Tourism Consultant V - Branded!

Will Roger Brooks' "Double D" brand be seared into Helena?

As John Harrington reports in the Aug. 22 2007 Independent Record, the Advantage Helena Committee (having no web presence that I can find), headed by Matthew Cohn, wants feedback from Helenans about tourism consultant Roger Brooks' ongoing proposal to "brand" Helena. The article references a recent 74-page assessment of the city by Brooks' organization, which is available for download here in pdf format.

Brooks, who runs Destination Development out of Olympia, Washington, has been a somewhat controversial figure in Helena since he was engaged in January of 2007, by the now-defunct Downtown Visioning Partnership, to study Helena and recommend a "brand" for the city (the DVP transmogrified into the Helena Improvement Society in May of 2007 after "misunderstandings" arose about Brooks and the perception that the project had a purely downtown focus).

In calling for feedback about the "branding" process, Roger Brooks' local advocate Jim McHugh, who heads Downtown Helena, Inc., is quoted in the Aug. 22 IR article as saying, "Something's going to happen, so if you want it to happen in a positive way, you need to direct the energy." The unsettling inference being that if something negative happens, those out of the loop will be to blame, and had better not complain.

McHugh goes on to say, "Here's an opportunity to define what our future's going to look like."

"Our future"? That brings to mind the familiar joke about the Lone Ranger and Tonto being surrounded by hostile Indians, and Tonto's "What do you mean 'we', Kemo Sabe?" Helenans are an independent lot, or at least they used to be, and I hope that most would prefer to decide the "look" of their future on an individual, personal basis.

I've read the 74 pages of Roger Brooks' assessment, and I encourage all concerned to do likewise. It won't take that long; there are lots of pictures, boilerplate copy about Brook's tourism-building philosophy, photos and text about other cities (which do not share the challenges of Helena's small population, geography and climate), and - curiously - 20 pages about website design.

But Brooks does offer 55 suggestions about how Helena could improve its appeal to tourists, and some of them aren't bad. Thing is, they're observations that, in my opinion, could have been made by any Helena advertising professional, and in some cases by anyone with common sense.

One fly in Brooks' ointment is that Helena is only a tourist town for a few months a year, and Brooks is talking about spending a lot of money (taxpayer money included) to gear things for that open-season window. Yes, tourism is important to Helena, but is it vital enough to justify these proposed expenditures? None of these things come without a price tag, and they've already spent $75,000 on Brooks himself.

One thing you will notice is that Brooks emphasizes signs. Signs and more signs. And yet still more signs! One soon beings to wonder if sign makers will be the main beneficiaries if Brooks' suggestions are put into action. Sellers of patio umbrellas and plastic chairs also look to benefit, as you will see in Brooks' report.

Some of good ol' Roger's suggestions are downright questionable, such as the notion of "promoting" some businesses over others. Who would decide that, and how?

Here, in my opinion, are Brooks' good (if sometimes obvious) suggestions, in short form:
• Scale signs appropriately for their location and function.
• Make it easy to park a car.
• Clean up litter
• Street landscaping is nice.
• Make accurate information readily available to visitors.
• Letters on signs should contrast with the background.
• People need public restrooms.
• Create "blue line" walking/driving tours of historic districts. This is certainly the best idea of the lot, but did it take a $75,000 consultant to come up with it?

There are also some problematic (sometimes funny) suggestions:
• Install parking systems that take credit cards. Those are convenient, but the ones I've read about won't work if the temperature drops below about -20º, even if they have an internal heater.
• Brooks claims that "Street trees planted every 30' will increase sales [of retail stores on that street] an average of 18%". If so, would having a tree every ten feet increase sales by 54%?
• "Shorter people can't read the parking rules and regulations on [parking] meters. Be sure to post them where they can be read." Should people who are so short that they have to reach up to put coins in a parking meter be driving in the first place?
• "Merchants need to promote [on their signs] what it is they're selling first, then the name of the store." Of course, that's really up to the merchant, who probably knows their business and clientele better than Brooks.
• Brooks objects to store windows which have "fliers plastered" in them, and suggests no more than four fliers per window. It may be true that not many people will stop to read all the fliers in store windows, but I think the idea is to show support for local activities by posting such notices. Imagine telling the church bake sale or the Cub Scouts to buzz off because you already have four fliers in your window. That would not only be downright silly, it would be business suicide in a small community like Helena.

