Seen On The Square

The Carbondale Town Square promotional spot I did with sculpture/film maker Dan Johnson is currently "on the air" on MediaCom in Carbondale, Benton, Duquoin. I'm not entirely happy with the visuals, but the music makes it -- about a minute of Grant Morgan's "Seezin' the Moment" from Guitars Between the Rivers, 1.

A print ad will be in the Dec. 20 issue of Carbondale Times, too, with the same message as the video. Be There ... On The Square.

To get people to watch the video (and be persuaded by the message) there's a contest to win $100 in gift certificates from local restaurants and businesses in the Town Square district.

Winner will be selected from correct answers to the question:

"What year was ABC Liquors established in its current building on Washington St."

The answer to the question appears in the scrolling text on "Be ... On The Square" cable spot. The On The Square blog has more details. . . . And even if you don't have MediaCom cable, you can view the entire commercial online. (35 meg .avi file) . . . and if you don't have 45 minutes or whatever to download the file, there's a shorter clip (only 2.3 meg).

Of course, anyone can learn the answer some other way. . . . By asking someone at City Hall, or ABC Liquor Mart. I am simply trying to drive traffic to the "Be There ... On The Square" video spot. . . to "get the message out" -- because there are more good restaurants and cool gift shops in that district than any comparably-sized area in Southern Illinois, with Kaleidoscope, Art Lovers Trading Company, Carbondale Trophy, and even Dillinger's Feed. (A Christmas trophy? Why not? I plan to give trophies to everyone on my list this year. And perhaps some quality dog food from Dillinger's for that special bitch.)

Another look at Town Square
Despite the many improvements made by Carbondale Main Street, the town center area still lacks a compelling visual symbol. It's nice to see those dancing, turning statues (pictured above) in front of the Town Square Pavilion, lit up at night.

But the dancing due will be taken down in January, and we'll be back to a Picnic Shelter for a centerpiece. Some better visual attraction is necessary on that Pavilion property. A train station perhaps? First, let's get rid of those power lines underground.

How about a geodesic dome picnic shelter? An open one, like they have on campus lake. Then a new Town Square promotion could be developed on the theme: Be There. On the Tetrahedron.

Whatever shape it is, I'd like to do another promotion for Town Square, including businesses that weren't in the first spot, such as.

Arthur Agency, Don Camilla Mexican Grocery, Big Boys Q, the Design Consultants, Fredericks Hair Styling, Carbondale Trophy Company, the geographical research firm, Big Muddy Independent Media Center, WDBX, D's Quick Stop place, Tropicana, King Beef, Barrett, Morris, Broom attorneys, Mary Lou's, the Sachi Japanese restaurant, the Tattoo shop....

All in 60 seconds.

Can it be done? With the right music, absolutely!