Bill Geist's Zeitgeist

Age Means Nothing

Case in point: Last night's Olympic Swimming Trials in Omaha.

The simply incredible 41 year old Dara Torres not only qualified for tonight's 100m Freestyle finals...she set a personal best time in the event.

Better than her time in the 2000 Olympics. Better than her time in the 1992 Olympics. Better than her time in the 1998 Olympics. Better than her time in 1984 Olympics.

Yeah...24 years ago.

Age Means NOTHING. Passion and Dedication is EVERYTHING.

UPDATE 7/4: Seeded third in tonight's finals, Dara takes first place and is going to the Olympics. Simply amazing.

What Does Southwest Know that United Doesn't?

A lot, apparently.

United announces that it will shut down operations in Ft. Lauderdale. The next day, Southwest announces it will increase service to Ft. Lauderdale.

Go figure.

Dot Whatever

ICANN recently approved an overriding policy that will allow hundreds (if not thousands) of TLDs.

For the uninitiated, TLDs aren't like STDs. TLD stands for Top Level Domains. Or, in another language, domain "suffixes"...like .com, .org, .net..and the troubled .travel.

Now, it appears that anybody (with cash) can register a TLD. So, according to an AP article by Anick Jesdanun, "new names could cover locations such as '.nyc' and '.berlin' or industries such as '.bank.' The hefty application fees could curb a rush for individual vanity names, though larger companies might claim brands like '.disney.'"

An interesting strategy, to be sure. But let's not forget that search and .com are the default actions for virtually every web user. And, despite its availability for a number of years, most consumers still don't automatically think to add .travel to the name of a destination to reach the website of that area's DMO.

Gas Prices Impacting Prostitution

From our friend Cole Carley (Fargo-Moorhead CVB)...gas prices are cutting into even the most basic of male urges. That's right, Nevada's Shady Ladies Ranch is experiencing slower than normal business since gas prices went intergalactic...and is now offering gas cards to increase business.

As Cole said, "they’re not going to take economic problems lying down."

Or, with gas cards....maybe they are.

The Bright Spot is One We Can't Measure

After putting on the stoic happy face this spring, more and more tourism talking heads are admitting that this year is gonna be a challenge. As noted in Travel Weekly, new indicators suggest that total travel in 2008 will be flat.

The bright spot, they say, will be an increase in Leisure Tourism this year...before tanking next year. Reading between the lines suggests that business knows there's a large pothole ahead, but American consumers are whistling past the graveyard.

So, if the opportunity this year is Leisure, how will Destination Marketers prove their effectiveness in landing it?

SNL V1.0

As a tribute to George Carlin, NBC aired the very first Saturday Night Live last night, in which George was the host.

I remember watching this first episode with friends in my dorm room...which featured the now famous "Mighty Mouse" routine by Andy Kaufman. There was a party downstairs in the lounge that night (with, as they say, a target-rich environment)...but a few of us kept sneaking upstairs to watch what was, at the time, a break-through concept in television.

There were a lot of great moments...but I laughed my ass off at a forgotten bit in which the oh-so serious pitchman announced that two blades were passe and that the TRIPLE-blade shaving system was the new level of perfection. "The Triple Track," he said, "because you’ll believe anything."

Which, of course is so true...as, 30 years later, we're at 5.

Ad Tells Teens to "Go Fer It"

JCPenney flirted with being relevant this week when an ad surfaced on YouTube that appeared to condone teen sex.

The retailer is now saying they never approved the ad that has garnered over 100,000 YouTube views and a Cannes award. Whatever. As a commenter on Gawker suggests, "JCPenney ought to be thanking their lucky stars they got a tiny dollop of relevancy.”

At issue is the spot that celebrates the hours of practice it takes to be able to get your clothes back on in under 18 seconds (the time it ostensibly takes from the moment you hear your parents stir until they make it to the basement where you are "just watching TV."

