Omaha ALL OVER national media lately

[ita]

Here's an article from the Lincoln Star about the kind of publicity and response the new tourism effort is evoking.

https://journalstar.com/news/state-and- ... 9aacd.html

What's the saying? Any publicity is good publicity? This may be applicable here.

[Padre]

I've always hated the "Any publicity is good publicity." cliche. There is some publicity that is just bad. However, this one probably isn't.

[GrandpaaSmucker]

The big joke about this new Nebraska State Promotional Campaign that I am sure is not lost too many in the national audience is the sure pathetic and worthlessness of these Consultants. As if it it is not outrageous enough that one of these Fake Consultants came up with this idea it is even crazier that Nebraska was dumb enough to go along with it. These Fake Consultants and their street car hype and arena hype and all of it are doing real harm to our country. Look what they did to the city of Ralston with all their bogus arena hype and prophetic projections. Listening to the consultants is a recipe for disaster. Getting things right never was simple and never will be. Solutions to our needs and problems are just not as easy to solve as paying an consultant a bunch of money for the right answer.

[Bob from Omaha]

I think they nailed it. Not one dime spent on advertising & already millions in free publicity...papers such as the new york times, washington post, abc, nbc, cbs, etc. Not some convoluted "nice", or other such semi serious idea. Its funny, creative, out of the box thinking that nebraska needs. You cant believe how many people talked to me about it and they dont usually give nebraska a thought. That is exactly the idea of this type of promotion any organization would love.

[ita]

I think they nailed it. Not one dime spent on advertising & already millions in free publicity...papers such as the new york times, washington post, abc, nbc, cbs, etc. Not some convoluted "nice", or other such semi serious idea. Its funny, creative, out of the box thinking that nebraska needs. You cant believe how many people talked to me about it and they dont usually give nebraska a thought. That is exactly the idea of this type of promotion any organization would love.

You are absolutely correct. Seriously, how often is Nebraska mentioned in national news and media outlets for any reason? At least for now, there seems to be positive buzz and appreciable results (ie. requests for pamphlets and visits to the tourism website, per the article). It will be interesting to see if this actually translates to additional revenue due to tourism.

Additionally, I noticed they mentioned being contacted about hosting a drone race. That would be a cool event and something out-of-the-ordinary that could bring out-of-staters to Nebraska. If this campaign is able to accomplish things like that, more power to them and the money spent on the consulting firm should be considered well spent.

[Bob from Omaha]

Listening to the consultants is a recipe for disaster.

Making broad statements, and stating opinion as fact without empirical data, is a recipe for ignorance. As for hiring consultants, there is a place for that. The alternative is not hiring consultants or marketing agencies and relying on amateurs. Now, of course the State of Nebraska Department of Tourism could have contacted successful business leaders in Nebraska and asked them to come up with a complete marketing plan. However successful TD Ameritrade is does that make them qualified to write a complete marketing plan? My OPINION is that they are not. Yes, there are times when the outcome of the consultant's plan doesn't work. You would have to look at the circumstances and find the reason why the consultant's plan didn't work. As for the Ralston Arena I am of the OPINION that there were impacts that either the consultant didn't know about or ignored. With regard to the new marketing plan for Nebraska tourism the outcome is already being seen. Basically, make a little fun of yourself, mirror current attitudes of Nebraska, and employ a gimmick to bring attention to the state.

In my career of business ownership, and that includes a number of businesses in a number of industries, I have never ever walked away from free publicity. When the owh, WOWT, KETV, the Midlands Business Journal and other media in other states called and wanted to do a story either directly about my business or in general I jumped at the chance. Any time, anywhere. This new campaign is brilliant. Millions of dollars and millions of impressions for free. Is the campaign self-deprecating? Yep. Does it make people chuckle at Nebraska's expense? Yep. Are calls and web site visits way up? Sure are. Will it translate into immediate return? I doubt it. Name a marketing campaign that does. Perhaps a few. These things are a marathon, not a sprint. Any good marketing campaign has a built in method for measuring results over time. You look at feedback, economic activity versus cost, and you tweak the campaign.

That is fact, not opinion as fact. It's also not making broad statements. In a very short time the new plan has shown impressive short term results. Now the hard work begins. Follow up with the next phase. THAT will show if the new plan has legs.

