Bill Geist's Zeitgeist

A New Vision

We have several ways to stay connected with our friends and clients in the Destination Marketing space. Of course, there is this (almost daily) blog, coming up on its 14th anniversary.

We also publish a monthly newsletter in which we share sector news and a commentary from yours truly. I tweet sporadically. And we repurpose the important missives on our Facebook and LinkedIn pages. Oh yeah...and the podcast is here.

Why am I reminding you of this? You may be a regular on this blog...but not a subscriber of the Z-News. And, if that's the case, you missed yesterday's release of our new position paper on how community marketing must change if we are to maximize resources, talent and opportunity. And, we think it's unlike anything you've seen.

We're boldly going where only a handful of visionaries have gone before...and we'd love to hear your thoughts.

Now, back to our regularly scheduled blog.

25 Years

It was 25 years ago tomorrow that this grand journey began. 25 years since I handed the reins of what is now known as Destination Madison over to Deb Archer and hung out the shingle for what is now known as DMOproz.

As I sat on my back deck that afternoon with a celebratory cigar and a rocks glass of bourbon, I looked out on a world in which I had no client visits on the calendar. Hell, I had no clients. Just a vision that I could make a difference in communities around the country with the truths I had learned (and the missteps I had survived) in my decade of leading DMOs.

Tomorrow, I will sit on my back deck with a celebratory cigar and a rocks glass of bourbon, and look out on a world in which I, for the first time in 25 years, have no client visits on the calendar. But, I have clients. Nay, I have friends. And, I trust that soon, we'll be back together again, causing some form of destinational mischief.

Until that time, from the bottom of my heart, thank you to all who have made our lives so rich in experience and camaraderie.  It has been beyond exciting to see so many of our client destinations kick ass. And, in these dark days, you inspire us as you move to provide aid to industry partners. We'll continue to cheer you and, hopefully, return some inspiration from the sidelines through this blog, DMOU and the Z-News.

We are, indeed, blessed to call you friends and to work in an industry that is increasingly being understood as crucial to our economy and Quality of Life. Hell yeah...

An 18 for '18 that Rocks

Y'all know...this is only gonna get harder as we enter the 2020s.

But, there are a plethora of 18 for 2018 lists out there this year. Most are mildly interesting. One nails it.

Check out this 18 for 18 post from our friends at TwoSix Digital.

Hell yeah on all counts.

They're Coming for You

There's a kind of pecking order for my musings. My Twitter feed is a series of often infrequent, random one-offs about whatever crosses my mind.

My blog, repurposed most weekdays through Facebook, is a slightly more focused screed, often addressing issues in Destination Marketing...but just as easily veering off to topics on life, air travel and music.

The Z-News is a mostly monthly opportunity for me to go long on topics exclusive to the Destination Marketing world, along with links to industry news about the people who power our world and a link to the most comprehensive DMO job board on the planet.

If you're in the DMO space and aren't a subscriber, you really should be...if for nothing else the links.

My Z-News Commentary from yesterday encapsulates my response to what's been happening in Florida...and is starting to spread across the country: The demonification of Destination Marketing. And, it requires an immediate response from all of us in the industry.

And, yes...we'll be far less heavy in this blog tomorrow, as it will be another Music Friday.

Request lines are open.

Ten Years After: The Musical

In keeping with the 10th Anniversary of this blog, we offer up a stunning performance from Alvin Lee and Ten Years After on this last Music Friday of September.

Culled from one of their classic appearances at Winterland in 1975, this is "Good Morning, Little School Girl."

Rock on...

Ten Years After

Today marks 10 years since I finally acted on a suggestion from a long lost friend that a blog would be a good idea for my business.

Roughly 2,500 posts later, I can confirm that business is, indeed, good. And, yes, part of that success can be attributed to this blog…just as some comes from our monthly e-newsletter and word of mouth from our friends and clients in the Destination Marketing sector.

But, that’s not why I have continued to blog while he and so many of my friends have slowed or altogether abandoned their foray into the platform. I know it might sound corny and contrived…but it really is because of you, the reader, that I offer up my thoughts to both industry colleagues, friends and passerbys.

Your “likes” when the blog posts most mornings on Facebook and the conversations in which we engage when you comment are what powers me forward, constantly looking for the cool, the inane and the simply wrong around us.

I may not have the following of a Jay Baer, Lefsetz or Seth Godin…but my followers mean the world to me. And, it thrills me that we can inject a subtly subversive viewpoint, from time to time, into the increasingly meaningful discourse on Destination Marketing…the nation and the world.

