You'll doubtless recall all that business about renaming Palma de Mallorca Palma. It currently is just Palma, until it gets changed back when the Partido Popular get in. One reason, one very good reason, for maintaining the "de Mallorca" is to avoid confusion, and don't they just know about this in La Palma in the Canary Islands.
In the Canaries, there is also Las Palmas, and the different variants of Palma(s) have caused any number of headaches for those living in La Palma. Not just the island's residents. According to a Canarian parliament deputy, a British couple ended up in La Palma, having believed that they were in fact travelling to Palma (de Mallorca).
Because of this, the Canarian tourism, culture and sports commission has asked the Canarian government to study a solution to avoid the confusion. Place-name analysing toponymy experts are inevitably being dragged in, because they always are when such matters surface.
And what might the solution be? Who can possibly say? La Palma de las Canarias wouldn't be much use because of the confusion with Las Palmas. Here's a thought, though. Why not change it to English? The Palm.
No, they'd never accept that. And strange how, when you put it in English, it doesn't have anything like the same exotic quality. Confusion, one fancies, will endure.
Showing posts with label Palma de Mallorca. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Palma de Mallorca. Show all posts
Monday, April 10, 2017
Friday, May 20, 2016
The Great Vowel Controversy Of Calvia
Where, you will doubtless be wondering, is a toponymy commission when it is most needed. Only a week ago I was highlighting the government's revival of this twenty-person gathering of place names' experts. It is needed for Mallorca in particular: of the four islands there is less official toponymy in Mallorca than in the other three. And there is ample evidence of this. Paguera or Peguera? Palma or Palma de Mallorca? Just two daft examples currently doing the rounds to add to those of, for example, Porto Cristo versus Portocristo (and others) or Cala Ratjada plays Cala Rajada.
The Partido Popular in Calvia is minded to ignore the aspirations of said commission and indeed of the town hall responding to the apparently desperate requirement to harmonise the municipality's place names. (By the way, can we add Magaluf or Magalluf to the list?) The PP is suggesting that the citizens should decide. Have a referendum. Make the decision the people's Paguera or Peguera. It was always Pag, says the PP, until a unilateral decision taken by the town hall converted it into Peg in the 1980s. Not that it did wholly convert it. Had it done, there wouldn't be the argument there now is. Pag and Peg have resided side by side in comparative toponymic harmony since the '80s. But now the town hall appears determined to divide society in this part of Calvia over the choice between two vowels.
As might be detected, given the left-wing leaning of the administration and the opposition of the PP (and Ciudadanos), there is a bit of a Catalan thing going on here. The left, with the Open Left (Equerra Oberta) coming to the aid of the PSOE-Si Se Puede Calvia administration alliance, insists that there is no "linguistic conflict", only that there should be compliance with the law and with the department of toponymy at the university. Apart from begging a question, given there is such a department, as to why a toponymy commission is needed as well, this makes clear that toponymic correctness lies in the Catalanist camp. For what it's worth, the name is derived from "forn de brea" aka "pega", referring to pine sap. In Castellano, the colloquial "pega" means something like a snag or a catch. And yes, there is a snag. Is it Pag or is it Peg?
For reasons best known, so it would seem, to the good folk of Pag/Peguera, they opted for Pag at some time in the past, only for Peg to hit the revivalist trail some thirty odd years ago, courtesy of the town hall. And so we now arrive at the current controversy. Should the people decide? Perhaps they should. Holding a referendum is in current vogue. They're having one in the UK it would appear, though the subject is of somewhat greater consequence than a vowel. Of greater relevance is the citizen participation via referendum of Palma.
In that city the people (a very small minority) used their voice in choosing between Born terraces or not Born terraces. The vote went strongly against the town hall preference, which is probably why Palma hasn't opted for another referendum over the planned demolition of the Sa Feixina monument (the people would say no, and the town hall knows they would). It may also be why there is no referendum proposal regarding the choice between Palma or Palma de Mallorca.
There will undoubtedly be some Palma fanatics (in addition to those at the town hall) who will argue the case for with or without "de Mallorca", but the vast majority, one suspects, really couldn't care less. It was the nasty PP who were of course responsible for appending "de Mallorca", a move of some common sense if only to distinguish the city from others. But even if "de Mallorca" were to be retained, it's not as though anyone here ever refers to it thus. Tell me the last time you said, if you live outside Palma (de Mallorca), that you were having a night out in Palma de Mallorca.
The apparent pointlessness of this argument is reinforced twice over. Firstly by the fact that the Balearic parliament has to have a debate to decide whether it should hold a further debate to decide between the rival claims. Secondly by the weird assertion by a PSOE parliamentary deputy that the PP's adding of "de Mallorca" had been part of the Bauzá regime's desire to weaken Catalan culture and language. At least Mayor Hila had the sense to say that Palma was a Roman thing, because if Catalan gets dragged in, the name should really be the one that the bestower of all things Catalan, the conquering Jaume I of Aragon, gave the city: Ciutat de Mallorca.
Anyway, Pag or Peg, let the people decide. And perhaps give them some other choices. Piguera, anyone?
The Partido Popular in Calvia is minded to ignore the aspirations of said commission and indeed of the town hall responding to the apparently desperate requirement to harmonise the municipality's place names. (By the way, can we add Magaluf or Magalluf to the list?) The PP is suggesting that the citizens should decide. Have a referendum. Make the decision the people's Paguera or Peguera. It was always Pag, says the PP, until a unilateral decision taken by the town hall converted it into Peg in the 1980s. Not that it did wholly convert it. Had it done, there wouldn't be the argument there now is. Pag and Peg have resided side by side in comparative toponymic harmony since the '80s. But now the town hall appears determined to divide society in this part of Calvia over the choice between two vowels.
As might be detected, given the left-wing leaning of the administration and the opposition of the PP (and Ciudadanos), there is a bit of a Catalan thing going on here. The left, with the Open Left (Equerra Oberta) coming to the aid of the PSOE-Si Se Puede Calvia administration alliance, insists that there is no "linguistic conflict", only that there should be compliance with the law and with the department of toponymy at the university. Apart from begging a question, given there is such a department, as to why a toponymy commission is needed as well, this makes clear that toponymic correctness lies in the Catalanist camp. For what it's worth, the name is derived from "forn de brea" aka "pega", referring to pine sap. In Castellano, the colloquial "pega" means something like a snag or a catch. And yes, there is a snag. Is it Pag or is it Peg?
For reasons best known, so it would seem, to the good folk of Pag/Peguera, they opted for Pag at some time in the past, only for Peg to hit the revivalist trail some thirty odd years ago, courtesy of the town hall. And so we now arrive at the current controversy. Should the people decide? Perhaps they should. Holding a referendum is in current vogue. They're having one in the UK it would appear, though the subject is of somewhat greater consequence than a vowel. Of greater relevance is the citizen participation via referendum of Palma.
