University Set To Try Its Hand At Telegraph
The Telegraph Avenue Renewal saga continues, with the university now teaming up with community leaders to form a joint marketing campaign. From the Daily Cal:
The campaign, set to roll out in late August, will carry the slogan “Telegraph Avenue: Gateway to Cal.”
University and city officials plan to distribute brochures bearing the slogan at high-attendance events connected to the campus, such as Caltopia, football games and neighborhood block parties. A poster-calendar containing images of Telegraph Avenue juxtaposed with images of UC Berkeley will also be passed out to students.
A new Web site, Telegraph Live, is also set to launch soon. The Web site will carry descriptions of stores, information on current deals, and tips for shoppers-such as where to buy the best garlic chicken, said Doreen Moreno, manager with the UC Berkeley Office of Community Relations…
Moreno said this is the only instance in her memory that the university has worked with city merchants to launch a marketing campaign.
“This is the first time where there’s been a real focus on the marketing and public relations compontent to helping Telegraph in its economic revitalization,” she said.
Several business owners in the Telegraph area had not heard about the campaign but said it sounded like a good proposal.
“It might be kind of effective,” said Mars Clothing store manager Fernando Borbon. “A big percentage of the population here are students, and Telegraph seems to be heading in a downward spiral.”
So, it’s a project with city business owners who think the area is in a downward spiral and hadn’t heard of a supposedly large-scale joint university proposal to help promote the area? And there’s a website? This plan has just got to work! [end sarcasm]
Let’s get a couple things straight here. One, this isn’t the university’s job to do. I’m under the impression that there are a few on-campus business ventures that could probably use some attention. Two, the university has never done this type of work to the liking of city residents. The Memorial Stadium renovation project, 2020 Long Range Development Plan, and Downtown Berkeley hotel project are all swimming in red tape right now, with the potential of many of these disputes to go to arbitration. The university has failed to market even basic services, like the Cal 1 Card, effectively to a majority of students. Past community mailers, like those proposed, have received dry responses from the student body.
I expect that this is another PR move that will have, at best, a marginal tangible effect on Telegraph Avenue businesses and the largely-student population that utilizes them.
So basically they’re gonna make another http://www.shopinberkeley.com but that is up to date and not filled with dead links?
Comment by Simon — August 8, 2006 @ 11:19 am
Quite to the contrary, it is most definitely the university’s business. Many families, upon touring Berkeley, decide that their children should not come here entirely BECAUSE the area appears shady and rundown. It reflects poorly on the school, makes it seem unsafe, makes it seem like the influence of drugs and alcohol will be pervasive. Of course, all of this is largely true compared to other schools. (It’s inarguably easier to score a bag of weed in Berkeley than Palo Alto) Part of the university’s job is to increase enrollment ratios for admitted students. Cleaning up the area around campus is almost certainly the biggest and most effective thing they can do to accomplish this.
Comment by Spanky McCrackers — August 8, 2006 @ 1:33 pm
When I see prospective freshmen and their parents walking down Telegraph, sometimes I want to stop them and say “Don’t worry, the rest of the campus doesn’t look like this!”
You can see the wheels in their head turning and printing out “University of Michigan can’t be that cold…”
Comment by Simon — August 9, 2006 @ 10:23 pm
ah Berkeley the rich city that thinks it’s poor because it has Telegraph bums.
Comment by Anonymous — August 9, 2006 @ 11:37 pm
The proposal wont really do anything to improve business on Telegraph. The Cal One card idea sounds interesting, but I dont know how successful it will be.
None of these PR moves will solve Telegraph’s problems. It really comes down to what impediments are there to business relocating on the avenue and what can the City do to change that.
Some steps are already being taken.
Hopefully it will be more successful than the “Good Neighbor” brochure that UC did at the beginning of last school year, which was condescending and ineffective.
Comment by Jesse Arreguin — August 10, 2006 @ 2:13 am
I’m just sad that calstuf has not mentioned anything about what is going on between israel and lebanon. I know this is a very controversial issue, but I think there should be some space made for discussion. If we could talk about power bar moving out of berkeley and the SA drama, the least we could do is mention the deadly drama unfolding on the other side of the word…
Comment by Anonymous — August 10, 2006 @ 1:13 pm
ok, I think Israel has a right to slaughter Hezbollah if they are attacking Israel. If Lebanon does not turn over all Hezbollah terrorists they are asking for it. This is their problem, not ours.s However, we should stop funding Israel’s military.
Comment by Anonymous — August 10, 2006 @ 1:19 pm
Anonymous #6:
Despite the big Jewish bias on this blog, I think the reason there is no thread for it is because this is a Cal/City of Berkeley blog, and as you said, the conflict is on the other side of the world.
Aside from Andy and Senator Nankin being caught in the middle of some rocket action on their birthright trip, it is hardly connected to the Cal community in any direct way.
Hah I just realized that I referred to their dangerously close run-in with Hezbitches’ rockets as “Rocket Action.”
…Attacking a major military power that has USA backing….DONE!
Comment by Eddy Crochetiere — August 10, 2006 @ 2:15 pm
Dude, you want IsraelStuff. Or LebanonStuff. Or ForeignPolicyStuff.
Comment by Beetle — August 10, 2006 @ 6:09 pm
I’ll post something cal-related about the crisis in the next couple of days, whether it be about Cal Students in Israel (as #8 pointed out) or protests on campus.
Comment by Andy M. — August 10, 2006 @ 10:46 pm
Hey, “it might be kind of effective.” With that kind of positive attitude, Telegraph is saved!
Comment by Anonymous — August 11, 2006 @ 12:18 pm
coupla Cal hats among among these people here. This is about the last place I would be seen.
Comment by POS — August 12, 2006 @ 5:37 pm