In the filing, the Board was accused of saying that, since the town is predominantly Black, the DMO should be headed by someone who is Black.

The story gets more convoluted...and you can follow the rabbit hole if you choose. But suffice to say the Board ultimately hired the Number 2 as interim when the original hire split after less than half a year...while the lawsuit was in play.

But, here's the true cautionary tale: The company that issued the Directors & Officers insurance has alerted the local agent that they are dropping the DMO...and the local agent told the Board that he's having a hard time finding another company that will touch them, if they don't stop making "stupid decisions." When the Board President shot back that "it hasn't been proven nowhere," the agent said, "All right, that's what I needed to hear. Y'all need to get (your insurance) from somewhere else." And he walked out of the meeting.

Losing D&O Insurance is significantly more troubling than settling a discrimination lawsuit which, of course, is troubling enough. Because now, with no insurance, who is gonna wanna serve on that Board?

There are consequences to everything...and some really hurt.

 

 

Bobby Caldwell

Dude had a voice and a style. "What You Won't Do for Love" suffered because the record label refused to do a proper video in the MTV era. His hit "The Next Time I Fall" was performed by Pete Cetera and Amy Grant.

Still, for the time, he had a style and verve. Even if most didn't recognize his incredible talent. We lost him last week.

RIP, Bobby.

Don’t be a Tourist – be an Explorist

For all the good (and evil) Artificial Intelligence can unleash...sometimes you just gotta laugh.

Like this video from Visit Denmark, written by ChatGPT and utilizing classic paintings and statues that talk.

10,000 views in two weeks. Not bad for asking a computer to have a little fun.

New on DMOU: Rachel Brown

A Destination Marketing consultant recently opined that diving into Sustainability and Stewardship carries with it some danger...and we don't disagree. But Visit Durango's Rachel Brown counters with all the reasons her DMO believes they must engage. She discusses how they've adapted the Care for Colorado program on a local level and shifted their budget to Destination Management. Plus a Bonus Round question that features her staff's Team Building initiative. Very cool stuff.

The Value of Teams

Watching Princeton's incredible run to the Sweet Sixteen, I was taken by this commercial from Dick's.

It's more than Sports...it's Teams that power us forward.

Gary Rossington

He was the last original member of Lynyrd Skynyrd to have survived the infamous plane crash and all the other things that ultimately kill us all. A kid that dropped out of school because he was tired of being hassled about the length of his hair, Gary Rossington was the artist behind the pedal steel guitar in Skynyrd's iconic "Free Bird" (it's he that Ronnie Van Zandt encourages to "play it pretty for Atlanta and Oakland" in the live versions). He also co-wrote "Sweet Home Alabama" among many others. It was his alcohol soaked car crash in 1977 that was the inspiration for "That Smell" (“Ooh that smell / The smell of death surrounds you”).

Gary departed terra firma last week at 71. And, on this Music Friday, we think you know the hits. So we're going with one of our favorites from the phoenix band that emerged from the ashes of the plane crash, The Rossington Collins Band with Gary's wife Dale killing it. This is "Don't Misunderstand Me."

Sleep, sweet prince.

Sticking with Gen Z

It's a conversation I've had with several HR Managers in the past year: Gen Z is stunningly whipsmart...but they are snowflakes, melting (or melting down) at the slightest criticism or re-direct. One HR pro told me recently that their firm was done tiptoeing around them, that it was depressing ROI and that older, more productive workers were quitting because Gen Z was impossible to work with.

And, it's not Gen Z's fault...it's ours for coddling them. Most don't know failure or defeat because we didn't allow them to experience that emotion...and many are now utterly incapable of accepting it.

I thought of those conversations when I saw this fascinating article on the future of Malls in Fast Company. America's small regional and local Malls are failing, littering our destinations with blighted parking lots and outdated structures.

A group of High School students were asked to ideate the next generation of Malls. Their initial recommendations were mostly cosmetic...and unceremoniously rejected by Mall ownership. Not unexpectedly, half the students quit the Team...but the story is about the ones who stayed.

The remaining students devised a plan with more radical ideas, focusing on features that they, as teenagers, would want to use. The students proposed using vacant stores in the Mall for experiential offerings, like virtual reality rooms and an immersive themed spa. Their second presentation to the mall was received more warmly. “Victory tastes sweeter after the heartache,” one of the Team said afterward.

Which, of course, got me to thinking. As Destination Marketing Organizations increasingly engage in product development or upgrades, our failed Malls are often our biggest eyesores and missed opportunities. Should we take a page from this playbook and convene our teens and Gen Zs to counsel the experts on what would bring them back to the Mall?

'Cause the rest of us have moved on.

Just a thought...

A Missed Opportunity?

Every time I slide into a rental car and find that the satellite radio feed hasn't been activated, I shake my head, thinking of all the potential subscribers SiriusXM is forfeiting by not giving the service away to rental car companies. Just think (I think to myself) of all the people who have decided they won't pay for radio who might be convinced to subscribe if they had a few hours to experience the vastness of genres that are unavailable on terrestrial radio. It wouldn't cost SiriusXM anything to do it. Thus, the ROI could be substantial.

After reading this article on HotelManagement.net, I began to think the same thing about hotels and the way they serve up the availability of streaming services. Oh, you can find HBO on most in-room channel lists...but the other streaming services expect guests to enter their subscription information to stream their content. Again, why? And, no...I'm not entering my user name and password on a hotel TV, no matter how secure I'm told it is.

I ended up subscribing to HBO years ago when I got hooked on The Sopranos after watching a few episodes in hotel rooms. Never would have if I hadn't gotten that taste. So why don't the other streaming services offer their content free to hotels. I mean, really...one in-room episode of Poker Face would cause me to subscribe to Peacock in an instant.

Opportunity lost. Every night. Every room.