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Archive for the ‘city branding’ Category

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Paeans to the Real Memphis

city branding

By Smart City Memphis RSS

April 30th, 2010 12:30am UTC

1 Comment

Smithsonian Travel has written a peaen to Memphis that pays tribute not just to the city but to some of our extraordinary landmarks like Henry Turley.  That follows by only a few months a lovefest in the New York Times about the real Memphis. In the interest of complete accuracy, we can only sum it [...]

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City Branding: Case Study, Part 2

Smart City Consulting, city branding

By Smart City Memphis RSS

April 29th, 2010 12:21am UTC

2 Comments

This is the second part of our post about our case study in city branding: Milestone 7: Preliminary Strategies As a result of the insights by the Smart City Consulting/Stone Mantel team and the input of the public, a recommended approach and two alternatives were developed. They focused on brand truth, brand character, brand story, [...]

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Case Study in City Branding

Smart City Consulting, Uncategorized, city branding

By Smart City Memphis RSS

April 28th, 2010 12:42am UTC

1 Comment

Following the last two posts about city branding, we were asked about any work that we’ve done in this area.  To respond, we begin today a two-part post about our work in Pensacola/Escambia County, Florida: Pensacola, a region of 450,000 people in a spectacular setting on the Gulf Coast, lags behind its regional rivals in [...]

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Memphis’ Brand: Standing for Something

city branding

By Smart City Memphis RSS

April 27th, 2010 12:56am UTC

5 Comments

While we’re on the subject of city branding, we want to revisit a speech by Paul O’Connor, former  executive director of World Business Chicago and someone who led the process to shape his city’s brand. In a speech sponsored by the Memphis Tourism Foundation, he explained what a brand really is, how Memphis could develop [...]

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Finding the Right Brand

city branding

By Smart City Memphis RSS

April 26th, 2010 12:13am UTC

1 Comment

Branding a city is hard, and although so many cities do it poorly, that does little to discourage cities like ours from continuing to try to do it right. Since we can remember, Memphis has flirted with branding, but unfortunately, the emphasis has been  catchy slogans rather than a real brand.  We can think of [...]

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Closing the Book on Forbes and Getting Back to Things that Matter

Mayor AC Wharton, Poverty, Uncategorized, city branding

By Smart City Memphis RSS

March 30th, 2010 12:53am UTC

5 Comments

Can we now turn the page – not one in Forbes magazine of course – and quit talking about the miserable cities rankings? We’re becoming like the guy who knows he’s having an affair so he continually tells his friends how happily married he is.  The continuing obsession with this ranking is beginning to summon [...]

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Turning the Forbes Moment into a Memphis Movement

Memphis City Schools, Poverty, city branding

By Smart City Memphis RSS

March 3rd, 2010 12:18am UTC

12 Comments

Hopefully, now that we’ve all worked through the catharsis brought on by hitting the list of miserable U.S. cities by Forbes magazine, maybe we can now follow it up with an epiphany. Most urbanists and public policy types have long ago discredited these meaningless lists of the smartest cities, wired cities, successful cities and happiest [...]

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A What’s-Right Eco-Asset Map

Aaron Shafer, Greenline, Grow Memphis, Live Where You Live, Project Green Fork, Shelby Farms Park, Skate Park, bicycling, city branding, parks, recycling

By Leah Wells RSS Twitter

March 1st, 2010 12:45am UTC

22 Comments

A Forbes rebuttal: Mapping the healthy trends in Memphis is also part of the regional story. There’s more going right than meets the eye.

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Getting to the Memphis Brand

city branding

By Smart City Memphis RSS

February 25th, 2010 12:09am UTC

5 Comments

Possibly the only thing more disconcerting than the self-loathing  that is such a regular feature of life in Memphis is the overly defensive attitude we exhibit when we finish on the wrong end of one of the meaningless city lists that populate publications and websites these days. So far, we’ve had the city mayor, the [...]

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Finding the “Real” Memphis in Austin

authenticity, city branding

By Tommy Pacello RSS

December 20th, 2009 8:34pm UTC

3 Comments

“Wow, you moved here from Memphis?”  “There was this BBQ shop in an old white garage with bright yellow slaw…” “What’s the name of the juke joint with the burgers outside of downtown?” “We went there for a wedding and on Tuesday we were still there…” —– Memphis generates great stories, the kind of stories [...]