[GrandpaaSmucker]

Making broad statements, and stating opinion as fact without empirical data, is a recipe for ignorance. As for hiring consultants, there is a place for that. The alternative is not hiring consultants or marketing agencies and relying on amateurs. Now, of course the State of Nebraska Department of Tourism could have contacted successful business leaders in Nebraska and asked them to come up with a complete marketing plan. However successful TD Ameritrade is does that make them qualified to write a complete marketing plan? My OPINION is that they are not. Yes, there are times when the outcome of the consultant's plan doesn't work. You would have to look at the circumstances and find the reason why the consultant's plan didn't work. As for the Ralston Arena I am of the OPINION that there were impacts that either the consultant didn't know about or ignored.

I'm not buying much of any of that. I am an Amateur and I knew that the Ralston Arena was a farce or scam or something crazy. There was no way it was going to work out good. Any fool could see that and this is exactly why the movers and the shakers who stood to profit off building the arena had to hunt up some bogus so called expert Consultant to pump it up and help them sell it to the public so they could fleece them. Come on man those Consultants do not even exist except for the reason of helping the politicians and promoters sell their scams. Answer yourself this or better yet find us one instance where the Consultant has ever came back and said "Hey this is a bad idea don't do it because it will not end well?' The first time the consultant comes back and says that it is a bad idea is the first day of the last days that consultant is in business.

[OmahaJaysCU]

I might be misremembering, but I recall that it came out in the OWH multi story piece on Ralston Arena that the consultant they hired told them not to build it....

[bigredmed1]

I might be misremembering, but I recall that it came out in the OWH multi story piece on Ralston Arena that the consultant they hired told them not to build it....

Not sure, but I don’t recall the OWH mentioning such a direct statement. I recall cost analysis that even me as a non accountant could tell were painting a long odds picture. The problem with the OWH coverage (IIRC) and the coverage in other media outlets was the lack of coverage for the cost of alpha error and the vastly understated probability of alpha error. Ralston was told their taxes would go up, but the amount was not emphasized and the probability of the long odds contracts working out was not made clear.

[RNcyanide]

I'm living in Connecticut at the moment, and last week I had a town hall clerk ask me what I thought of our new tourism slogan when she saw my Nebraska license. She actually thought it was clever, as do I. They just need to keep the humor somewhere perfectly between sarcastic and light, without sounding like we're complaining about being boring.

[Coyote]

I saw a billboard on 72nd St near Q that said something like:
Nebraska: We're only as Boring as You are.

[Louie]

I saw a billboard on 72nd St near Q that said something like:
Nebraska: We're only as Boring as You are.

I like that a little better.

[Bob from Omaha]

This thing has legs. I've heard from friends literally all over the world.

Finally Nebraska figured out that a little self deprecation and fun aren't bad.

Keep it up!

[almighty_tuna]

This effort is solid gold and I love it. Look at what we paid for the advert ($450k) vs the coverage we've gotten. slam dunk. The people who weren't going to come here in the first place still aren't but a lot more people know the word "Nebraska".

[Coyote]

I saw a billboard on 72nd St near Q that said something like:
Nebraska: We're only as Boring as You are.

Drove by again this morning, this billboard is from the Omaha: We Don't Coast campaign.

[TitosBuritoBarn]

Jeff Fartenberry's Chief of Staff needs to learn about the Streisand Effect..

[youtube][/youtube]

[Garrett]

Big article in Politico about the race in the 2nd District

The 2018 Race That Could Settle the Democrats’ Civil War

[GrandpaaSmucker]

Big article in Politico about the race in the 2nd District

The 2018 Race That Could Settle the Democrats’ Civil War

I think they been drinking too much liberal koolaid at that paper. Bacon is going to destroy her. I don't like either one of them so I threw her a sympathy vote since I know shes got no chance and I am sick and tired of hearing those lame Bacon commercials. You heard it here....Bacon by a landslide.

[Uffda]

Big article in Politico about the race in the 2nd District

The 2018 Race That Could Settle the Democrats’ Civil War

I think they been drinking too much liberal koolaid at that paper. Bacon is going to destroy her. I don't like either one of them so I threw her a sympathy vote since I know shes got no chance and I am sick and tired of hearing those lame Bacon commercials. You heard it here....Bacon by a landslide.