Thanks for being part of this journey…and here’s to the next 10.

Social in Sales

Skift's Greg Oates posted an interesting question last week in our DMOproZ LinkedIn group. While Destination Marketing Organizations have been relatively quick to embrace Social Media and Blogs for Leisure markets, why haven't their Meeting & Convention Sales divisions followed suit?

A number of DMO peers weighed in...and it produced sufficient content for Greg to do an exceptional analysis of the disconnect on the sales side of what Destination Marketers are doing in last Friday's edition of Skift.

Check it out. Some great examples of DMOs that are breaking the mold while others slumber.

Numbers in the Hands of Those with an Agenda

Though maddening in its lack of clarity (likely because the reporter is just as confused as his sources), an article in the Ottawa KS Herald is a case study for why those with a lack of experience in the Destination Marketing world should just STFU.

The headline for yesterday's story screams "Visitors Bureau Spending 89% on Overhead."

Are you shocked? Some members of the Bureau Board seem to be. Of course, if a Board Member doesn't know how the funds over which they preside are being deployed, they shouldn't be on the Board, But, that is a completely different rant for another time.

I'm not shocked or dismayed in the least at an 89% "overhead" figure…and here's why: A lot of non-profit organizations have no more idea how to design their budgets and financial statements than Somali pirates know how to build a starship. Overhead ends up being rent, utilities, salaries, benefits, taxes, letterhead, copy paper, software…just about everything that is considered a sunk cost. 

"Programming" for a DMO, on the other hand, is typically advertising purchased, trade shows attended, etc.

There are two problems here. If non-profits handled their financial reporting like for-profit corporations, a significant percentage of those "overhead" costs would be assigned to a functional area of the enterprise. The salary and benefits (and phones, computer, internet connection, stationary, business cards, etc.) of the person in charge of the website and Social Media would be assigned to Marketing, where those costs belong. After all, you wouldn't hire and equip a person for this role if they couldn't market.

The only portion of salaries that should be assigned to "overhead" or "Administration" would be that of the Director…and then, only the amount of time that person devotes to running the operation. Indeed, most CEOs should have their salary/benefit costs spread over several functional areas such as Community Relations, Event Support, Fundraising, etc.

So, part of this non-story is that the Visitors Bureau Board isn't sophisticated enough to run their books in a way that breaks down the true cost of Destination Marketing in the right functional areas.

The other issue, however, is even deeper. As online, mobile and social are increasingly becoming the way destinations lure visitors, successful DMOs are staffing up and cutting "programming" costs because it takes people on the ground with real time understanding of the destination to move the needle and increase visitation and spending. 

If I had a limited amount of resources (as I'm guessing Ottawa KS possesses), I'd put it all on digital. Not just 89%.

But, here is the most telling quote in the article: The County Administrator questions the viability of the Visitor Information Center, saying, "Quite honestly, I’m asking myself a very simple question: If I was running a business, could I exist on only one visitor or customer an hour?"

Mr. Holmes? You are running a business. And that only one person an hour visits Franklin County? I'd start investing a lot more into advertising.

I'd start investing a lot more in your Visitors Bureau.

They're Not Listening

Said Jay Baer on his Convince and Covert blog post earlier this week: "Brands want to be heard at all times, but consumers only open their ears when they need something."

He was opining on a recent Hubspot study called The Social Lifecycle that some have been using to say that Social Media for business and brands is no longer as big of a deal as some have made it. That consumers are turned off by branded content. That, while consumers expect business to be on Facebook, they really don't expect to engage with the brand.

Nothing could be further from the truth...for brands that don't use Social Media platforms to sell stuff.

As Jay concludes: "Maybe we need to worry less about sustained exposure and engagement – which this research shows consumers don’t really want anyway – and worry more about crafting social content that it so useful and relevant that it breaks through consumers’ collective disinterest in branded social media."

Methinks he nailed it.

How Fast it's Moving

Jake Steinman's eTourism Summit is just around the corner...October 8-9 in San Francisco. His recent e-blast was certainly an eye-opener as to just how fast our landscape is shifting.

He juxtapositioned a number of "trends" from last year to this. Among them:

Instagram
Last Year: Should I spend time on this?
This Year: Best way to build Millennial followers

Mobile Marketing
Last Year: Apps vs. Responsive Design
This Year: Mobile Optimization for Everything

Content Marketing
Last Year: Words
This Year: Images

And...next year?