Bill Geist's Zeitgeist

The Impact of Elections

Sometimes, you just get a sense that something is amiss.

I remember that feeling in 2008, 2012 and 2016 when so many of our clients in the Destination Marketing space were wringing their hands because convention bookings for the following year were off. In 2008, I suggested to a few peers that it might have been that meeting planners were reticent to pull the trigger during an election year. We pondered that briefly and moved on.

It happened again in 2012 as we heard our clients bitch about how sucky 2013 looked. And, it happened again in 2016. Thus, while I can't prove it, I believe there is a pattern here (how do 2021 convention bookings look for you?).

As a corollary, a piece in Skift last week suggested that Leisure Travel declined in each election year during the same period. And, they have the data (not just anecdotal comments).

Except for 2020, which they believe will be solid. And here's hoping they're correct!

Happy New Year, y'all.

One Voice...Together

As is our custom, we offer up a music video each New Year's Eve. For the most part, these posts shudder at how inhuman humanity is becoming.

It started in 2006 with an exceptionally powerful song by the forgotten Living Loud. In 2008, the late Jimi Jamison moved us with "Can't Look Away." In 2011, it was Michael Jackson's "Earth Song." In 2016, we questioned how our government had become a monster with a song from 1969 (some things were clearly prophesied). The following year, we suggested that we might / should be on the "Edge of a Revolution."

Of course, that just didn't happen.

Last year, Jackson Browne asked us all, "How Long." 

This year is no different...and, on this New Year's Eve, we offer up Martin Sexton, begging us to join "One Voice Together."

Pass it on.

Thanks to All Who Made the Call

There were two paths forward for the reauthorization of BrandUSA...as part of an omnibus spending package that needed to get approved before Congress headed home for the Holidays and one right after they would return. And, thanks to work of the US Travel Association and many of us in the Destination Marketing industry who made calls to our legislators, the bill is now headed to the President's desk.

From US Travel: "Thank you, Senator Roy Blunt, Amy Klobuchar, Senator Cory Gardner and Catherine Cortez Masto for all your work to help reauthorize this important program before the end of the year."

Hell yeah. 

Now, it's on to Michigan and Florida.

The Clock is Ticking

U.S. Travel Association EVP of  Public Affairs and Policy, Tori Barnes, addressed the Board of Destinations International today with an update on the precarious reauthorization of Brand USA, this nation's Destination Marketing Organization. 

Getting any bill passed through Congress is an arduous process in the best of times. In these times, it's next to impossible. But there are two omnibus bills that apparently must pass in the next few weeks...and that is the current strategy; to add the "Brand USA Extension Act" to the pile that could be voted on as early as next Tuesday.

Now would be a good time to reach out to your Congressional delegation in DC, asking them to urge Senate and House leadership to include Brand USA in next week's vote.

Need talking points? They're here.

You know what to do...

A Crisis of Confidence

Confidence in Congress and the President are at all-time lows. Confidence in the economy is wiggling. Even confidence in brands we use every day isn't what it should be.

While not a scientific study, a recent poll by SmartBriefs asked if its readers believed Google when it promised to not use data gathered by its wearables for marketing purposes. Scientifically fielded or not...95% of respondents saying "no" is more than telling.

It's a crisis.

Morris Andrews

On the road pretty non-stop over the past few weeks, I returned home over the weekend and began catching up on local news through my community's two weekly newspapers. Alas, I learned that a former collaborator and conspirator had departed terra firma during my absence. 

Morris Andrews was, truly, the most amazing political mind with whom I've ever had the opportunity to work. This obit in the Capital Times outlines his amazing accomplishments...and the ability to artfully and deftly work both sides of the aisle (a skill that few today possess).

My eulogy for Morrie will take a much more targeted tack. It was his involvement in the referendum fight for Madison's Monona Terrace the caused our two paths to collide. I was the new kid in town. He was the veteran. His lower lip would often protrude when I'd suggest a tactic for the campaign...and I never knew if it meant he was considering the concept or if he was trying to figure out how to tell me I was an idiot.

It was Morrie that suggested, early in the 2-year campaign, that we field phone banks. I (the padawan) questioned him (Yoda) as to the efficacy of such a move. Why would we attempt to sway public opinion more than a year out from the vote?

With a wry smile, he suggested that this phone bank wasn't to inspire...but to gauge public opinion. He needed to know why residents opposed the project in order to mount an effective response to ultimately win the public vote.

As I look back upon the keys to the win, it was that moment that rises to the top. Within days of the weeks-long phone banks, we knew that there were only two issues that concerned voters. The opposition was flailing away with 13 reasons why the project was a bad idea. It was Morrie that guided us to focus on what mattered to the electorate and to ignore the superfluous.