Well Bacon did win but definitely not a landslide. 52%-48%

[bigredmed1]

Big article in Politico about the race in the 2nd District

The 2018 Race That Could Settle the Democrats’ Civil War

I think they been drinking too much liberal koolaid at that paper. Bacon is going to destroy her. I don't like either one of them so I threw her a sympathy vote since I know shes got no chance and I am sick and tired of hearing those lame Bacon commercials. You heard it here....Bacon by a landslide.

Well Bacon did win but definitely not a landslide. 52%-48%

Eastman was pushing hard and lots of leftist money was pouring in. They must have had polling data that showed it was close.

[Garrett]

Big article in Politico about the race in the 2nd District

The 2018 Race That Could Settle the Democrats’ Civil War

I think they been drinking too much liberal koolaid at that paper. Bacon is going to destroy her. I don't like either one of them so I threw her a sympathy vote since I know shes got no chance and I am sick and tired of hearing those lame Bacon commercials. You heard it here....Bacon by a landslide.

Well Bacon did win but definitely not a landslide. 52%-48%

Eastman was pushing hard and lots of leftist money was pouring in. They must have had polling data that showed it was close.

Hardly pouring in. She raised less than Bacon and the DCCC didn't fund ads in the area while the Republicans did. She was outspent 2-to-1

[bigredmed1]

Big article in Politico about the race in the 2nd District

The 2018 Race That Could Settle the Democrats’ Civil War

I think they been drinking too much liberal koolaid at that paper. Bacon is going to destroy her. I don't like either one of them so I threw her a sympathy vote since I know shes got no chance and I am sick and tired of hearing those lame Bacon commercials. You heard it here....Bacon by a landslide.

Well Bacon did win but definitely not a landslide. 52%-48%

Eastman was pushing hard and lots of leftist money was pouring in. They must have had polling data that showed it was close.

Hardly pouring in. She raised less than Bacon and the DCCC didn't fund ads in the area while the Republicans did. She was outspent 2-to-1

Then she spent it all on TV and yard signs in my neighborhood. The DCCC conspired against her in the primary but other activist groups poured cash into this race on her behalf.

[Louie]

Big article in Politico about the race in the 2nd District

The 2018 Race That Could Settle the Democrats’ Civil War

I think they been drinking too much liberal koolaid at that paper. Bacon is going to destroy her. I don't like either one of them so I threw her a sympathy vote since I know shes got no chance and I am sick and tired of hearing those lame Bacon commercials. You heard it here....Bacon by a landslide.

Well Bacon did win but definitely not a landslide. 52%-48%

Eastman was pushing hard and lots of leftist money was pouring in. They must have had polling data that showed it was close.

Hardly pouring in. She raised less than Bacon and the DCCC didn't fund ads in the area while the Republicans did. She was outspent 2-to-1

Then she spent it all on TV and yard signs in my neighborhood. The DCCC conspired against her in the primary but other activist groups poured cash into this race on her behalf.

And Garrett’s point still stands...

[Coyote]

On Livability.com:
Why Omaha, Nebraska Might Be the Best Place to Eat in America Right Now

[Professor Woland]

On Livability.com:
Why Omaha, Nebraska Might Be the Best Place to Eat in America Right Now

That was a good article. Thanks for sharing. Michelin stars are mentioned in the article, I don't think Omaha will ever have a Michelin starred restaurant because of how the guide works (only New York, the Bay Area and Chicago have them, maybe Vegas still does.) I think we have chefs with the chops to earn a star or two, but either Omaha would have to be big enough to have its own guide or would have to be close enough to a city with a guide for any of our restaurants to get reviewed and while there are starred restaurants that aren't super fancy, fanciness can help, and none of our restaurants aspire to that level of formality.

That said, Omaha is a great place to eat. I spend a lot of time in Portland every year visiting my in laws. I'll go on record saying that if Omaha had Portland's population, it would be a better food city than Portland.

[Coyote]

These Are The Top Ten Cities for Starving Artists

To find the best places to go for artistic careers, we looked at the metropolitan statistical areas with the least competition (determined by the number of applications per ad) for the highest number of Art/Media/Writer and TV/Film/Musician jobs posted through ZipRecruiter. We also factored in the cities offering the most benefits across all local job postings in those industries as well as the median price of rent in each city, because it’s hard to create your masterpiece in a two-bedroom you share with six roommates you met online.

