Our Region's Story - Help Required

By Chris Thompson

For several reasons I participated in a brainstorming session today with the goal of framing a common story that we can tell ourselves about Northeast Ohio and where it's going. One of the goals of such a story would be to improve public attitudes about our region and build support for efforts, like Advance Northeast Ohio, to strengthen the region.

I call this story the "region's narrative." It's kind of like the story you tell your children about your family and its values. It's not for external markets, but what we choose to tell ourselves about Northeast Ohio. It's way too early to say who and how such a story would be used for sure, but our region needs to have a narrative.

During my 18 years in Northeast Ohio I've been mystified that many residents choose to tell a grumpy, negative narrative to themselves about their home. I sum it up by saying residents ask newcomers "Why would you move here" rather than saying "Welcome." The Advance Northeast Ohio effort would be helped tremendously if the region's narrative was more positive, more forward-thinking and more inspirational. I could write forever on this subject, but want to get to the heart of today's session.

Our discussion distilled down to a few key points. Our region has a rich, varied history that greatly influences who we are and where we're going. I've used the words "rooted" and "resilient" to describe this reality. Those are both words with multiple connotations, and today's group preferred the word "heritage" to capture that  Northeast Ohio is a real, authentic place with tremendous assets ranging from arts, culture and the environment to business and medicine.

Part of our heritage has been innovation (fuel cells, liquid crystals, space travel, medical imaging, polymers etc.). Not enough of that innovation has been translated into economic success, but clearly we are an innovative place and to succeed in the global economy we'll need to be more innovative and better take advantage of those innovations. Innovation also applies to our efforts to build a stronger, more connected region.

So the group decided to take "heritage" and "innovation" and put a "plus" in between. The "plus reflects the "Cleveland Plus" marketing campaign that is being used to promote the region outside of Northeast Ohio. There is a recognition that when we talk about ourselves here in Northeast Ohio some are more willing to be associated with Cleveland than others. But groups involved in promoting the region (internally and externally) do like to use the term "Plus" to capture the positive parts of Northeast Ohio. And it's easy to see how individuals and groups can act on a call to action to be "part of the plus" or to "pass the plus." So even though this narrative is a story we tell ourselves, the group felt it made sense to incorporate the "plus" into our story.

So what does "heritage" "plus" "innovation" equal? For a long time we fiddled with the word "reinvention," because we are building a new future here in Northeast Ohio. But one person, I think correctly, pointed out that "reinvention" is more of a process word than an outcome or a result.

We know the final word needs to capture that Northeast Ohio is winning the global competition for jobs and investments (or we can win if we make the positive changes demanded by the global economy). We discussed words like "winner," "resurgent," "vitality" and "success." But none resonated and our meeting ended without us settling on that word.

So if you've read this far, I am asking you to do one of two things:

1. Suggest your own narrative (using the above words or not) that you think we should tell ourselves about what makes Northeast Ohio what it is today and what it could be in the future. You can write as long as you want, but please sum it up in one sentence.

2. Fill in the blank: "Heritage "Plus" "Innovation" equals "....." or modify this equation to provide a framework for our region's narrative.

I look forward to your ideas.