Rob Bencini (hat tip Vie de Malchance) nails it:
Successful regions almost universally have successful cities as their lead. With the notable exceptions of Silicon Valley and Research Triangle Park, very few regions stand above their principal city. The Piedmont Triad Partnership, contrarily, has been adamant that it is regions, not cities, that are central to economic development success. In a world that is largely unaware of Greensboro – and to a similar degree Winston-Salem and High Point – getting others to acknowledge the existence of the Piedmont Triad (Partnership) has proven to be expensive and futile.And
If Greensboro, which shows up on a real map, has an airport, is the largest city in the 36th largest MSA in America, has a coliseum that routinely gets big-time acts and regularly hosts the televised ACC Men’s Basketball (and other) tournament(s), is home of the International Civil Rights Museum and the historic 1960 sit-ins, is known among golfers as a host city of a PGA Tour stop, and is the home to five colleges and universities and a law school can’t get enough name recognition to move the meter, how in the world can skipping a step of identity to promote a blandly-titled, geographically-marginally matched region have a chance in this world of gaining meaningful attention and developing national/international name recognition?
I admit to a man crush on Bencini.
ReplyDeleteWell stated Roch. I agree.
ReplyDeleteI sort-of agree and sort-of don't. I'll tell you why.
ReplyDeleteWe began as a Greensboro newspaper and branched out to the "Triad" about four years ago when the Winston-Salem Journal took Relish off the streets as a free weekly and made it an insert. It was a good opportunity, but it also made us a Triad paper, serving not just the couple hundred thousand in GSO but the 1 million-plus people in the "Triad." This makes us more attractive to national advertisers and increases our reach, though it is a pain in the ass covering two different counties, each with its own institutions, processes and issues.
For us it works, but it was just a matter of printing more issues, hiring a reporter and making more deliveries.