Hi I am certainly going to try to get to a business breakfast. My travelling plans are a bit fluid for the next month or two and I am out of the country for pretty much all of July and August. Meeting at your office sounds like a good idea. Let me try and get a grip on my diary - it seem to be changing week by week at the moment. David PS. I'll PM you my full contact details, although personal stuff is in my profile.
Got to say I largely agree with Macc Spider - I'm not a fan of the logo itself, (and since when was a logo a brand?) nor of the notion of brands much, but my main issue is the with process of ariving at it - I too knew nothing about it. The opportunity to contribute wasn't there. But away from that, it seems to me that the 'identity' being imposed on macc simply doesn't fit. What I can glean of it is rather facile and characterless - ' a warmly regarded destination town' - what does that even mean? In what way would that be different to Buxton, or Stockport? Anodyne is the word that comes to mind. I'm an outsider, only arrived ten years ago, but I know a fair few people and I think I have a feel for the place. There's a little edginess here - that could be built on. Musically, the town has a dark side. We're sitting here on the edge of the peak, hell there's even a sign just outside of town *pointing* 'To the edge' - if it was me, I'd be looking at that. The only tourists I know of who come to Macc come looking for that - the darker side. A far more ambiguous and unique identity that embraces the northern grit idea, the fact that you can be a miserable git on the outside and still have some enthusiasm for life, or might indeed be a miserable git too. We have hovis, the countries' youngest canal, we have silk weaver's lofts that are literally falling apart, along with a castle hidden under a church - there are hidden and forgotten layers to this town. That can be exploited. In terms of population we have indigenous and newcomers, we have an edge there, a boundary - this isn't necessarily a bad thing. We have osmosis both ways. This town seems to me so much more interesting than the glib universal dross tossed out as an 'identity' that could apply to a thousand towns. I sat in Cinemac watching Control, after having it filmed on our street, with Stephen Morris and Gillian a couple of rows back from us, and the whole place erupted when the sultry german asks 'Ian' -"Tell me about Macclesfield..." There is a self-deprecation here that is worth building on, honesty and grit, and and egalitarianism that means Morris could come over to Porters after the film and have a pint with no fear of mobbing, or hassle - this is a town that appreciates celebrity and excellence, but neither fawns over it or fights over it. It's a far more intelligent and complex place than your 'brand' suggests or can suggest. It's not *for* you lot to tell this town what its identity is. I appreciate that this is being done with good motives - although I share the suspcions of many that there's some empire building going on also - but I think you've gone about it really badly. You need to be responsive, and not simply patronise by saying you appreciate someone's passion. Anger isn't the same thing as passion fellers. You need to recognise that people don't want this to becoem another identikit town. That they have had decades of being shoved around by an unresponsive council and don't take kindly to others trying the same. You seem, still, to be asking people to contribute to stuff they disagree with, as the way forward. To 'get behind' something they'd rather see the back of! I think you need to step back and rethink, and perhaps formally open up your process, take the past couple of months as a beta test, get some feedback in on everything - right down to basic principles. You may choose not to, you might think you can ride roughshod over objections, and that's certainly the way it appears to work in this town, with regard to politics and development, for example. But you will not take people with you that way.
Apologies from me, but I did not receive your emails Macc Spider and have not been deliberately ignoring you or hiding. Quite the reverse I have been busily up dating the Whats On Guide to ensure everyone knows what is going on in the town. Jane
Hmm, webmaster not getting emails sent to their own and published email address eh? On the larger stage it is depressing to see the poor communication from this self selected group. Why has there been so little from them here for example?
Perhaps your sarcastic and ill mannered comments have some bearing, the same at the avatar hinting at some silly racism. You move from a stupid one with pink hair to one with some hidden agenda message. I would not be so bold as to suggest that the web masters ignore you, but then, I would not blame them if they did.
Excellent "Jerry" One of your best yet Now, will you address the issues or not or just keep up your petty vendetta that you have carried out in so many places and under so many sock puppet identities. I wonder what your next one will be and where. Racism? You're really scraping the barel there, even by your own very low standards; it's only in your own warped and grubby little mind. You see "Jerry", it's called having a sense of humour and not taking oneself too seriously - not being as anal and up yourself as you seem to be. I'll look forward to your next ad hom and contrived insults. They are really so amusing. Of course it's easy for a hypoctite like you to hide behnd a made up name (or many names in your case) on the web. Why not come clean about who you really are, or will you carry on with your hypocrisy as usual? Incidentally, haven't you noticed yet that everyone here seems to be ignoring you, except to comment on your sock puppet activities?
I don't know if anyone can make any sense. petty vendetta! sock puppet identities! it's only in your own warped and grubby little mind! not being as anal and up yourself as you seem to be! I'll look forward to your next ad hom and contrived insults! a hypoctite like you to hide behnd a made up name! will you carry on with your hypocrisy as usual! These are your own comments only, so I cannot think of which of these comments may be regarded as "Ad hom", which I take is supposed to mean a personal attack? Oh I nearly forgot, I do not like nasty offensive messages in a discussion box, with threats of reserving any right in publishing any replies. Jerry Brown
Grow up "Jerry", you are fooling nobody but yourself. Well done for copying my posts though even if it is rather lacking in originality. You can't even get your facts right. Tell you what, why not publish your name, picture and details like I have instead of hiding your details like you have? Go on, publish your proper name, profession and picture, then we may take you a little more seriously. I dare you. What would you not want publishing? Would your message be unpublishable? Stop playing the injured martyr.
The Make It Macclesfield people - Please don't take too much notice of one persons opinion. It's the old 80/20 rule - I'm sure the vast majority of Macclesfield residents are extremely grateful for your efforts and what you are trying to achieve.
How does the Pareto Principle apply here? Using the fallacy of popularity does not undermine the points made here by more than one person. Regrettably, the MIM thing seems to be actually damaging the staus of the town. My research such that it is, has found that outsiders find it unconvincing at best. The so called vision, in particular, is particularly damaging to us and our image. Will you support the Made in Macclesfield initiative though? I hope so.
Hello...My name is jon athan. I am from California, USA. I am new here. My hobbies are writing blogs, and reading fashion magazines.
