Moses Lake chamber hears guru

MOSES LAKE — Every town has something for everyone.

The key to attracting tourists is finding and promoting something no one else has got.

So said Roger Brooks, founder and CEO of Destination Development, Inc., in his keynote speech during the Moses Lake Chamber of Commerce annual banquet Wednesday night.

"Be different or the best," he said several times during the evening. "If you can do both, great."

In a presentation rife with examples of cities and establishments that have both marketed themselves well or marketed themselves poorly, clips from "National Lampoon's Vacation," "The Jerk" and "The Simpsons" and a mention of another Grant County town, Brooks, author of the book "The 25 Immutable Rules of Successful Tourism," offered seven of those tips.

They included "First impressions are lasting impressions — the rule of perceived value," in which Brooks showed examples of cities and businesses with beautiful attractions but less-than-attractive signs; "insanity has its own rewards — the rule of branding," and noting that town or business attractions must be worth a special trip and "Sell the rapids, not the river — the rule of selling experiences."

Brooks advised avoiding the following words when marketing a community: "Discover," "explore," "the four-season destination," "We have it all," "outdoor recreation," "hiking, biking, fishing," "historic downtown," the aforementioned "something for everyone," "relax," "gateway," "center of it all," "escape," "for a change of pace," "make memories here," "do nothing here," "home away from home."

Soap Lake's movement to house the world's largest lava lamp was included in Brooks' presentation as an example of a way a town is working to set itself apart.

"They are so sold on this that they think it will be a religious experience for people," Brooks said. "But at least they're thinking outside the box."

While the marketing campaign has garnered Soap Lake attention on a global scale, Brooks said it is too soon to tell whether it will ultimately prove to be a success or a failure.

"There's health spas now looking to move to Soap Lake, which is what they wanted anyway," he said. "What they did is they created their Space Needle, their icon, and now they're trying to get their ancillary businesses to do that, come in there with them. The point is, it's far better to be a big fish in a small pond, find your niche, and then increase the size of the pond, than to be a small fish in a big pond."

Of Moses Lake, Brooks said following his presentation that he thinks the city might have plenty of diversions, but it hasn't found its lure.

"If it's the lake, what is special about the lake that is different?" he asked. "Is the lake warmer here than it is over there? What is it about the lake that I can come over to Moses Lake and it's different than Lake Sammamish, Lake Washington, Banks Lake, any other lake, if it's the lake?"

Brooks also wondered if the lake might be more of a diversion than a lure, or if it's geared towards one group of people when another group of people is needed to come to town.

"I didn't see anything really obvious, but there's got to be something here that you could take and claim as the primary lure," Brooks said. "And if you don't have something, you may have to create something."

Prior to his speech at the chamber banquet, Brooks held presentations at the Moses Lake Museum and Art Center entitled "Saving Downtown" and "Gateways, Wayfinding and Retail Signage."

He also stopped in for a brief tour of Moses Lake businessman Monte Holm's House of Poverty Museum.

"First of all, I thought Monte Holm was excellent," Brooks said. "He's great, and Monte needs to be filmed. He needs to be put on camera so people can meet this guy and know him, you know, when he's not there."

Brooks added that the museum, "a display of a lot of cool stuff" needs to be spread out and tell more stories.

"Actually, his story is quite fascinating, and I think him just telling the story, whether it's on video or anything," Brooks said of Holm, calling the museum a diversion that could become a major attraction if done right.

"I think that Moses Lake has a tremendous amount of potential," he said, noting the city's central location in the state, making it an equally easy drive from the Puget Sound region as from Spokane, and from parts of Oregon as from Canada. "It's a matter of figuring out what is the lure? What do people, when they think of Moses Lake, think of besides the lake? And if it's the lake, how do we set it apart from every other lake? How is it better? How is it worth the extra drive?"

Also at the Moses Lake Chamber of Commerce banquet Wednesday evening, Jacie Daschel assumed the chamber presidency from P.J. De Benedetti.

JoAn Stern was the recipient of the President's Award.

Bev Shuford received the Ambassador Award.

Newly elected board members and officers officially took office.