Committee solicits public displays of affection

As controversy brews in Cape Girardeau about the Convention and Visitors Bureau's strategy to find a pitch for bringing visitors to the city, another group is working on strengthening the pride of the community's citizens.

The group, chaired by Melvin Gateley, is a subcommittee of the city's Vision 2020 project. The members met Wednesday at City Hall to formulate a strategy for promoting the positive aspects of life in the City of Roses.

"We want to bring an upbeat, positive approach to this," said Gateley. "Why are people so grumpy and negative when there are so many wonderful things here?"

The subcommittee has come up with a slogan, "I Love Cape," to promote their message. At Wednesday's meeting, Meg Davis of the Zimmer Radio Group pitched an idea for a radio public service announcement that will extoll the virtues of living in Cape Girardeau.

The announcement will emphasize things like the city's medical facilities, educational opportunities, safety and recreational features.

"We really want to build the morale of the citizens," said committee member Laura Connel.

But while the committee's focus is to promote the city, it doesn't intend to come into conflict with the goals of the CVB's commissioned marketing study.

"The focus of Vision 2020 is internally geared toward Cape Girardeau," said Chuck Martin, director of the CVB. "Our study is external, to see how we can attract people from the outside to the city. They're two separate entities."

The committee has plans in the works for an awards banquet to reward members of the community for their contributions to life in the city. It also hopes to be able to use ordinary citizens who live in the community to promote the city by telling everyone in the public service announcements why they love Cape Girardeau.

They hope to encourage the involvement of all citizens in the development of Cape Girardeau and its services, according to Vision 2020's strategic plan.

"Our goal isn't to insert 'I Love Cape' into the Convention and Visitors Bureau agenda," said Gateley. "We want to make sure our strategy isn't written to be in conflict with them."

The two projects should come together to promote the city, said Connel, but they don't have the same focus.

"If this is successful," said committee member Heather Brooks, "then maybe the Convention and Visitors Bureau could use our success to build on."

But some members of the community doubt the ability of a campaign with the slogan "I Love Cape" to really succeed.

"It really says nothing to me," said Southeast Missouri State University student Robert Lewis. "It's too vague. I'm really into community service, but that slogan doesn't motivate me to do anything."

Grace Parry, owner of Grace Cafe, thinks that something more creative would be more effective. "It's been overdone. We need to give people something creative, something to look forward to."

msanders@semissourian.com

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