My other favorite memory of those heady times was that I was, admittedly, a bull in a china shop when it came to engaging the opposition. I desperately wanted to respond to every lie and misdirection they threw out into the public discourse. It was Morrie that subtly shook his head and held me back, knowing that it was not yet time.

I'll never forget the moment, a week before the vote, that he smiled that wry smile, nodded and said "Go." And, minutes later, I faced off against an opposition spokesperson on the evening news and took him down hard.

Days later, we won with 50.8% of the vote (4 out of 5 people on the street today will say they voted for Monona Terrace, so successful it has been in the renaissance of the Mad City). Morrie's brilliant counsel accounts for at least 10% of that vote...maybe more.

Madison is blessed to have had Morris Andrews and George Nelson in position to help lead the community through the '90s. We are who we are because of these two great individuals.

Godspeed Morrie...you were an inspiration and a teacher to so many of us. And, I'm able to guide others toward success because of the truths you taught me.

What If?

They say that insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

A recent opinion survey reveals that just over a third of Americans (34%) cite government and politicians as the biggest problem facing the nation (immigration came in at just 13%).

So, if we are that fed up with a system that is so broken, why do we keep electing the same people, over and over, expecting change? If we are truly that disgusted, why not refuse to vote for all incumbents?

Just a thought...

 

This Does Not Bode Well

As Destination Marketing Organizations come under attack, we hear a lot of the same, tired, unsophisticated tripe. Loose ROI, visitors will come regardless, we need the money for police and fire...you know the drill.

The conversation coming from Dallas government officials is significantly more pointed. To the sophisticated, understanding that suburban attractions can make an urban destination more magnetic is a no brainer. That a DMO would include such cool new attractions as the Toyota Music Factory in Irving or the Dallas Cowboys' Training Camp in Frisco has made at least one City Council member apoplectic: “VisitDallas wasn’t put in place to promote a region,” he said. “It was put in place to promote the city of Dallas. It’s time you realized who your boss is. Your boss is the city of Dallas.”

Wow...just wow.

But, that is where the conversation is going in this country. It's the easy path for those that intend to curry favor with those that feel left behind. 

We need to respond with the reality of the importance of collaborative regional marketing.

Because, let's be clear...I have no interest in visiting Dallas. Been there, done that. But, I love the experiences I have at the Music Factory and Cowboys HQ. And, I might just stay in a Dallas hotel to experience it all. As will a lot of potential visitors.

Just sayin'

A Lack of Foresight

I'm no longer surprised at such stories...but, continually bemused when I watch a government axe its contract for Destination Marketing services, only to be shocked when, a couple months later, the website is out of date and its social media channels have gone dark.

It's happening again, this time in Solvang CA. This summer, the City Council there terminated its 33-year contract with its Destination Marketing Organization. A few months later, it has occurred to them that they didn't have a Plan B. The City's Public Information Officer said, “We’ve made a request to the CVB repeatedly as well as the city attorney and have not received (online) assets or, frankly, information about where these assets live currently. So we’re waiting on that, and while we wait for that, we’d like to correct information (online) that isn’t correct and also get information about businesses and what there is to do in Solvang on the internet,” said Fleckenstein.

Ya think?

The City has directed staff to find a "public relations contractor," and "marketing contractor" and a "sales consultant." One Council member rightly doubts if this approach will save the City money. But, one thing's for sure: if the DMO isn't handing over its online and Social assets, it likely won't share the meeting planner database it has cultivated for decades. And, that will take years to rebuild.

Governments are free to change direction whenever they want; I have no argument with that. But, would a government kill a contract for telecommunications, healthcare or social services without having a replacement teed up to replace it? So, why do an increasing number think they can get away with such a cavalier approach when it comes to Destination Marketing?

It's because Destination Marketing has yet to be viewed as a Community Shared Value...which will be one of several topics that will be explored at Destinations International's Advocacy Summit next month in Madison. If you are from the DMO-world, I hope to see you there. 

 

The Weaponization of Destination Marketing, Indeed

In one of the most high-stakes political gambits we've seen in years, Governor Gretchen Whitmer has zeroed out the Pure Michigan budget for the upcoming fiscal year. All $37.5 million that the Legislature had approved and sent to her desk has been frozen...along with over $900 million in funds earmarked for roads and bridges, education and healthcare.

It's a bold maneuver for a Governor that had sought to increase the Pure Michigan budget by $6 million. The Legislature only approved a $2.5 million increase and didn't, in the Governor's mind, authorize enough for prisons and cyber-security. So, she took programs that enjoyed broad support and axed them to force Republicans back to the budget table.

One of the most successful Destination Marketing programs in the nation...held hostage by party politics.

Why am I not surprised?