A decade or so ago (in March of this year), Jon Newman of The Hodges Partnership posted a thoughtful piece on his blog about the role of creativity as a potential pillar for growth and identity in the Richmond region. It sparked a lively commenting debate (which you can feel free to continue after reading Jon's post) and got me and several others thinking in a more focused way about how the Richmond region can leverage some key (but hidden) aspects of its personality to strengthen its economy and culture.
After mapping out some of the essential players in the creative business space, Newman says this:
The only thing missing in my opinion is a strategy to market Richmond as the best place to tap into this collective marketing power. It isn’t easy. You can touch, see and feel history. Creativity is a little smushy.
You would think since we’re so creative we could figure this out? We can. We just need some focus, some direction and to be set loose to make it happen.
Richmond’s history is in its past. But its present and future is in its creativity. Others are recognizing us for this every day. Now we have to seize on that and make sure the rest of the world knows.
The best thing about Newman's post is that some punk kid living in Boulder came right out of the gate swinging, giving energy to an online conversation that brought some great voices into the mix. Ben from Boulder slaps it right down:
The problem I see is in the business community in Richmond. There simply isn’t the vibrant, youthful, entrepreneurial and startup community that there is here or in many other places.
Other voices joined in to dispute Ben's claims. I chimed in with the thought that Richmond's brand should be bigger than "creative business", suggesting that the city truly has an unparalleled creative, community-minded and philanthropic spirit.
Newman's post about creativity and Richmond does what good commentaries do – it sparked a conversation, and deepened some perspectives. Next up – I'm taking Jon to lunch so we can plan the Richmond region's way out of the paper bag.
