Red Carpet Tour goes confidential

When I covered my first Red Carpet Tour in 1998, I practically knew everything about it before ever stepping foot inside the hospitality tent on the far southwestern corner of the Augusta National Golf Club property.

The organizers of the state’s largest economic development initiative used to hold press conferences weeks before the event to tout the decades-old program that each year brings more than three dozen titans of industry to the Masters Tournament.

Officials from local and state chambers of commerce would give interviews to talk about how the tour has generated thousands of jobs and billions of dollars’ worth of investment from companies whose tour guests were impressed by Georgia’s hospitality and “pro-business” climate.

Basically, the Red Carpet Tour organizers expected – practically demanded – publicity.

You can imagine my surprise, then, when on Thursday (the first of two Red Carpet Tour dates) I and other members of the media, were told to stay out. Some VIP guests on this year’s tour, I was told, were so concerned about confidentiality that the tour’s local organizers (the Augusta Metro Chamber of Commerce) had to make the decision to keep the media away.

Apparently, the chances were just too great that the 10 seconds of B-roll footage that a local network affiliate would have shot for its 45-second story about the tour could compromise some corporate bigwigs’ identities and jeopardize the business they might bring to Georgia.

Corporate spies scan local TV newscasts for intelligence. Interesting development.

The media has covered the event since it was created in the 1950s, and not once has the coverage played a part in a tour guests’ decision to locate or not locate their business in Georgia.

Was I surprised by the media blackout? Yes, but I probably shouldn’t have been.

The tour’s organizers – namely the Georgia Chamber of Commerce – have been increasingly hostile to reporters over the years.

Two years ago Augusta Metro Chamber officials, under pressure from their state counterparts, told me not to come to the event. I protested and was later told I could come but couldn’t “talk to anyone” on the tour.

At this point, it is necessary to point out that all tour guests are consenting adults well over the age of 18. All are briefed that they are under no obligation to speak to the media or anyone else who isn’t a tour volunteer. All appear to have average or above-average intelligence.

You can understand, then, why I found it a bit odd at last year’s tour event that a Georgia Chamber employee repeatedly stepped between me and tour guests to disrupt my interviews. The people I interviewed found this odd as well.

Contrary to the image portrayed by tour organizers, not everyone on the tour wants to keep their identity secret. Most have no problem telling you who they are, what they do and why they are on the tour – they even wear name badges.

Coverage or no coverage, the Red Carpet Tour is a great event. It has helped attract several companies to Augusta in the past, such as Sitel, John Deere and IFF. It’s a good partnership between the public and private sectors – some state and local tax dollars are contributed, but the bulk of the money comes from major corporations.

Still, closing the event to the media is a bad idea. Here’s why: The Red Carpet Tour is essentially a marketing program. It is designed to tell the world how wonderful our area is and why they should be doing business here. Shouldn’t the tour try to have as many people as possible, including the media, tell that story?

Earlier in the week, I had heard that a camera crew from CNBC went to the tent looking for a story. Instead of giving the national news crew a few minutes of sound bites that sung the praises of the Augusta-Aiken area, volunteers and officials at the tent told them to take a hike.

What a blown opportunity.

If the powers that be at the tour have decided their event will yield better results without media attention, then they have their wish. I, for one, won’t be bothering them anymore.