So, please read the Independent Record story and Destination Development's interesting pdf document. Then let Roger Brooks know what you think about all this. They want to know your opinion about what Helena should be known for, what unique things Helena has to offer, and how Helena can make itself a "great destination". They're taking input until about September 15 2007. Here's the email address from the IR article: theteam@destinationdevelopment.com

Walking Mall Kiosk Removed - A Good Start

Although the controversial Walking Mall still blocks Last Chance Gulch, two physical obstacles have recently been removed from the course of the historic thoroughfare. As reported in the Independent Record on August 7 2007, workers with Tabbert Construction, Inc. cut apart and hauled away the kiosk which sat at the north end of the Walking Mall, at the intersection of Sixth and Last Chance Gulch. Also, a nearby concrete stage was jackhammered to rubble and hauled away. The cupola from the 1888 Novelty Block, which topped the kiosk, was placed in storage; there are plans to reuse it in Sixth Ward Park.

(The Independent Record story may be read here. For some reason, the story does NOT appear in the IR archives search)

When I first read the story, I was discouraged to learn that the Novelty Block cupola would be removed from public view -- another piece of Helena's history shunted away, perhaps never to be seen again. Then I started thinking: What if people saw the kiosk and stage removal as a small step toward someday reopening Last Chance Gulch to automobile traffic? What if that wide and handsome street looked better, more open and inviting, without those impediments? Maybe this could be the start of something good!

I recently visited the old downtown area of Livermore, California, and what I saw immediately brought to mind my beloved home town of Helena. What they've done in Livermore is allowed two lanes of traffic down the center of the wide main street, and have made diagonal parking slots on both sides. The street has some nice landscaping as well. Businesses were open, people were out walking and shopping, and it was convenient to get to and to park. Here's the best of both worlds, I thought. I also thought how much more lovely than the Livermore street Last Chance Gulch would look, if given a similar treatment.

Tourism Consultant IV - Cross the Capitol off the list!

As reported by the Independent Record, marketing consultant Roger Brooks of Olympia, Washington's "Destination Development" held another public meeting in Helena on May 10, 2007 to discuss his ideas for "branding" the city, which he claims would help draw in more tourist dollars.

The Independent Record previously reported that Brooks has so far been paid $75,000 by the Helena Area Chamber of Commerce, the newly-reconstituted Helena Improvement Society, and the Downtown Helena Business Improvement District, which is spearhead by Jim McHugh.

At a January 2007 public meeting, Brooks rubbed some Helenans the wrong way by suggesting that the time-honored moniker "Last Chance Gulch" be dropped from promotional material (see this blog's April 3 2007 entry). Reports are that he was confronted at least once during his previous visit by an offended Helena citizen.

Brooks' latest meeting capped another of his clandestine community assessments, where he mingles anonymously with locals for a few days, trying to get - in the words of Jim McHugh - "an outside perspective".

Here are some angles of Brook's latest "perspective", as quoted by the IR's John Harrington:

• Cross the Capitol Building off the list of Helena attractions: "It’s a very small niche of people that travel around the country looking at Capitol buildings..."

• Forget Helena's historic downtown as an attraction: "Have you ever gone anywhere because it has a historic downtown?"

• Helena has poor signs: "Of all the cities I have worked in, you need a better wayfinding system," he said. "If people are frustrated about trying to find you, they’re going to say one word - ‘Next!’ - and they’re gone." Is Helena not on the road maps? Does Brooks not know about GoogleEarth? It must be noted that Brooks' Destination Development is heavily into the design of signage.