In that city the people (a very small minority) used their voice in choosing between Born terraces or not Born terraces. The vote went strongly against the town hall preference, which is probably why Palma hasn't opted for another referendum over the planned demolition of the Sa Feixina monument (the people would say no, and the town hall knows they would). It may also be why there is no referendum proposal regarding the choice between Palma or Palma de Mallorca.
There will undoubtedly be some Palma fanatics (in addition to those at the town hall) who will argue the case for with or without "de Mallorca", but the vast majority, one suspects, really couldn't care less. It was the nasty PP who were of course responsible for appending "de Mallorca", a move of some common sense if only to distinguish the city from others. But even if "de Mallorca" were to be retained, it's not as though anyone here ever refers to it thus. Tell me the last time you said, if you live outside Palma (de Mallorca), that you were having a night out in Palma de Mallorca.
The apparent pointlessness of this argument is reinforced twice over. Firstly by the fact that the Balearic parliament has to have a debate to decide whether it should hold a further debate to decide between the rival claims. Secondly by the weird assertion by a PSOE parliamentary deputy that the PP's adding of "de Mallorca" had been part of the Bauzá regime's desire to weaken Catalan culture and language. At least Mayor Hila had the sense to say that Palma was a Roman thing, because if Catalan gets dragged in, the name should really be the one that the bestower of all things Catalan, the conquering Jaume I of Aragon, gave the city: Ciutat de Mallorca.
Anyway, Pag or Peg, let the people decide. And perhaps give them some other choices. Piguera, anyone?
Sunday, January 03, 2016
The Normality Of A City's Name
Is the administration in Palma totally bats? Collectively, they have been intimating that they are, as with the ludicrous terraces' referendum, so when they come along with something sensible and worthy, i.e. the greening of parts of the city, they immediately undo this by dragging up the city's name thing once more.
For those of you with reasonable memories, you will recall that we went through all this palaver with Matty Isern's mob. It decided to officially make the capital Palma de Mallorca, a reason for this being that it helps to distinguish the name from other places that can be easily confused with it: La Palma, Las Palmas, Parma. The adding of "de Mallorca" may not have done the trick with Google and other search engines, but the thinking was perfectly reasonable. Moreover, Palma de Mallorca is used by airlines and others in order to make the distinction.
The problem is, however, not a practical one: that would be far too simple. Palma, minus "de Mallorca", will see a reversion to name-place normality. Or so says the councillor for ecology, agriculture and animal welfare, who appears to be the one behind this reclaiming of normality. What, pray, does it have to do with her anyway? There's nothing about toponymy among her various responsibilities.
The normality, such as it is possible for this to exist in Palma political land, lies with the arguments of the "no to the de Mallorca" camp last time round. Adding "de Mallorca" was too foreign. Yes, seriously, this was an argument. Palma de Mallorca is how Palma is known abroad, it was said. Personally, I have never heard a foreigner ever refer to anything other than just Palma.
There was also the fact that Isern's lot had objected to the previous government of the left shortening the name without, apparently, having gone through the correct procedures - whatever they are. So, the city's name is firmly an issue of left and right. For the left, there is no "de Mallorca". For the right, there is. So there you have it. Normality.
Whether with or without its "of Mallorca" suffix, the city has an image problem. There we were, thinking that Palma (de Mallorca) is in fashion, and Duran Duran, the PP spokesperson at the town hall, goes and insists that it is not fashionable for the streets of the city to be piled high with discarded washing-machines and dirty old mattresses. For the president of the services agency, the very same councillor for ecology, etc., such a state of affairs is doubtless one of normality.
For those of you with reasonable memories, you will recall that we went through all this palaver with Matty Isern's mob. It decided to officially make the capital Palma de Mallorca, a reason for this being that it helps to distinguish the name from other places that can be easily confused with it: La Palma, Las Palmas, Parma. The adding of "de Mallorca" may not have done the trick with Google and other search engines, but the thinking was perfectly reasonable. Moreover, Palma de Mallorca is used by airlines and others in order to make the distinction.
The problem is, however, not a practical one: that would be far too simple. Palma, minus "de Mallorca", will see a reversion to name-place normality. Or so says the councillor for ecology, agriculture and animal welfare, who appears to be the one behind this reclaiming of normality. What, pray, does it have to do with her anyway? There's nothing about toponymy among her various responsibilities.
The normality, such as it is possible for this to exist in Palma political land, lies with the arguments of the "no to the de Mallorca" camp last time round. Adding "de Mallorca" was too foreign. Yes, seriously, this was an argument. Palma de Mallorca is how Palma is known abroad, it was said. Personally, I have never heard a foreigner ever refer to anything other than just Palma.
There was also the fact that Isern's lot had objected to the previous government of the left shortening the name without, apparently, having gone through the correct procedures - whatever they are. So, the city's name is firmly an issue of left and right. For the left, there is no "de Mallorca". For the right, there is. So there you have it. Normality.
Whether with or without its "of Mallorca" suffix, the city has an image problem. There we were, thinking that Palma (de Mallorca) is in fashion, and Duran Duran, the PP spokesperson at the town hall, goes and insists that it is not fashionable for the streets of the city to be piled high with discarded washing-machines and dirty old mattresses. For the president of the services agency, the very same councillor for ecology, etc., such a state of affairs is doubtless one of normality.
Friday, October 25, 2013
Passive Passion For Palma
One of the oddities of the foundation is that, as it consists of representatives of both the public and the private sectors, it brings together precisely the interested parties that should, working together, make for a more integrated and hopefully more professional approach to marketing. It may well be that the foundation will reveal itself as a sort of benchmark for public and private sector tourism promotion co-operation, but it has thus far hidden whatever promotional light it has under a bush of indeterminate action.
There is to be one notable change of tack, though. Palma is to drop its concentration on travel fairs and focus instead on direct promotion with four countries, or with the capital cities of four countries at any rate. Tourism emissaries are to be sent to London and Berlin in 2014 and also to Stockholm and Moscow in 2015 in order to meet with and speak directly with tour operators, airlines and the media. Palma town hall, which doubles as the co-ordinator of the Palma 365 campaign, will open to tender contracts to the value of 40,000 euros for agencies in the different cities to set about communication plans to promote Palma.
Well, I don't quite know what you get for forty grand but I can just about understand the change of tack. The foundation will be talking to the same sort of people it would talk to at a travel fair, but perhaps a travel fair isn't the right environment as there are too many others wanting to do some talking. A more focused approach makes some sense, especially when it comes to promoting out-of-season tourism. The town hall's tourism councillor, our old friend Álvaro (Sporting) Gijón, says that fairs are basically about sun-and-beach tourism, therefore summer rather than winter.
