Choose Worcester... Destination Worcester... "Discovering the Worcester Way"... And More Delusions of Grandeur

We now return to one of my most visited blog topics: Worcester bashing.

People not from heah really heap scorn on my adopted hometown (though for purposes of full disclosure I live in Auburn, NOT Worcester). The derisive remarks range from "the city is ugly" to "why did the city reject a Mass. Pike exit?" to "the city had its heyday more than 100 years ago." Yes, I've heard them all and often repeated them.

Sadly, to a great extent the derisiveness is earned and deserved. There are numerous examples of why bashing Worcester is so easy; today let's focus on three: Choose Worcester, Destination Worcester, and "Discover the Worcester Way."

1) Choose Worcester: A privately funded, public-private partnership formed to assist businesses to locate, grow and prosper in the city, Choose Worcester Inc. was amidst great fanfare established in late 2007 to market Worcester on a local, regional and international level.

With a budget of $1.2 million the staff of three embarked hopefully and optimistically on yet another economic development initiative in Worcester, whose recent history is marked by a series of marketing drives that went nowhere.

The verdict thus far? Let's hear from the venerable Worcester Telegram & Gazette. In a article on November 14, 2008 titled "Running in Place", the T&G reported: "Now in its second year of operation, Choose Worcester has shifted its focus, devoting its entire effort to courting new businesses... with developments such as improved commuter rail service between Worcester and Boston, Worcester is better placed than ever to persuade new companies to fill the vacant space."

Less than two years old and already a change in focus.

The reality is that CWI has placed its bet on the city's much-hyped (and unbuilt) CitySquare project, a $563 million initiative to revamp downtown Worcester. CitySquare is stalled four years after its conception, as project developer Berkeley Investments struggles to secure tenants. A daunting prospect in today's economy.

In fact, as we sink deeper into this recession, CWI's last news bulletin on November 19, 2008 was that the organization’s website has seen an average of over 7000 hits per month since September 1st. That's "a dramatic increase over the 2000 hits per month during the website’s first nine months in existence." That's it? That's all the news they have to report in three months?!

The silence from CWI rings loudly. Businesses aren't choosing Worcester.

CWI's grade thus far: D. (They're still operating and they have a website).

2) Destination Worcester: Started in June 2007, Destination Worcester is according to its website "a strategic investment in the hospitality industry, a focused endeavor to showcase and sell the destination to meeting & convention planners, and event & sports organizers. Acting as a single point of contact for the destination, Destination Worcester provides enhanced communications and a streamlined process for booking events in Worcester."

Worcester's FY09 budget (which allocates $500,000 to Destination Worcester) describes the organization as "first and foremost a sales organization whose goal is to increase definite room nights in the city by 22,500 by executing a targeted and proactive sales strategy."

What's the strategy? From the research I've conducted on DW, it's hire a Executive Director and two managers, produce a video using old footage (see the Daily Worcesteria blog for a great summary of this ill-conceived video), and get zero news coverage. As to the goal of increasing definite room nights in the city by 22,500? No results to be found.

DW's grade thus far: D+ (They're still operating, they have a robust website and a Facebook group.)

Before we get to the last of our three examples of why Worcester bashing is so damn easy, it shouldn't strike anyone as a coincidence that many of the same people serve on the Board of Directors of both CWI and DW.

Same old people = same old ideas = same old results.

3) "Discovering the Worcester Way": The Massachusetts Cultural Council's Adams Arts Program recently approved three Central Massachusetts organizations for funding in 2009, the largest of which was a $40,000 grant for the Worcester Cultural Coalition for a project called "Discovering the Worcester Way," a marketing campaign focused on the city's cultural opportunities.

It's true, there's a lot going in on Worcester culturally. The Worcester Cultural Coalition does a good job of promoting cultural opportunities on its website, and Executive Director Erin Williams is highly visible at Worcester events, be they cultural, political and/or business.

But as CWI and DW continue to fail to draw bodies to Worcester, the Worcester Cultural Coalition's strong promotional efforts will not be as successful as they deserve to be.

WCC's grade thus far: B- (Erin is a tireless advocate for a city whose aging veneer hides top-tier cultural offerings; the WCC's website is excellent; and they received a grant in a year when grants are scarce).

In summary, I've seen absolutely no indication of CWI, DW and the WCC working together, orchestrated by the Worcester Chamber of Commerce (which under Dick Kennedy should coordinate any and all outreach efforts).

The delusion of grandeur is that each organization will, on its own, hit upon some magical formula that will all of sudden convince hordes of people to choose Worcester or make Worcester a destination--rather than a city they simply miss (or drive by) as they derisively say, "what a pit."

Can You Believe Organizations Still Push Direct Email Campaigns Like This One?!

I recently received a email blast from the Worcester Chamber of Commerce.

As you can see, the banner is virtually unreadable, crammed full of messages from sponsors. The email below it isn't much better. It's a scroll through poorly designed announcements, conflicting logos, clashing fonts and dueling events. It's amateurish. It's a weapon of mass distraction.

Sadly, I've come to expect stuff like this from the Worcester Chamber of Commerce, as they try to squeeze every penny out of their increasingly disgruntled (and diminishing) membership base.

Setting aside the Balkans-like morass of the struggles between Central Massachusetts Chambers of Commerce, suffice it to say that the Worcester Chamber of Commerce has enjoyed more prosperous times.

But in terms of marketing and communications, this direct email campaign (if you can call it that) represents a new low in the Worcester Chamber of Commerce's outreach efforts. From this utterly abysmal piece I can only conclude that the head of the Chamber just isn't familiar with "new" direct email techniques.



So here's some free direct email marketing advice for the "powers that be" at the Worcester Chamber of Commerce (and for those of you in the profession who haven't yet grasped these fundamental lessons):

* Keep it simple: One message. One call to action.

* Keep the most important information above the fold: Surveys show that scroll down rates diminish precipitously, even as open rates decline. Keep your most important information (see "keep it simple") above the fold and immediately readable.

* Make it easy for people to act: One call to action (see "keep it simple") makes it easy for people to act. Give them a plethora of options and they'll generally choose to do nothing. Don't overwhelm your target audience. It's the quickest way to alienate them and turn them into "unsubs."

* Herd your target audience to your website: Use direct email to leverage your target audience. Entice them to click through to your website (although in the case of the Chamber's website this isn't a good idea) where you can capture their contact information and truly influence them.

This direct email campaign from the Worcester Chamber of Commerce fails on so many levels it's shameful. The Chamber's website is a shambles; a hodgepodge of information with no semblance of order.

On the whole, the email and the website reflect dismally on what purports to be the largest Chamber in New England.