kekemortson
03-23-2008, 02:13 PM
From a moral point of view, I am glad this promotion was cancelled. However, you can not beat the exposure that the Music and the SCL received from this idea. Good try, but they should aim a little "higher".
By Jay Adams - jadams@macon.com
Eliot Spitzer Night? Fuhgetaboutit.
A poll to determine the fate of the unconventional promotion for the Macon Music ended at noon Saturday, and the official results are in: Eliot Spitzer Night has been canceled.
Fans were allowed to vote on the promotion's future after some in the community began to express anger and outrage about the event, which was announced on the heels of the disgraced New York governor's resignation after being named in an FBI investigation of a prostitution ring.
As of noon Saturday, more than 55 percent of fans voted in favor of canceling Eliot Spitzer Night, which was slated to take place June 13 at Luther Williams Field.
"At no point did we ever condone (Spitzer's) actions," South Coast League chief development officer J.D. Hardin said during a phone interview Saturday night. "The attempts of the Macon Music were to come up with a wacky promotion to draw fans in like much of what's been done across the U.S. We wanted the fans' input since so many people wrote in and supported it or didn't support it. We wanted to at least leave it up to them."
Voting began Sunday with more than 5,000 people visiting the team's Web site to cast their vote. The final numbers: 3,014 people voted against the promotion and 2,516 voted for it.
The Music made national headlines March 13 when the team announced the plans for the promotion, which was meant to poke fun at the circumstances surrounding Spitzer's involvement with a prostitute.
Elements of the promotion included an invitation extended to Spitzer to throw out the first pitch and several giveaways, including a trip to New York.
Several attempts to contact SCL CEO Jamie Toole on Saturday by phone and through e-mail were unsuccessful. Toole told The Telegraph last week that the Music had received a lot of feedback about the event and that he had heard just about everything from people in support of and against the promotion.
He even heard from people out of town who had never even heard of Macon who said they were planning on coming to the city just for the promotion.
"There is certainly that side of the coin where there's a lot of interest in that night," Toole said last week.
Apparently, there wasn't enough interest to keep Eliot Spitzer Night on the calendar. Less than 44 percent of those who voted in the poll wanted the Music to keep the promotion on as planned.
Throughout the week, the poll rarely fluctuated as those in favor of canceling the promotion held a steady lead. Those voting to keep the promotion went ahead by about one-percent Thursday, but the lead did not last long.
"Gov. Spitzer now has two resignations in a couple weeks," Hardin said jokingly.
By Jay Adams - jadams@macon.com
Eliot Spitzer Night? Fuhgetaboutit.
A poll to determine the fate of the unconventional promotion for the Macon Music ended at noon Saturday, and the official results are in: Eliot Spitzer Night has been canceled.
Fans were allowed to vote on the promotion's future after some in the community began to express anger and outrage about the event, which was announced on the heels of the disgraced New York governor's resignation after being named in an FBI investigation of a prostitution ring.
As of noon Saturday, more than 55 percent of fans voted in favor of canceling Eliot Spitzer Night, which was slated to take place June 13 at Luther Williams Field.
"At no point did we ever condone (Spitzer's) actions," South Coast League chief development officer J.D. Hardin said during a phone interview Saturday night. "The attempts of the Macon Music were to come up with a wacky promotion to draw fans in like much of what's been done across the U.S. We wanted the fans' input since so many people wrote in and supported it or didn't support it. We wanted to at least leave it up to them."
Voting began Sunday with more than 5,000 people visiting the team's Web site to cast their vote. The final numbers: 3,014 people voted against the promotion and 2,516 voted for it.
The Music made national headlines March 13 when the team announced the plans for the promotion, which was meant to poke fun at the circumstances surrounding Spitzer's involvement with a prostitute.
Elements of the promotion included an invitation extended to Spitzer to throw out the first pitch and several giveaways, including a trip to New York.
Several attempts to contact SCL CEO Jamie Toole on Saturday by phone and through e-mail were unsuccessful. Toole told The Telegraph last week that the Music had received a lot of feedback about the event and that he had heard just about everything from people in support of and against the promotion.
He even heard from people out of town who had never even heard of Macon who said they were planning on coming to the city just for the promotion.
"There is certainly that side of the coin where there's a lot of interest in that night," Toole said last week.
Apparently, there wasn't enough interest to keep Eliot Spitzer Night on the calendar. Less than 44 percent of those who voted in the poll wanted the Music to keep the promotion on as planned.
Throughout the week, the poll rarely fluctuated as those in favor of canceling the promotion held a steady lead. Those voting to keep the promotion went ahead by about one-percent Thursday, but the lead did not last long.
"Gov. Spitzer now has two resignations in a couple weeks," Hardin said jokingly.