What's Wrong with This Picture?

[Barbara Lightner]

The Eureka Springs Chamber of Commerce, acting in collusion with-- oops! I mean in cooperation with the City Advertising and Promotion Commission (CAPC) has just passed a "framework" for future City "festivalization."

Main dollars are to be spent on a "Primary Market," Romance/Couples. Diversity is plotted as a "Deferred Market."

Defer me, will they? Ha! We'll see about that.

[Sparky]

I don't see anything wrong...MAYBE they have quit tap dancing around and no longer wish to do the smoke and mirrors illusion that they are spending ANYTHING on the Diversity Weekend Advertising or have EVER advertised to the LAVENDAR MARKET!

that is okay Barbara because I have yet to find where any DOLLARS have ever been plotted to the Advertisment of DIVERSITY WEEKEND!

Yes I know that Lynn Berry has been quoted in the Arkansas Times as saying that Diversity Weekend has been placed on their events calendar for the past 5 years along with 50,000 peices about festivals and that the Eureka's advertising commision targets the gay community because they shop. And they SHOP hard!

NO ONE HAS EVER SHOWN ME HOW THEY DO THIS TARGETING!

but we don't care cuz i don't think they have all that great of a history on who they do target :wink:

Jeff Feldman, the chamber director was quoted as saying they just can't sort gay revenue from straight revenue but Diversity Weekend is now among an asortment of PERMANENT ATTRACTIONS!

oh my WE HAVE GAY REVENUE and it looks like STRAIGHT REVENUE :shock:

The Only Advertising Dollars I know of that promote Diversity Weekend our those of our SPONSORS! (note Diversity Pride is a SPONSOR)
That is why we ask everyone to always consider our SPONSORS first when Staying, Shopping, Dining and Playing in Eureka 8)



want some good news?

[CathyB59]

disclaimer:
I don;t live or work here - People I care about do.

It's not my town - but I have to ask - Can the CAPC block or stop Diversity weekends?
Would non-sponsors be happy to forego lavender dollars during Diversity weekends?
More importantly, how can I help?
Sorry to be a pill when I am non-local.
It incenses me to hear things like this. You are in a business to do what?
Make MONEY.
Is there a market proven to spend discretionary income? YES
Will it positively impact many local businesses? YES
Then WHAT is the problem? :roll:
Sparky, don;t small towns exist on a slim profit margin?
Barbara, does deferred market mean they won;t spend any money,
or almost no money?

[Sparky]

How can they stop something they have never funded or is not an OFFICIAL Eureka event :lol: :lol: :lol:


most folks that come for Diversity Weekend do not care about the local politics..

OR DO THEY?

A recent study shows that 74% of Gays and Lesbians prefer to travel to COUNTRYS with a progressive political climate!

Well Eureka is a COUNTRY?!

we all know how the Local, State and National Government feel about US!



Because DW is not a OFFICIAL CITY EVENT they can not dictate on what is done!!!

NOW THIS IS A GOOD THING!

Deborah Rose with Diversity Pride has been working so hard to change the local government in Eureka and is forever extending olive branches to those in power.

I just go on like those before me and pretend the City Advertising Folks do not exist. They seem to do likewise and we get along just fine. :wink:


Not one of them has ever contacted me. :roll:

MANY of them know who I am because Deborah ALWAYS extends them an invite to the mixers and they have shown up.

I contacted the chamber about joining but they seem to have hit a roadblock on just how to list us :shock: and what they would call us...maybe they are praying about it as I post :twisted: ... I think a lot of folks beside us feel they don't exist too.

What they do with their big budget?

I have no clue and have never even inquired.

AS for what dollars they spend to advertise to the Lavender Market or for Diversity Weekend ... WELL NOW THAT'S THE 64,0000 dollar question!

