There’s an old saying, often attributed to former Speaker of the House Tip O’Neil, that “all politics are local.” He meant that a politician’s national success is directly tied to the issues that matter to their constituents at home. Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about how our success has become increasingly local. For… Continue reading.
9% of U.S. adults interact with their cell phones during sex, according to a recent study. Did that crazy statistic get your attention? Because getting and holding your attention, it turns out, is becoming more challenging. This same study by Harris Interactive also cited 12% of Americans using their phones in the shower, 19%… Continue reading.
“I just don’t get bumper cars.” This is what my friend Hannah said as we watched guests at Busch Gardens Williamsburg wham into each other on the Der Autobahn Bumper Cars in the Oktoberfest node. It is really pretty silly when you think about it. I was giving Hannah a tour of Busch Gardens, a… Continue reading.
What is the fundamental value that drives your business? A few years back, my partner Jim Moorkamp and I developed a description of PGAV Destinations’ practice based on three elements: Empathy, Strategy, and Innovation (ESI). We used a Venn Diagram (below) to describe the interrelated nature of these three. As time has passed, ESI… Continue reading.
Here’s an interesting question: The Mona Lisa has been destroyed in a fire, but there is a perfect copy that even experts cannot tell from the original. Which would you choose to see: the copy or the ashes of the original painting? This question was actually researched by Jesse Prinz and Angelika Seidel at the… Continue reading.
Next April will be the 150th anniversary of the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia, which effectively ended America’s Civil War. And the Town of Appomattox is preparing for their Sesquicentennial commemoration in 2015. But they are also looking beyond 2015, for the creation of a more complete tourism destination. At the time… Continue reading.