You hit the nail on the head, Dave!! We need a set of solid ongoing attractions that would engage a family with children for a weekend or week. An outdoor drama featuring the settling of Bay City with the Trombley house as a background could be one. Nature walks at the state park? Deer Acres is one, if it ever reopens. The Edson, of course. A small carnival located at the mall for the summer. What else would you take your kids to to get them engaged and keep them happy? The festivals on the weekends are great but we need ongoing attractions that a family seeking a fun weekend could go to. Weekend packages that would include tickets to the Loons, water park in Saginaw, etc? The main problem as I see it with this branding thing is that the distances you would have to travel make it less attractive. When I had kids and we traveled we looked for stuff in the closest area. I just wanted to relax and entertain the kids as well.
Also, have you tried to find somewhere to get brochures for your out of town vistors? At least when they had the log cabin in the park you could get brochures to give to your visitors. Now there's nothing. I think we need to remember that not everyone is on the internet or likes to use the internet for their info. Get more aggressive in developing attractions to visit or the tourism business will just limp along like it is now.

Dave, I think you've actually proven the point for the "Great Lakes Bay" moniker. The clicks for the individual cities in the region are, as you mentioned, "abysmal". Meanwhile, the "Great Lakes Bay Region" garners much greater interest. It takes a long time for "nicnknames" to catch on. I would merely suggest that all advertisers from the region agree to tag their ads with something to the effect of "...XYZ business, proudly located in (Bay City), a great part of the Great Lakes Bay Region.", or something to that effect. This should, over time, get people to understand the length, breadth, and diverse attractions of the entire area, while making the GLBR more "top of mind".