Our Position Papers

A NEW VISION FOR COMMUNITY & DESTINATION DEVELOPMENT

Ask many community leaders to name the most important community development agency in their town and we wouldn’t be surprised to hear responses such as the Chamber of Commerce or the Economic Development Council. And, that’s to be expected, as many Chambers have been mainstays in our cities for over a century. And, Economic Development? Well, that just sounds sensationally important.

With no disrespect to these critically important community agencies, that the Destination Marketing Organization isn’t included in the list exhibits a shocking lack of awareness of the power of DMOs to communicate the brand essence of a place to attract investors, future residents and worldwide awareness and appreciation. After all, Chambers speak to their members and Economic Development agencies speak to site selectors and corporate decision makers. DMOs, on the other hand, speak to everybody.

In this position paper, we suggest a new vision for community development; one in which every agency and government committed to enhancing Quality of Life and Quality of Place join together in an umbrella alliance in which Job #1 is establishing a marketing message that resonates with every one for every reason.

And, after reading our manifesto, if you’d like to examine the opportunity to consider such a model for your community, give us a call.

BOARD DIVERSITY FOR DESTINATION MARKETING ORGANIZATIONS

Sponsored by Destinations International and penned by Bill Geist and Searchwide Global’s Mike Gamble, this position paper was born in the Summer of 2020, amidst the protests for Racial Justice and Equity spawned by the murders of far too many Black Americans. As they discussed some of the CEO openings on the board, the discussion turned toward the Boards that were engaging Searchwide Global to identify top candidates. The two agreed that many of the most challenging Boards were the ones that lack diversity; that didn’t mirror their communities.

Bill and Mike set out to suggest a different pathway for Boards that knew they had to get intentional about ensuring that they were representative of their communities. Working with Destinations International’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee, this position paper was developed for attendees at the association’s Annual Convention in July of 2020.

20 FOR 20

Hard to believe that it’s been over 5 years since DMOproz celebrated its 20th Anniversary. To commemorate the occasion, we published a piece that identified the 20 trends that we believed would power our world in 2015. Interestingly, our 20 recommendations ring as true today as they did then.