In the end, Brooks seemed to once again offer nothing in the way of specifics, but he says he does want to hear from you: "For the next 30 days, we want to hear from the people of Helena. What do you think we should hang our hat on? What do you think we should address? What do you think your brand should be?" You can email Mr. Brooks here.

Which, if any, of Mr. Brooks' proposals might be funded by taxpayer dollars is as yet unknown, but the old saying "Follow the money" certainly applies.

In a curious aside, The Independent Record's original online headline for the latest Brooks story read: "Consultant has strong views on city's brand", but it was changed around 8:00am on the day of publication to the bland "Consultant to help city create brand", placing it squarely in "old news" land. When asked via email about this odd change, the IR's on-line news editor Martin Kidston replied that the headline change was "...more of an aesthetic change due to space usage than an editorial change." Oddly enough, the original headline appeared just fine in Internet Explorer.

Tourism Consultant III -- Ka-ching!

Like a bad-news penny, marketer Roger Brooks keeps turning up in the Helena Independent Record. Brooks runs Destination Development out of Olympia, Washington. Destination Development is in the business of selling advertising and promotion concepts (what they call "branding") to local governments and business organizations who apparently have no marketing ideas of their own. Brook's primary cheerleader in Helena appears to be Jim McHugh, Director of the Business Improvement District.

It works like this: Brooks somehow makes a deal with a local business organization and/or city government to evaluate the city and its image. He comes to town, looks around for a few days, takes some photos, and then cobbles together a presentation based on his observations. Finally, he holds a public meeting to deliver his findings to the community. When he delivered his evaluation of Helena in January of this year, the high point was his pronouncement that Helena should lose the moniker "Last Chance Gulch" because, as Brooks said, "...'gulch' is right down there with 'ditch'."

That jaw-dropping remark, resplendent in its utter shallowness, apparently didn't dim the rosy opinion that the Business Improvement District, the Helena Improvement Society, and the City of Helena have of Brooks, because they've now given him $75,000 to cook up a "brand" for the city. This "branding" involves spending private and local tax money on logos, advertising copy, advertising space, signs, props and the like.

What will Helena's new "brand" look like? For examples of Destination Development's handiwork, look at some logos here. Check out these "project examples", and view what they've done for Moses Lake, Washington. Did you notice how you're not enticed to visit any of the places that have undergone Brooks' genius touch? Remarkable, isn't it?

Helena taxpayers, are you watching?

Effort to Remove Benton Ave. Cemetery - in 1882

Avaricious efforts to raze Helena's historic sites in the name of Progress didn't start with the Urban Renewal debacle of the 1970s, which gutted the city's ornate Victorian commercial center. Such efforts were a fact of life in Helena long before that shameful episode, even as far back as the late 19th Century.

One senses rapacious interests afoot in the following 1882 item from the Helena Independent, in which it is suggested that the "graveyard" (the Benton Avenue Cemetery, begun in 1870 and now listed in the National Register of Historic Places) be removed. The loathsome aspect of the story is the underlying suggestion that certain interests sought to uproot their own dead, in a financial gamble, under the guise of caring:

Removal of the Graveyard.
The rapid growth of Helena attracts the attention of all who return after a few months' absence. The wings of the city are spreading out east, west and north, and new buildings are dotting our suburbs in all directions. On the west side of the city, if the building boom continues, houses will soon thicken in the vicinity of the graveyard, and extend beyond it. Soon, too the railroad will be running close to that vicinity, and the rush and tumult of busy life will ring around the silent city of the dead. We naturally associate the grave with quiet. When life's labors are over it looks more in
harmony with nature's laws if the dead are removed as far possible from the busy world, its conflicts and its turmoil. Neither should our reverence and respect for the dead be lessened by being brought into every day contact with them. The most appropriate place for a graveyard is one of seclusion, beautified by the tender hands of love and shadowed by foliage, for when garish sunbeams laugh above a grave, it seems like a mockery of death.

