Mr. October

“The only reason I don’t like playing in the World Series is I can’t watch myself play.”
-Reggie Jackson

There may be some reading this who weren’t old enough to see Reggie Jackson slam three homers in one game during the 1977 World Series. If he had a humble bone in his body before that game, it was officially removed that night. He earned the nickname “Mr. October” because he delivered when it meant the most and backed up his, let’s just say, very quotable persona.

How does this relate to community marketing? In flipping through a magazine dedicated to site selection and economic development recently, I counted dozens of claims of greatness and “unique” attributes of locations and sites for business. Some of these claims may even be true, but most are worded in a way that removes accountability for the claim.

What claim is your community ready to make about its readiness or ability to help companies become more profitable? Can you back it up? If you can, more power to you. In fact, you should shout it from the mountaintop. If you cannot, perhaps you should stick to the edict of under-promising and over-delivering.

-Kenny McDonald

One Columbus Update

• Last week, the International Economic Development Council’s annual conference welcomed 1,600 economic developers to Cleveland. One Columbus took home two marketing honors, and GROW Licking County was awarded for its Economic Development Week events.
• Thank you to the Columbus Foundation for leading the effort to bring the CEOs for Cities national meeting to Columbus last week. More than 400 leaders from 75 U.S. cities attended the meeting.