NotMyName wrote:
> In a banner headline story on the front page of the Edmonton
> Journal, for today Thursday 13 July 2006, is a very interesting
> story.
>
> Edmonton, in a desperate bid to get some tourists to visit this
> crime capital, even offered FREE TRIPS all expenses paid, to
> random couples around Canada.
>
> Instead of finding lots of takers, instead they found complete
> disdain, with one couple saying they wouldn't even think of going
> there!
I would have gone had they called me. It has been some time.
Your credibility is gone when you don't tell ALL of the facts but
just the ones you want to get across.
The entire article for anyone that wants real truth instead of biased
garbage from a dumbass:
EDMONTON - A bid to raise national awareness of Edmonton stumbled
this week when six Canadians won a trip to the city.
Trouble is, after the draw was held Monday, it took until Wednesday
to get three parties of two to say yes. Even then, at least half the
winners have already been here.
"You wouldn't believe how hard it is to give something away for
free," Robert Moyles, the city's acting communications manager, said
Wednesday.
The draw was organized by city hall, which entered "everyone in
Canada" for a chance to win.
But the agency that took on the task of calling Canadians found that
people had already made holiday plans -- or thought the contest was
a scam, Moyles said.
"There was one person who had previously had a bad experience here,
who declined."
It wasn't until Wednesday afternoon that Amanda Van Der Beesen of
St. John's, Nfld., heard that she was a winner.
Van Der Beesen, 24, knew nothing of the contest, which the city
publicized by advertising in the Globe and Mail.
"I was very skeptical, to be honest with you," she said in a phone
interview. "Now that I've been talking with someone from the City of
Edmonton, I'm really excited about coming."
She said she will probably bring her partner, Chris LeBlanc, to see
the city she last visited when she was a child.
"We don't know who we're flying with or where we're staying," she
said. "All they said was, 'You've won a trip to Edmonton.' "
Their trip will include a visit to Capital Ex. The event sounded new
to her, "so I'm really looking forward to coming in and seeing what
it's all about."
Told that until this year Capital Ex was called Klondike Days, she
said she may have been to that. Even so, she said she looks forward
to the trip.
Another winning pair are Gary Osaka and his son, Cory, of Markham,
Ont., near Toronto. They'll attend this month's West Edmonton Mall
Grand Prix.
Gary Osaka, who grew up in Picture Butte, has siblings in Edmonton
and Calgary.
"We've been to Calgary several times but not to Edmonton in a number
of years," said Robyn Osaka, Cory's stepmother.
They heard on Tuesday night that they'd won, she said. At first,
they suspected the call was a come-on for a condo deal. "It
certainly did raise some red flags for us."
The third winning pair will come from Whistler, B.C., to attend the
Edmonton Folk Music Festival in August. They could not be reached
for comment.
Officials held a series of draws, first to select Canadian cities,
then for the first two letters of surnames, and finally for a
single-digit number -- for example, a four for the fourth name
beginning with "Sm" in a phone directory.
Moyles said the idea for the competition came from within the city
communications branch, not from council. The campaign budget is
$50,000, including advertising, airfare and hotel stays.
The city hopes for sponsorships, such as from event organizers, he
said.
To contact the winners, organizers relied on Silver Lining, a
company that has moved its head office from Edmonton to, gasp,
Toronto.
In fairness, Silver Lining's president, Edmonton native Carissa
Reiniger, is credited with promoting Edmonton in Toronto and other
cities by organizing such events as a national Get Down E-Town
tour.
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