The County Commissioners some time since contemplated the purchase of forty acres about two miles cast of the city for a burial ground. Such a site with sufficient water to irrigate it could be made exquisitely beautiful, and if such a measure is contemplated the sooner it is put into execution the better.
-- Helena Indpendent, Sunday, August 20, 1882

The key to the story is not its gauzy romantic prose about the revered dead resting peacefully under leafy bowers. Nor is it the strange notion that graves should be kept from the sunshine, lest the dead therein be somehow mocked. The key is instead stated bluntly in the line, "Soon, too the railroad will be running close to that vicinity, and the rush and tumult of busy life will ring around the silent city of the dead." In the summer of 1882, great anticipation was building in Helena over the coming arrival of Northern Pacific tracks, which would happen the following June.

The northern boundary of the cemetery abutted the right-of-ways of the Northern Pacific and the Montana Central Line of the Great Northern. Benton Avenue, the cemetery's eastern boundary, was part of the old Benton Road, the main freight route between Helena and Fort Benton, the head of steamship navigation on the Missouri River. Considering these factors, it's plain to see why real estate developers might see the "city of the dead" as an encumbrance. It's likewise easy to envision a Helena Independent writer being bought off to knock out a poetic set-up piece for the business elites. Perhaps the old saying is true: The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Fortunately, better heads prevailed; the historic cemetery stayed, and can be visited today. A few internments are listed at www.findagrave.com. The Benton Avenue Cemetery Association maintains the cemetery and has a
mission to preserve and enhance the historical integrity of the cemetery. For more information, contact the Benton Avenue Cemetery Association, P.O.Box 4212, Helena, MT 59604, 406-443-3242.

Tourism Consultant Badmouths "Last Chance Gulch"

On January 18 2007, tourism consultant Roger Brooks of Destination Development presented his creative vision for downtown Helena at a workshop sponsored by Helena's Downtown Visioning Partnership.

As reported by John Harrington of the Independent Record, Brooks had this to say about historic Last Chance Gulch: "I would never call downtown a gulch, no offense. 'Gulch' is right down there with 'ditch.'"

Sorry, Mr. Brooks, but offense is taken. Last Chance Gulch is a proud name and a proud place, in spite of nearly being destroyed by greed and Urban Renewal the 1970s. If Brooks had made his ill-considered comment a century ago, he would have been lucky to have been ridden out of town on a rail. As it was, Brooks was reportedly told to his face that he didn't "...know his ass from a hole in the ground."

Brooks' visit was sponsored by Helena's Downtown Visioning Partnership [defunct as of May 2007], who continue to champion the blocking of Last Chance Gulch by the ghastly Walking Mall. Do Downtown Visioning even care about Helena's unique heritage? After Brooks' embarrassing visit, I have to wonder.

Downtown Helena Scrutinized by Consultant

Between Jan. 15 and 18 2007, Downtown Helena will be critiqued by Roger Brooks, a consultant with Destination Development, Inc. of Olympia, WA. Brooks' visit is sponsored by Helena's Downtown Visioning Partnership, who are proponents of keeping Last Chance Gulch blocked by the notorious "Walking Mall".

Mr. Brooks' company, Destination Development, Inc., is primarily involved in developing "branding" for communities. This "branding" basically involves creating an advertising theme for the community, complete with logos, signs and props. Destination Development also devises marketing plans for communities, and suggests to local governments how best to implement the consultant's vision of what the community ought to be.

Here is Destination Development's Tourism Plan for Enumclaw, WA, complete with new horse logo.

Here is the package they are assembling for the city of Moses Lake, WA.

What Mr. Brooks will suggest for improving Downtown Helena is still a mystery, but considering that the Downtown Visioning Partnership is sponsoring his visit, it seems safe to assume that breathing life back into Last Chance Gulch by unblocking it will not be part of his creative vision. He might have some cute logo ideas, though.