MiamiNights - Miami Night Clubs, Nightlife

That's what The Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau is hoping for. Unveiling a new tourism campaign with the catchphrase, "Miami: Express Yourself", the new direction hopes to place emphasis on Miami's burgeoning cultural and art explosion. Shying away from years past where the GMCVB slammed sex and models down your throat the new campaign hopes to bring a more culturally aware and affluent visitor to Miami. I personally like the push towards Downtown Miami, the Arts scene and everything that is happening to the Downtown area. However with more affluent and richer visitors how will that affect us? The local Downtown Miami Rat (DwntwnRat?) who chooses to stay on the mainland in part because of the expensive prices on the beach?

Needless to say I think the new campaign is classy yet urban with examples of graffiti art and even resident Sweat Records owner Lolo (pictured). Also if you haven't noticed, we rarely mention anything South Beach related on this blog...Why you ask? Because DwnTwn Miami and the urban core surrounding it are the new place to be. Give me bums and crappy street lighting over tourists on the beach any day.

Click here for Herald Article on new Campaign
Click here for the half built site on the campaign

No U.S. community has worked harder than Fort Lauderdale to shun spring breakers. The South Florida city - where the annual beach exodus was born in 1935, boosted by the 1960 film "Where the Boys Are" and bumped to new heights by MTV - suddenly choked off the chugathon 22 years ago. Now, Fort Lauderdale even teaches other resort towns how to get out of that boozy money pool.

Laudy Laudy Laudy, long gone are the days when we 305'ers (me in particular) had any shred of respect for your beaches and nightlife. The article on MSNBC details the pains the city of Ft. Lauderdale went through to curb raucous and fun seeking teens flooding the city during Spring Break. While the locals are happy us youngins are heading to other Florida cities to spend wads of cash retailers are, who wish not to be named for fear of Lauderdale style drive by shooting at the hands of seniors, say how the city is viewed as a dying area. Much like Miami before the Cocaine Cowboys graced us with their contraband.

As a result of the more family friendly facade Laudy propped up, many large retailers began pulling out or shutting down. Granted the tourist industry is now a year round destination for Laudy so the plan to exterminate promiscuous youths seems to have come to fruition. Though it took 20 some odd years. I could've told those kids Ft. Lauderdale sucked ages ago.

Apparently Miami's tourism board would like to remind us all to stop being such dicks to tourists. My friend Sarah made my aware of a new commercial airing on local television urging residents that "Miami begins with you." It's painfully corny and after watching it, it makes me feel like punching a few tourists. In it you see a Cuban abuelo giving directions, a sassy black woman assisting someone, a probably WASP family enjoying facials and fresh-off-the-boat Hispanic ladies who add a touch of "Tancredo was right" to the commercial. Watch it here in all of its crash-and-burn glory.