Columnists
Destination
My apologies. I am still not writing columns, so don’t bug me about that. But sometimes I wake at 2 am, because I am cursed, and things that bother me tend to show up in my dreams, and I am forced to get up and write. Be glad you’re not me.
Destination: This word has two meanings. Let’s explore them. First: The County has been labelled ‘A Destination’. This means that people who are looking to go to a ‘Destination’ end up in the County at some point.
All the hype is available on the Internet through Visit the County. Google it, and you will find not every business listed is actually still in business. You will not find any of the small businesses that built our reputation as a ‘destination’. You will find the ‘Big Promoters’ , over and over again, who have the money and a marketing team to make sure they have ‘Internet presence’.
This is not to say a website that steers people to high-end places is useless. High-end metro wage earners will easily surf the web to find their ‘destination’. But it does little to capture the true County and the fun and surprises it holds for visitors.
THE OTHER DESTINATION
Destination also means, “How do we get there?” I run the Infocentre in Bloomfield, and this is a common question. They are here, but they honestly don’t know where they are, or where they are going. To search this out, it requires two things: Human contact, and a map. Actually three things, because we use a highlighter pen to show their route.
That’s what we do, and what we’ve always done. Despite websites and social media, genuine interaction with County people is the most effective tool to bring our visitors relief. And engagement with real people who want to help, as we do.
A CHANGE IN DIRECTION
I’ve been involved with many committees over 47 years. I saw the growing need for technology, which solves all problems and serves all people. This is not the case.
Full disclosure: I am a print guy. Breakaway magazine, our Summer Visitors Guide, grew from 1,000 copies in 1985 to 30,000 today. We hope our copies last until the end of September; this year they were gone at the end of August.
That being said, I am not against web and social media, but we know print works. It’s something you can hold in your hands. It’s something you can pass to your passenger and say: “Open it up to the map and navigate us to our destination.” Along the way, they may encounter a maple syrup stand, or an art studio, or one of hundreds of local artists, artisans and farmstands that do not have the cash to buy website presence.
In my meetings, I’ve encountered people who believe that internet and social media are the Holy Grail of promotion. My response is: “They are a part of promotion, but they are not the whole picture. Print and web are both necessary to get all of the messages out that you need. Local radio too.”
I tell web people what I’ve said for years: Everyone in advertising thinks their choice is the Magic Bullet—the perfect single vehicle to get your message out, so everyone else can just go home.
It has been argued that websites are cheaper and easier than print. I beg to differ. You can spend $5,000 on print, yet I see numbers like $75,000 to create and update websites, which apparently are not updated as quickly as the County changes. So add some ongoing charges to that.
DEMOGRAPHICS
Here’s what really bugs me. Let’s start here: I have six Mac computers. You might ask yourself: “Why does Steve have six computers, when he is just one person?” Well. One of them is for my designer Jan. The rest are because Mac has a nasty habit of ‘no longer supporting’ old Mac systems, so I can no longer access Google (for the same reason—Google wants your money too!)
I can’t upgrade, or we will lose the ‘old’ software that creates the pages of all our publications. Yes, they left those behind too.
Now here’s the point of that story. Technology spins like a toy top. It leaves everything behind. What does this have to do with demographics? Web promoters believe that everyone, everyday, is on the Internet. They believe that everyone in their market area checks out Facebook, Instagram and Twitter on a daily basis. Sometimes hourly.
This is simply not true. But, and this is important, these are the people Visit the County wants to come to the County. Web-savvy people. Perhaps people with money to spend on restaurants, wineries and galleries they promote on their site.
I know this is not a true vision of why people might want to visit the County. We get people on the phone who want to subscribe to our magazine. They can do it on our website, but a large number of them—and I mean a large number—do not own a computer! Those that do can’t manage our website, because it confuses them, and they don’t like it. So they phone, and contact an actual human, who helps them. Anyone remember those days? When you could call a human and get help?
SEGREGATION
Bet you didn’t see that coming! Segregation is when one group of people is favoured, and others are discarded. When developing an all-inclusive invitation to the County, how many people who are not tech-savvy are being left behind? The assumption that ‘everyone is on social media and Internet and sees our message’ is simply false. It is just a selective process to see who Visit the County wants to invite to the party.
For some reason, we continue to pump large amounts of money into expanding tourism (perhaps to draw a better clientele?) despite the up-and-down rollercoaster ride of tourism in the past.
To me: Do we need to attract tourism at all? I talk to lots of people who have been coming to the County since they were kids. I like them. I’m glad they’re here.
I assume that Visit the County wants a new crowd, who found us in the same way they found a great hotel in Cancun. Meanwhile, real County people don’t need people who only want the ‘hot spots’ on Visit the County, and touted in the Toronto press.
Just real people. Y’know, real people we can talk to, face-to-face. No Zoom or Skype; just real people who didn’t use their computers or iPhones to get here.
Websites can be great. Humans are way better.
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