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Memphis Wire

  • CEOs for Cities

    • Innovation Dublin 9.1.10 9:48pm
      From November 10-21, the city of Dublin will host the second Innovation Dublin festival where venues throughout the city region will open their doors to showcase and promote all facets of innovation in the city. The festival provides Dubliners, entrepreneurs, students, researchers, artists and large corporations with an opportunity to discuss, promote and ce...

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    • Using Technology to Inspire Community to Action 8.24.10 9:09pm
      These days, as people use Facebook to support Haiti, end hunger, and stand behind other causes, social networks have become the place to make a statement. Yet those clicks don’t necessarily turn into a movement to better communities. At least not yet. With the Knight Foundation’s focus on fostering informed and engaged communities, they started looking at wa...

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    • A Greener Welcome in Indianapolis 8.18.10 6:32pm
      By the time the sun sets on October 7, Indianapolis will have ten acres of new natural area. Even more amazing: it will happen in just eight hours. More than 9,000 Eli Lilly and Company volunteers will plant 72,000 native shrubs and perennials, and another 1,600 trees along a path traversed by 100,000 vehicles a day.The project, A Greener Welcome, will natur...

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    • A High Line for Harlem 8.3.10 9:48pm
      An innovative urban development project, spearheaded by the Harlem Community Development Corporation, could bring new energy and excitement to Harlem. Tentatively called La Marqueta Mile, the proposed mile-long, open air market under the Metro North tracks would span 22 blocks and house as many as 900 vendors, providing enormous opportunity to local entrepre...

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    • Redeveloping an Old City in the Right (And Thoughtful) Way 7.28.10 6:43pm
      Syracuse, N.Y. is “rightsizing the city” with the help of a partnership among Mayor Stephanie Miner, Syracuse University Chancellor Nancy Cantor and Vice President of Community Engagement Marilyn Higgins (both CEOs for Cities members), assorted neighborhood groups and business associations.  An inspiring article posted on citiwire.net says that slowly but su...

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    • The Accidental Giant of Higher Education 7.26.10 3:01pm
      "A woman with a plan" is the description the New York Times gives Dr. Nancy Zimpher, chancellor of the State University of New York.  In very short order, she has turned the "unloved colossus" into the best economic development hope for the state of New York.  "My belief is that to move an organization forward you have to have a comm...

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  • In The Bluff (Mary Cashiola)

    • More Federal Funds for Tennessee 9.2.10 3:09pm
      In the federal Race to the Top, Tennessee is surely a competitor. The state will share in a $170 million Race to the Top Assessment Program grant announced today by the U.s. Department of Education.… [ Read more ] [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]...

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    • Zoo On Ice 9.1.10 9:07pm
      It won't just be penguins skating around the Memphis Zoo this winter. The Zoo announced today that it will build an outdoor ice-skating rink, to open in November.… [ Read more ] [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]...

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    • Midnight Ride Hit and Run 8.30.10 6:33pm
      I've heard two accounts this morning of a hit-and-run during the middle of Saturday night's popular Midnight Classic Bike Tour. Apparently, around 12:30 a.m.… [ Read more ] [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]...

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    • More With MCS Consultant Jeffrey Hernandez 8.26.10 1:45pm
      As part of this week's print extravaganza, I interviewed controversial Memphis City Schools (MCS) consultant Jeffrey Hernandez. His $1,500-a-day consulting fee, coupled with an intense animosity for him from some parents in Palm Beach County and his ties to superintendent Kriner Cash and deputy superintendent Irving Hamer, have caused questions about hi...

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    • Art Scene 8.24.10 8:55pm
      (Sorry posting has been so light thus far in the week. It's been crazy busy around here.… [ Read more ] [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]...

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    • The Dance and Data of the Lemons 8.20.10 9:47pm
      Last week, the LA Times began an ambitious series focused on teacher effectiveness at the Los Angeles Unified School District. Using value-added data compiled from seven years of math and English test scores, the newspaper is exploring the (often, quite large) disparities between effective and ineffective teachers.… [ Read more ] [ Subscribe to the comments ...

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  • About Smart City Memphis

    We are often blind to our own environment because of our assumptions, framed by media, insular thinking and our own prejudices. Smart City Consulting's blog – named one of the most intriguing in the U.S. by Pew Partnership for Civic Change – hopes to show how Memphis really is and could be through alternative questions, fresh approaches and new ideas. We hope to open your eyes - and your ears - to a new way of thinking about Memphis. Send ideas and emails to tjones@smartcityconsulting.com.

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