Thursday, February 12, 2009

Ogden-Weber Chamber of Commerce Annual Supplement

A most-welcomed evolution: Nary a word about the wonderfulness of "gondolas"

By Curmudgeon

There is an interesting supplement in this morning's Standard-Examiner. It is the Ogden-Weber Chamber of Commerce annual supplement, announcing the winners of Chamber Awards for this year for business leaders and for community service [to all of whom congratulations]. But it also includes a full page from Chamber President Dave "Cables" Hardman, outlining the Chamber's policy and program goals for the coming year --- what the Chamber intends to support and promote.

It's not a bad list in many ways. The Chamber will promote, Hardman reports, "Green Community practices," and "transportation infrastructure and public transit to ensure growth opportunity,[and] reduction of congestion and pollution." But what is surprising about the list is what is not there: nowhere in the long communication by "Cables" Hardman does the word "gondola" appear. Not once. Not ever. This, from the fellow who, when the Mayor's cockamamie gondola-for-golf-course swap project was taking on water fast, was assuring people face to face that "it's a done deal; it's going to happen." Yet now, in Hardman's plan for the coming year, the gondola seems to have gone extinct.

Well, now. That's certainly a change. Some might even call it progress. And how appropriate that the supplement appears in the SE on Darwin Day. Seems even "Cables" Hardman and the Chamber he leads is capable of evolving. Imagine that....

Ed. Note: Sorry folks. We can't find an online link to the Chamber of Commerce supplement. Hard to tell how the Std-Ex missed that possibly lucrative online advertising revenue bet.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Perhaps this is a good place to point out that back in 2006, the Chamber of Commerce was actually paying the bills for the gondola promotion campaign work done by Pinnacle Marketing. However, it appears that Chris Peterson reimbursed the Chamber for some or all of this expense.

I have no idea whether the Chamber board was aware of this arrangement, or if it was something Hardman did on his own.

RudiZink said...

Somebody please explain to me how a complete dork like Hardman even now remains the spokesman for the local Chamber of Commerce.

He's like a weird and inbred character out of Mark Twain's "Huckleberry Finn," I swear.

Write this down so you don't forget it.

Anonymous said...

I like Dave Hardman, Rudy.

He sold me a couple of my favorite neckties back in the nineties at ZCMI, back in 1994.

They're getting a little frayed at the edges, and I tie them around my neck every Sunday when I go to Church, but I must say I do love former ZCMI necktie salesman Dave Hardman, who sold me these wonderful neckties!

Anonymous said...

clothes horse

too bad he cant go back there and keep doing something he was good at.

Anonymous said...

Damn you Curm, that insert would have hit the recycle bin un-noticed in no time flat, but no,,,,,you post an article and force me to dig it out and actually read that blather.
Did Hardman write the whole thing?
This piece was full of inaccuracies, like the rebranding of Weber County, really? The folks in West Warren (formerly Reese) now consider themselves the high adventure capitol of the universe?
Gary Neilson owns the flow rider and I fly, when did he buy them? I wish the folks at Shirtleff's office would hurry and send me back my copy of the jackass center lease, i've read it front to back and visa versa and never saw anything close to that.
But Curm, you need to get up to speed with the current lift ogden lingo. Hardman does mention the gondola twice, but in their own secret language, in that circle, high adventure outdoor recreation and mass transit are synonyms for gondolas.

Anonymous said...

Bill:

Well, Bill, I thought the Hardman page was, on the whole, not half bad. Set out some good goals for the OWCC to support and promote. Yes, a little Ogden/Weber horn-tooting here and there, but that's kind of what Chambers do. It's in their nature. And you can quibble about coded language and such, but the gondola-for-golf-course swap pipe dream, which played a key part in OWCC goals for such a long time [and lived on on its website even after Hizzonah had given it up] is gone from this document. That showed definite progress, and that deserved a say-so I thought, not more kvetching.

Anonymous said...

The gondola/golf course swap was certainly one of the silliest ideas ever to be attempted on a video game and smut distracted populace.

On a positive note, it was such a blatant land grab, it woke a significant segment of Ogden to what could occur if citizens choose to be apathetic as regards local politics.

Although we support the right to develop ones own land as one sees fit, we will not allow elected officials to squander what is held in a public trust.

We love this town.

Anonymous said...

rj
hey i resemble that remark "video game and smut distracted populace".

Anonymous said...

We find your honesty refreshing.

Much like this forum, it keeps us young.

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