$$$Link

In my past life, I had a lot of experience dealing on behalf of clients with the need to create slogans and logos for promotions. I've also been involved with a number of groups who needed to come up with acronyms for use in different campaigns. It is an interesting exercise to see how a particular phrase is developed.

That's why I wondered how the word "Greenlink" was developed. The most obvious explanation is that we have an environmentally green parkland connecting communities. Perhaps though the City is having fun with us with a double entendre but doing it with a straight face so that taxpayers never know. Those City-types have such a sense of humour!

I'm sure that this is not the case with Greenlink but I just got to wondering when I saw an e-mail that was being circulated.

• "I know some of you don't always read the newspaper or follow much in the way of local news, but this is very important and it's your chance to change the future of this city forever.
  
  You may have seen the press release about this, but you'll also be getting a cool direct mail piece from the City of Windsor in the next couple of days. "we're at a crossroads"
  
  PLEASE DON'T THROW IT OUT - READ IT - THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT! (besides, I wrote most of the copy, so don't hurt my feelings!)
  
  You're all aware that for the last million years or so, there have been ongoing arguments about what to do with Huron Church and our border. There have been a ton of different options presented, and the last one DRIC is a proposal for a submerged highway right through the heart of the city - it would look a lot like I-696 in Detroit, and would cut a swath right across town.
  
  The city has come up with a new proposal - Greenlink Windsor. We've been involved as the agency for the city on this project (which has been pretty cool - and ultra-secret!). This is a fabulous option that will create a mostly tunnelled truck route through the city, and will also create ACRES of parkland and greenspace.
  
  Here's the point. The city is asking for EVERY resident to check out this Greenlink proposal, compare it to DRIC, and then speak up and choose. It doesn't matter where you live in this city - it's going to affect you, so please take this opportunity to voice your opinion.
  
  How cool is that? You can change the course of the future of Windsor - with a single phone call.
  
  This is for all City of Windsor residents - not just per household - every voice counts.
  
  Call 311 or 519-255-2489 NOW and pledge your support FOR GreenLinkWindsor and AGAINST DRIC.
  
  It only takes a minute to answer 3 or 4 questions to register your vote FOR GreenLinkWindsor. If you don’t, you get the proposed DRIC, and you’ll hate it! We ALL will.

Like wow is this e-mail ever super cool. Man, the writer is really with it! I knew about Valley girls from the movies but I never knew that people actually wrote this way too. Whatever.

My oh my, I am not sure if the e-mail was designed to help out the City with Greenlink or to help out writer get more business because she was involved in the ultra-secret City proposal. Fer shur, the people to whom it is addressed may not be the brightest people in Windsor since they may not read newspapers or follow the news. Typical clients I guess for an ad agency. As if!

We know already from the Windsor Star that $500,000 has been budgeted for the consultants. Barf me out! But I wonder for what time period? From June, from August, until when? Does it include presentation costs, atttending at Open Houses or negotiating with DRIC?

Like, oh my God I'm glad to see that the Mayor has decided that he doesn't need to spend a whole bunch of money on an internal PR department. That's tubular. He can just go outside and hire those services as required.

I wonder if the writer will submit a big bill for all the work that she did. The author, after all, wrote most of the copy. If she charged the City a lot of money, and I don't want to hurt her feelings, will Eddie be able to use this as an excuse to justify having his own Communications Group? That would be totally radical, Dude for the Mayor huh!

Now don't have a cow: $500,000 for Sam and PB. Some money for solicitor David. A few dollars for the creative. Full-page ads in the Star. Ads on the radio. A flyer sent out to everyone. Paying for people to be at the Open Houses.

I got it! I know what the "Green" in Greenlink stands for and it isn't for the environment. If I'm right, that's really cool and ultrasecret between us guys!