DIANA-logue ~~ stereotypes... do we deserve this?
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I'm sure you've all heard the West Virginia jokes, or maybe they were for Alabama, or Arkansas, or wherever. Depending on where you are in the country, you can insert any state name you like. It's all meant to be funny. And some of it is! But we all know that these are jokes. But... too many times the stereotypes of these jokes are true. Not all West Virginians have sofas hanging from a tree to use as a swing. Not all WV's ride the short bus to school.
Here's the point... Alpine Lake is in West Virginia. And for years WV has had an image of hillbilly, redneck, dirt eatin' folks. We all know that's not true, but it's still the image some people have. So, as a community, we need to make sure people get the right image about Alpine & West Virginia.
For the state, WVU and other schools have made a major impact on changing the attitudes of most. Beautiful state parks have also changed the perception.
But what about Alpine? For some, their first impression of alpine is some form of advertising. And there it is! Imagine seeing an ad in the paper for this place, and it's misspelled. OK, a mistake. Then the next week, it's misspelled again. This is happening right now, and happens all the time. I know, its funny when you see a flyer at the mailbox with a spelling mistake, or a menu in the lounge with a marker correcting a mistake... but is it really funny?
The point is... perception is reality. When you see these mistakes, you have to figure we just don't care. It's almost like we don't deserve any better. And that is why we are always trying to fight that hillbilly, redneck image. Maybe not everyone feels this way, but it really bothers me to see words spelled incorrectly. Or poor grammar. We all make mistakes, especially when typing informal messages, but these are advertisements for our community. There's no excuse for a paid advertisement to contain errors. It looks like we just don't care.
Here's a quick test... how many ' i 's are in the word lessons? That's an easy one.
How many ' k 's are in the word architect? Maybe a little tougher.
Are we just used to it?
Do we not expect anything better?
I do, what about you?
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I'm sure you've all heard the West Virginia jokes, or maybe they were for Alabama, or Arkansas, or wherever. Depending on where you are in the country, you can insert any state name you like. It's all meant to be funny. And some of it is! But we all know that these are jokes. But... too many times the stereotypes of these jokes are true. Not all West Virginians have sofas hanging from a tree to use as a swing. Not all WV's ride the short bus to school.
Here's the point... Alpine Lake is in West Virginia. And for years WV has had an image of hillbilly, redneck, dirt eatin' folks. We all know that's not true, but it's still the image some people have. So, as a community, we need to make sure people get the right image about Alpine & West Virginia.
For the state, WVU and other schools have made a major impact on changing the attitudes of most. Beautiful state parks have also changed the perception.
But what about Alpine? For some, their first impression of alpine is some form of advertising. And there it is! Imagine seeing an ad in the paper for this place, and it's misspelled. OK, a mistake. Then the next week, it's misspelled again. This is happening right now, and happens all the time. I know, its funny when you see a flyer at the mailbox with a spelling mistake, or a menu in the lounge with a marker correcting a mistake... but is it really funny?
The point is... perception is reality. When you see these mistakes, you have to figure we just don't care. It's almost like we don't deserve any better. And that is why we are always trying to fight that hillbilly, redneck image. Maybe not everyone feels this way, but it really bothers me to see words spelled incorrectly. Or poor grammar. We all make mistakes, especially when typing informal messages, but these are advertisements for our community. There's no excuse for a paid advertisement to contain errors. It looks like we just don't care.
Here's a quick test... how many ' i 's are in the word lessons? That's an easy one.
How many ' k 's are in the word architect? Maybe a little tougher.
Are we just used to it?
Do we not expect anything better?
I do, what about you?
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I completely agree. Exactly what current form of advertisement has a spelling error?
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Hi Matt~ the last two editions of the Garrett County paper have spelling errors in the golf section.... they are from April 25 and May 2.Thanks for your comment.
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Checked the paper this week and OOPS, the same mistake is there again.
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Disclaimer-I'm posting this with hopes that someone will check into this and update the information, NOT to be critical of the promotional efforts of AL.
The 2007 issue of "West Virginia Official State Travel Guide" contains inaccurate information about AL and it's amenities. The rooms are listed at the older, higher rates and has a stated 208 rooms. We list a hot tub and rental tube sleds as available amenities. There may be more, but these are the problems that I noticed.
I realize that this is the '07 guide and the information would have to be submitted in '06, and I have not seen the '08 version, but the website www.callwva.com has the same information.
I hope that someone will look into this and update the AL information.
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OK, this is hard for me because you said not to be critical, but I will give it a try. You all know how I feel about our advertising & marketing.
There are many publications AL is listed in. Some are paid for and some are free. But it is imperative that these publications are updated yearly. Even free publications don't help if the info is wrong.
I know there was some confusion with our golf rates listed on various websites. The rates were from years ago and never updated. Customers printed that info and expected to pay the cheaper rates. I know those were all updated in the past year.
I would suggest you forward the information to the board so they can pass it along to the employees that should keep the publications accurate. The board's email addresses are available on the sidebar.
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For the third week in a row, the ad has run with the same spelling mistake. Let's be clear on this~ that ad is seen by thousands of people.... it is in newspapers in Cumberland, Keyser, Romney, Frostburg and many other parts of MD and WV. It'll be interesting to see if any changes are made for next week's ad.
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