Friday, May 28, 2010

So What Is The Big Apple Anyway?

I’ve seen this movie up close so releases like the one below are all the more embarrassing when they are issued by a Destination Marketing Organization (DMO.) After all, DMO’s sign a code of ethics not to be misleading about another destination.

NYC & Co.[NYC CVB] Welcomes 2014 Super Bowl ... NYC & Company is celebrating the 2014 Super Bowl coming to the Big Apple. It will be hosted at the New Meadowlands Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. NFL owners decided May 25 to award the nation’s largest city with the powerhouse event, estimated to have a local impact in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

I’m sure there will be more than enough overflow impact on NYC.  But East Rutherford isn’t in the Big Apple, no matter how “big” the Big Apple thinks it is.  It isn’t even in the same state.  The release would have been fine had:ae5ccc78c490f408cb0e6a706700d1ce

  • NYC’s DMO congratulated East Rutherford, NJ on hosting the Super Bowl.

 

  • It would have been great had the release offered NYC’s assistance to East Rutherford or

 

  • Merely, welcomed the event to the “Tri-State Area” which is a media term for NYC, parts of NY State, Connecticut and New Jersey covered by the same radio and TV stations.

You almost expect television stations exempt themselves from trivial facts like place.  But DMO’s, the official marketing agencies for “places” should stay with the facts and Instead, NYC over-reached.  And over-reaching is never becoming, especially by a city that has so much.

It wouldn’t hurt NYC or the Stadium or the NFL to be accurate about location and let just a little sunlight shine on little East Rutherford.  After all, a little mutual respect and consideration for a neighbor would have also come back to benefit the “Big Apple” in many more ways than the Super Bowl will.

Place isn’t just about jurisdictional boundaries as people dismissive of towns and cities and even states or countries often say. But it also isn’t about what you’re “near” and it certainly isn’t about television or radio coverage areas or other arbitrary lumps of counties, cities and towns.

Place is about culture, character and yes assets of a particular point on the map, regardless if it is just a truck stop.  It is about its history, its founders, its quirkiness, its views, its air and sky, its weather, its flora and fauna, its everything as differentiated from the next point on the map.

Place is about the good things and the troubling things. It is about distinctness.  If this was negative news, NYC would look down on East Rutherford, NJ as well, New Jersey, often characterizing that diverse and often stunning state in the pejorative.

So with this huge, spectacular event, it is time for NYC to back off and give credit, recognition and acknowledgement to the real place the Super Bowl will really be held in 2014.

5 comments:

Unknown said...

@Reyn: Absolutely a fair point, but worth noting that in his announcement, NFL commish Roger Goddell expressly said the Super Bowl was being announced to "New York/New Jersey."

Of course that confuses the language of place... though it's already jumbled here in that the East Rutherford stadium is home to the New York Jets and the New York Giants!

On a similar note: what are your thoughts to all the seats on the planning committee for the NHL All-Star Game going to Raleigh-Cary MSA entities? I was surprised to see zero inclusion of Durham-Cary properties or planning groups. Of course, by the strict definition the game was awarded to Raleigh as a host city... but then, the Hurricanes are a team that I thought was considered to encompass both markets and beyond.

Reyn said...

The game is being held in Raleigh, in a facility paid for by a tax on Wake County hotels and restaurants, so to me it is their affair, they deserve all of the exposure and credit.

DCVB has a standing arrangement to provide overflow rooms when needed. I'm sure there will be some. But that metro areas is now more than capable of standing on its own to host an event like this.

In this instance credit to place is as it should be based on where the game is held, not all the various places from which the fans are drawn.


I'm happy to see Raleigh and its envions getting the exposure they deserve and respecting the entities first that shoulder the costs.

Shelly said...

I agree and have no problem with the planning committee being composed of folks from Raleigh and Wake County.

DCVB has been in touch with the Greater Raleigh CVB about overflow housing. At the moment their first priority is to get rooms for the officials and teams, but they will call on us to help at the appropriate time.

I'm sure that Durham will get some residual benefit from this and am confident that our neighbors to the East will call on us when they need us. I'm equally confident we'll offer our services when the call comes without trying to rename the host city Raleigh-Durham. :-)

Anonymous said...

This has nothing to do with anything about the above post. Just wanted to let you know you have the coolest name in the world. Seriously.

Anonymous said...

it would be easier to let Raleigh keep all the NHL accolades if they (media) did not also try to claim Durham's. It happened again last week when several tv / print reports used the 'Raleigh' locator and did not clarify Duke was actually in Durham - during the visit to the White House. ugh!