"Utica" Disappears Again

[strikeslip]

"Utica" Disappears Again . . . this time from the name of the local Red Cross Chapter . . . even though the Utica chapter is significantly larger and serves significantly more people than the current "Mohawk Valley" chapter in Herkimer.

I've been a long time donor to the "Utica" Chapter . . . They probably won't notice, but I won't be giving any more to a "Mohawk Valley" chapter.

strikeslip.blogspot.com/2008/06/in-hate-utica-department.html

[dgriffin]

Hear, Hear! But wait until the Post Office does the same. There was a movement down here 20 years ago by real estate types and other Pump-it-ups to bolster their marketing area by appealing to the US Postal Service to drop all the place names and post marks from south of Albany to Westchester and substitute the name "Mid Hudson Valley." Not sure how close they came to succeeding before a groundswell of resentment burst out.

[clarencebunsen]

Are the objections to the merger or to the name?

I have seen several times in mergers of organizations of unequal size (public, private or corporate) that name recognition can be a crumb tossed to the smaller partner to help swallow the bitter pill of lost identity. In the case of Oneida and Herkimer county entities it is likely that the head quarters and majority of the staff will be in Utica and a satellite office will be located in Herkimer until the need for efficiency and economy forces it to close.

[strikeslip]

Clarence --
Consolidations and mergers are unavoidable, particularly in our area of economic decline. There probably should be more of them.

The objection is to the name.

With consolidation, sometimes the "Utica" name will just have to go because it no longer fits . . . Like when AAA of Utica and CNY merged with AAA of NY and lost its separate name. I hated to see that - - - It's a sign of our decline - - - But it would not make sense to call the merged organization AAA of Utica and Greater New York City.

But the Red Cross Utica chapter is significantly larger than the Herkimer one . . . . and the "Mohawk Valley" name includes a lot of communities that are NOT part of the organization. If they called it the Red Cross of Greater Utica and Herkimer County it would make sense . . . and be accurate.

The Mohawk Valley Chamber of Commerce is the biggest and stupidest offender. Its members are virtually all in what is recognized as "Greater Utica" - - -not Fonda, Canajo or Amsterdam. I say "stupidest" because the C of C is supposed to be advancing the economic well being of its members - - - but how can you do that when you've hidden their address? We also have the MV Water Authority -- but it only serves "Greater Utica".

I think there is an Anti-Utica Bias that explains the disappearance of "Utica" from our regional institutions . . . and it is found among the elite that run them. It's interesting that the Rome organizations do not feel this way about their city. You can speculate where that bias comes from.

Regardless, the bias, and disappearance of the "Utica" name is destructive to the region. If you choose a name that people cannot accurately locate on a map, then you invite people to pass you by.

[rrogers40]

Utica is in the Valley- and who cares- no matter what they are called they still do a great job.

[kim]

I grew up in Clinton. When people ask me where I'm from, I saw Utica because NOBODY has heard of Clinton. If they don't know where Utica is I tell them it's about an hour from Syracuse, which clears up all confusion. Many people have actually heard of Utica, but many others confuse it with Ithaca or Attica, which is kind of funny.

I think the entire Mohawk Valley is beautiful and I don't mind it being called the Mohawk Valley or Adirondack Foothills.

[frankcor]

In at least one case, the loss of the Utica name was a money grab. The Utica Historical Society is now the Oneida County Historical Society. They get significant county aid every year while the Rome Historical Society gets squat.

I've been suggesting to the Rome trustees that they change the name to the Galactic Historical Society.

[dgriffin]

I suppose a name should derive from where the money comes, public or private. If you form a group and ask for money from private individuals in Bozotown and as well ask the town fathers for some dough, I guess you should call it the BozoTown Cucumber Society. If you later appeal to publlic and private money on a county level, you would probably want to call it the Sim County Cucumber Society. If you were smart you might call it the BozoTown and Sim County Cucumber Society. But if you were really smart, you would call it The Cucumber Society.
If I ran the Oneida County Historical Society, I would name it what my board told me to name it, after they had had all the arguments. But my graphic splash would trumpet only , "The Historical Soiciety" and in much smaller type underneath, "of Utica, Oneida County and the Mohawk Valley."
Of course, none of this is any of my business.

[Swimmy]

I think the point is that by removing "Utica" from the title, Utica loses out on the name recognition. Now, the Red Cross's achievements are lost to the Mohawk Valley, when in fact the origin is in Utica. Utica loses the positive outlook that outsiders had before "Utica" was dropped. It may not appear as much, but add all of those dropped name recognitions and now you have a city that no one knows about. Good luck attracting businesses to an area where even those in the area don't want the city's name attached to them.

[Clipper]

There is an internal "political" bureaucracy within charities, as there is in most "organizations" in today's world. Somebody in Herkimer hauls a little more water, than those in Utica.

If the motive was to combine services and to "regionalize," it was lost in the obvious "slight" to Utica, as the largest city, and anchor to the whole Mohawk Valley area.

If regionalization was the objective, then Rome should also have been included. Rome's Red Cross Office is very small. I used to teach First Aid and CPR for the Red Cross. Their offices on N. James were quite small compared to the Utica Office.

If their idea is to opitmize and consolidate services, that could be done with an upgrade to the facilities in Utica, and closing the Herkimer and Rome offices. Those areas could be serviced efficiently with a Herkimer and a Rome phone number that connects to the Utica Office. THAT would automatically translate to economic savings.

As a former volunteer for the Red Cross, I find it despicable to take Utica out of the name of the combined chapter. Tony Skane, who passed away recently, would roll in his grave, to see that the place that he dedicated his retirement years to, has been swallowed up by such an act. The whole idea is strictly inside politics within the Red Cross. If it were not for the "good works" that they do, I would simply suggest boycotting the organization, but they DO accomplish wonderful works such as disaster aid and blood services.