THE WRECK OF THE OCEAN CLASSROOM Part 7: Location, Location, Location [This eight-part story is published in full in the Fall issue of Marlinspike, which mailed on Monday, September 29. To subscribe, visit marlinspikemagazine/subscribe.html or call 978-561-3020.] LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION As with the decision to acquire Westward, the OCF board’s decision to move to Boothbay in 2007 was understandable; it simply didn’t work out. The argument was that Ocean Classroom could raise money more effectively if it were identified with one a particular location — “we meant nothing to anybody anywhere,” remembers Rogers — and the choice came down to Newport, where Rogers was based, or Maine, which J.B. Smith and Alix Thorne and others called home. The board opted for the small mid-coast town of Boothbay, a wealthy summer community in an area rich in sailors and shipyards. The town welcomed Ocean Classroom with open arms, and the organization worked hard to reach out to the community. “When we moved to Boothbay, there was a tremendous amount of outreach from the company,” recalls Flansburg. “We did free trips for the local Y, we did a lot of local stuff, we hired a local woman as the executive director. It didn’t help at all.” “Perhaps, in Newport, we could have harnessed the energy that is now going into the Oliver Hazard Perry project. We were being courted by the same people,” sighs Rogers. “Life is full of what-ifs.” “I know they got a warm welcome,” says Belanger. “A lot of positive things were said in the community, but for whatever reason, it didn’t turn out to be an effective fund-raising tactic.” In OCF’s final days, Neill and Belanger worked to move the organization to bigger, more dynamic Portland, where they hoped to bolster their fund-raising, partner with other sailing non-profits, and build a long-term working relationship with Portland Yacht Services. But it was too little, too late. NEXT: Conclusions
Posted on: Fri, 10 Oct 2014 12:30:00 +0000
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