Major League Arts??

Like several of my fellow classmates, I also attended the Quality of Life committee meeting last week and listened to Thom Mariner's presentation on the idea of branding Cincinnati by promoting its amazing depth and range of arts and culture experiences. Thom's presentation was very convincing and made a great case for showcasing Cincinnati's arts to people outside of Cincinnati. I won't go into the details of that presentation because my classmates have done such a great job of describing it already.

There was one part of the meeting that did stand out to me, however. This was when councilwoman Quinlivan explained that some people had the idea that Cincinnati should be branded as the "Birthplace of Baseball". She suggested tying in Cincinnati's baseball history with our arts scene and promoting that Cincinnati has "Major League Arts". I don't think that this is the correct way to frame a message about Cincinnati's arts and culture to the rest of the world. Using sports lingo to promote the arts seems like the wrong approach to me because in the battle of sports vs. arts, unfortunately sports will almost always win with the majority of the U.S. population. Attending a sporting event is a completely different experience than attending an arts event, and the customers of the two different types of events often value different things.

Overall, I don't think that tying a sports reference to Cincinnati's arts will be helpful in promoting them. It muddles our message and doesn't help us to focus on the diversity and quality of the arts in Cincinnati, which is a major strength for the city.

Quality of Life Committee Meeting

Last week I sat in on a Quality of Life Committee meeting at the Cincinnati City Council.  I have to admit this experience was pretty different from the image I had concocted in my mine.  I was under the impression that decisions were made at each meeting and that all the City Council members would be in attendance.  Turns out I was wrong.  Had I put two and two together, I would have realized that committee does not equal full council.  The concept of “committee” didn’t really resonate with me before sitting through this meeting.  Good thing every moment is a learning opportunity…

The meeting itself was very interesting.  The agenda included a phenomenal and thought-provoking presentation by Thom Mariner about branding and the lack thereof for the City of Cincinnati.  Citing all the great things about this city has to offer, Mr. Mariner showed the council how Cincinnati does not need to invest much money into creating a wonderful culture because it is already here. After listening to Mr. Mariner highlight the strength of the arts scene here in Cincinnati, I actually started to like this city.  The power of good marketing is pretty impressive.

After Mr. Mariner’s speech, the committee allowed for commentary from individuals who had filled out request forms before the start of the meeting.  Hearing different Cincinnatians from all walks of life talk about how the arts were important to them AND to the city was inspiring and oddly comforting.  It was really encouraging to see so many people in attendance to the meeting.

So what did I learn from this experience?  Aside from finally connecting that a committee meeting does not require the attendance of all City Council members, I learned that Cincinnatians really care about this city and that Cincinnati has a lot to offer.  Too bad, no one is marketing that.

Carolyne Hall