Let the contest begin

The contest rules and blog position description are now posted on VISIT Milwaukee’s website.

If you’re interested in taking over here at Play in the City, you can submit your resume along with a 250-word essay between now and May 11. The top two to five candidates will be chosen by VISIT and then the public will be invited to vote for the winner. I feel good about the contest - I think it's only right that I, along with all of you, should have a say in who ultimately takes the blog into its third year!

You can go here for all the details: www.visitmilwaukee.org/blogcontest

The job description has changed a bit since I began two years ago, and it appears that they're going to make the site a bit more all encompassing. I started out covering strictly the outdoors, which then moved to indoor activities, as well, because, let’s face it: we live in Wisconsin and there’s just no way we could keep the fun strictly outside!

The blog will now cover nightlife and hotspots, too – though the writer will have to take caution to not cover too many restaurants, as VISIT already sponsors a food blog.

Another change is this: It’s not a recap of visits to popular places; it’s more of a dialogue about Milwaukee’s rich urban experiences.

Recaps are obviously what I’ve done all along, and it seems to me that they’ve worked quite well in showcasing all that Milwaukee has to offer by way of activities. And that was, in fact, what I was told to do when I started. But hey, good for them for trying to shake things up a bit. I think it's a great idea to cast a wider net with the blog. I’m eager to see how it all works out, and I hope it’ll be a big success.

Good luck to all who enter – I look forward to helping to make this decision!

Comments

[Dave]

...many will enter, but only one will win.

[Andre]

Wow, good thing they're covering bars and clubs now. I, for one, am always hearing people say, "Man, there's nothing to do in Milwaukee but culture and outdoor stuff. I just wish I could find a good bar to go to, but no one ever does that here."

Yes, that was sarcasm. Tons of it.

[Erin]

You make a valid point, Andre. However, I think that when people think Milwaukee, they think townie bars, not clubs and hotspots.

I think they want to show that Milwaukee is chic and sexy, not just all about beer and brats. I understand it.

I think it'll be tough, though, in that photos add a lot to a post and it'll be pretty hard to take good photos in places like that. The writer will just have to be really good at describing rather than posting a bunch of pics.

[Krista]

Ooooh, I saw the "job posting" on the Big Shoes Network last night and got a little excited. That's kind of a big deal. Although I still think Erin should continue. Sigh...

[Christi]

I think it's a GREAT idea! How fun!

[Andre]

I guess it can't hurt, but I think they should just post a link to Milwaukee Nights and leave it at that. Not that we don't have some okay places to go at night, but they don't differentiate us from other cities. Not one bit.

It sounds to me like there is a change in focus. I would say outdoor activities are geared towards getting people to move here, or not to leave for somewhere else. Now that they're looking at things like clubs and restaurants, I get the feeling we're more interested in tourists and conventions.

Those are valid things to concentrate on for a short-term gain. But it would be nice to also concentrate on some long-term opportunities. If you can get more people to do something in Milwaukee during the day, there'll end-up being more stuff to do and more people to do it with. *That's* tourism - not going to clubs because there isn't anything else to do.

Do we want to be Vegas, or do we want to be Seattle? Probably more "Detroit, or D.C.", but you know what I mean.

[Christi]

I think if you're really going to promote a city, you have to promote ALL aspects of the city...not just restaurants, not just the outdoors. I'm sure there are a ton of people who after an outdoor adventure by Lake Michigan would love to go out and chill at a Jazz club or dance the night away at a great new hot spot, but don't know where to go! That evening activity isn't soley reserved for tourists and conventions. I would love to learn about new places to go out with my girlfriends. It doesn't make the city any less credible to note those places. If anything, I think it makes us more well rounded. It shows we have something for everyone! =)

[Kate]

I have been reading your blog since I moved to Milwaukee in the Fall of 2006 and I just wanted to thank you for all the great ideas about things to do, see, eat, drink and so on in the City of Milwaukee.

Just as you are moving on... I'm moving on to a new city... where I can only hope to find a new blog that makes me feel as "at home" as your blog did here in Milwaukee.

Good luck in your future writing ventures!!!

[Carmi]

I'll admit I'm sad to hear this, but I fully empathize with your decision. All good things must come to an end, after all, and nothing, especially in the writing world, lasts forever.

As a writer who has buried more columns, gigs and contracts than I care to remember, I totally understand where you're at as you oversee the transition to the next phase of the blog - and the next phase of your professional career.

Please don't drop off the writer's radar. Whatever you're doing in the world of words, I hope I get to continue to read what you're up to, wherever that may be.

Don't be a stranger, k?

Carmi