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"Slow Movement" by David Stanowski 05 February 2008 In my previous article, "A Marketing Plan for the City of Galveston", I argued that we should be concentrating on marketing and promoting the 19th-Century character and ambiance of the City, because that is what is truly unique about Galveston. It stated, in part: "The story" should contrast life in the outside world, with life in "the City". What does the 19th Century have to offer that the 21st Century does not? Peace versus turmoil, authenticity versus artificiality, simplicity versus complexity, character versus superficiality, and a slow pace versus the rat race. We need to find a way to make this appeal to people who are: living in subdivisions and towns with no center or soul, living in track homes made of sawdust and glue, and are always in hurry. Galveston should be marketed as a place that offers a refuge from the madness of modern life; a place to escape from the Age of Terrorism into the Victorian Age. It is a "time machine" that transports visitors into the past.  Once people arrive in "the City", we must continue to be tell them "the story", so that they form a special connection to Galveston. Then it will become their refuge that they return to again and again; their place to relax and chill out. Market historians are well aware of the fact that as the stock market transitions into a bear market, and an economic recession begins, the mood of the public shifts dramatically. Currently, one of the major changes seems to be a weariness with the hectic pace of 21st-Century life! Last week, the New York Times ran an article called "The Slow Life Picks Up Speed", which spoke to the increasing momentum behind this trend. The so called "Slow Movement" began some years ago with the Slow Food Movement which seeks to promote locally grown food. The collective philosophy of the overall Slow Movement is to preserve and support traditional ways of life as a corrective to the frenetic pace of 21st-Century life.  The Times article goes on to say that "Slow is also an idea, it seems, whose time has come". One of their sources said that a couple of years ago a search on Google for "slow movement" yielded almost nothing; today there are 508,000 pages indexed under that search phrase! Of course, the Greens, and other groups in the counter culture love this idea, but the basic desire to live a slower-paced life is becoming more and more accepted by the corporate world, and mainstream America, because everyone is getting burned out by the way we live today! Cities like Galveston have been in the forefront of the "Slow Movement" for years, without even knowing it, but this may present a new opportunity to cash in on what this city has to offer! Will we be able to find a way to take advantage of it? Slowing Down in a World Built for Speed: the Video Slow Movement: Making a Connection Slow Movement: Wikipedia Slow Retail Slow Food: Wikipedia Slow Food "In Praise of Slow" Cittaslow Slow Down Now Slowness for Sustainability Slow Travel The World Institute of Slowness The Slow Home Slow Lab For more information on the Galveston Economy: or Search Our Site or Search the Internet |
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