From LatviansOnline.com – The Riga Monopoly Challenge
February 25, 2008Please remember, Monopoly is just a game.

Having said that, why couldn’t Riga, Latvia win the Monopoly World Edition Contest?
Haven’t we earned at least 5th place?
Shouldn’t we make sure we are not “cheated” out of that 5th place?
Remember, not long ago, we were 3rd.
The third most popular city in the world – as far as Monopoly is concerned.

To help Riga, TheLatvianChannel.com was fortunate, on short notice to hire the services
of Dr.Mani Sivasubramanian – better known as Dr. Mani –
internationally renowned pediatric heart surgeon and Internet entrepreneur.

Dr. Mani drafted a proposed strategy available at:
Dr. Mani Helps Riga

Please take a look, there are a number of items that could interest those who frequent LatviansOnline.com.

You know who you are.

Many won’t care.
For them, Monopoly is just a child’s game.
For others, who care about the symbolism that could help Riga’s tourism, self-esteem and international stature,
it’s a ticket to a better future.

Isn’t a better future worth fighting for?
And maybe, just maybe, we could win.

After all, we are Latvians.

From LatviansOnline.com – The Riga Monopoly Challenge
February 20, 2008

One Hollywood adage goes, “I don’t care what they say about me, as long as they spell my name correctly.”

That’s publicity.
Publicity is any type of mention in the public eye.
It may be neutral, good or bad.

So far, so good. As you’ll read, they spelled R-I-G-A correctly.
Here is the bad. Perhaps it’s just envy.

Honolulu left out of world Monopoly vote

“…Parker Bros. apparently don’t think anyone would want to own Honolulu.

Why Kiev, Ukraine—chiefly known for its exports of horse chestnuts (and not the good kind)—is on the list of potential Monopoly cities, not Honolulu, is curious. I mean, would you rather own a city with sun, surf, babes and beaches, or one that hosts the annual Vulcanized Rubber and Goat Fertilizer Festival?

If Honolulu were included in the new worldwide game, it would clearly be located among the snazzy, high-end Boardwalk and Park Place spaces, while Kiev, Bogota and Riga would be along the slums of Baltic and Mediterranean avenues. (Appropriate because Riga, the capital of Latvia, actually has a Baltic Avenue. Riga, by the way, makes Kiev look like Monaco.)
OK, I’m a little bitter…”

Aloha.

Jerusalem on the table Monopoly board

“…Late is one thing, complacent is quite another. I urge you not to be complacent about this, it’s more important than it may seem at first glance. Our enemies may not be able to take votes away from Jerusalem, but they can vote en masse for other cities. Did you ever see a political poll after Ron Paul fans got wind of it?”

If you’re a Ron Paul fan, you should be insulted by this – you know what to do.
If you’re not a Ron Paul fan, you should be insulted by this even more – just vote for Riga again. Win-win.

“Consider the top ten cities as of this writing—with 10 days, 9 hours and 52 minutes to go.” (As of 2008-02-19 7:00am PT)
4. Riga, Latvia 3.5%
5. Jerusalem, Israel 3.4%
…
8. Paris, France 3.3%
9. New York, USA 3.2%

“Riga Latvia is a more popular world city than New York or Paris? I don’t think so.”

I respectfully disagree with Boker Tov.

Shalom.

Here is the good. Thank God.

Simon Anholt’s Placeblog – Monopoly and Patriotism

“A friend in Latvia has alerted me to the Monopoly World Edition website, where you can vote for the cities that will be featured in the new, ‘global’, edition of the game. Apparently Riga – which I mentioned in an earlier post (Latvia and the legacy of Communism) as one of my favourite European cities – has risen from 46th to 9th position since a newspaper article mentioned the contest. Naturally, thousands of the good citizens of Riga got voting, and succeeded in pushing their city up the rankings.”

Thank you, Simon. Despite one (or 5) bad apples, the British are among the finest people in the world.

And finally, Latvians.com

Please tell your friends, for some you might have to spell the website’s name.
that’s L-A-T-V-I-A-N-S dot com

Silvija and Peters Vecrumba have assembled, or should I say handcrafted one of the most elegant and comprehensive personal chronicles of the The Exile Experience. Past, present and (soon to be) future. Professional quality photographs – everything from Aglona to the Zoo. Exhibits from the Latvian Exiles’ Calendar 1947 to a classic Pirag recipe. (Peters Married Silvija For Her Infinite Fine Qualities, But Especially, Her Piragi).

Did I forget to mention – please vote for Riga! Unless Hasbro comes to their senses and/or popular demand forces them to continue to display the Leader board, the results will no longer be posted after Thursday 5pm (that’s 17:00 in Riga).

From LatviansOnline.com – The Riga Monopoly Challenge
February 18, 2008

Since this is my very first LatviansOnline.com post, I’d like to add some information gathered since becoming immersed in this worldwide contest on February 6th, when Riga was (only) at #35. What a difference 12 days make.

