Friday, January 6, 2012

What's Old is New

Welcome to Amherst indeed

Our somewhat high-profile Amherst town website just started promoting Public Service Announcements about the wonders of Amherst, under the banner headline "NEW!" Interestingly some of the production is recycled from a few years ago when, errr, another town manager first hatched the deal with a slick marketing ad agency: free PR videos for the town, but with paid local ads around them.

I actually like the older ones a little better mainly because the voice over lady knows how to correctly pronounce the town's name. Since Am_erst seems to have adopted the motto "Where only the h is silent," you would think somebody would ensure the same from official public relations materials.

And a little fact checking would also help as the "new" education tourbook promo states Amherst is "home to five renowned colleges," including Mt. Holyoke and Smith College--a not so trivial mistake the national lamestream media occasionally makes as well.

And we now have only three "town elementary schools" (thanks to Catherine Sanderson).

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Amherst is a special place and should have some type of brief online video for prospective home buyers but some fact checking would be good to not look half-assed. A question I have is, is this a part of a large marketing campaign? Because Amherst pretty much sells itself and it's not like there's some mass exodus out of the town.

Anonymous said...

Not going to cover that the town was sued over denying the fraternity the zoning permit?

Not to say I told you so, but I told you so. Now we've got to waste town money on this nonsense.

Larry Kelley said...

Kind of a dog bites man story.

Anonymous said...

Really? More like a "they do it every time" story. Amherst walks into obvious lawsuits and then wastes our money on it.

Larry Kelley said...

Sorry there (Cowardly) Anon (Nitwit) 10:38 AM, blogger somehow erased your comment and this time I can't even blame it on my iPad.

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "What's Old is New":

"Must you really bring Catherine Sanderson into every blog post? I swear you have an abnormal obsession with her. What does your wife say about that?"

Actually my wife likes Catherine as they both are remarkably alike: smart, attractive, courageous,extremely hard working, and in wicked good shape.

Besides, her husband is an ADA and I have a policy never to mess with ADAs (well, except for Rich Morse).

Anonymous said...

when the prospective amherst homebuyer finds this blog, then what?

Larry Kelley said...

Oh, I've been averaging 750 or so page views per day for for the past couple years (and only about half from Amherst), so I think a few prospective home buyers have discovered me by now.

Maybe I'm to blame for the recent real estate slump.

Anonymous said...

Catherine's husband, Bart Hollander, is an Assistant Attorney General, not an Assistant District Attorney.

Despite that distinction, neither one of us is allowed to use the power vested in us simply to give either Larry Kelley or anyone else a hard time.

In short, we can be attacked, gratuitously or justifiably, without anyone worrying about retribution.

Rich Morse

Larry Kelley said...

Well that's comforting to know.

(Of course they also said that about the IRS during the Nixon administration.)

Anonymous said...

does the town website mention that the school budgets have been "decimated" according to the superintendent? that should draw people here.