He does also admit that what will be done will be fairly basic stuff, and while there is nothing wrong with getting some basics right, it doesn't really inspire a great deal of confidence, and so one comes back to the criticisms. Palma has its campaign, it has its foundation, it has its slogan and logo. Now what?
There is also apparently going to be a new portal. Costing sixty grand, this website will bring together all the relevant information about the city and a bookings system for hotels, hire car and what have you. It remains to be seen what it will actually entail but I fear that it might end up as just another example of essentially passive marketing.
The contracts for the agencies in the four countries will, one imagines, be aimed at getting increased media coverage for Palma. Again, there is nothing wrong with this, but it, like many a website as well as other forms of promotion, such as TV advertising, is too passive for a contemporary market. Yesterday I looked at the ambitious project for Calas de Mallorca. This is essentially an approach which is far more in keeping with how tourist and user behaviour has changed. It is an active one. Through social marketing it engages with the tourist, learns about him or her, can adapt to what is said, know more about motivations and interests. Palma's approach, on the other hand, appears stuck in passive mode.
Palma 365 gives all the impression of a campaign that has been undertaken completely the wrong way round. Its starting-point has been the PR kudos of sloganising and logo-making, public relations which appear to have been performed more in order to demonstrate that something is being done rather than something being thought through. The starting-point is now much easier than it ever used to be: genuine engagement with the market and the tourist. Does Palma 365 really understand that this is how it can now be? It seems to have allowed passive passion to have got in the way of active attachment.
Thursday, March 07, 2013
Selling Palma's Passion: Merchandising
Almost a year on from having announced that, slogan-wise, Palma (aka Palma de Mallorca) had gone all passionate, the city's councillor for tourism, Álvaro "Sporting" Gijón, has made a further announcement, one which announces that merchandising involving Palma's passionate slogan and logo will be put out to tender. Where do you send your application? I'll offer them a couple of quid.
There have been thoughts about official merchandising in the past, but previously they would have involved designers and producers being paid and the town hall taking the risk of flogging products that might have gone unsold. Now, therefore, the emphasis has shifted. The lucky winners will assume the risk as well as the responsibilities for design, production and distribution, pay a tender fee to the town hall for the privilege, and hand over anything up to 30% on what they sell to the Palma (sorry, Palma de Mallorca) 365 consortium whose slogan is "Passion for Palma (de Mallorca)".
Sporting Gijón admits that they have no idea how much might be made from this venture, but he has ventured to suggest that it will at least match but probably be greater than the 100 grand that, for example, the Joan Miró Foundation can raise. It might depend on how much would be expected by way of securing the bid, but with costs of production and so on, any company would be looking for considerably more than 100 grand.
The winners do start from a position of disadvantage. One created by the slogan and the logo. As was remarked when it was launched last year, the slogan is passé in its very passion. The logo, which when turned upside down can reveal that the "M" looks like a pair of comedy breasts or testicles rather than the heart which it is meant to represent, wouldn't be inappropriate for something like a medical charity. It is not a great logo and the slogan is desperately old hat.
Still, if the products to be offered are any good, then the deficiencies of the slogan and logo might not matter. And so what might these products be? One inevitable suggestion is gastronomy products. So, will there be ensaïmadas sold at premium prices solely because they have the passionate logo on their boxes?
I feel we should help the lucky winners out by coming up with some ideas. I wouldn't imagine for one moment that anyone has stopped to think to ask tourists or anyone else for that matter what might make for good merchandising (asking tourists what they think about anything is largely anathema to local tourism authorities). But I'll start the ball rolling with a few ideas.
With this huge influx of Russians, I would suggest one of those Russian doll things in the form of the Duke of Palma (not that he might be the Duke of Palma for much longer). You would take the head of the Iñaki to reveal a smaller Iñaki, then take successive heads off until you get to the centre of the doll, and what or who would you find? I suppose Judge Castro would like to know as well.
Or how about a Palacio de Congresos jigsaw puzzle? It would come in 28 million pieces, one piece for every euro it would cost to demolish the damn thing, a figure that the town hall has recently issued. It would come with a bonus puzzle, finding, using your skill and judgement, a suitable answer to the question - why did they ever decide to build it in the first place? - which would require filling in the missing words in "because they are a bunch of blank, blank, blank".
Instead, we can probably expect some OMG I'm so passionate for Palma de Mallorca t-shirts, some Cathedral tea towels, and a GESA building soap-on-a-rope. But if one can be serious for a moment, it has long been a mystery to me why local towns don't make far more of what they habitually produce, like their posters, and not only those for fiestas. Some of these are real gems, and there must be examples that go back over many years. A problem with them, and I would readily concede that it is a problem, is the cost of printing, but posters, and indeed other bits of art, have greater intrinsic and lasting value than an ensaïmada or a tea towel. The other problem would be that they would want to go and spoil them by sticking the stupid logo on them, and that, as a bit of art, does not have any intrinsic value, much though Sporting Gijón and the 365 consortium might believe otherwise.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
There have been thoughts about official merchandising in the past, but previously they would have involved designers and producers being paid and the town hall taking the risk of flogging products that might have gone unsold. Now, therefore, the emphasis has shifted. The lucky winners will assume the risk as well as the responsibilities for design, production and distribution, pay a tender fee to the town hall for the privilege, and hand over anything up to 30% on what they sell to the Palma (sorry, Palma de Mallorca) 365 consortium whose slogan is "Passion for Palma (de Mallorca)".
Sporting Gijón admits that they have no idea how much might be made from this venture, but he has ventured to suggest that it will at least match but probably be greater than the 100 grand that, for example, the Joan Miró Foundation can raise. It might depend on how much would be expected by way of securing the bid, but with costs of production and so on, any company would be looking for considerably more than 100 grand.
The winners do start from a position of disadvantage. One created by the slogan and the logo. As was remarked when it was launched last year, the slogan is passé in its very passion. The logo, which when turned upside down can reveal that the "M" looks like a pair of comedy breasts or testicles rather than the heart which it is meant to represent, wouldn't be inappropriate for something like a medical charity. It is not a great logo and the slogan is desperately old hat.
Still, if the products to be offered are any good, then the deficiencies of the slogan and logo might not matter. And so what might these products be? One inevitable suggestion is gastronomy products. So, will there be ensaïmadas sold at premium prices solely because they have the passionate logo on their boxes?
I feel we should help the lucky winners out by coming up with some ideas. I wouldn't imagine for one moment that anyone has stopped to think to ask tourists or anyone else for that matter what might make for good merchandising (asking tourists what they think about anything is largely anathema to local tourism authorities). But I'll start the ball rolling with a few ideas.
