Silver Spring Hangs with the Big Boys
By Silver Springer • Feb 5th, 2008 • Category: Arts, Food and Entertainment, Business and Economic Development, Government and Politics
The County Executive Isiah Leggett invited the Silver Spring Scene for a face to face discussion about the soon to be Fillmore Music hall that will be operated by Live Nation.
Writers from Just Up the Pike and the Silver Spring Peguin were there, along with Gary Stith, Director of Silver Spring Regional Center, and Patrick Lacefield County Executive spokesman.
Silver Spring will be hanging with the big boys (with the exception being Miami Beach). There are only six music halls holding the Fillmore name. San Francisco, Detroit, Philadelphia, New York, Denver all have a Fillmore Music Hall with their respective city name attached.
I personally told Mr. Leggett that one of my concerns was that Silver Spring would be overshadowed in the marketing. Would it actually be “Fillmore Silver Spring†or would they be too ashamed to place that on their website and instead make it the “Fillmore of Washington, D.C. although it’s really in Silver Spring, Maryland and paid for by the good Samaritans of Montgomery County�
Marylanders should know how it goes by now, something positive happens in our neck of the woods but it’s somehow all attributed to D.C. This happens most often happens with celebrities. They were born and raised in Maryland for sure but somehow word gets around that “they’re from D.C.â€, “they’re a D.C. native†according to the media with no inclination to Maryland.
Local companies like to play this game too, for some reason Marriott and GEICO use a D.C. address knowing very well they’re across the line in MD (Marriott well on the other side). They’re ashamed of course, as if using a D.C. address will give them special powers and using a Maryland address would scare their customers away and have them filling for Chapter 11.
According to the contract ironed out with Montgomery County and Live Nation, the Silver Spring name has to be used in the advertising.
In the time between the Birchmere fallout the Live Nation letter of intent, there were actually a few interested parties turned away by the County. Takoma Station and a Jazz Club based in New York approached the County to operate the new Music Venue but the County felt like they didn’t have a broad appeal. That’s when Live Nation through their hat into the ring.
Leggett believes that this new and improved Live Nation contract is far better deal than what was initially proposed and light years ahead of the Birchmere deal.
MORE TO COME…
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The Fillmore name once meant great INDEPENDENT music. Bill Graham, the creator of the original Fillmore, was not an international corporation. I’m sad that Silver Spring will have a wanna-be hard-rock cafe. We deserve something better than a the Fillmore in Silver Spring or House of Blues in Silver Spring or Nissan Fillmore in Silver Spring or Fillmore Houses of Blues in Silver Spring or Discovery Fillmore in Silver Spring or whatever crappy corporate name Live Nation can come up with.
I don’t think the use of a DC address has anything to do with being ‘ashamed’. It has to do with familiarity. As much as we’d like to think everyone knows about Silver Spring, the fact is most of the country/world has no idea that SS is immediately adjacent to Washington, DC…one of the best known cities on earth. And as much as I am a huge supporter of Silver Spring, I can certainly understand why a national/global corporation would make the decision to use DC as their address.
Discovery is fine with using a Silver Spring address so was AOL when they were in Dulles. Lockheed Martin uses a Bethesda address and they’re right next door to Marriott. I don’t understand what locational prestige has to do with company performance, the recognition should be in the company name not the other way around. Hasn’t taken anything away from WalMart or Microsoft. If a company fails then they have no one to blame but management.
The companies you use as examples DO have wide-spread name recognition. I’m not so sure Live Nation enjoys the same…yet. Just wait until the success of the Washington, uh, I mean Silver Spring location becomes apparent…we’ll put ‘em on the map better than San Fran.