Fear not, starving artists. Here are the ten best cities to work at a job you love and still be able to afford dinner.



9. Omaha-Council Bluffs, NE-IA

Omaha’s artistic prowess is exemplified by the dedication shown in various disciplines across the city. The Holland Performing Arts Center, Orpheum Theatre, and Joslyn Art Museum all call Omaha home, and the city has been featured prominently in films like Election and About Schmidt.

Median Rent: $1,287

Top Jobs

Graphic Designer
Video Editor
Technical Writer
Proposal Writer
Content Writer

[Coyote]

The Top Ten Cities for Creatives

A thriving creative class is a key feature of nearly every successful modern city. A vibrant culture is not only valuable in its own right, it also often serves to attract and inspire talented workers in non-creative fields, creating a rising tide that benefits the entire city. However, that very same rising tide often lifts housing costs and other living expenses, which consequently puts a strain on the budgets of those creative workers.

7. Omaha, Nebraska

Many who work in creative fields struggle to make ends meet. Those who work full-time as an artist, musician or writer may not have sufficient income to cover rent and other basic expenses. In Omaha, where median rent for a one bedroom home is just $686 per month (according to rentjungle.com), artists will likely face less financial stress. On top of that, local organizations like the Omaha Creative Institute offer resources to help creatives build their careers so they can stop worrying about their income and focus on their trade.

[Coyote]

The Top 40 Most Vibrant Arts Communities in America (2018)

#6. Omaha-Council Bluffs, NE-IA (pop. 924,129)

Situated among the picturesque Loess Hills and Missouri River, the Omaha-Council Bluffs, NE-IA, MSA is a growing arts hub. The area-wide support for this development leads to the area’s ranking among the top 4% in all Arts Dollars measures. The MSA is home to an abundance of arts organizations: Joslyn Art Museum, Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Polina and Bob Schlott Performing Arts Center, Holland Performing Arts Center (home to the Omaha Symphony), and Opera Omaha, housed in the historic Orpheum Theater. The area places particular emphasis on hands-on artistic experiences, with organizations like Harvester Artist Lofts and Hot Shops Art Center, as well as many local galleries and shops featuring instructional arts and crafts.

The entire MSA is dotted with public art displays, though in Council Bluffs the biggest arts and culture growth is concentrated in the South Main district. Pottawattamie Arts, Culture and Entertainment (PACE) is one of the leading institutions driving the area’s growth, and is nearing the end of its $27M capital campaign to build the new Hoff Family Arts and Culture Center that will be home to the Chanticleer Theater, Kanesville Symphony Orchestra, Ballet Nebraska, and the Kitchen Council. On the other side of the river, Bluebarn Theatre recently moved into new quarters thanks to a successful $7M capital campaign. Across all disciplines, there is a truly collaborative spirit, with organizations and local patrons forming partnerships and collaborative activities designed to get young people in the area excited about music, theater, and art. Within the MSA, support for the arts comes from a variety of sources: local organizations, local and national foundations, government, historic tax credits, and businesses, as well as individual donors and artists. The MSA ranks 13th in overall Government Support per capita, and is in the top 8% for every sub-category.

[Louie]

That’s awesome!

[Coyote]

The Professor at the Lincoln Correctional Center:

[youtube]
[/youtube]

[milesej05]

I saw that a few weeks back, pretty awesome he made the trek INTO the prison to hang out with inmates.

[Omababe]

Looks like the War On Christmas (tm) has invaded Elkhorn!

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/candy-can-ban-school/

[Coyote]

Omaha in the WSJ:

The Latest Housing Hotspot: Downtown and by the River

[Louie]

Poo, I'd really like to read that article...

[Coyote]

Talks about The Breakers.

[Louie]

Talks about The Breakers.

Good deal. Thanks!

[nativeomahan]

[ita]

I know we are all over the new tourism slogan, but here is a nice update on the kind of publicity it is still garnering:

https://www.omaha.com/news/nebraska/neb ... d613c.html

[Erik]

Brilliant slogan.. I love it

[Coyote]

Nebraska Tourism Commission earns six awards