Do you guys think that the new developoments at APG will affect the city at all? Or will sparrows Pt. get annexed onto APG. That was the talk of the dinner tablt the other night at my mom-mom's house in Bel Air. You should see that place. It is starting to really look like Fells Point/Canton. Anywho, there is some terrorist site there, closing a Virginia site foe it. APG could do wonders for Harford/Eastern Baltimore Counties, can the city cash in?

Sean Lax :hi: ,

Happy 15th Birthday coming up for you, on June 3rd :dance: ,
just in case we forget :nocrook: ,

The youngest brainhead in here, lol :hahaha: :applause: :rofl: !!!

Baltimore's new bait
The city is about to unveil a new slogan, 'Get In On It,' meant to intrigue visitors
By Doug Donovan
Sun reporter
Originally published May 20, 2006
Nine months and half a million dollars later, Baltimore has a new slogan.

Drumroll, please: "Baltimore - Get In On It."

The preposition-rich slogan is set to be announced next week as the centerpiece of Charm City's new effort to sell itself to tourists and visitors, according to sources familiar with the lengthy and secretive process.

"Get in on what?" asked Baltimore City Councilwoman Rochelle "Rikki" Spector, after repeating it aloud three times.

"I've seen some dumb ones in the past, but this is the dumbest," said former Mayor/former Gov./Comptroller William Donald Schaefer through his spokesman.

(As mayor, Schaefer once presided over "Pink Positive Day" when curbs were painted pink, television anchors were encouraged to wear pink, and the city's collective spirit was supposed to be improved through color after losing the Colts.)

Filmmaker John Waters said, "It's not catchy. I keep having to ask what it is again because I forget. That's OK. I don't hate it.

"I get what they're saying," Waters said. "What they're saying is, come celebrate real estate porn. You know, when people talk about how much their house cost at parties."

One branding expert, Eric Swartz, founder of TaglineGuru.com, said Baltimore has come up with a winning slogan.

"Get In On It sounds provocative, inviting, sounds like there's something to discover" in Baltimore, Swartz said. "It's vague enough to have an appeal to people who are not familiar with Baltimore. It's an invitation."

City officials refused yesterday to confirm the winning motto. But the Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association has submitted four applications to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to secure use of the phrase.

Luckily for Baltimore, the trademark no longer belongs to Marshalls Inc., the Massachusetts-based discount retailer that first registered it a decade ago.

Nancy Hinds, a BACVA spokeswoman, said the slogan will be unveiled during a ceremony scheduled for Wednesday at the Hippodrome Theatre. She said the slogan was just one element of the city's overall new branding campaign.

"Whatever the tagline is, is only half the story," Hinds said. "It's far more than just a slogan."

Former Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke was more diplomatic yesterday than his predecessor, Schaefer.

"Some will like it, and for others it will be an acquired taste," he said. "It's an appeal to a young, hip generation, or something like that, I'm assuming."

Swartz, the branding specialist, declared that some of Baltimore's previous slogan attempts - "The City That Reads," "The Greatest City in America" and "Charm City" - are among the nation's worst.

There has been a string of other nicknames along the way: Digital Harbor, Mobtown and Crab City. Then there are the less image-friendly labels: The Heroin Capital and The Murder Capital.

The convention and visitors association has kept a tight lid on the finalists for weeks and has made sure other booster groups do the same.

Kirby Fowler, president of the Downtown Partnership, "has been sworn to double secrecy," said his spokesman, Mike Evitts. So, too, have BACVA board members.

But sources who have been briefed on the finalists said "Get In On It" was judged to be far better than the other finalists that the city's consultant, Landor Associates, was paid $500,000 to produce over the past nine months.

Here are some of the finalists, according to sources who requested anonymity because of the secrecy:

"The City You Savor"

"Breeze Into Baltimore"

"All City, No Hurry"

"Enjoy The Pace"

Swartz said the city should be prepared for an initial backlash.

"Projects of this magnitude are usually accompanied by a fair amount of anguish and nagging doubts, especially when detractors start chomping at the bit. After all, a city's pride and reputation are at stake," Swartz wrote in an article, "Jumping on the Brandwagon," on his Web site.

The branding strategy aims to create a positive perception that attracts tourists and conventions, which, in turn, can boost the local economy.

Experts consider Las Vegas' slogan "What Happens Here Stays Here" to be among the most successful. An earlier attempt by Sin City to brand itself as a family-friendly destination led to a demonstrable drop-off in business.

"A slogan is a valuable ambassador," Swartz wrote.

The city picked a respected and experienced brand-builder in Landor. The San Francisco-based firm has come up with slogans for such locations as Madrid, Spain; Florida; and Hong Kong, as well as brands such as Gatorade, Altoids and Kentucky Fried Chicken.

In November, Landor's director of brand strategy, Susan Palombo, told the Baltimore City Council and Mayor Martin O'Malley that "the perception [of Baltimore] is very bad."

Her company's survey found that David Simon's television dramas about crime and drugs in Baltimore - The Wire, The Corner and Homicide: Life on the Street - were culprits for fostering the city's bad image. Simon declined to comment yesterday.

Palombo also said at the time that Baltimore did not rank among travelers surveyed as a "dream destination." When Baltimore was presented as an option in a Landor survey, travelers ranked it in the top 10 - behind New York, Washington, Boston, Atlantic City and Philadelphia.