With this huge influx of Russians, I would suggest one of those Russian doll things in the form of the Duke of Palma (not that he might be the Duke of Palma for much longer). You would take the head of the Iñaki to reveal a smaller Iñaki, then take successive heads off until you get to the centre of the doll, and what or who would you find? I suppose Judge Castro would like to know as well.
Or how about a Palacio de Congresos jigsaw puzzle? It would come in 28 million pieces, one piece for every euro it would cost to demolish the damn thing, a figure that the town hall has recently issued. It would come with a bonus puzzle, finding, using your skill and judgement, a suitable answer to the question - why did they ever decide to build it in the first place? - which would require filling in the missing words in "because they are a bunch of blank, blank, blank".
Instead, we can probably expect some OMG I'm so passionate for Palma de Mallorca t-shirts, some Cathedral tea towels, and a GESA building soap-on-a-rope. But if one can be serious for a moment, it has long been a mystery to me why local towns don't make far more of what they habitually produce, like their posters, and not only those for fiestas. Some of these are real gems, and there must be examples that go back over many years. A problem with them, and I would readily concede that it is a problem, is the cost of printing, but posters, and indeed other bits of art, have greater intrinsic and lasting value than an ensaïmada or a tea towel. The other problem would be that they would want to go and spoil them by sticking the stupid logo on them, and that, as a bit of art, does not have any intrinsic value, much though Sporting Gijón and the 365 consortium might believe otherwise.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Thursday, April 05, 2012
Exclaiming Passion: Palma's logo
"Passion for enjoying!!" Oh dear, someone has had a bad case of exclamation-mark-itis. This malady is one reserved for those who can't find words to express themselves. Shove one, two, three, ten, several hundred exclamation marks at the end of a word or a sentence and bingo! (sic), you've got yourself some expression. Or maybe you haven't.
Slogans are a different matter, one supposes. They do have to be snappy and short. The exclamation mark might, therefore, come in useful. Alternatively, it might be totally redundant. But as a rule of thumb, the exclamation mark should be used only sparingly, if at all. It betrays either the creator's insecurity in highlighting an inability to adequately convey what is intended to be conveyed or his or her syntactical idleness, or both. It is also often a lazy shorthand for, for instance, pointing out that a joke has been made, when, had a joke really been made, it wouldn't require the use of an exclamation mark. It's that insecurity again. The exclamation mark is a punctuational comfort blanket.
We now have, or Palma has, not one but two exclamation marks. Why two? Why not just one? What do two exclamation marks represent that one by itself doesn't? Indeed, why is there one at all? Palma is exclaiming a "passion for enjoying!!". OMG!! I must get so passionate!! I must get enjoying!! OMG!!!!!!!!!!
There is insecurity in this slogan. The exclamation marks say much. They are there to attempt to convince that there is both passion and "enjoying". But the slogan begs a question of what it is that someone is supposed to enjoy. Rather like Turespaña's "I Need Spain" invited a game of filling in the missing words ("I Need Spain" like I need a massive public finance deficit), so does this one: "passion for enjoying getting drunk", for example.
It's not all bad. The use of the gerund form - and "enjoying" is a gerund - is lifted straight from the copywriter's manual of how to motivate through text. The alternative of "enjoyment" would give a closed statement. Enjoying is open, so in this respect the slogan does at least conform to accepted practice.
But the problem is with the exclamation marks. They serve no purpose other than more as a visual aid as opposed to one that aids meaning. If you removed them, would there be any loss? Personally, I don't think so, and I'm more inclined to think that they are there because the exclamation mark has become so overused that to not have one (or two) would lead to it being conspicuous by its absence. Or they are there because the copywriter simply isn't convinced by the slogan on its own.
The slogan and the logo are all part of Palma's 365 campaign. A competition for the logo's design was announced in December, and this is the result.
A problem that Palma town hall created when it announced the competition was that, whatever the winning design was, it was going to be subject to close scrutiny. This was as a consequence of the San Sebastià poster debacle last year; the design for this had been lifted, and so everyone's trying to find if the 365 one has been as well. To this end, a favourite for having acted as a model is the Eurovision logo. Its heart for its "v" is reckoned to be like the heart of the "m" in Palma. I suppose that there is some similarity, but there may be some clutching at straws in making this comparison. More problematic perhaps is if you turn the logo upside down and the "m" begins to look like different parts of the anatomy rather than the heart it is meant to be.
To come back to the slogan, though, it doesn't just have a problem because of the overused exclamation marks, there is also the issue of the P-word. This has sparked off its own debate in marketing land, as it has become so ubiquitous: passion for this, passion for that, passion for everything. Nancy Friedman**, who has made a career out of how to use words in all manner of contexts, such as marketing, has pointed out that "passion" can be both lazy and uncreative but that what it attempts to convey is emotion. It is passé, but it isn't always easy to find an alternative, especially when, as one presumes to be the case, Palma wants to get all emotional.
Ultimately, though, the slogan and the logo are about what it might mean to the consumer. And does the slogan mean anything? Will people be quoting it? I somewhat doubt that they will be.
** Nancy Friedman blog
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Slogans are a different matter, one supposes. They do have to be snappy and short. The exclamation mark might, therefore, come in useful. Alternatively, it might be totally redundant. But as a rule of thumb, the exclamation mark should be used only sparingly, if at all. It betrays either the creator's insecurity in highlighting an inability to adequately convey what is intended to be conveyed or his or her syntactical idleness, or both. It is also often a lazy shorthand for, for instance, pointing out that a joke has been made, when, had a joke really been made, it wouldn't require the use of an exclamation mark. It's that insecurity again. The exclamation mark is a punctuational comfort blanket.
We now have, or Palma has, not one but two exclamation marks. Why two? Why not just one? What do two exclamation marks represent that one by itself doesn't? Indeed, why is there one at all? Palma is exclaiming a "passion for enjoying!!". OMG!! I must get so passionate!! I must get enjoying!! OMG!!!!!!!!!!
There is insecurity in this slogan. The exclamation marks say much. They are there to attempt to convince that there is both passion and "enjoying". But the slogan begs a question of what it is that someone is supposed to enjoy. Rather like Turespaña's "I Need Spain" invited a game of filling in the missing words ("I Need Spain" like I need a massive public finance deficit), so does this one: "passion for enjoying getting drunk", for example.
It's not all bad. The use of the gerund form - and "enjoying" is a gerund - is lifted straight from the copywriter's manual of how to motivate through text. The alternative of "enjoyment" would give a closed statement. Enjoying is open, so in this respect the slogan does at least conform to accepted practice.
