Bellis Calls for Changes in Town’s Approach to Promoting Taos
Debate Focuses on Demographics of Change and Events
Both Gene Sanchez and Darren Cordova ran for mayor, partially based on the issue of using Lodger’s tax revenue for promoting tourism, not to subsidize the alleged “Convention Center” at Bataan Hall, now a UNM work in progress on Civic Plaza Drive. At the beginning of Mayor Cordova’s administration (before he went the way of all flesh) he hired public relations pro, Cathy Connelly.
Cathy tied the virtues of Taos to events and yearlong promotions. She understood and listened to the community while putting her skills to use, bringing in Griffin and Associates and guiding the publicist to help marketing and advertising. Reporting the news under Connelly was easy. She sent out detailed press releases: transparency was in, opaque government was out. Course they ran her out and now she works today for a highly sophisticated and classified government agency.
According to The Taos News story by J.R. Logan, Thu. Nov. 20, “Town officials are expected to decide Tuesday (Nov. 25) whether to cancel its contract with marketing firm Griffin and Associates. They also will likely consider candidates for a town marketing director, whose job description includes many of the duties now farmed out to Griffin.”
In the following commentary, I point out the areas where I think Town Manager Rick Bellis is correct and where I disagree.
For instance, The Taos says, “Town Manager Rick Bellis is recommending the Griffin contract end, and he’s pushing the town to focus less on buying ads and more on creating events and a more attractive atmosphere in Taos. “
Here I believe Bellis is absolutely spot on. Griffin is lost without a local guide, like Connelly. She’s splattering the walls with paint, hoping something will stick. People need “events” or “something to do” when they come here. Griffin’s budget, according to reports is about $400,000 for p.r. publicity, buying ads, etc. It’s a drop in the bucket, given the expense of media buys.
According to the news, “Taos businesses are still in a slump. Economic data from 2013 show the county’s overall economy a couple percentage points above a post-recession low in 2011. But retail (12 percent of the total economy) fell 38 percent last year, and industries related to tourism have yet to return to 2008 levels.”
During the last year and a half I have tended to my observation post at the Historic County Courthouse on the Plaza. Retail business is directly related to pedestrian traffic on the Plaza. The older and now traditional demographic are “lookers” not “buyers.” There are exceptions: Taos Mountain Outfitters, Artwares, other galleries who are doing okay, etc. When the Town, due to the ski season or Fall Arts, is full of people, hotels and restaurants do okay. But I really wonder if there is a future in retail expect for the “exceptionals.” Seems like a real question to me.
As the Taos News says, “there hasn’t been a clear correlation between the amount of money the town spends on ads, and the return it gets back in increased stays. Variables like a good snow year or the declaration of the Río Grande del Norte National Monument are generally agreed to have as much influence on how many people end up coming to Taos as any ad campaign.”
Hint, Hint!
“`I don’t think we need to advertise the brand. I think people know all over the world know what Taos is,’” Bellis said. “But the problem is when they get here they’re disappointed cause that’s not what we are. We’re not an artist community anymore. We’re not a real chic place. And if that’s what we want to be, then we need to get back to being that.”
Here I believe Bellis reveals both his insight and his confused diagnosis and analysis. Taos has an international reputation but I dislike the jargon “brand.” We are not a brand but a place and people, unique and isolated, historically bound and ultimately interesting to the interested, a very small demographic. If you read The Taos News’s “Enchanted Homes” and see a photo-shopped community modeled on Aspen, you are going to draw the wrong people and disappoint them. We should call for truth in advertising.
We are still an artist community, hence visitors come, whether due to historic reputation or because of art, maybe not to buy but to experience history and culture, as well as the great outdoors. The visual arts, aesthetically, are in a funk. But Taos is one package.
We’ve never been a “chic” place except in the minds of visitors and mistaken second homers. But we are a “funky” place, where the juxtaposition of the millionaire and the peon, the politico and the artist, the rich and the poor, the million-dollar house and the broken down mobile home share a well and a fence. You must leave your bourgeois prejudices behind when you enter Taos.
“Bellis is recommending the town council cancel its contract with Griffin and Associates, hire a marketing director to do a lot of the ad buying and stat collecting in-house, and refocus on making Taos “cool” again. A big part of that, he argues, is creating more events that make Taos a more exciting place to live and attract more visitors, if even if it’s just for the day.”