Thanks to Steve Hall at AdRants for the catch.

This Bed Smells

When one thinks of trendy, cutting-edge, consumer-focused hotel brands, Travelodge usually doesn't make the list. Maybe that's why their most recent move is so notable. I didn't think Travelodge made moves.

But, according to Nathan Midgley at Travel Weekly, the chain is rolling out aromatherapy sheets. Among the scents designed to lull us to sleep: Baby Powder, Apple Pie and Chocolate.

Oh, and that incessant sneezing you're hearing from Room 214 next door? That's the guy that got the bed with Freshly Cut Grass sheets.

Quote of the Week

"If I had shown a fat woman and her husband by her side ... I don't think this controversy would have come up."

So said Roberto Gaudelli, the man behind a new advertising campaign for Hidaldo, Mexico that superimposed historic monuments on the apparently nude figure of Mexican soap opera star Iran Castillo. Officials from the National Institute of Anthropology and History cried foul, saying the ad violated the dignity of the historic sites.

And, like Australia's "Where the Bloody Hell Are You" campaign, grabbed a bunch of earned media coverage...

The Future of Meetings and Conventions?

When Guy Kawasaki saw this, he said "I'll Never Get on a Plane Again."

Three speakers, one in Bangladore and two in San Jose...on the same stage, interacting in real time.

Too freaking cool. And while a few conference attendees avail themselves of the opportunity to meet the speakers, let's be honest. The majority don't. So...do the speakers even need to be there? Can the Meeting Planner save on all those transportation and hotel costs by utilizing this technology?

The answer is, of course, yes.

However, given the ability for the speakers to stay home, will attendees do likewise, preferring to consume conference content online and on their schedule?  A convention and meeting version of TiVo, if you will.

True, the networking aspect of meetings suffers...but the content portion? One might say that being able to consume content online could be more effective than onsite. And, it saves us all the hassle of getting on a plane.

This should make for a wild ride....

You Can Fly United, but They'll Tell You When You Can Come Home

In the race among the legacy carriers to see who can annoy their customers most, United has regained the lead by requiring minimum night stays on virtually all of its domestic coach seats. For instance, on its Chicago-Minneapolis hop, United customers will be required to stay three nights before they can fly home.

No, I'm not kidding.

While they tried to explain the bizarre concept away by saying that it is designed to keep corporate travelers from snapping up all the cheap seats, almost all travelers have to come home some time. Does it really make any difference when? Will it really make the airline more profitable if I come home tomorrow instead of today?

I'm sure hoteliers everywhere (except those that fly) are tickled pink. But, for those of us that often must string three destinations back-to-back-back (or just need to get back to the office to, ummm, I dunno, work?)...United has just lost another subset of its customers.

Chicken Soup for the non-PC Soul

We call the Jail in our town the Public Safety Building. As someone wrote into the Letter to the Editor, if we're gonna be PC, let's go all the way: The Dane County B&B for the Legally Challenged.

I laughed my ass off last week when Matt McDermott of Ad Agency Confessional revealed that the rumor about Cock Flavored Soup was true...and the mix is produced in Jamaica.

I so know a bunch of people that would be way into this product.

Saving an Icon

Urban Legend has it that McDonald's was the first large-scale hamburger chain.

But, in the 1940s, there was Mammoth Orange. These quintessential fast food joints, shaped like fruit and painted a blazin' shade of orange, served hamburgers and orange juice all up and down California's Central Valley.

There were hundreds of them...and the last Mammoth Orange closed last summer when the California DOT fenced it off from vehicular traffic as it began to renovate the adjacent intersection.

But, according to our friend Dan Carter, "the City of Chowchilla has purchased the Mammoth Orange burger stand on Highway 99 (California's Route 66) and is moving it intact to the City yard until they can refurbish it and put it at the Hwy 99 exit (gateway) to their community as an information booth and kiosk. Kudos to the Chowchilla City Council for saving a historicstructure and putting it to work informing visitors about their community."

