What was our old branding? The fact I have no idea speaks to how little effect this branding is going to have on my life.
Which also speaks to the fact that it's pointless to spend any significant money on it.
I have no issue with the product, but this should have gone to a provincial visual arts program as a final project and been done with after a few iterations of reviews. Obviously it will never happen that way because money is in a city budget to be spent.
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Last edited by Hot_Flatus; 07-04-2024 at 01:16 PM.
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Any updates on the status of the outdoor water restrictions in YYC?
I am finding it frustrating that there has been little to no word on this progress outside of "stabilizing the system takes 3-5 days". It would be nice if someone could now say outdoor water use will be allowed on Saturday or Sunday or Tuesday provided no other issues arise.
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Any updates on the status of the outdoor water restrictions in YYC?
I am finding it frustrating that there has been little to no word on this progress outside of "stabilizing the system takes 3-5 days". It would be nice if someone could now say outdoor water use will be allowed on Saturday or Sunday or Tuesday provided no other issues arise.
Should be an update soon, this was from yesterday:
Quote:
Outdoor water restrictions continue
While we are confident that we can currently supply enough water for indoor use, we are keeping Stage 4 outdoor watering restrictions in place, as well as a fire ban. The Glenmore reservoir has been operating at 100 per cent capacity as we’ve been bringing the system back online and we want to reduce the demand placed on it. More information on easing outdoor water restrictions will be shared in the coming days as we determine how the system responds to the increase demands.
Which also speaks to the fact that it's pointless to spend any significant money on it.
I have no issue with the product, but this should have gone to a provincial visual arts program as a final project and been done with after a few iterations of reviews. Obviously it will never happen that way because money is in a city budget to be spent.
I also don’t think that a city should be trying to use free labour to get a commercial product from. If you want the service done we should pay for it.
I tend to agree that changing slogans isn’t really a value adding activity but I’m not a marketing / tourism person and I don’t respond to these types of programs in general.
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Well the real reason why a lot of people get worked up over this stuff is because it's a little more trivial. Every city has branding and promoting tourism, that isn't the point. Nothing wrong with a re-fresh and a re-brand so to speak.
$1.7 million to talk to people about it? 2 years of engagement? We got a colourful C for Calgary and talks about a blue sky? If 5 employees were working full time, each earning $100k for 2 years on this engagement, you would still need to spend $700k in discussion on this.
The city says they don't have the financial resources to repair critical electrical work for inner city pools for $600k.
The reason why a lot of people get upset is they see property taxes increased, rental rates increased, high utility rates and fee's. A downtown vibrancy problem, a homeless/tent population and other associated issues.
There is only 1 taxpayer. Years ago I recall the re-branding from "Heart of the New West" to "Be Part of the Energy" and associated explaining was done so that global investors and talent recruiters could better connect with people on what Calgary does. We are the energy capital of Canada. It was also being done for traditional oil and gas and for clean tech and other opportunities.
The logic was what does "Heart of the New West" mean to people in other countries from a recruitment and investor perspective? It's a local thing for western Canada, not for investment banking merger opportunities in Japan.
Now we are getting Blue Sky City to promote Calgary to the world. Do other people not have blue sky's??
And for the posters who try to defend this nonsense, why would a mission critical report for a water crisis take a year but a re-branding of Calgary into Blue Sky City take 2?
You forgot to explain how you would estimate this project to the city. Still waiting. Let me know when you have one done up.
I mean, you’re accidentally answering your own questions or posing questions you’ve accidentally provided answers to already (“What’s the ROI on this?” vs “Why isn’t the city fixing this other thing??” and “Why does this take so long!” vs “The city has all these other priorities!”) but still, I’m genuinely curious how you’re estimating this out.
What goes into it, who is involved, what’s the timeline you’re proposing. How would you have worked with the city to do this at a small percentage of the cost. Aaaaand go!
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You forgot to explain how you would estimate this project to the city.
Anyone who's ever done any sort of marketing/comms/PR for medium—to large-scale not-for-profits would take an estimate and multiply it by an unholy amount.
Why? It's not worth it otherwise. Here's what it looks like:
Have multiple stakeholders constantly shaking dicks to see who's the most important
In this case, having CoC, TC, and EcDev align on a creative strategy. This would be like having Star Wars and Star Trek uber-nerds decide which spaceship looks the coolest.
Go through what would likely be a bajillion rounds of edits/concepts to placate ego and phrases like, "I'll know it when I see it" or "Just make it pretty"
Start dealing with hair loss and high blood pressure as you watch your original designs/concepts (that were likely decent) get hacked away by people you would only describe as clumsy toddlers with broken crayons
So then your only avenue to invoice is to design by consensus. Barf.
Finally achieve consensus by ego while you look at the finished product and watch your creative soul leave your body, never to be found again.