I agree with Bellis here except for the “short-term” view, typical of the American who checks on quarterly reports. We need to take the long view, get folks here, who want to stay and enjoy the sights and sounds, not the quick fix of the adrenalin-culture junkies, who spend a day or two. We are not close enough to population centers to ramp up the weekends or figure on overwhelming numbers during the season. We need year round, long term strategies so folks stay for days, weeks, and months.
Bellis said. “If your answer to that is: ‘those aren’t the people we want. The heads-in-beds people are the blue-haired Texan people.’ Well, at some point that population’s going to die off. Then what are you left with?”
This ageist and seemingly bigoted view undermines the tourist and visitor base. I have met people who have been coming here more years than Bellis has been alive. They are our secret P.R. force and spread the word back home to those who would enjoy the unique spirit of Taos, including the occasional younger son or daughter who digs the vibe and the outdoors as part of the “new” demographic.”
These seniors stay for days whether returning each year for the changing of fall leaves or because they spent a summer in a commune, got married, had children, and want to see Taos before they die. They are our “tourist” ancianos and I believe we must honor those who honor us. “I’ve been coming here for years and this is the first time I’ve been able to see the Frescoes,” was a frequent comment at the Historic Courthouse this last fall and summer.
“Bellis points to the town-sponsored Kongos concert in September as one example of generating more buzz. The town spent about $20,000 to hire a band, and set up and promote the event, which drew thousands to Taos Plaza at the start of the Fall Arts Festival. Gross receipts for that month were up more than 4 percent over last year, though it’s impossible to tie that growth to any one event.”
Tell the truth: the Kongos drew about 2000 locals to the Plaza. You could have done the same thing with a gathering of local “Thursday Night Live” bands, celebrated local music and filled the Plaza for one-third the expense. Bellis and Barrone are new to the music promo business and I dare say have stepped on a few Plaza toes not without good intentions. But they have a lot to learn about promoting concerts, especially when they join forces with locals who have unsavory pasts.
Meanwhile, if receipts were up for September it was because of “Fall Arts,” a magnificent change of pace created and implemented by unselfish volunteers, who were particularly imaginative, this year and who capitalized on Taos’s reputation but like the Harwood’s Orale, reached out to multicultural audiences and generations. The Town did a good job of getting out of the way and helping when asked but the success was due to year-long planning.
About the new direction being promoted by Bellis, Laurie Moreau director of sales with the Sagebrush Inn and Suites and a member of the town’s Lodgers Tax Advisory Board, says, “I think there’s a danger if the politicians are in charge of the marketing and not a professional.”
In Taos the merchant class rarely understands the political class. Course politics are a kind of blood sport. Bellis himself is not a politician, he’s an administrator, trying to stir things up and refocus folks’ attention on the “changing demographic” and change in “retail business.” And we need “events” properly understood and affordable. Some merchants live in the decades dead and gone or misunderstand where they live. We don’t want to make the mistake TSV made by barring snowboarders. But we can’t ignore our base, art, culture, and history, which has been centuries in the making.
To me tourist promo dollars should be focused on the long term assets: the Rio Grande del Norte Monument, out door recreation and the beauty spots, history, culture, and the spirit of Taos. The spirit of Taos is embodied not in what’s “chic” or (forgive me) “world class” but in what’s “funky” and “fun” and “interesting.” You can, like a good Epicurean, enjoy the low and slow of everyday life without having to compete for the prestige of a proper address, fashion shop, restaurant reservation or B&B.
Taos is all about ignoring the conventional customs of the high life and seeing yourself vis-à-vis the eternal verities. As you enter Taos and the standard social patterns disappear, you are abandoned to your own self. In the broadest sense Taos stimulates spiritual adventure.
Basically, Taos, like the best businesses and restaurants, relies on the mystery and word of mouth. Some folks concentrate on service and quality, not marketing. I think Bellis wants to improve the look of the Town and the experience. Even if I disagree with some details, he’s absolutely right about refocusing the community on cleaning up and creating excitement, call it open-mindedness. Bellis and Mayor Barrone are the first city hall duo to really confront the issue of change and decline. And they have put their work gloves on and political capital to work. So let’s keep the dialogue open but let’s avoid the jargon of hype and stick to the mysterious realities of funky Taos.