Kudos indeed...and a great example for communities everywhere.

Image Credit: crazy4citrus

Durham Walks the Green Talk

A lot of Destinations talk green...but fewer live it. Travel Portland's website is wind powered. The Greater Madison CVB's recent renovation of its offices was about as green as you can get.

And then, there's the Durham CVB...which last month began harvesting rainwater off of its roof to feed the landscape irrigation system.

Reyn, you guys consistently blow me away...

A Slowdown? Really? Ya Think?

This spring, researchers suggested that the American Tourism landscape would fare fine in the face of $4 gas. After all, 69% of Americans said they wouldn't change their travel plans because of increased fuel costs.

Uhhh...that means roughly a third WOULD.

Any surprise then that the Federal Reserve is suggesting that growth in American Tourism is slowing?

Southwest Throws #$*!% Down!

We mentioned Southwest Airline's response to American's ham-handed first bag fee last week...but hadn't yet seen the ad they ran in the Wall Street Journal. Our friend Maura Gast of the Irving CVB forwarded this priceless throwdown (at left...click for larger view).

Perfectly Southwest.

But Everybody's Doing It

Just like every one of our Mothers said at least 32 times to each and every one of us in response to our plea of "But Everybody's Doing It," "If (name of a neighborhood 'good-kid' here) jumped off a bridge, would you?"

Just because American Airlines despises its customers, is that any reason for United and US Airways to do the same?

While the "good kid" in the neighborhood (Southwest) refuses to join in the insanity.

Now airport check-in is really gonna suck as an estimated 30% of us (and I believe more) will be swiping cards or fumbling with cash to pay for our first bag. Boarding is gonna suck more as most will violate Air Law 5 and try to carry footlocker-sized bags onboard.

And, to the recent TIA report that 100,000 of us are choosing EVERY DAY not to fly because the experience so sucks, deleting $26 billion from the economy last year....those numbers are only going to increase.

Dude, Where's My Lake?

When one of your most important tourism assets DISAPPEARS within the first weeks of the summer season, what then?

Torrential rainfall this past weekend cut a path around a dam in the Wisconsin Dells and DRAINED Lake Delton...home to the famous Tommy Bartlett Waterski Show, the Wisconsin Dells Ducks and many more attractions.

While this incredible destination has become sensationally diverse over the past year (and will still successfully welcome millions this summer), our hearts go out to those that depend on this Lake. And, we urge the Wisconsin DNR to not let procedural bureaucracy stand in the way of mitigating this incredible loss. Now.

To our friends in the Dells...we'll keep coming and we'll keep spending. Hang in there...

Book Now! Before it's Too Late!

While AdRants isn't exactly enthralled by the new TV spot for Ocean City MD, it has some very cool ingredients from the perspective of the often politicized world of Destination Marketing.

First, it features the Mayor...and unlike many politicians that are ill-suited to do tourism spots, Rick Meehan is perfect (and plays along with the "emergency" bit with Shatner-esque urgency).

Second, it breaks the mold of most destination TV ads by being so unlike the genre that the viewer is captured by the retro-silliness of the concept.

And finally, this is already going viral, as it was posted 6 days ago and already has been viewed just under 8,000 times on YouTube...not to mention the views on DMO's website.

More on the story from the Washington Post.

To my friends in OC, well played. And I can't wait to hear how this unusual strategy increases traffic...

Southwest Capitalizes on American's Misstep

On the heels of American Airline's announcement that it will begin nicking its passengers for their first checked bag, Southwest Airlines plays contrarian (and smart) with new ads that read "Fees Don't Fly with Us" and "No Surprise Fees."

From a recent article in BrandWeek (and highlighted in Dave Ibsen's 5 Blogs Before Lunch), Southwest's Anne Murray says "We proudly provide what we think are basic elements of service."

Glad somebody is still thinking of the customer...