Saturday, July 20, 2013

Confirmation Bias Bulletin

Well, now I know no one is reading this blog.

The Bulletin does an article on the bike race and doesn't bother to ask me -- I  have been pretty vocal about not liking the race.

They quote five businesses -- four of which are owned or managed by people who have been here only a few years.

Not one of them says it's actually good for business on the day it happens.

But, hey.  It's all good.  Because.

You know, just because.

Because it's got to be, right?

So it must be.

Because....

So, hey, Bulletin.  Get off your lazy ass and do some real reporting on Event Fatigue.

7 comments:

Duncan McGeary said...

Lazy reporting.

Hearing what they want to hear and making sure they only ask people who will be positive.

And asking the people who put on the event --

Duncan McGeary said...

Of course, writing poetry will probably drive away the last of the readers...

Duncan McGeary said...

They mention event fatigue.

Well, yeah. Enough already.

Just stop doing them. I had a very big day in business yesterday -- I'll let you know today how much worse I did -- and since non-event Saturdays in the summer are my biggest day -- I can almost tell you how much money it cost me.

The Bite of Bend was a disaster for me. They put a huge thing in front of my store, and we had people leaning against the door all day -- literally blocking the door.

Sales sucked, not only on those days but on the following Monday and Tuesday -- which always happens.

So -- you're beginning to talk about half each week, hurt by the events, which take up most of July and a week of August. So over half the summer is given to promotions which supposedly will help us on the days when the events don't happen, which is maybe less than half of the rest of the summer.

Except. I see no evidence of that. Whatsoever. No one has ever shown me any evidence of that. We're just supposed to believe it.

But my own observation is it isn't true. At all.

Enough, downtowners! Just say no!

Hey Bulletin. Why bother reporting if you can't research any better than that.

Duncan McGeary said...

I'll say this again. There was a time when downtown needed the help.

Now the help is hurting us.

It's as if we stayed in the hospital and kept taking the medication after we got well.

Duncan McGeary said...

Real reporting might require some digging instead of just taking what Chuck Arnold fucking tells you. Real reporting might require some anonymous merchants who will tell you the truth off the record.

Maybe asking some of the less dewy eyed newcomers.

I don't know, just digging a little deeper.

Anonymous said...

Perhaps the Bulletin knows that the volumes who used to flock to BMWJAMAGEH are burned out on reading posts about writing vampire books! Hmmm?

Duncan McGeary said...

True that.