Riverfront Bikepath on Front Burner

A stalled project along the Northern Kentucky riverfront had new life breathed into it tonight after a spirited standing room only meeting at the Covington Convention Center. Riverfront Commons is a hiking/biking trail along the Ohio River going through Dayton, Bellevue, Newport, Covington and Ludlow. The meeting was organized by redevelopment organization Southbank Partners which is spearheading the effort, which had been stalled by the bad economy and by competing projects around the Commonwealth and nationwide. Southbank wanted to see what kind of public support existed for the effort before deciding to seek $300,000 to hire a lobbying firm to help secure federal dollars for the $50 million project. The project is expected to be an attractive target for economic stimulus money approved by Congress. It would create jobs and spur economic growth in the form of new businesses and added tourists and convention visitors to the riverfront. Southbank now plans to go to leading corporations, community and government groups and the public to gain additional input and hopefully more funding. Additional details coming in the March 6 Cincinnati Enquirer (www.cincinnati.com).

Another Effect of AIG fallout

It's not just corporate meetings that are being curtailed. This time it's getting personal. A friend of mine from another American Marketing Association chapter in the east told me last week he lost his job in research at a family-owned business with a national reputation for setting up exotic vacations for C-level executives (things like safaris and fly fishing expeditions). He told me this is the first time in the company's 40-year history that furloughs have happened. Part of it is credited to the economic slowdown but the other part is related to public perception and how investors are now being critical of how and where high priced CEOs are spending their salaries on far flung destinations.

Inspiration Worth Noting

I can't recall hearing in person a more inspiring person that 21 year old Patrick Henry Hughes. Few people have seen, strike that, experienced more things this early in life than Patrick. He was born without eyes and without the ability to fully straighten his arms and legs, making him unable to walk. Additionally, two steel rods were surgically attached to Patrick's spine to correct scoliosis. Despite circumstances that seem overwhelming, Patrick has overcome these physical issues to excel as a musician and student. Patrick started playing the piano at the age of only nine months, and also plays the trumpet and sings. He even participates in the University of Louisville School of Music Marching and Pep Bands with help from his father (Patrick John Hughes), who tirelessly maneuvers his wheel chair through the formations with the other 220+ members of the Cardinal Marching Band. Patrick is usually a straight 'A' student, having received only 5 'B's' during his entire educational experience - up to and including his sophomore year of college. A virtuoso pianist, vocalist and trumpet player, Patrick has won or finished very high in numerous competitions, as well as winning awards acknowledging the circumstances he has overcome to achieve these heights. He has been featured on ESPN, ABC-TV, Oprah, CBS-TV, The Ellen Show, Extreme Make Over Home Edition, FOX-TV, CSTV, NBC-TV, The Grand Ole Opry, People Magazine, Sports Illustrated, Star Magazine, and many, many others. His first book, I AM POTENTIAL, is published and available around the country/world.

Here's his story as recounted by ESPN.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qTiYA1WiY8

Marketing Spending Could Be Economic Recovery Key

The weather outside was frightful and the forecasts were anything but delightful. Earlier this week as I sat in a meeting recounting the glum 2008 economic picture nationally and at home, the biggest winter storm to hit the Greater Cincinnati area in several years was raging outside.
As about half of the planned crowd of nearly 400 showed up I was reminded that many consumers may be sitting on the sidelines at home instead of doing their part to infuse capital into the US economy this year.

One of the key indicators that analysts outlined in this economic outloook program was consumer spending. When you think about it, marketing plays a key role in helping to drive folks to the cash register. All you have to do is look at what marketers did during the holiday season.

A study released by professional services firm BO Seidman LLP, and recounted in Marketing News, the publication of the American Marketing Association, 32 percent of retail Chief Marketing Officers reported their budgets shrank during the holidays. Forty three percent recounted a status quo on spending while 25 percent actually increased spending.

It's understandable that companies would question the advertising messaging in these difficult times (value added versus price or product benefits, for instance). But if retailers continue to cut marketing (or even other more cost-effective means of awareness-raising such as PR and social media tools) without taking into account the toll on reduced sales, this economic slump may go on well in 2010.

Enquiring Minds Want to Know

I had a chance today, along with other leading public relations and marketing leaders to sit down at the conference table with Tom Callinan, Cincinnati Enquirer Editor and VP Content and Audience Development today. This was especially timely with the paper recently eliminating one section of the paper and cutting its features section by 25 percent. In a few months, the paper will also slightly reduce the width of its pages.

Overall, Callinan says there are more positives to report than negatives, such as: 1. Despite layoffs of about 30 managers and writers, the paper has actually increased the number of hard news reporters; 2. This news is a little old but I had never heard that Wired Magazine last year cited the Enquirer as a leader in advancing online news and it also ranked as the third largest aggregator of print and web news last year among the nation's 35 biggest papers finishing behind the Washington Post and Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel; 3. 80 percent of the readers who became subscribers when the Scripps Howard publication disappeared have remained with the Enquirer.

Callinan says many of the cutbacks have prompted complaints but now cancellations (the biggest gripes have come from presumably older readers who don't have cable and don't like the shrunken tv listings). A big worry for him is that earlier business models assumed that as readers aged into their 20s and 30s they would return to reading the newspaper for news about financial planning and paying for college for kids. He says paper analysts now realize that's probably not going to happen.

Bottom line on how people view the paper: His hope is that people see the Enquirer as trying its best to be a watchdog, not influenced in a negative sense by community leaders and organizations but not the enemy.

Aspiring Photogs Take Note

After the lull of the holidays, things are picking up at work. The Convention & Visitors Bureau in NKY is getting ready to host the annual convention of the Kentucky Professional Photographers Association (www.kyppa.com), Jan 22-27. This group has progressively grown in the half dozen or so years we have consecutively hosted their conference. It began meeting here after association officials realized there are as many professional photographers in NKY and Greater Cincinnati as there are in the rest of the Commonwealth.

This year however, the conference takes on even more importance as the event will expand to include the Mid-East States Professional Photographers Association (www.mesppa.com) which encompasses Kentucky, Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. It could double the attendance of our event from 300 to 600. This regional event has never taken place outside Ohio. There's a chance we could possibly host the regional meeting every other year after this.

With the down economy, more people are open to entrepreneurial jobs. If you have thought about going into business for yourself as a photographer, this is definitely a show you should check out. By joining the KYPPA you can attend the whole conference for less than half the price of a new member. Total investment would be $100. Check out either group's web site for more details.

Covington Museum A Hidden Gem

I had a belated chance yesterday to check out the remodeled (it happened a year ago) Behringer Crawford Museum in Covington's Devou Park. The three-million dollar project has transformed the place and includes a video about the history of the region and a refurbished street car named The Kentucky. This museum is different from others in our area in two ways. In many of the exhibit areas, there is a separate fly area for kids related to the theme in that room. That way, adults accompanied by small children can focus on content not worrying about distractions. The other differentiating point Behringer-Crawford (www.bcmuseum.org) offers is the perspective of how the growth of transportation (exhibits on Ohio River traffic, the airport, the interstate system) has fueled commerce. Sounds like these history lessons could serve as good reminders as Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky explore street cars. Check out this museum. It's a local hidden gem. I was so impressed, as we concluded a private tour with Executive Director Laurie Risch, I became a museum member.