I would wager that it has ALWAYS been a BIG ZERO!

now many MANY many locas do market on their own to the Lavender market and then there is our BELOVED SPONSORS who are the main source for advertising the DIVERSITY WEEKEND events!

i do have some good news...want to hear it?


diverity weekends are so wonderful ...maybe because...The LOCAL GOVERMENT, The CAPC or City Funds are not involved with producing it :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

[bigbro501]

None of this surpises me at all. As some of you know I am a Gay Day at Walt Disney World fanatic. I go every year. Disney does not support Gay Day in their park. It started out online 16 years ago as a Gay Day in one park, and has grown to be Gay Days at the parks and has 2 groups and 2 webpages devoted to it.

The city of Orlando reconizes Gay Days as an event and usual has a kick off party for it but does not otherwise really advertise it. Most advertisinment for the Gay Days at Disney is thru word of mouth and the 2 webpages. Sponsers, promoters, and webpages are the bread and butter of Gay Days at Disney.

So with that in mind, Diversity Weekend is heading in the right direction with sponsers and a great webpage. Fall Diversity seems to get bigger and better every year!

Sean

[Cyberphillics]

Sean you hit the nailon the head, "Fall Diversity seems to get bigger and better every year!"

And Sparky did as well, "diverity weekends are so wonderful ...maybe because...The LOCAL GOVERMENT, The CAPC or City Funds are not involved with producing it"

Fall DW is the original time for the weekend, I have never been disapointed with it and always, and I mean always had a grrrrreat time. I love to party with family. It is what it is because Eureka Politics are not involved in it for the most part. As soon as they are, I am off to bigger and better things. I hope that this is never an official festival for that very reason. LONG LIVE PRIVATE DW, now if we can just make it fund its self.

[angela]

:D Just keep up the good work, everybody!!
Angela

[Barbara Lightner]

I read you, guys, I do. But I still don't want to be deferred!

And I still want Deborah and Linda to coordinate, identify and bring in shows and talent, not the City. -- Which can be, and has been, done with some of the festivals-- e.g., May Festival of the Arts, and many of the street events for the Folk Festival.

But I also want to give Deborah and Linda some rest, a little bit of time off, some leisure-- so I can meet 'em and dine with 'em in a relaxed way. We ask way too much of them, and though they'll never complain, I do think the City can help just a bit.

--Like having a new Special Events Coordinator, whose job it will be to provide a "'festive downtown" providing daily entertainment in-season to our core district,' and just maybe bring some of our life to the festivities.

And I want some of those dollars to go to Diversity.

I don't think it's fair to ask Deborah to work on a festival that has up until now always gone in the hole financially-- and have her have to scramble to get the money to cover-- to bring us Diversity. The City needs to quit putting its fingers where the sun don't shine on this one!

And I want some of that marketing expertise to help with Diversity.

Although some (the Chamber, Lynn Berry) have (or had) promised City dollars for Diversity, it just hasn't happened. If anyone can find a City-or-CAPC-developed brochure with out-of-city-distribution, then I'll eat my lavendar scarf.

And for those of you who believe that we should support our sponsors, then a look at the CAPC's business survey might convince you that our sponsors just might like a bit more festive participants in the festivals. The lodging folks, gift shop folks, and restaurants all ranked "festivals" very high for business (only "attractions" ranked them low, which might suggest a few lewd additions to liven them up, eh? NOT really, just kidding!)

At any rate, to ask that the Chamber and the CAPC direct more of their attention toward Diversity is not asking for government interference.

The recommended Festival Director, for example, would do four festivals, "produced independently however supported with a $15,000 cap in seed money and a $20,000 ad budget pr event." [the grammar ain't mine, I'm copying directly from the Chamber document, aargh!)

Whatever, the four included festivals do not include Diversity.

Okay, okay! So we begin with small steps. We don't have to be one of the four biggie festivals-- just one that is not labelled deferred.

I'd be happy enough with that, and hope you all might see your way to that as well.

