North Main Street needs a renovation

The other day, the St. Louis Post Dispatch ran this story about the city of Edwardsville putting back $4 million towards renovating the North side of Main Street.

I have lived in Edwardsville for 22 years. I know every road, every back road, every corner and every other little thing you could ever imagine. I haven’t lived anywhere else.

This news is great for Edwardsville, and can substantially boost its image. The North side of Edwardsville is pretty much the worst side of town. It is also the oldest. There really is no “bad” neighborhood in Edwardsville. Earlier this year when I was looking for apartments my parents specifically told me “not to move to the North side” because it is the hood. I think this is ludicrous, because the crime rates in this town are pretty much non-existent. The little there is does occur in these neighborhoods, so they get a bad rap. It’s basically an unkept, low income part of town, but hardly qualifies as a ghetto of any sort.

I never got to go to Rusty’s, because it closed down before I turned 21. I think that bar running is huge for that side of town, and am glad to see the city is pushing to find the place a tenant, as it has been lying decrepitly for a few years now.

Edwardsville in comparison to its neighbors on the East side is already around the top of the best places to live, along with Glen Carbon. Family Circle Magazine voted Edwardsville as the “third best place in the country to raise a family” just last year. Alton, Granite City, East St. Louis, Collinsville and Belleville make Edwardsville look like the Vatican.

If Edwardsville can successfully rejuvenate its old-town district, it will have made a very good move in terms of publicizing its city.

This renovation is not completely necessary, and I think that is why they have decided to do it now. Getting this done will make Edwardsville a more attractive town, and because it is an entrance point into the city, it needs to be at the center of the town’s tourism and marketing efforts.

I would love to see this happen sooner than later, and can see it greatly benefiting Edwardsville.

Thoughts?

Reasons AmTrak sucks.

Saturday I encountered the train ride from hell.

I left Chicago with six co-workers after attending the Illinois College Press Association Conference. We were greated at Union Station with a flashing “delay” on the departure train when we arrived 30 minutes before we were scheduled to take the 307 to Alton.

No big deal, they will keep us updated on the situation and eventually we will be on our way.

Or so we thought.

After a few updates, they stopped telling us what was happening to our train. It had a mechanical issue, but they were vague about it.

Finally, the train started boarding at 9:30, but we didn’t know about it because AmTrak forgot to tell anyone.

Once we got on the train, we were greated by the conductor who told us they had a “cold car.” The heating unit was not working properly and they didn’t want the customers to be uncomfortable on the ride. It was 40 degrees outside, so it wasn’t a huge deal. We were all just ready to get home.

About an hour into our journey, we were stopped on the tracks. A strong smell of gasoline filled the cabin. We were not told what was going on until the train started moving again.

Later, the heating unit went out again causing the train to stop. The conductor walked through the cab and told us what was up.

Later, we were stopped again, this time because a car decided to park on the tracks in Carlinville and we couldn’t move until it was off.

We were there for two hours, calling local law enforcement who knew nothing about this so called car on the tracks.

Around 3:45 a.m. we finally landed in Alton.

Nine hours of hell had ended.

I don’t care if people are sleeping. AmTrak needs to let its paying customers know what is going on during these situations. I don’t like being stuck on the tracks. I don’t like delays. AmTrak sucks. The trains need WiFi and when i pay $7 for a turkey sandwhich I don’t want it half frozen and half buring hot and soggy from the microwave.

AmTrak needs a PR rejuvination, or else I am never riding again.

Tick Tock Pujols

The deadline is now set for Albert Pujols and the St. Louis Cardinals to reach a new contract.

The slugger and the team have until Wednesday at noon to reach a deal, or Pujols, the face of the franchise will become a free agent next offseason.

From a public relations standpoint, the Cardinals are in a bind. They absolutely have to sign Pujols or face alienation from their fan base.

The ownership is really in a bind. Pujols wants to become the highest paid player in the game with a 10 year, $300 million deal. It is a tough situation for ownership, because Pujols contact would extend him to the age of 40, and by then who knows what he will be worth? $30 million a year for a 40 year old baseball player is a bit of a stretch. Just look at Jim Edmonds, 40 who the Cardinals just signed to a minor league deal.

The fact is, the Cardinals need Pujols. the Pujols people know the Cardinals need him and are taking advantage of that fact. Even if the Cardinals get a valuable replacement for Pujols and go on to win a World Series, it would still not be the same. The fans value Pujols as their own, and need to keep him. The problem is, Cardinal ownership already gets some bad publicity for the way they spend money. Fans think the Cardinals are cheap. Failure to sign Pujols would offer fans further proof.

When the Cardinals signed Matt Holliday, fans worried the team would not be able to sign both Holliday and Pujols. The Cardinals said it was possible, but it seems more and more far-fetched as each day passes on Pujols deadline set for the beginning of spring training. Holliday even said he would defer money from his current contract to help sign Pujols.

The Cardinals know they need Pujols.

Now, it’s a matter of how bad they need him.

The Super Bowl as PR

 

 

 

The NFL and the NFL players association are up in arms over their collective bargaining agreement, set to expire March 4.

Each and every year, the Super Bowl is a marketing opportunity for the NFL. It is the biggest game in this country, and nothing is supposed to stop it from going on without a hitch.

The  American people love football. If the players and owners do not reach a deal next year, there will not be football and a public relations nightmare will ensue.

A world without football means a lot of pissed off people, even though I would probably care less.

Super Bowl weekend became a platform for the owners and players, meeting for the first time since November. At Super Bowl media day, Cincinnati wide receiver Chad Ochocinco posed as a reporter and asked commissioner Roger Goodell a question about the potential work stoppage. I don’t know if he was genuinely concerned, covering media day for the “OCNN” or making light of the situation, as he has been known to do throughout his career.

Greg Aiello, the NFL’s Senior Vice President of Public Relations says the league is trying to “grow the game” through these negotiations. They want to institute an 18 game regular season, which the players think will create a pay cut, among other tough issues.

What the Green Bay Packers win over the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Super Bowl did was create a temporary distraction from the doom, gloom and uncertainty in the NFL for the 2011-2012 season. It was a time to celebrate football, but now nobody knows what will happen next.

It is in the NFL’s best interest to prevent a lockout, because we know how long it took baseball to recover in 1994 and hockey to recover in 2003. It is going to take a massive PR effort to prevent alienation of its fanbase.

For more, see nlflabor.com