May 27, 2005

So, What's Wrong with Cleveland?

We interviewed an impressive woman today as a potential staff member. She lives and works in Cleveland, where she grew up...even though she went to Boston for college.

"Why do you want to leave your hometown?" I asked.

"Have you ever been to Cleveland?" was her answer. And then she added, "I want to move to a place that's got more of what I want...like Charleston."

Nice for Charleston, but kind of a bum rap for Cleveland, I thought to myself. And I started to ponder how places get their reputation and how very important those reputations can be.

Charleston is fortunate. Say "Charleston" somewhere else and people usually define it in terms of our beautiful historic area, the warm weather and beaches, Spoleto Festival USA, and a certain glamour that is associated with other destinations like Santa Fe or San Diego.

Charleston's national media has been generally very positive...laudatory stories of our Mayor and his accomplishments, praise for the city's leadership in historic preservation, stories on the area's beautiful homes, and - at this time of year - major coverage of Spoleto Festival USA.

The state of South Carolina has been less fortunate. It's had more of a "Cleveland factor" in the media: from Susan Smith killing her children, to the recent Pittman trial...from the flag flying atop the statehouse, to the Citadel's stubborn stand on women...from Bush discrediting McCain, to DeMint discrediting himself.

Like Cleveland, South Carolina gets a bum rap. And, while the state's individual agencies - such as the Department of Commerce and the Department of Parks Recreation and Tourism do a great job in positively communicating the state in their respective areas of responsibility, one wonders if there isn't a need for a more comprehensive marketing effort that captures and communicates an even broader range of what is distinctive about the state. There are so many pockets of excellence here, and yet they may not fall into any particular organization's area of responsibility to promote outside the state.

And what about IN-state? Aren't there tremendous opportunities to create greater pride among a state's own citizenry? Texas, for example, does this really well.

Should all of this be undertaken in some "uber" way, or is it possible to create a proactive communications culture thoughout a state?

Thoughts? Should we meet in Cleveland to discuss??