But the problem is with the exclamation marks. They serve no purpose other than more as a visual aid as opposed to one that aids meaning. If you removed them, would there be any loss? Personally, I don't think so, and I'm more inclined to think that they are there because the exclamation mark has become so overused that to not have one (or two) would lead to it being conspicuous by its absence. Or they are there because the copywriter simply isn't convinced by the slogan on its own.
The slogan and the logo are all part of Palma's 365 campaign. A competition for the logo's design was announced in December, and this is the result.
A problem that Palma town hall created when it announced the competition was that, whatever the winning design was, it was going to be subject to close scrutiny. This was as a consequence of the San Sebastià poster debacle last year; the design for this had been lifted, and so everyone's trying to find if the 365 one has been as well. To this end, a favourite for having acted as a model is the Eurovision logo. Its heart for its "v" is reckoned to be like the heart of the "m" in Palma. I suppose that there is some similarity, but there may be some clutching at straws in making this comparison. More problematic perhaps is if you turn the logo upside down and the "m" begins to look like different parts of the anatomy rather than the heart it is meant to be.
To come back to the slogan, though, it doesn't just have a problem because of the overused exclamation marks, there is also the issue of the P-word. This has sparked off its own debate in marketing land, as it has become so ubiquitous: passion for this, passion for that, passion for everything. Nancy Friedman**, who has made a career out of how to use words in all manner of contexts, such as marketing, has pointed out that "passion" can be both lazy and uncreative but that what it attempts to convey is emotion. It is passé, but it isn't always easy to find an alternative, especially when, as one presumes to be the case, Palma wants to get all emotional.
Ultimately, though, the slogan and the logo are about what it might mean to the consumer. And does the slogan mean anything? Will people be quoting it? I somewhat doubt that they will be.
** Nancy Friedman blog
Tuesday, March 06, 2012
MALLORCA TODAY - Southend airport connection with Mallorca
The new terminal and runway at Southend airport now open, from the start of April, easyJet will be operating 70 flights a week, including those to Palma.
See more: Hosteltur
See more: Hosteltur
Friday, November 18, 2011
Taking The Pi: Mallorca’s capital
You really would think there were more important things to worry about, like making sure the bus drivers get paid or having enough spare cash lying around to meet repayments to banks. But no, Palma town hall has found something infinitely more pressing with which to concern itself. It wants the city to be officially called Palma de Mallorca (and, by the way, this would be Mallorca and not Madge-orca).
The town hall says that the name was shortened by the last government which didn't follow the right procedures in doing so. It also believes that the previous town hall admin should have engaged in a spot of denouncing as a result. It hopes to be able to negotiate and thus avoid taking the whole matter to a tribunal.
The naming of Palma is by no means an isolated case. And it is certainly not unknown for high legal authorities to have to adjudicate. The Balearics Supreme Court, no less, once came down on the side of Porto Cristo as opposed to Portocristo and other contenders for the name of the resort. And over in Menorca there is another carry-on.
The lady mayor of the capital there wants it known officially by its Castilian name of Mahón but also wants to reactivate a Catalan spelling of Mahó, rather than the current Maó. Why? No idea. She might just end looking a bit foolish and with egg mayonnaise all over her face. Perhaps she should go further and insist on Mahón or Mahó de Menorca. There are currently no noises emanating from Ibiza that Ibiza Town will become Ibiza de Ibiza or, just to confuse the tourists, Eivissa de Eivissa.
But to come back to Palma. Why is the town hall in such a flap over whether there is officially a "de Mallorca" or not, especially as there is disagreement among the scholarly fraternity and those of a more pedantic bent as to whether it ever officially had been "de Mallorca" in the past?
It wouldn't be an argument over a city's name or indeed anything in Mallorca if there wasn't some political colour to it. The "de Mallorca" bit, or so it is said, is all a tad "foreign", as in Palma de Mallorca is how the city is known abroad. We'll have to take the word of those who say it is, but I'm not sure that in Britain, for instance, it is. However, it is fair to say that, in addition to the local post office, "de Mallorca" is used by the likes of airlines in their drop-down menus for airport departures and arrivals. It's designed to eliminate confusion.
More than this, though, the argument appears to be based on little more than a desire among the left (anti-"de Mallorca") and the right (pro-"de Mallorca") to have a bit of a barney. And because the last government, and Palma town hall administration, was of the left and because the last government didn't follow the correct procedures, the current administration, of the right, wants to do something about it.
One line of argument against the adoption, or is it re-adoption, of "de Mallorca" that might just have some credibility is that, by doing so, everywhere else on the island is made out to be merely satellites of the sun that is the capital city. It's a reasonable point, but only up to a point. There is unquestionably a Palma-centricity and a Palma civic arrogance, but this is pretty normal for a capital, and in Mallorca everything does revolve around the sun that is Palma, whether people in other towns like it or not.
Though the anti-"de Mallorca" camp seems to equate the town hall's wishes with some form of imperialism through nomenclature, Palma de Mallorca does have a fair bit going for it; a greater gravitas that Palma on its own doesn't. When all said and done, it is a capital city named after a tree.
But as tree it is, then Palma faces a potential crisis. The palm-consuming beetle that is on the rampage could leave Palma minus any palms. Where would it be then? Not so arrogant, I would suggest.
The town hall should be thinking longer-term. When the last palm in Palma succumbs to the beetle and has its head chopped off and is left as a grotesque and impotent phallic symbol, a completely new name will be needed. And there would be one prime alternative. The pine. The city already has Portopí, so why not go the whole arboreal hog now. The new capital of Mallorca. Pi.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
The town hall says that the name was shortened by the last government which didn't follow the right procedures in doing so. It also believes that the previous town hall admin should have engaged in a spot of denouncing as a result. It hopes to be able to negotiate and thus avoid taking the whole matter to a tribunal.
The naming of Palma is by no means an isolated case. And it is certainly not unknown for high legal authorities to have to adjudicate. The Balearics Supreme Court, no less, once came down on the side of Porto Cristo as opposed to Portocristo and other contenders for the name of the resort. And over in Menorca there is another carry-on.
The lady mayor of the capital there wants it known officially by its Castilian name of Mahón but also wants to reactivate a Catalan spelling of Mahó, rather than the current Maó. Why? No idea. She might just end looking a bit foolish and with egg mayonnaise all over her face. Perhaps she should go further and insist on Mahón or Mahó de Menorca. There are currently no noises emanating from Ibiza that Ibiza Town will become Ibiza de Ibiza or, just to confuse the tourists, Eivissa de Eivissa.
But to come back to Palma. Why is the town hall in such a flap over whether there is officially a "de Mallorca" or not, especially as there is disagreement among the scholarly fraternity and those of a more pedantic bent as to whether it ever officially had been "de Mallorca" in the past?