Right now I'm over my head in alligators working on an election campaign but once that's over, I say, "Let's post and figger!" -- Meaning let's draw up our chairs on this BB and see what suggestions we might bring together.

[luny]

I just go on like those before me and pretend the City Advertising Folks do not exist.

Me too. I just swing from the branches and eat leaves and scratch myself,
and sometimes apes from other forests meet up with me here in these treetops
(and I'm sworn to secrecy about what happens then
but sometimes it's noisy) :wink:

It's all good. 8)

[Sparky]

Oh Linda do not get to Angry over this 8) a baby step has been made...we now have a name for what has been the practice for the last decade...we have gone from being ignored to being deferred :lol:

Deborah will NEVER relax enough to take a break.
SHE LOVES DIVERSITY!
some call her the Diversity Fairy Angel
Some call her the Diversity fairy GAWDMOTHER (boy does she hates that one)
some even call Diversity Weekend, Deborah's Weekend
BUT...
most just call for a reservation and make the journey and have a BLAST!

I have a plan to kidnap Linda :twisted:

we can ask/beg Deb for forgiveness later. :roll:

Are you in?

HAS not the MEDIA and PRESS been awesome this past year on covering Diversity Weekends and Diversity in Eureka!



now when I call or write and beg for a FREE link or a travel story about Diversity in Eureka and they ask (and they always do) why is not the City's Adverting Commission involved in this request along with you (in other words how much money can you fork over to us to do this) instead of breaking down with tears and explaining that I think they pretend we don't exist I can now very proudly break down into tears and tell them
we've been de-furred! :lol:

IN MY VERY MICRO SECOND TENURE WITH DIVERSITY
I HAVE WITNESSED A HUGE GROWTH!

WE WILL ONLY CONTINUE TO GROW AND GROW



just a thought: do you think the CAPC was starting to get the feeling that Deborah was going to hit on them for some HELP and felt the need to officially DE- FURR what they have been DE-FURRING all along :lol:

OF COURSE WE ALL KNOW DIVERSITY WEEKEND IS THE PRE-FURRED WEEKEND!
now i did have some kewl news...but nobody has asked yet what it is :lol:

[luny]

Okay, I'll bite.

What's your kewl newz, Sparkler?

[Sparky]

A very KEWL slick Gay Travel Magazine has gifted us
a free ad in their Magazine!!!

OVER A $3,000.00 VALUE!

then Amos called (i encouraged him a bit)
and they agreed to let him write a
brief peice about Eureka!

now Amos has never been to Eureka so you know he is in for a SURPRISE! he will make his first trip this Fall :twisted:

another interesting note; I asked Amos(a Katrina Transplant) if he ever met Lewis Routh when he lived in New Orleans.

no BUT he had been to some of his productions and knew who he was
and was delighted to learn he grew up in Eureka 8)

such a small little diverse world we live in

[luny]

Much Kewlness!! Thumbs up! Congrats!!

[Dreamwalking]

De-furred...as a lesbian and licker of umm well kitty, I find that to be offensive comment. I am offended that they think I need to shave to show up. The nerve.
:D
Jamie

[Barbara Lightner]

[quote="Sparky"]
OF COURSE WE ALL KNOW DIVERSITY WEEKEND IS THE PRE-FURRED WEEKEND!

We are PRE-FERRED!
We are PE-FERRED!
Try as they might
We will not be de-furred

[Barbara Lightner]

De-furred...as a lesbian and licker of umm well kitty, I find that to be offensive comment. I am offended that they think I need to shave to show up. The nerve.
:D
Jamie

We will not de-furr!
We will not de-furr!
Like a kitty's licked
beside the water,
We will not de-furr!

[DrLewall]

De-furred...as a lesbian and licker of umm well kitty, I find that to be offensive comment. I am offended that they think I need to shave to show up. The nerve.
:D
Jamie

Do I need to bring the "shave kit"? I can you know! if need be that is :lol:

[angela]

:lol: Oh, my!
Angela