Unless you’ve been living in a fallout shelter, you couldn’t have missed the term, “social distancing,” defined as is six feet between people to help flatten the COVID-19 curve. And we've been working on that, even though sometimes it goes against our nature and makes us feel pretty darn isolated.
But destinations around the country are nothing if not creative and resourceful - and probably just as bored as anyone else. And lately, they have been helping redefine that distance of six feet in some pretty cool ways. In Florida, for instance, we’re told to keep one alligator between people. In Kentucky, it’s one thoroughbred. In Maine, one moose. We've seen plenty of non-animal measurements too: the Stanley Cup, footballs, even smoked briskets and DVD copies of "Pulp Fiction." (Knoxville in for the win on that latter measurement).
And while there’s nothing funny about a life-threatening virus, we’ve seen that being able to laugh about any situation can make things more bearable, including quarantine and having to stay six feet away from the people we care about.
So when it comes to that six-foot distance, who said it best? That’s what Sports Destination Management set out to determine. And we thought, hey, who knows this best of all? Our readers, that’s who. So SDM started its game of Social Distancing Madness. We invited destinations and sports to send us their best social distancing memes. And wow, did they respond.
Our first round, with voting conducted using the highly scientific “Vote by Clicking Like on Your Favorite on Our Facebook Page” method, garnered an incredible amount of interest, caused social media chatter, awesome levels of campaigning (and even some low-level trash-talk) and ultimately netted two winners: Gulf Shores and Orange Beach Tourism, and the City of Alamogordo, New Mexico.
Now, the second round begins – this time with more than 40 destinations. Once again, we’re reverting to that highly scientific “Like on Facebook” Method. So drop in, “Like” your favorites and we’ll see where it goes from here. (Have a distancing meme we haven't seen yet? Send it to our editor at msprecher@duenorthmedia.com so it can be added to the next round).
Our winners get, well, fame and glory. (We'd like to say a fabulous prize awaits the winner but it would just be one more thing you'd have to disinfect). But rest assured, you'll win the respect of everyone who enjoys creativity and fun – particularly at a time when a break from the tension is appreciated.
Haven’t voted yet? Go here and look for our post about the second round of Social Distancing Madness.
About the Author