My original shock on that fateful Wednesday was that Riga was even included at all. What a pleasant surprise. Then it was a faraway dream that we would make it into the Top 20 – and therefore be “on the board.” I’d like to thank Ojars for being the unofficial Point Man in marshalling this forum to propel Riga to #3 – where we have been battling Capetown, South Africa all weekend for the coveted green Pennsylvania Avenue ($350) space.

Other Top 20 locations have had interesting press in their respective countries:

Slumping Queenstown, New Zealand, currently #24 was voted as high as #17. “Their” LatviansOnline recognizes the importance of this contest to their tourism industry: Queenstown tackles the world to win a place in global Monopoly

“…the challenge now is to ensure Queenstown makes the cut to become one of the 20, particularly as the resort is not as famous as others on the list. We’re a tiny village in a far flung location compared to every other contender on the list. To get on that board, we need to make a special effort to motivate New Zealand and our international friends to get behind our bid and vote.”

And Montreal, #1 since at least last week has this analysis by an educational tour company in Go, Canada! and mentions a tale of two cities – perhaps on the opposite but converging poles of worldwide fame – Paris and Riga. “…Montreal has surged ahead of Paris for the top spot on the new Monopoly board. Montreal (4.8 percent) is easily outpacing Paris (3.5 percent), which may have to settle for the Park Place spot.

But it’s Canada that is monopolizing the Monopoly voting, thanks to coordinated online efforts like this.”
(This is the equivalent of our HelpRiga.lv).
And finally “There could be some other surprises on the board, including Riga, Latvia (11th) and Belgrade, Serbia (12th).”

Finally Capetown understands the importance of blending “Top travel destination” and “Civic pride” in Have you voted for Cape Town?

Top travel destination: “I am confident that with the support of the media, Capetonians, the tourism industry and friends of Cape Town globally, we can feature on the board game. It will definitely contribute to Cape Town’s destination ranking and create further international awareness of Cape Town’s appeal as a hot travel and business destination… It is an opportunity not to be missed and Cape Town Tourism appeals to the public and members of the tourism industry to go on-line and vote for Cape Town.

Civic pride: “…it would be a great honour for Cape Town to be listed as one of the 22 international cities. It will build civic pride and confidence in our destination, locally and internationally.”

Please visit HelpRiga.lv and vote daily (once per unique e-mail address!). Persuade your friends to do likewise.

From LatviansOnline.com – The Riga Monopoly Challenge
February 18, 2008

I’d like to respond to the insightful comments of Norlander, Ojars and Andrejs with the question:

“If you were the newly hired Director of Marketing for Riga, Latvia –
what would you do over the next 4 days and the subsequent 7?”

Is there enough time to stay in the Top 5?
What about Top 3?
I believe there is.

The 4 days/7 days timeframe is detailed at MonopolyWorldVote’s Voting on the site:

“…voting on the top 20 pre-selected cities (is) open from January 22, 2008 through February 28, 2008. …The leader board for the top 20 pre-selected cities will be available until February 21, 2008.”

An obvious and easy to implement solution is to contact as many Latvians around the world as possible and let them know that
“We can make a difference.” I was surprised that many who I contacted were completely unaware of this contest.
You might share a similar experience.

Are there existing effective marketing tools that can be quickly and powerfully utilized?

Again, I believe so. Inc. Magazine has an article Word of Mouse.

“What Is Word of Mouse? Word of mouse is good old-fashioned word of mouth, but with the ability to spread much faster because of the Internet. Another way to look at it is as advertising you don’t pay for.”

Particularly pertinent is Myth 3: Marketing Equals Advertising Dollars. Our “campaign” is not going to cost a lot of money. Regardless of any potential revenue generated from increased tourism – Latvian pride, patriotism and “bragging rights” have already benefited. IMHO.

Finally, I share Andrejs’ concern for global “business as usual.” Over the past 807 years, “How many times has this happened to Riga before?” By my count there are 128 days between the “end” of the Monopoly contest and the “beginning” of the much more important Latvian Nationwide Song and Dance Celebration in Riga, July 5-12, 2008!

Over the next 135 days, keeping with traditional Latvian frugality, why not get the services of a world class marketing coach for free?

Seth Godin, bestselling author, entrepreneur and agent of change – could help Riga.
And fast. His contribution is the “IdeaVirus.” He asks: “What’s the difference between word of mouth and an ideavirus?
Two differences. First, word of mouth tends to spread slower, be more analog. If you like a book, you might tell a friend or two. And then your friends are unlikely to tell someone else until they read it for themselves.

Second, word of mouth dies off. Because the numbers are smaller, it doesn’t take many people who don’t participate in the word of mouth for each generation to be smaller than the one before it.

With an ideavirus, both principles no longer apply. Ideaviruses spread fast and they spread far. With word of mouse (word of mouth augmented by the power of online communication), you can tell 100 friends, or a thousand friends. Because the numbers are larger and faster, the virus grows instead of slows.”

Here is where you can Download the FREE Unleashing the IdeaVirus eBook
Here is where you can read it online.