It wouldn't be an argument over a city's name or indeed anything in Mallorca if there wasn't some political colour to it. The "de Mallorca" bit, or so it is said, is all a tad "foreign", as in Palma de Mallorca is how the city is known abroad. We'll have to take the word of those who say it is, but I'm not sure that in Britain, for instance, it is. However, it is fair to say that, in addition to the local post office, "de Mallorca" is used by the likes of airlines in their drop-down menus for airport departures and arrivals. It's designed to eliminate confusion.
More than this, though, the argument appears to be based on little more than a desire among the left (anti-"de Mallorca") and the right (pro-"de Mallorca") to have a bit of a barney. And because the last government, and Palma town hall administration, was of the left and because the last government didn't follow the correct procedures, the current administration, of the right, wants to do something about it.
One line of argument against the adoption, or is it re-adoption, of "de Mallorca" that might just have some credibility is that, by doing so, everywhere else on the island is made out to be merely satellites of the sun that is the capital city. It's a reasonable point, but only up to a point. There is unquestionably a Palma-centricity and a Palma civic arrogance, but this is pretty normal for a capital, and in Mallorca everything does revolve around the sun that is Palma, whether people in other towns like it or not.
Though the anti-"de Mallorca" camp seems to equate the town hall's wishes with some form of imperialism through nomenclature, Palma de Mallorca does have a fair bit going for it; a greater gravitas that Palma on its own doesn't. When all said and done, it is a capital city named after a tree.
But as tree it is, then Palma faces a potential crisis. The palm-consuming beetle that is on the rampage could leave Palma minus any palms. Where would it be then? Not so arrogant, I would suggest.
The town hall should be thinking longer-term. When the last palm in Palma succumbs to the beetle and has its head chopped off and is left as a grotesque and impotent phallic symbol, a completely new name will be needed. And there would be one prime alternative. The pine. The city already has Portopí, so why not go the whole arboreal hog now. The new capital of Mallorca. Pi.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Friday, October 07, 2011
The Travelling Blackberries
One of the things you would probably expect at an ABTA convention is a lot of travel agents. ABTA is, after all, the Association of British Travel Agents. Going by the list of delegates at the Palma thrash (around 800 or so), I would guess that only around an eighth were in fact from travel agencies. ABTA isn't just about travel agents as it is "The Travel Association" and so includes tour operators as well, and the line between a travel agent and a tour operator can blur, but the attendees seemed to overwhelmingly come from other parts of the travel world. Many of them were those, like me, who talk about travel and tourism. The convention is a great occasion for talking shop among those who do a lot of talking anyway.
Given the uneven distribution in terms of those who do and those who don't do - arranging holidays or travel, that is - what is the point of it all? There is of course the "networking" defence, sometimes known as getting to know people, and this getting to know tends to involve excruciating conversations littered with business newspeak. "We can envision synergetic windows of opportunity going forward" or some such tosh.
There is the chance to learn new jargon in this newspeak world. I noted down the term "disintermediating". I haven't a clue what it means, but I intend to use it regularly in future; you've been warned.
But a more important point of it all is, as has been the case ever since the conference or convention (call it as you wish) was hit upon as being a "good idea", that it's a bit of a jolly. Even in economically-straitened times, and by God, didn't we hear about how straitened these times have become and will become, there has to be an opportunity for the travel community to let its hair down and to fire off images of it doing so thanks to the latest gadgetry.
I well remember the jolly and the times when conferences were two a penny. One week New Orleans, the next Milan. New Orleans, in between Henry Kissinger asking me what I was doing having come from England to attend a management conference in Louisiana, was a fine excuse for hitting the blues and jazz bars of Bourbon Street. Milan involved a do at Armani's gaffe. Not his house as such, but the Armani HQ emporium. And there was the great man himself, who wasn't so great as he is a shorthouse, who insisted on making a gift to all attendees at his special dinner of a bottle of the Armani house liqueur, a truly revolting and undrinkable concoction made out of rose petals.
But those were in the days before we we had ever heard of carbon footprints and before the technology arrived that was meant to put an end to all the need to jump on BA and hack across the Atlantic or to climb aboard the O'Leary Express and hop off to Palma. Despite the technology, it still happens, and can be put down to one thing - the industry that is MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions). If it weren't to exist, then Palma's brand new (if and when it's completed) Palacio de Congresos would be an even greater waste of money than it will prove to be anyway.
Though ABTA's convention seemed primarily to be a junket for members of the media and for the new-age travel service providers of the internet (and of course smartphones), it would be a curious thing were there not to be a convention that involved some travel. This is what ABTA does, or at least what its members facilitate. A travel association that didn't actually travel anywhere would be setting a bad example to all those who really need to, as in holidaymakers.
You have to conclude, therefore, that this, over and above the jolly, is the main point of it all. The travel itself. We are a travel association, therefore we travel. All aboard the ABTA Airbus and off we go, a band not of Traveling Wilburys but of Travelling Blackberries; have smartphone, will travel.
All the technology, Google's "Goggles", social networking (that word again) with crazed movements of thumbs and fingers on a small phone keyboard, uploading and sharing every waking moment; it makes you wonder if the day of the virtual tourist is nearly upon us. You will never need to leave the house in order to experience the holiday experience; all that's missing is something like Aldous Huxley's "feelies". They'll be here, though. One day. And then we really wouldn't need to go on holiday and never need to travel. But I tell you something, there would still be a convention in order that we can all talk about it.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Given the uneven distribution in terms of those who do and those who don't do - arranging holidays or travel, that is - what is the point of it all? There is of course the "networking" defence, sometimes known as getting to know people, and this getting to know tends to involve excruciating conversations littered with business newspeak. "We can envision synergetic windows of opportunity going forward" or some such tosh.
There is the chance to learn new jargon in this newspeak world. I noted down the term "disintermediating". I haven't a clue what it means, but I intend to use it regularly in future; you've been warned.
But a more important point of it all is, as has been the case ever since the conference or convention (call it as you wish) was hit upon as being a "good idea", that it's a bit of a jolly. Even in economically-straitened times, and by God, didn't we hear about how straitened these times have become and will become, there has to be an opportunity for the travel community to let its hair down and to fire off images of it doing so thanks to the latest gadgetry.
I well remember the jolly and the times when conferences were two a penny. One week New Orleans, the next Milan. New Orleans, in between Henry Kissinger asking me what I was doing having come from England to attend a management conference in Louisiana, was a fine excuse for hitting the blues and jazz bars of Bourbon Street. Milan involved a do at Armani's gaffe. Not his house as such, but the Armani HQ emporium. And there was the great man himself, who wasn't so great as he is a shorthouse, who insisted on making a gift to all attendees at his special dinner of a bottle of the Armani house liqueur, a truly revolting and undrinkable concoction made out of rose petals.
