Columbus Ohio Really is a Nice Place to Visit. Seriously

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With top ten lists for everything imaginable, everyone has been trained to basically ignore anything that isn't in the top ten. So what's a city like Columbus (OK, they do have the second largest college population) to do when it comes to creating a tourism campiagn that will announce to the rest of the country that the place actually exists and that it has a lot to offer? Highlight what's not in Columbus, of course.

Ad blogger Leigh Householder, along with 60 other bloggers, was invited to an Experience Columbus-hosted event to unveil the new tourism campaign which carries the tagline, Not in Columbus. One element off the campiagn is a t-shirt which, on one side, has a picture of an crossed out Eiffel Tower and "But I Did Everything Else" on the other.

Leigh highlights some of the positive aspects of the city if she were to be charged with creating the campaign. She mentions positives such as a creative economy to nationally-recognized chefs, a big local music scene, museums and ballet, art festivals and affordable housing among others. Columbus, does, it seems have something to offer. There was no mention of that river catching on fire many years ago. OK, OK, that was a jab. Every city ebbs and flows but it looks like Columbus is on the upswing.

Leigh has a plan and it's all right here.

by Steve Hall    Aug- 4-08   Click to Comment   
Topic: Campaigns, Good   

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Comments



Comments

No river in Columbus ever caught fire!!!

That was in Cleveland, you idiot.

Don't write anything unless you have the facts correct.

Posted by: Rico on August 4, 2008 11:01 AM

Hi,

Actually OSU has the highest (#1) enrolllment, not second.

Go Bucks.

Posted by: Doug on August 4, 2008 12:07 PM

I want the shirt that says "The Cuyahoga River didn't catch fire in Columbus...but everything else did."


Posted by: Kevin on August 4, 2008 12:15 PM

I want the shirt that says "The Cuyahoga River didn't catch fire in Columbus...but everything else did."


Posted by: Kevin on August 4, 2008 12:16 PM

I knew it was Cleveland, Rico. I wanted to see how many people in Ohio I could piss off:-) I have relatives in Cleveland.

Posted by: Steve Hall on August 4, 2008 1:13 PM

Rico: Calm down on the name calling, you make the rest of us in Columbus look bad.

Doug: Calm down on the "go bucks," you make the rest of us in Columbus look bad. Steve said 'highest college population.'
OSU = highest enrollment.
Boston = highest college population.
Columbus = second highest college population.

Kevin: That really doesn't even make sense... sort of funny, I guess.

My take on this campaign - I applaud them for the fac that they're not doing the normal tourism campaign with pretty flowers and some dude kayaking. But a negative campaign? It kind of makes me sad that I even live here when I see what we don't have. There's too much in this city to be proud of that focusing on the things we don't have isn't self-deprecating humor, it's just pathetic.

Posted by: Matt on August 4, 2008 1:23 PM

Not sure if my last comment will show up because I had put links in it...so if not, go to youtube and search for OSU Riots.

Matt: I stand by my comment.

In order to not "make the rest of Columbus look bad" I would imagine not having riots would make more sense than saying "Go Bucks" on a blog.

Posted by: Kevin on August 4, 2008 2:38 PM

Kevin: Couldn't agree more... regarding your joke, I get it now. Just didn't understand at first. Thought you were saying everything else catches fire in Columbus (i.e., people's homes/buildings/etc.). In that context, it just didn't make any sense. Now that you're speaking of the dumb riots by those wonderful college students, I'm with ya'.

Anyway, back to the topic, I hate the campaign, as do most Columbus residents. Hard to get people to come to your city when even the residents have no pride in the campaign and won't get behind it. Kind of embarassing, really.

Posted by: Matt on August 4, 2008 3:26 PM