In a Landor survey in which Baltimore was not mentioned, travelers did not volunteer the city as a place they wanted to visit.

Palombo said at the time that Baltimore had to build on the city's unique character and should not try to "out-Disney" Orlando, "out-monument" Washington or "out-Broadway" New York.

Baltimore union leader Ron DeJuliis said he thought "Get In On It" is "catchy."

"I like that," he said.

Spector, the council's longest-serving member, questioned whether "Get In On It" will do the trick.

"I don't know; it doesn't have a Baltimore ring to it," Spector said. She said she knows the slogan is supposed to appeal to visitors and not longtime residents such as her.

Even so, she said, "I don't associate anything Baltimore to it."

doug.donovan@baltsun.com

I don't mind the new slogan. It's certainly a lot better than some of the past ones mentioned in that article. And god, has Schaffer turned into the crabbiest old man in the world or what? So funny how that article called him out on some of his terrible branding ideas.

Harford is terrible. Over the last twenty years, the county has witnessed an irreversible depletion of resources. To base an economy on the housing industry and the construction jobs, taxes, and services they bring is shortsighted. Once every last acre of farmland, forest and waterfront have been developed, what will the future hold?

I may just take a picture tour up there this weekend since my little sister has a LAX games up that way! Let's see if my mom complies. . .

HArford has large pockets of all incomes by the looks of it. I have been to that county a lot, and the southern portion looks like Baltimore-type of income levels, the northern part of the county is INSANE!

A farm just down the street from me just got slated to be torn up for 100+ condo units for "active adults 55 and over." That's all they build in Bel Air now, since the schools are filled up. Three of these eyesore complexes have gone up in the past two or three years. The whole north face of the city is just horrifying now with all of the crappy subdivisions.

I don't mind the new slogan. It's certainly a lot better than some of the past ones mentioned in that article. And god, has Schaffer turned into the crabbiest old man in the world or what? So funny how that article called him out on some of his terrible branding ideas.

It sure is a hell of a lot better than "The City that Reads (Breeds, Bleeds, etc)."

Schaefer's more than crabby. I think he's senile. I think I might actually vote for a Republican for state Comptroller! (No offense meant to my fellow bloggers who are Republicans) :)

A farm just down the street from me just got slated to be torn up for 100+ condo units for "active adults 55 and over." That's all they build in Bel Air now, since the schools are filled up. Three of these eyesore complexes have gone up in the past two or three years. The whole north face of the city is just horrifying now with all of the crappy subdivisions.

They're doing the same thing in Howard County on a historical farm near my house in Ellicott City. Back during WW2 this farm was among many in small towns across the country that was worked by German POW's. Now there's nothing left of it but fields, old farm buildings that have probably been there since the civil war and the huge vinyl mcmansions around it. Pretty soon all the remaining land is going to be turned into a retirement community for old people who will have to drive miles through a maze of speedbump covered streets and congested freeways should they ever need to use a hospital.

They're doing the same thing in Howard County on a historical farm near my house in Ellicott City. Back during WW2 this farm was among many in small towns across the country that was worked by German POW's. Now there's nothing left of it but fields, old farm buildings that have probably been there since the civil war and the huge vinyl mcmansions around it. Pretty soon all the remaining land is going to be turned into a retirement community for old people who will have to drive miles through a maze of speedbump covered streets and congested freeways should they ever need to use a hospital.

Are you talking about the development you can see off of Rte 100 before you reach Long Gate? I'm presenting a session on historical preservation at the school system's GT Expo in June. I use that farm as local example of sprawl/bad development and the loss of our history. Luckily there is the Howard County Conservancy's Mount Pleasant Farm. The land there is held in trust and can never be developed. The oldest part of the farm house is a log cabin that dates from the 1690's, when it was the home of a "Ranger" who was sent in to the wilderness by the colony of Maryland to keep an eye on the Native Americans. Cool stuff!

Honestly, I just want the city to get rid of those damn 'BELIEVE' signs all over the place. The intent of the campaign was novel, but the whole black bacjground/white font thing just felt so morbid.

Are you talking about the development you can see off of Rte 100 before you reach Long Gate? I'm presenting a session on historical preservation at the school system's GT Expo in June. I use that farm as local example of sprawl/bad development and the loss of our history. Luckily there is the Howard County Conservancy's Mount Pleasant Farm. The land there is held in trust and can never be developed. The oldest part of the farm house is a log cabin that dates from the 1690's, when it was the home of a "Ranger" who was sent in to the wilderness by the colony of Maryland to keep an eye on the Native Americans. Cool stuff!

No, but that's another prime example of a horrendous housing development destroying American history (just out of curiosity, I heard somewhere that some of the old buildings from that farm were going to be preserved, do you know if that actually happened? or how it affected the final plan for the development?), glad to hear you're getting involved and helping to inform people on this issue. :)

The one I was referring to was the farm off of Frederick Road by the library & senior center, about two miles from the one by Columbia Hills.

No, but that's another prime example of a horrendous housing development destroying American history (just out of curiosity, I heard somewhere that some of the old buildings from that farm were going to be preserved, do you know if that actually happened? or how it affected the final plan for the development?), glad to hear you're getting involved and helping to inform people on this issue. :)

I took pictures of the old farm house last year about this time. The buildings were all standing at that time. I haven't been back since.