But those were in the days before we we had ever heard of carbon footprints and before the technology arrived that was meant to put an end to all the need to jump on BA and hack across the Atlantic or to climb aboard the O'Leary Express and hop off to Palma. Despite the technology, it still happens, and can be put down to one thing - the industry that is MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions). If it weren't to exist, then Palma's brand new (if and when it's completed) Palacio de Congresos would be an even greater waste of money than it will prove to be anyway.
Though ABTA's convention seemed primarily to be a junket for members of the media and for the new-age travel service providers of the internet (and of course smartphones), it would be a curious thing were there not to be a convention that involved some travel. This is what ABTA does, or at least what its members facilitate. A travel association that didn't actually travel anywhere would be setting a bad example to all those who really need to, as in holidaymakers.
You have to conclude, therefore, that this, over and above the jolly, is the main point of it all. The travel itself. We are a travel association, therefore we travel. All aboard the ABTA Airbus and off we go, a band not of Traveling Wilburys but of Travelling Blackberries; have smartphone, will travel.
All the technology, Google's "Goggles", social networking (that word again) with crazed movements of thumbs and fingers on a small phone keyboard, uploading and sharing every waking moment; it makes you wonder if the day of the virtual tourist is nearly upon us. You will never need to leave the house in order to experience the holiday experience; all that's missing is something like Aldous Huxley's "feelies". They'll be here, though. One day. And then we really wouldn't need to go on holiday and never need to travel. But I tell you something, there would still be a convention in order that we can all talk about it.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Thursday, October 06, 2011
All That Gas - And Google: ABTA Convention
Come on, how many of you remember "Space Patrol"? It was a sixties puppet series in which the hero was Captain Larry Dart, a long-haired, bearded explorer-style spaceman who had more than a touch of the Shakespearean about him, in looks if nothing else. When the crew of his gyroscopic craft would land on a distant planet, it tackled the problem of communication by using a translation device that was strapped to the chest. Set appropriately, the translator would simultaneously turn Martian into perfect mid-Atlantic English.
Google's ambitions for space travel or for the need for intergalactic translation machines are unknown. But it is fast putting together a number of aids for the earthly traveller. One of them is Google Translate in voice form, along with a voice search facility.
The appearance of Google at this year's ABTA convention was anticipated with both interest and trepidation. Just what will Google Travel involve? If its convention demo is anything to go by, it still needs a bit of fine-tuning.
As with the regular Google Translate, the results are often far from accurate. Put a simple enough question into the voice version and there's an additional problem - does the system recognise individual words correctly? The demo, in true Larry Dart mode, might have involved asking "wherefore art thou, Romeo?". Instead, the question was "where is the beach?" Unfortunately, this was misheard. Is life a beach or a bitch? A bitch, according to Google Translate, which, on the screen presentation, was sensitive enough to asterisk out the four letters following the "b".
The voice search thing wasn't much better. "How much is two hundred pounds in euros?" No matches were found, a reflection perhaps of two basket-case currencies. It might have worked better the other way round. Indeed, for the visitor to Mallorca, who may well come to rely on such a service via his smartphone, it could be essential when Tráfico pulls him over and issues an on-the-spot fine.
We could all do, though, with a spot of Larry Dart and heading off into outer space. Life on earth is to become ever more intolerable, especially in Britain and Mallorca. Or this is how one might interpret the thoughts of Douglas McWilliams who had predicted the arrival of the economic crisis and to whom is therefore assigned the mantle of economic-forecasting guru, otherwise known as doom merchant.
Everyone will have less money, the days of super-cheap flights are drawing to a close, the pound will remain weak. The only bright spot is that Spain might drop out of the Euro, and we can all get back to things being dirt cheap and to tossing small peseta coins into the rubbish bin because they are more trouble than they are worth. And to make matters worse, there are some who are going to get richer, such as the Australians. All that gas. Australia has it in abundance.
Commodity-rich nations are going to be the winners in the future, which includes the gaseous Russians, arriving in ever greater numbers and converting Brit bars into beetroot and vodka emporia.
If commodity wealth is so important, and it is, then I'm very sorry but some oil platforms off the shores of the Balearics should be put up with immediate effect. Something will have to compensate for no one coming on holiday any longer, other than the Russians. At least with their arrival, we will be able to count on one thing. And that's Google. "Where is the beach?" will be swiftly translated into Russian, along with a further translation for "that beach with the oil slick washing up on it."
Have a happy future, everyone, I'm off on Space Patrol.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Google's ambitions for space travel or for the need for intergalactic translation machines are unknown. But it is fast putting together a number of aids for the earthly traveller. One of them is Google Translate in voice form, along with a voice search facility.
The appearance of Google at this year's ABTA convention was anticipated with both interest and trepidation. Just what will Google Travel involve? If its convention demo is anything to go by, it still needs a bit of fine-tuning.
As with the regular Google Translate, the results are often far from accurate. Put a simple enough question into the voice version and there's an additional problem - does the system recognise individual words correctly? The demo, in true Larry Dart mode, might have involved asking "wherefore art thou, Romeo?". Instead, the question was "where is the beach?" Unfortunately, this was misheard. Is life a beach or a bitch? A bitch, according to Google Translate, which, on the screen presentation, was sensitive enough to asterisk out the four letters following the "b".
The voice search thing wasn't much better. "How much is two hundred pounds in euros?" No matches were found, a reflection perhaps of two basket-case currencies. It might have worked better the other way round. Indeed, for the visitor to Mallorca, who may well come to rely on such a service via his smartphone, it could be essential when Tráfico pulls him over and issues an on-the-spot fine.
We could all do, though, with a spot of Larry Dart and heading off into outer space. Life on earth is to become ever more intolerable, especially in Britain and Mallorca. Or this is how one might interpret the thoughts of Douglas McWilliams who had predicted the arrival of the economic crisis and to whom is therefore assigned the mantle of economic-forecasting guru, otherwise known as doom merchant.
Everyone will have less money, the days of super-cheap flights are drawing to a close, the pound will remain weak. The only bright spot is that Spain might drop out of the Euro, and we can all get back to things being dirt cheap and to tossing small peseta coins into the rubbish bin because they are more trouble than they are worth. And to make matters worse, there are some who are going to get richer, such as the Australians. All that gas. Australia has it in abundance.
Commodity-rich nations are going to be the winners in the future, which includes the gaseous Russians, arriving in ever greater numbers and converting Brit bars into beetroot and vodka emporia.