Release said work and watch it get ridiculed and picked apart (deservedly) by the people you were creating it for
Whether or not the city needed a rebrand, I don't care. Whatever. Personally, I think branding is extremely important and needs to be look at in cycles. I think this city was near the end of that cycle. The city has changed a lot since the last rebrand.
But the cost? Yeah, like Chris Rock said, "I don't agree, but I understand."
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I assume it's tough for them to forecast, and they don't want to guess on day. But maybe today they will!
I did not tune in but nothing seems to have come from today's announcement unless I have missed something? It seems crazy that nobody is able to provide any sort of real update on something like outdoor water use that is obviously a big deal.
I hate to pile on, but I don't know how you can't say anything beyond the fact that for some reason the system hasn't progressed past 50% capacity for days now, and that we anticipate regular use in 24-48 hours or even a week etc. This push seems like it was a huge optics mission for people to be able to flush their toilets and have restaurants wash dishes during stampede.
In reality it might be mid July before we can turn a bloody hose on outside or not feel bad about washing our vehicles. Enough with the lip service. A real update from someone that at least appears to know what is going on in terms of stabilizing the system would be appreciated.
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Last edited by Hot_Flatus; 07-04-2024 at 02:53 PM.
Everytime I hear "there is only one taxpayer..." my response is:
"..and I would really like to meet this one person who pays all of our taxes! I would like to thank them for underwriting all the services that me and my family use...:
Last edited by para transit fellow; 07-04-2024 at 02:53 PM.
I did not tune in but nothing seems to have come from today's announcement unless I have missed something? It seems crazy that nobody is able to provide any sort of real update on something like outdoor water use that is obviously a big deal.
I hate to pile on, but I don't know how you can't say anything beyond the fact that for some reason the system hasn't progressed past 50% capacity for days now, and that we anticipate regular use in 24-48 hours or even a week etc. This push seems like it was a huge optics mission for people to be able to flush their toilets and have restaurants wash dishes during stampede.
In reality it might be mid July before we can turn a bloody hose on outside or not feel bad about washing our vehicles. Enough with the lip service. A real update from someone that at least appears to know what is going on in terms of stabilizing the system would be appreciated.
No results from that thing for 3-4 weeks. Hopefully that's no how long we have the outdoor water ban on for...
The longer they can extend an "emergency" ban means it becomes easier for them to implement a forever ban without too much public outcry. It is all part of the plan.
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No results from that thing for 3-4 weeks. Hopefully that's no how long we have the outdoor water ban on for...
It wouldn't be surprising with this group running things. Why even come out less than a week ago saying stabilizing will take 3-5 days when you have these activities planned? This couldn't have just popped up yesterday out of nowhere.
It would be so incredibly easy to have someone stand up and say we are running a pipe diver today and fibre optic monitoring will then be installed before we up the line capacity to 95% or 100% - this will add XX days to the initial timeline for full service to be restored.
People are pretty understanding when it's clear there is transparency in the process. It's when there is no communication or at least any involving anything that is worthwhile that frustration starts setting in.
__________________
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Anyone who's ever done any sort of marketing/comms/PR for medium—to large-scale not-for-profits would take an estimate and multiply it by an unholy amount.
Why? It's not worth it otherwise. Here's what it looks like:
Have multiple stakeholders constantly shaking dicks to see who's the most important
In this case, having CoC, TC, and EcDev align on a creative strategy. This would be like having Star Wars and Star Trek uber-nerds decide which spaceship looks the coolest.
Go through what would likely be a bajillion rounds of edits/concepts to placate ego and phrases like, "I'll know it when I see it" or "Just make it pretty"
Start dealing with hair loss and high blood pressure as you watch your original designs/concepts (that were likely decent) get hacked away by people you would only describe as clumsy toddlers with broken crayons
So then your only avenue to invoice is to design by consensus. Barf.
Finally achieve consensus by ego while you look at the finished product and watch your creative soul leave your body, never to be found again.
Release said work and watch it get ridiculed and picked apart (deservedly) by the people you were creating it for
Whether or not the city needed a rebrand, I don't care. Whatever. Personally, I think branding is extremely important and needs to be look at in cycles. I think this city was near the end of that cycle. The city has changed a lot since the last rebrand.
But the cost? Yeah, like Chris Rock said, "I don't agree, but I understand."
I agree with your post until the bolded...which I don't necessarily disagree on, but I'm really struggling to come up with reasons why it's important for a city?
Quote:
Originally Posted by calgarygeologist
The longer they can extend an "emergency" ban means it becomes easier for them to implement a forever ban without too much public outcry. It is all part of the plan.
I agree with your post until the bolded...which I don't necessarily disagree on, but I'm really struggling to come up with reasons why it's important for a city?
It helps with attracting tourism and economic investment. The logo and tagline are really small parts of it and small outputs of the overall process, but place branding is becoming a lot more important globally.
I agree with your post until the bolded...which I don't necessarily disagree on, but I'm really struggling to come up with reasons why it's important for a city?
I had a much longer response but I figured an image should do it. This is why branding for cities is important:
