Branson

Millions of visitors come to Branson each year. Last night [Feb 19] the Ole Seagull was reminded of the reason why. Simply put, it’s because a lot of people have invested their lives and resources in making Branson not only the wonderful place it is to visit, but to live, work, play and raise a family.

The Ole Seagull took a lot of ribbing from some of his buddies when he said he was going to his very first “Branson/Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce Black Tie Celebration,” and honestly, he went with some trepidation. His wife actually dug his “wake suit” out of the closet for him to wear and she said he “cleaned up nice.”

Although he realizes that there is a great social organization to the universe and knows his place there was a common bond at the event, “A love for Branson, appreciation of its past and a confident hope for its future.” Branson just didn’t happen. many people have invested much of their lives to make it the wonderful place that those of us who live here enjoy and, probably take too much for granted.

The Ole Seagull was not there as a reporter so he was not taking notes. At his age that means the best that is going to happen is a recollection of high lights and not many at that. The four that come to mind are the humbleness of the honorees who received well deserved recognition for their contribution to our community or kids, their sincerity in giving the credit for their awards to someone else, a sense of their love of God and their appreciation for Branson and all that it represents.

Particularly meaningful to an Ole Seagull, was the recognition of Jack and Peter Herschend, who were presented with special recognition awards for not only their involvement with Silver Dollar City, celebrating its 50th birthday this year, but for over 50 years of committed service to Branson. From trees to education, charities benefiting the families and children of this area and so much more, Jack and Peter Herschend and the Herschend family have been involved with making Branson not only the wonderful place it is for the millions of visitors who visit each year, but for the thousands of us who work and live here.

Branson is the place where, about 24 years ago, the Ole Seagull picked to call home and moved to with his family. It is the place he loves and from which he will go to be with the Lord when it is his time although perhaps not soon enough for some. He has never regretted that decision and last night he was reminded of why that was a great decision for him 24 years ago and why it would be great decision for anyone today.

If there is a better place to live, with finer people, better educational systems, more to do or a better community than Branson an Ole Seagull isn’t aware of it. It was a wonderful experience to share an evening with people of like heart and be reminded just how wonderful Branson is and how blessed we who live here are to be able to call it “Home.”

Last week’s column entitled “Does Branson need more big named stars or better promotion of what it has?” has generated some interest and comment. Its objective was to point out that Branson’s stages have an under recognized and underappreciated talent that, if recognized and marketed by the powers that control Branson’s marketing, could do for Branson well into its next 50 years what Shoji Tabuchi has done over the last 20 plus years.

It wasn’t intended to be about what we shouldn’t be doing or even an all inclusive piece about what we should be doing. It was a straight forward piece expressing one old man’s opinion about one thing we could be doing.

The comments on the “Ole Seagull Forum” under the “Living in Branson Forums” on www.1Branson.com were very interesting. They provide a varied perspective of peoples perception on the issue.

BransonBluesman said, “I’ve been here 22 years, and IMHO…Branson needs a few more “stars” to draw people here. Neal McCoy seems to have found a niche in Branson and will be appearing here on at least a semi-regular basis.” As to Neal McCoy and the other national stars that come to Branson, an Ole Seagull would say “Amen,” it adds to the breadth of the types of live shows Branson provides, has been taking place for at least the last two decades and doesn’t change the main point of the column.

Suselit said, “Branson has some young, ambitious Entertainers with their own Theaters who are working hard to get Audiences to come to Branson. The Duttons and The Haygoods are using TV to promote not only their shows but Branson as a tourist destination. It would seem logical for Branson to get behind their efforts and work as a team to accomplish the goal of Publicity for Branson.”
DalmationDad said, “Beyond about 600 miles or so, the marketing message is not effective IMO [In My Opinion]. People generally have heard of Branson, but misunderstand it terribly in the negative sense.” In referring to Suselit’s post, BransonBluesman said, “I think you are missing the point a bit. People who have never been to Branson have more than likely never heard of the The Duttons and The Haygoods.”

That was the major point of the column. Why haven’t people who have never been to Branson heard of these shows and Branson’s other under recognized and underappreciated shows who are performing day in and day out all during the season, not just for limited engagements or during the “plum part” of the season? Why are they not used as a marketing tool to help people make the decision to come to Branson because they are here?

BransonBluesman goes on to say, “Honestly – (and I’m not saying this is my opinion) most of the “family” acts in Branson are considered second rate when it comes to other entertainment areas like Vegas, etc.” All an Ole Seagull can say to that is “Honestly, Branson is a different type of entertainment “area,” than Las Vegas. “Areas like Vegas, etc.” don’t entertain, “entertainers” entertain and there is absolutely nothing “second rate” about the caliber of entertainment that family shows such as, but not limited to the Haygoods, Duttons, Six, the Hughes Brothers, Presleys’, Balknobbers and others provide Branson visitors. Weren’t the Dutton’s one of the top ten finalists on the nationally televised NBC hit show “America’s Got Talent” based on the votes of millions of Americans?

National stars, those on limited engagements, extended stays as well as those who chose to stay in Branson and become foundational shows are an important part of what Branson is today and will be in the future. What came first however, the national stars or the millions of visitors already coming to Branson to, among other things, be entertained by Branson’s foundational family acts such as the Baldknobbers, Braschlers, Plummers and Presleys?

At the end of the day marketing is like the difference between a violin and a fiddle. It’s all about how you play around with it that determines the result. From a marketing standpoint, why haven’t people who have never been to Branson heard about “The Duttons and The Haygoods” or Branson’s other under recognized and underappreciated shows?

Most were probably expecting a column about the headline story of 2009 or something along those lines. Actually, although the story was never written, the question should have been a headline in 2009, 2008, 2007, prior years and should be a major story during 2010, but it wasn’t and it won’t. That’s sad because the answer to Branson’s future could lie in the balance.

Shoji Tabuchi is one of the most popular acts in Branson and justly so for a lot of reasons. Yet, prior to 1991 Shoji had been working in Branson, and around the country during the off season, and had just recently started his own show. After his appearance on the 1991 CBS Show “60 Minutes,” where Branson was declared as the “Live Music Capital of the Entire Universe,” and the attendant publicity and marketing accompanying that show and Shoji, he rose like a meteor to a justly deserved place as one of Branson’s must see shows.

Now the Ole Seagull realizes that there was a lot more involved than the 60 Minutes Show. There was a new theatre, productions numbers like Branson stages had never seen before, good internal marketing, a huge influx of new people coming to Branson, and of course the talent, wit and audience appeal of one of the Ole Seagull’s favorite entertainers and people, the incomparable Shoji Tabuchi.

However, the reality of the situation at that time was that in 1991 “Shoji Tabuchi” was not a big named national star. His was not the name on the lips of those who were saying, “What Branson needs to do is get more big named stars.” Yet, over the last 20 years, unless the Ole Seagull misses his bet, Shoji Tabuchi has been responsible for consistently, year after year, month after month, entertaining more Branson visitors than any other star or act that has ever come to Branson.

What the Ole Seagull is trying to say is that in 1991, even as some were saying, “Woe is Branson if we don’t bring in big named national stars” one of its biggest stars of the next two decades was already performing on a Branson stage right under their noses. The publicity of 60 minutes helped them realize what was available, it was capitalized on and the rest is history.
It seems like someone is always saying, “Branson entertainment needs new this or that and woe is Branson if we don’t bring in big named national stars.” To that an Ole Seagull would say, “Bull roar.”

In terms of Branson’s marketing effort, and strictly in the Ole Seagull’s opinion, Branson’s stages have an under recognized and under appreciated talent that, if recognized and marketed by the powers that control the marketing, could do for Branson well into its next 50 years what Shoji Tabuchi has done over the last 20. The first question a lot of people would ask is, “What shows would those be?” Although he is certain there are others, of the shows he considers “under appreciated and under recognized,” that he has had personal involvement with during the last year the Duttons, Haygoods, Magnificent Variety, Six, Hughes Brothers, George Dyre, Clay Cooper, Liver Pool Legends and the “Country Tonite cast” portion of the “Country Tonite” show come to mind.

The Ole Seagull will wonder until the day he dies, why the marketing gurus of this town didn’t jump on the chance to market Branson and the Dutton Show to take maximum advantage of its prime time appearances and top ten performances on the top rated NBC hit show “America’s Got Talent.” There was the ideal chance for Branson to help create its own new star. For whatever reason, it didn’t happen and we are still complaining that we have nothing coming up to replace our maturing acts that will, more than likely sooner than later, be retiring.
For what it matters, an Ole Seagull believes we have the talent, shows and entertainers performing on Branson stages right now that can provide quality, diversity, stability and longevity for Branson’s entertainment scene for a long time to come. All we have to do is recognize it and promote it.

Isn’t that what marketing is for? Very few people come to Branson for no reason. Why not make that reason something that will be providing quality Branson based season long family entertainment in Branson for the next ten to twenty years?

A recent column entitled “Seagulestions’ on the Highroad and Branson Landing show things haven’t changed much,” published in this paper and on line at www.OleSeagull.Com” made comparisons to the political environment in which the Ozark Mountain Highroad (Highroad) and Branson Landing were authorized to be built. In the case of the Highroad, then governor Ashcroft used a power that, according to published reports, had never been used before to authorize building the Highroad on a priority basis to relieve traffic congestion in downtown Branson.

The road, named the “Ozark Mountain High Road” is Missouri State Highway 465. It runs seven miles southwest from its northern terminus with Highway 65 north of Branson to its southwestern terminus with Highway 76 just east of Silver Dollar City. Locally the road is referred to under various names including “Pete’s Pike,” out of respect for all the effort Peter Herschend, one of the owners of Silver Dollar City made to get the road built, “Silver Dollar Highway” for obvious reason and “Maytag Repairman Way” because people traveling on it are normally as lonely as the Maytag repair man.

When the column was posted on the Ole Seagull’s Forum on the “1Branson.Com” message board, one of the Posters, Hunters Friend said, “All joking aside, Gary should now be able to at least understand the issue is not the highroad, but rather Branson’s enormous (and successful) attempts to hide its existence”. It’s actually kind of funny, a lot of folks, including The Ole Seagull, believe there was a political conspiracy to get the Highroad built initially and now there’s an allegation of a conspiracy about “Branson’s enormous (and successful) attempts to hide its existence.”

In his initial response The Ole Seagull said, “Is there just the possibility that the low use of the Highroad is more dependent on the fact that most people coming to Branson are staying in Branson proper and that the Highroad doesn’t help get them to their hotels or the majority of the other places they might want to go? How does the Highroad help get someone [those people already in Branson], to Branson Landing, Branson’s Theatre district, Titanic, major shopping malls, downtown, etc.”

Hunters Friend supported his conspiracy theory with a series of maps published by Branson businesses that, for the most part, are intended to be handed out to people already in Branson. These maps either don’t show the Highroad or show it to his satisfaction. Hunter’s Friend kind of summed it up by saying, “All of these are fairly pathetic, but I still maintain that the Best Read Guide’s attempt to bury the highroad is the best I have seen. 5 foldout pages and in the uppermost left-hand corner is a smidgen of a line for 465. Pathetic and comical all at the same time.”

The Ole Seagull responded, “The Ole Seagull doesn’t find the maps either pathetic or comical. He finds them filled with relevant information that most Branson visitors would want to use to get from place to place while they are in Branson. It is his personal opinion that the Highroad doesn’t show on most of the local Branson Maps for the same reason Highway 86 and 13 aren’t shown; it is irrelevant for most Branson visitors.”

Interestingly, although the two threads have garnered over 100 comments and 2065 views since being posted, no one, not one person has answered the Ole Seagulls original questions on the initial rational for building the Highroad, “Precisely how much has the building of the Highroad done for lowering the amount of traffic on Highway 76 or downtown Branson? Why would any business person, theatre, shop or restaurant owner on Highway 76, with half of an ounce of brains, want less traffic on Highway 76 in the mid 1990s or now?” While we are at it maybe one more would be appropriate, “Do you believe there is a Branson conspiracy to hide the existence of the Highroad?

A recent headline in this paper, “Financial reports show decreases across the board” got the Ole Seagull thinking about history, the present and the future. As he did so what came to mind is the old adage “The more things change the more they stay the same.” To illustrate his thoughts on these issues he is going to use the power of the “Seagulestion,” a rhetorical Seagull question that he thinks he knows the answer to, but is not as positive as he would like to be as to the answer.

The first paragraph of the story reports, “Monthly reports reflected a 9.3 percent decline in sales tax revenues for August as bond payments on the Branson Landing exceed revenues.” Hey that’s good news because it indicates the city is getting revenues from its investment in Branson Landing. Would someone from the city send out a press release explaining in plain English, that most of us could understand, a clear precise list and explanation of exactly what revenues are generated from the Branson Landing that the city is getting and can use for its day to day operations?”