If commodity wealth is so important, and it is, then I'm very sorry but some oil platforms off the shores of the Balearics should be put up with immediate effect. Something will have to compensate for no one coming on holiday any longer, other than the Russians. At least with their arrival, we will be able to count on one thing. And that's Google. "Where is the beach?" will be swiftly translated into Russian, along with a further translation for "that beach with the oil slick washing up on it."
Have a happy future, everyone, I'm off on Space Patrol.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Wednesday, October 05, 2011
Apps And ABTA
The ABTA convention. Having decided to give Tunisia a miss this year, the ABTA delegates relocated to Palma, thus making Mallorca even more of a beneficiary of the Arab spring. I say delegates. Looking down their number, there seemed to be more people from the media and consultants than there were actual travel people, but maybe it was a false impression.
Behind the stage, the screen which relayed the speakers and their presentations made constant reminders as to the addresses for the conference Twitter, text and Mobile App. Everyone seemed to be following this instruction religiously. Nowhere has there ever been such a collection of smartphones or notepads being tapped or scrolled away on, or maybe they were all just booking their holidays.
Alastair Stewart, 'twas he, "News At Ten", boing! Ah, I remember the days. The mid-70s. Alastair never made it to the presidency of the National Union of Students, despite his having been bookies' favourite at one point. Instead, he was agitator-in-chief behind the then bearded and still bearded Charles Clarke, "Two Pizzas", who ate fewer pizzas back then. Alastair has not been as animated since. Until now. He was a thoroughly impressive moderator.
There was gloom from some chap from the "Telegraph" to set the tone. Might as well all pack up and go home now. Let's get this convention off to a really uplifting start. Or maybe not. Then there was all sorts of stuff about social media, the internet, mobile apps and what have you. The delegates were all studiously examining their smartphones and downloading the latest app to be given a speaker's mention. Whether anyone was really listening, who can tell? There were plenty of images of apps on phones for everyone to look at instead.
A showpiece presentation wasn't a presentation as such. It was a conversation between Peter Long of TUI Travel and Miguel Fluxá who founded the Iberostar hotels. Despite an explanation as to who Sr. Fluxá was, it was still felt necessary to give him a rock-star musical accompaniment as he took to the stage, The Who's "Who Are You?". It seemed rather discourteous, but I doubt that Sr. Fluxá was aware of it or if he is a Who fan. Or perhaps he is. He has ageing rock-star hair, a lush silver mane over a face that reminds one somewhat of a tanned Tom Baker, as in Doctor Who. So, The Who was right after all.
There was stuff on the environment. Oh calamity. Hopefully, the loonies who disapprove of the climate-change theory were thin on the conference ground or were too busy charging their smartphones to have heard. Businesses, though, are setting targets for renewable energy and the like, and it's going to change everyone's lives. Something like that. One business has embarked on a wider sustainability assessment, that of an economic impact analysis that considers the value it as a business brings to areas in which it operates. I wondered if the chap from TUI was listening. Value to areas in it operates. All-inclusives. You get the picture.
And finally, as they say on "News At Ten", or used to, there was Willie Walsh, boss of IAG, the British Airways-Iberia merged outfit (he was accompanied by ELO's "Mr. Blue Sky"; still, could have been cheesier, "Up, Up And Away" for example). He slagged off the British Government and the transport minister in particular and criticised the Air Passenger Duty, which you would expect him to. But he has good reason. There's the UK trying to be all righteous and the Chinese are building 90 airports with up to eight runways each.
A fascinating day indeed, made more fascinating by meeting the British Consul who I asked if he might fancy heading off to Alcúdia for a trip down the Mile to see the effects of all-inclusives. If he were to be invited ... . Maybe he should be. Decent chap, though, and he seems to know a lot about cricket, while nowhere about his person was there any evidence of a smartphone, let alone the use of an app.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Behind the stage, the screen which relayed the speakers and their presentations made constant reminders as to the addresses for the conference Twitter, text and Mobile App. Everyone seemed to be following this instruction religiously. Nowhere has there ever been such a collection of smartphones or notepads being tapped or scrolled away on, or maybe they were all just booking their holidays.
Alastair Stewart, 'twas he, "News At Ten", boing! Ah, I remember the days. The mid-70s. Alastair never made it to the presidency of the National Union of Students, despite his having been bookies' favourite at one point. Instead, he was agitator-in-chief behind the then bearded and still bearded Charles Clarke, "Two Pizzas", who ate fewer pizzas back then. Alastair has not been as animated since. Until now. He was a thoroughly impressive moderator.
There was gloom from some chap from the "Telegraph" to set the tone. Might as well all pack up and go home now. Let's get this convention off to a really uplifting start. Or maybe not. Then there was all sorts of stuff about social media, the internet, mobile apps and what have you. The delegates were all studiously examining their smartphones and downloading the latest app to be given a speaker's mention. Whether anyone was really listening, who can tell? There were plenty of images of apps on phones for everyone to look at instead.
A showpiece presentation wasn't a presentation as such. It was a conversation between Peter Long of TUI Travel and Miguel Fluxá who founded the Iberostar hotels. Despite an explanation as to who Sr. Fluxá was, it was still felt necessary to give him a rock-star musical accompaniment as he took to the stage, The Who's "Who Are You?". It seemed rather discourteous, but I doubt that Sr. Fluxá was aware of it or if he is a Who fan. Or perhaps he is. He has ageing rock-star hair, a lush silver mane over a face that reminds one somewhat of a tanned Tom Baker, as in Doctor Who. So, The Who was right after all.
There was stuff on the environment. Oh calamity. Hopefully, the loonies who disapprove of the climate-change theory were thin on the conference ground or were too busy charging their smartphones to have heard. Businesses, though, are setting targets for renewable energy and the like, and it's going to change everyone's lives. Something like that. One business has embarked on a wider sustainability assessment, that of an economic impact analysis that considers the value it as a business brings to areas in which it operates. I wondered if the chap from TUI was listening. Value to areas in it operates. All-inclusives. You get the picture.
And finally, as they say on "News At Ten", or used to, there was Willie Walsh, boss of IAG, the British Airways-Iberia merged outfit (he was accompanied by ELO's "Mr. Blue Sky"; still, could have been cheesier, "Up, Up And Away" for example). He slagged off the British Government and the transport minister in particular and criticised the Air Passenger Duty, which you would expect him to. But he has good reason. There's the UK trying to be all righteous and the Chinese are building 90 airports with up to eight runways each.
A fascinating day indeed, made more fascinating by meeting the British Consul who I asked if he might fancy heading off to Alcúdia for a trip down the Mile to see the effects of all-inclusives. If he were to be invited ... . Maybe he should be. Decent chap, though, and he seems to know a lot about cricket, while nowhere about his person was there any evidence of a smartphone, let alone the use of an app.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
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