john a. slogan
Haven't you heard? Carbondale Mayor Brad Cole has trademarked the phrases "Haven't You Heard" and "The Capital of Southern Illinois" in the city's name . . . a gift to Carbondale. Since I try to emulate the Mayor in all things work-ethical, I should trademark "Land o' Linkin'" and give it to the City, except another local blogger thinks he may have thought of it first, as in "landalinkin." Mm-maybe, but the phrase "land o' linkin'" was first used by me at a New Year's Eve party in Florida in 1999-2000 . . . As everyone else was saying HAPPY NEW YEAR, I shouted "Land o' Linkin'!" -- with a nod to the phrase "Land o' Goshen," and "Land of Lincoln," a touch of computer technology (for the linking) and a couple of apostrophes for good grammar. Different spelling and intent, so ... it must be a case of grating minds running in the same direction.
Speaking of which, last week Mayor Cole did a quick sprint away from the phrase "home of the dome" as a permanent "nickname" for the City of Carbondale, when the suggestion was made by a member of Fullerites for Truth at the Student Center. He said the City is already "home of Southern Illinois University" and "The Capital of Southern Illinois" ... and how many distinctions can one town have, anyway? Besides, there aren't many good examples of geodesic domes around the city anymore. The one that's best-known is wearing a giant plastic shower cap, surrounded by a rickety fence, in need of money to spruce up. True, the SIU Arena is a dome, but it ain't geodesic.
So it looks like "home of the dome" may end up belonging to Lancaster, WI, the City of the Dome, although I still think with a commitmentment by the City, it could be done. But it looks like Carbondale will be known as "The City of the Childcare Center," instead.
SIU needs a new slogan, too? Does anyone know what it is? Deo Volente? It sounds like the name of pop singer from Philly in the 50's. And the subtitle of Southern@150: "building excellence through commitment," is a worthy ambition, but less catchy than a Phillies outfielder in the 50's. Can you tell I grew up near Philadelphia? Now that city has a great slogan "the city of brotherly love," (translated from Latin). . . . God willing, SIU will get an excellent new slogan also, to reflect the Southern@150 push for excellence. A contest? How about a hip-hop jingle for the university? An official song for Carbondale? As I recall, the amazing C'wissmann once wrote an editorial about how ineffectively the university was spending its marketing money. I don't know, but someone on campus will. It may be time to meet some marketing experts well-suited to their jobs at SIU. I wonder if there's money in the budget for a slogan, song, or jingle contest. Something you can put on a button, or listen to, like a few bars of "Go You Salukis," sampled and remixed, titled: "Yo, You Salukis." Why not?
Speaking of a few bars, quite a few of them are chipping in on advertising to "Celebrate the Strip," next month. Strip? what Strip? It's about three blocks long. More like a "Str--". The event should be called "Get Drunk in Carbondale." Now that's a slogan you can take to the bank. ;-)
3 Comments:
Hey, Dave. At the risk of sounding irrelevant, here's one for your "blogtionary".
"pajamahadeen" -- word used to describe the bloggers who brought questions about the authenticity of the memos obtained by CBS about President Bush's Guard record. In response to a senior 60 Minutes executive's description of bloggers as just "a guy sitting in his living room in his pajamas" with no "checks and balances".
Et tu, Dave's pajamas?
dear mammonart,
The checks and balances come via comments like yours, and from other bloggers, not to mention any of the media who are free to contribute.
In trying to keep this blog local, it should be much easier to check and balance facts with fantasies.
p.s. what are you wearing?
d
Actually the marketing observation that Wissman makes (I think that's what he has his degree in) is that the marketing of the University is nonexistent. We need to have big marketing campaigns in St. Louis and Chicago pronto. Problem is that such a marketing campaign would be condemned by the same people who always feel the administration is wrong, no matter what they do. Mind you, I'm not happy with everything the administration does, far from it. However, some people should just try to see things from the point of view of having to be a leader and having to make a decision.
Things do not seem as easy from that persepective, especially if you have no core beliefs. Maybe that's why a lot of people complain but few try to fix the problems that face SIUC.
[climbs off soapbox]
Post a Comment
<< Home