Back From Chicago
Just returned from Chicago having attended a meeting planners meeting. Is that redundant? The highlight of the show was the exhibit hall which was full of different hotels and local Convention & Vistor Bureaus (CVB's in tradespeak). There were the usual spots that you would expect such as Vegas, southern California, and Chicago (duh!). I felt sorry for the poor saps from the South Sioux Falls, South Dakota CVB. I can't imagine they got their money's worth in new biz out of this show. The fun is seeing all the logoed giveaways that each booth produces. I tried, but didn't get, the beach towel from the Marriott at Point Clear, Alabama. Pish!
Wisconsin venues usually line all of the sites up in one aisle and devlop some sort of a theme. A couple years ago they used a spa theme and had all the booth workers wearing white terry cloth bath robes and handing out shampoo and lotions at their booths. Cute and women in the crowd loved it. This year somebody was asleep at the switch. There was a mailing with a squishy cow toy. No logo, just the toy. The aisle had no theme. There were some very expensive banners that were developed by the State Department of Tourism that just blended into the booths and didn't give any level of "Wow!" or excitement. I was approached by the head of one of the larger and better run CVB's in Wisconsin and asked what I thought. I tend to be blunt and direct and expressed the views listed above. She agreed with everyone of my comments and added re: the squishy cow, "We try so hard to rid ourselves of the hick cheese-head image and here they spend money and send a cow out to every attendee." That is a real issue in Wisconsin, as I am unaware that any state had such a very divisive and tending to be political debate regarding the state quarter design. The governor overruled a design commission and went with an agricultural themed design with a cow head, an ear of corn and a cheese wheel. Even if you like the idea of promoting ag, couldn't it be done with something that looks better than junior high students working with clip art?
Wisconsin venues usually line all of the sites up in one aisle and devlop some sort of a theme. A couple years ago they used a spa theme and had all the booth workers wearing white terry cloth bath robes and handing out shampoo and lotions at their booths. Cute and women in the crowd loved it. This year somebody was asleep at the switch. There was a mailing with a squishy cow toy. No logo, just the toy. The aisle had no theme. There were some very expensive banners that were developed by the State Department of Tourism that just blended into the booths and didn't give any level of "Wow!" or excitement. I was approached by the head of one of the larger and better run CVB's in Wisconsin and asked what I thought. I tend to be blunt and direct and expressed the views listed above. She agreed with everyone of my comments and added re: the squishy cow, "We try so hard to rid ourselves of the hick cheese-head image and here they spend money and send a cow out to every attendee." That is a real issue in Wisconsin, as I am unaware that any state had such a very divisive and tending to be political debate regarding the state quarter design. The governor overruled a design commission and went with an agricultural themed design with a cow head, an ear of corn and a cheese wheel. Even if you like the idea of promoting ag, couldn't it be done with something that looks better than junior high students working with clip art?
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