Bureau is boring. Inc. is hot.
Acronyms are out. Two words are in.
The Denver Metro Convention and Visitors Bureau, or DMCVB (only slightly less cumbersome), may soon change its name. It’s looking for something shorter and easier to remember.
“It’s just a long name and in some respects hard to enunciate, so were taking a preliminary look at it right now,” bureau president and chief executive Richard Scharf said. “We would like something that’s easier. Even members of our board of directors struggle to get the name right. It’s a mouthful.”
A few convention and visitors bureaus in other cities have changed their names. The new handles include Positively Cleveland, Meet Minneapolis, Travel Portland, LA Inc. and NYC & Company.
Even those that have kept their names use taglines such as Choose Chicago, Boston USA! and Seattle “Metro natural.”
Already, the Denver bureau’s name is nowhere to be found on its website, . The site is labeled simply, “Denver.”
The organization held focus group meetings with some of its members Thursday. Scharf would not say what, if any, names were discussed, though he used “Denver Inc.” as an example of what could be considered.
“We’ve watched what other cities have done, but we haven’t really zeroed in on anything,” he said.
He wants to settle on a new moniker before the end of the year so the bureau can rename itself in 2009, its 100-year anniversary.
Scharf said he hopes that under a new name, his relatives will better remember his employer when they come to town.
“You know you’re in trouble when your own family can’t remember where you work,” he said.
Greg Griffin: 303-954-1241 or ggriffin@denverpost.com
New name, new image?
•Positively Cleveland
•Meet Minneapolis
•Travel Portland
•LA Inc.
•NYC & Company
What should the Denver convention bureau’s new name be? Sound off in the article comments below.
