Dear Dave,
I have to wonder, whose idea was the bike race in the first place, that the businesses went for it? Theirs, or the board's? It seems to me that either you want a unique event or an event that could tie it into something uniquely Shorewood...
"We're the place where everyone walks and bikes, where people bike to pick up groceries or to drop their kids off at school, and that's why we have bike races so come on down by bike, bus, or foot and enjoy it with us" or some such.
But it seems that for all the money they spent on a PR firm the public has no clear sense of what Shorewood is uniquely--hence we see this rush by some to make us yet another suburb with an overly pricey piece of uninspired infrastructure (D2D).
There was an article in the NY Times on this trend toward fancy stadiums and how many communities have experienced a lot of anger and resentment over them--does anyone bother to google or search the Times to do a little research to see if any other communities were in a similar boat and what we can learn from them?
Did anyone talk to the other criterium communities to see what their experience was before committing to the event to ensure that the expectations were realistic? Or is the standard procedure to just say "Hey, sounds great," invest the money, and potentially discover it was a costly mistake after the fact?
I wonder, too, does anyone in the government here take a look at what this Village has to offer that no other place in SE Wisconsin does, and figure out how to capitalize on it?
Walkable Shorewood is a great idea...walkability is a major reason I moved here. But where are all the many events that draw people to walk? I love this new garden walk--maybe just as Milwaukee is the city of festivals we could be the village of walks.
We could promote ourselves as a place where creative and eclectic people go when they grow up... a place where art, music, and drama thrive . . . there are so many possibilities for capitalizing on what we are but sometimes it seems that Shorewood's self-perception is rooted in low self-esteem.
There's so much that could be done PR wise here, and I'm not even a PR person, just a writer who has seen creative and aggressive PR campaigns and lazy and uninspired ones.
I feel like there's NO press effort whatsoever... I'm a media junkie. Why am I not hearing about how exciting, progressive, and innovative Shorewood is when I peruse local media?
What's that PR firm doing for our tax dollars? Where's the branding, and if it exists, why is no one using it?
I suspect the research you just did on the bike race is not at all the norm here. Maybe it is the norm and and it's just hidden from sight because the people in power here don't value clear communication or input from the community?
It's weird to me, because the people I know and have met here are wonderfully smart, creative, and communicative, full of clever ideas and eager to participate in spirited dialogue.
Anonymous
