Your PR Architect

Your house is part of a community. A museum is a place you visit to see art and artifacts. That was my reaction last week when the leadership of George Eastman House announced a rebranding of its facility and website, rechristening itself the George Eastman Museum . The announcement said "museum" helped differentiate the place for European visitors, for whom "house" meant "institute." Eastman's house? Viewed from East Avenue, it's a stunning mansion built by the founder of Eastman Kodak Company, who died in 1932. A more-modern museum, film archive, and research department is attached to the back of the original mansion.  Drawing Room, George Eastman House, Rochester, NY. (c) DKassnoff, 2010. I'm debating whether the name change means more than a PR move. "House," to me, meant more than "museum." It says that George lived there -- made his big decisions about business, life, and death. (At an advanced age an...

Our canal boat. (c) DKassnoff, 2012. A couple of years ago, I rented a boat and cruised for a few days on the Erie Canal. Some of the communities we saw on our voyage were charming. Others offered all the allure of a miniature Rust Belt refinery. There's more to the Erie Canal than most people realize. Communities like Fairport and Brockport in upstate New York have built substantial attractions around the canal. Others have more modest setups: a small park or a boat launch. But if your community has invested anything in its waterfront in hopes of drawing tourism, you'd be wise to tell someone about it. Here's an example: This is what TripAdvisor.com has to say about things to do in Newark, New York: Even at full size, it doesn't say much. There was a movie theatre, but it apparently closed in 2014. And nothing else. When I visited on my voyage, however, here's what I found: A comfortable, clean canalside park with moorings, free WiFi, and a lau...