In like manner, it would be helpful if the city of Branson could publish a list of the precise expenditures it makes on an annual basis regarding Branson Landing for both operations and bond and other debt retirement. Hey, while they are at it why don’t they come up with a simple one page report that the normal citizen can look at and determine how much more, or less, the city is paying than they are taking in from Branson Landing?

Other “Seagulestions” come to mind. How much of the city of Branson’s city retail sales taxes collected at Branson Landing can actually be used by the city for current city operational costs? What percentage of the city’s Tourism Tax, the one where 75% goes for infrastructure and its operation and maintenance and 25% for the marketing of Branson, collected at Branson Landing does the city actually get to use for those purposes?

Were the citizens of Branson ever told by a past City Administrator in a public meeting that the city would have no legal responsibility to pay anything on the TIF Bonds should revenues from the project not be sufficient to do so? But wait, weren’t the citizens of Branson all a glitter in the mid 90’s about how the Highroad should be built on an emergency basis to help eliminate the traffic in downtown Branson and on Highway 76?

Now here’s a couple “Seagulestions” for the ages, “Precisely how much has the building of the Highroad done for lowering the amount of traffic on Highway 76 or downtown Branson? Why would any business person, theatre, shop or restaurant owner on Highway 76, with a half of an ounce of brains, want less traffic on Highway 76 in the mid 1990s or now?

Maybe someone from the city, even though they were not the ones who put the city in its current situation, could explain why the article appears to be reporting that the city has an obligation to cover the shortfall on the bond payments and how we got from having no responsibility to pay anything on the TIF bonds to this point? On the other hand, at the end of the day it isn’t going to make a lot of difference, like the Highroad before it, those who have the power and influence will continue to do what they want when they want and the rest of us should just keep our mouths shut and be thankful. “Yup, the more things change the more they stay the same.”

To an Ole Seagull Branson Airport is only as important as the number of new visitors it brings to Branson or the services it provides to the residents of our area. He would also point out that the only value to his columns, if any, is the extent to which it causes people to think about the issues raised not whether or not his position is correct because, at the end of the day, his position is but that of a tired old man in the winter of his years.

Last week’s column contained a section entitled “WOW, do Branson Airport Visitors Spend More?” In its entirety it said, “Those attending the annual meeting of the Branson Lakes Area Tourism Community Enhancement District on Sep. 24 were given information by Branson Lakes/Lakes Area Convention and Visitors Bureau that the average spending “per party” was $919.34 for the 2009 reporting period up from $799.99 for the 2008 reporting period. That was good, but nothing compared to the report given by Jeff Bourke, Executive Director of the Branson Airport. A published report in this week’s Taney County Times on that report states “The Branson Airport has generated $92 million in visitor spending…” and that “At least 41 percent of the more than 10,000 people who have flown to Branson via the airport are first time visitors.” Using Ole Seagull math and assuming that it’s not much more than 10,000 people, that amounts to an incredible $9,200 per person or $18,400 for a “party” of two.”

It was meant to be a no brainer “tongue in cheek” piece. As is the case with most of the Ole Seagull’s columns, it was published on www.1Branson.com in the Ole Seagull’s forum. The comments there were varied, but most folks realized that the $92 million dollar figure was not accurate and got with the spirit of the occasion. Those comments ranged from Dalmation Dad’s comment “It’s obvious we need more planes and then more banks to hold all that new money” to the more dramatic comment of the every faithful Grizzly who said, “The guy got a decimal point moved and it rates a smack down from the Seagull. good thing I never made a mistake before.”

“What smack down?” The piece merely pointed out an exact quote from the Taney Country Times. What’s next accusing the Ole Seagull of a “smack down” if he asks, “How many tax payer marketing dollars have been spent to market the airport for each of the approximately 36 new visitors Branson gets per day from the airport?”

When the cancellation of Sun Country’s flights was announced KOLR TV reported, “KOLR10 News has learned that Sun Country Airlines will end its service to Dallas and Minneapolis on December 12. Branson Airport leaders say Sun Country was only here for seasonal service. They hope to renegotiate with the airline and bring the service back when the spring tourism season starts in April.”

Is it a “smack down” to ask, “Does Branson ‘season’ end on October 17” or “Exactly what service is Sun Country providing from Dallas to Branson between October 17 and December 12?” The reason the Ole Seagull asks is that he is looking at the Sun Country schedule at this very moment and doesn’t see any. Did he miss the public announcement to that effect?