Corpus Christi Sky Line

Corpus Christi Sky Line

Sunday, October 07, 2007

ilovemycc.blogspot.com/ - A stronger Web presence? We Love Our Corpus Christi





Local

Has NY no love for CC?

Local effort to stir city pride overcame protest from home state of the famed heart logo



Not even mighty New York could keep Corpus Christi from loving itself.

That state holds the trademark for the instantly recognizable "I NY" logo and picked a brief copyright fight with an "

I Love My Corpus Christi

" campaign.


The local version was the brainchild of Leadership Corpus Christi Class XXXIV sponsored by the Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce. The campaign lost some steam after several months, partly because the leadership class was concluded and partly because of the legal discussion with Empire State Development, the state of New York's economic development arm that oversees the "I NY" trademark.


http://ilovemycc.blogspot.com/





Now, the legality of "I My CC" no longer is in question and a company has bought licensing rights from the Chamber of Commerce Foundation to bring the logo back.

The leadership class, which met in 2005-06, wanted to foster a sense of pride in a community that tends to suffer low self-esteem. Mayor Henry Garrett declared Valentine's Day 2006 (and all subsequent Valentine's Days) I Love My Corpus Christi Day.

Among other aims, the campaign "seeks to encourage all the citizens of Corpus Christi to act as ambassadors for the city, sharing positive information with potential visitors, family and friends," the proclamation states.

Soon after, the now-familiar "I My CC" logo began popping up all around Corpus Christi -- bumper stickers, billboards, banners on light posts and television commercials. Full-page ads ran in April, May and June 2006 in the Caller-Times, sponsored by the newspaper's marketing department. Some carried testimonials from prominent residents touting the area's health care, career opportunities and recreation.

One example is this endorsement from Realtor Kim Erwin: "I love MY Corpus Christi because there's no better place in the world to relax and enjoy laid-back island living in such a pristine setting."


But in May 2006, the Chamber of Commerce Foundation received a letter from CMG Worldwide, a trademark protection firm, on behalf of Empire State Development. The letter demanded the chamber cease and desist from using the logo.












Local attorney John Bell responded for the chamber, and the two firms traded several letters, which the Caller-Times obtained under the New York Freedom of Information Law.

"There is no reasonable debate but that the (chamber) built its campaign around the 'I NY' mark," the firm wrote.

Bell responded that many cities use the heart. "If the design trademark originally obtained ever had such distinctiveness, it obviously has been lost," he wrote.

After several months, New York decided to drop its claim, which never progressed as far as a lawsuit. The Corpus Christi logo's font (it's more script than New York's block letters) and the word "my" apparently made all the difference.

"The decision eventually was that it was different enough not to pursue our trademark claim," said A.J. Carter, senior vice president of communications for Empire State Development.

Ken Treviño, chamber executive vice president, said the chamber wanted to carry on the campaign but needed an outside company. It would be difficult for the chamber staff to take on the project, plus a business with experience could build a stronger Web presence.

"We were looking for a company that had the same vision," Treviño said.

Chad Magill, who owns a local identity theft protection business, was in the leadership class that started the campaign. He and his business partner, Cecil Johnson, decided to take it on, hoping to build on the community pride fostered in the first campaign.

"It seems like everybody outside Corpus Christi knows how great it is," Johnson said.

They formed a company, CCLS Marketing LLC, and bought the licensing rights from the chamber foundation for an undisclosed amount. The chamber still owns the trademark and receives a cut of profits to benefit future Leadership Corpus Christi classes, Treviño said.

To regain some of the momentum lost during the lull, CCLS hosted a "kickoff" party at House of Rock downtown. The party was Sept. 20, more than a year and a half after the original "I My CC" kickoff Feb. 13, 2006.

The company sells T-shirts, mugs, Koozies and bumper stickers on its Web site, ilovemycc.com, at the Omni hotels and Corpus Christi Visitor's Center on Chaparral Street. Johnson and Magill said sales have been steady on the Web site.

That's not the case at the Omni Bayfront, which has a table full of "I My CC" merchandise on sale.

"They're not selling," said Sylvia Silva, a gift shop sales clerk at the hotel. "That's why they're 30 percent off."

Contact Denise Malan at 886-4334 or at maland@caller.com

1 comment:

CCrammer said...

This "BLOG" assists the "Keep Corpus Christi Lame" Campaign. Just like city itself, it's cheesy and poorly maintained.

O Lord, Be Gracious to Us

Dear Yanquis, Politicians, Self Dealers and Renegers

33:1 Ah, you destroyer, who yourself have not been destroyed, you traitor, whom none has betrayed! When you have ceased to destroy, you will be destroyed; and when you have finished betraying, they will betray you.

2 O Lord, be gracious to us; we wait for you. Be our arm every morning, our salvation in the time of trouble. 3 At the tumultuous noise peoples flee; when you lift yourself up, nations are scattered, 4 and your spoil is gathered as the caterpillar gathers; as locusts leap, it is leapt upon.

5 The Lord is exalted, for he dwells on high; he will fill Zion with justice and righteousness, 6 and he will be the stability of your times, abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge; the fear of the Lord is Zion's [1] treasure.

7 Behold, their heroes cry in the streets; the envoys of peace weep bitterly. 8 The highways lie waste; the traveler ceases. Covenants are broken; cities [2] are despised; there is no regard for man. 9 The land mourns and languishes; Lebanon is confounded and withers away; Sharon is like a desert, and Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves.

10 “Now I will arise,” says the Lord, “now I will lift myself up; now I will be exalted. 11 You conceive chaff; you give birth to stubble; your breath is a fire that will consume you. 12 And the peoples will be as if burned to lime, like thorns cut down, that are burned in the fire.”

13 Hear, you who are far off, what I have done; and you who are near, acknowledge my might. 14 The sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling has seized the godless: “Who among us can dwell with the consuming fire? Who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings?” 15 He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly, who despises the gain of oppressions, who shakes his hands, lest they hold a bribe, who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed and shuts his eyes from looking on evil, 16 he will dwell on the heights; his place of defense will be the fortresses of rocks; his bread will be given him; his water will be sure.

17 Your eyes will behold the king in his beauty; they will see a land that stretches afar. 18 Your heart will muse on the terror: “Where is he who counted, where is he who weighed the tribute? Where is he who counted the towers?” 19 You will see no more the insolent people, the people of an obscure speech that you cannot comprehend, stammering in a tongue that you cannot understand. 20 Behold Zion, the city of our appointed feasts! Your eyes will see Jerusalem, an untroubled habitation, an immovable tent, whose stakes will never be plucked up, nor will any of its cords be broken. 21 But there the Lord in majesty will be for us a place of broad rivers and streams, where no galley with oars can go, nor majestic ship can pass. 22 For the Lord is our judge; the Lord is our lawgiver; the Lord is our king; he will save us.

23 Your cords hang loose; they cannot hold the mast firm in its place or keep the sail spread out. Then prey and spoil in abundance will be divided; even the lame will take the prey. 24 And no inhabitant will say, “I am sick”; the people who dwell there will be forgiven their iniquity.