Respective Similarities
Call us political nerds…but, when we watch the online replays of City Council meetings across this nation, it’s pretty amazing the things that come out of some politician’s mouths. And, when it comes to Destination Marketing Organizations, the questioning can be particularly fascinating.
In a recent incident, a Council member pressed a DMO CEO on why their agency’s convention sales goal hadn’t increased this year; that ROI of the City’s investment into the agency wasn’t evident. The CEO responded that, with a $700,000 decrease in the agency's budget, they felt it prudent to manage expectations. They certainly hoped to beat the previous year, but with reduced staff, fewer trade shows and a smaller advertising budget, forecasting an increase simply wasn’t sensible. The manager of the destination’s primary convention facility then stood and testified that the record year that they just posted couldn’t have been achieved without the work of the DMO. And yet, the Council member continued to hammer on static goals.
It’s never about the facts…it’s about the innuendo. Those of us that work in the political environment know this (innuendo always wounds, if not kills)…but Joe and Jill Public do not; they just hear the noise, smell the smoke and assume a fire.
DMOs are the most important community development agency in a city’s arsenal of assets. There…I said it. While vitally important partners in our community's success, it’s not Economic Development or the Chamber of Commerce (no disrespect, my friends). It’s DMOs that are the marketers that encourage individuals to consider a community as a place to visit, make their future home and, ultimately, for some to invest. Economic Development Organizations and Chambers of Commerce are sensational at B2B communication, securing a deal and ensuring new and existing businesses alike are poised for success. And that should be highly valued.
But, as Maura Gast proclaimed 15 years ago, it all starts with the visit. Economic and Community development doesn't happen without a visit and without brand awareness to inspire that visit. And, there is no agency in a community that is as adept at B2C communication as a DMO, especially when it comes to workforce and talent attraction. And make no mistake, THAT is the biggest development issue facing so many communities today.
DMOs can (and typically try to) prove their value with numbers…except virtually every person who is probing our relevance doesn’t “speak Tourism.” The numbers we quote are like Greek to a gecko. And, you know what? We often haven’t taken the time to learn their language either.
With a few notable exceptions of those individuals who come to the party with personal agendas, I truly believe most of us want to understand each other. We just haven’t recognized the complete and total disconnect of our respective languages when, in fact, our “respective similarities” (as Billy Joel once sang) are staring us in the face. As highlighted in Jack Johnson's "Shared Community Values” concept, despite our differences, we all agree on a lot of things. Sometimes, we just don’t recognize how many things we value in common…and community success and vitality is just one.
So, here’s my suggestion as we approach the warmth of the holiday season. Break bread with those that need to truly understand our work but can’t grasp our often insular language and computations. Ask what is most important to them, what they need, want and expect from us...and how we can better communicate how our DMOs are addressing their interests in a language they can understand. And then, provide that information in their language.
We once helped mediate a dispute between a DMO and its hotel community over transparency. One of the pain points for the hoteliers was that the DMO had failed to produce a Pace Report after repeated requests; the DMO maintained they did. I finally handed a Sharpie to the hotelier that was pushing the hardest and said, “draw me a Pace Report.” When he did, I asked the DMO representatives around the table if they provided each of the data points that he had etched on the poster paper. They unanimously said “yes.” I asked if their report looked like what the hotelier had drawn, they said, “no.”
Like the Geico Serial Killer, I just shook my head and asked, “could you?”
And, could you?
I know you can…and should.
‘Til next time,
Bill
