2013 report: the creative corridor project

WELCOME!

STARTING OUT

YOU HAVE EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO BE ONE OF THE TOP PERFORMING PLACES IN THE

NATION. but....

experts have told us time and time again...

YOU DON’T WORK TOGETHER WELL.

YOU DON’T CELEBRATE WHAT YOU HAVE.

(many of you don’t even know what you have)

and...

LET’S SOLVE THIS.a growing group of people are saying,

START BY RALLYING AROUND A

SHARED IDENTITY:

AND WORK TOWARD

• Hire a brand manager• Create a brand PowerPoint or

video• Develop brand stationary and

business supplies• Involvement from the private

sector• Establish an innovation

imperative within the region

• Create a sense of place• Foster a sense of regionalism• Engage the brand in economic

development• Engage community

imagination with premium branded items

• Create a media plan

North Star’s First10 Steps:

MORE CRITICAL STEPS

• Build buy-in within the region• Engage the creative

community• Unlock existing local pride• Strengthen connections across

generations, organizations and industries

• Foster more collaboration across organizations and geographical areas

• Create tangible programs with measurable deliverables that everyone can understand and be part of

• Build basic organizational infrastructure

Seed Here’s additions for year one:

2013 STRATEGY

• Focus on the internal audience

• Build meaning around the new brand identity

• Aggregate assets to show critical mass

• Make it easy to articulate the pride for this place

• Show real people creating and innovating in the region

• Create fun ways to collaborate

• Create easy ways everyone can participate

• Celebrate successes in small ongoing and large big bang ways

• Raise the design and production bar to build excitement and belief

2013 TACTICS

• Empower use of the logo• Tour the region• Host events• Promote all innovation-related events• Collect and share our region’s innovation stories• Produce Creative Week

• And in the process, build some basic organizational infrastructure.

EMPOWER LOGO USE

A CAMPAIGN

EMPOWER LOGO USE

WE CREATE HERE CAMPAIGN

TESTIMONIAL

I LOVE the new “We Create Here” campaign and have already used one of the badges on my website. Cool!~ Susan Shullaw

I love the WE CREATE HERE slogan. Very cool. ~ Dusty Embree, Jones County Economic Development

OUTCOMES

• Develop brand stationary and business supplies

• Engage community imagination with premium branded items

• Engaged economic development organizations, the private sector, and the creative community

• Unlocked existing local pride

• Established an innovation imperative within the region

• Engaged the creative community

• Creating a sense of place• Fostering a sense of regionalism• Involving from the private

sector• Seeded media partnerships

2013 TACTICS

• Empower use of the logo• Tour the region

• Host events• Promote all innovation-related events• Collect and share our region’s innovation stories• Produce Creative Week


TOUR THE REGION• Amana

• Ainsworth

• Anamosa

• Cedar Rapids

• Coralville

• Iowa City

• Kalona

• Marion

• Mechanicsville

• Monticello

• Mount Vernon

• North Liberty

• Riverside

• Stone City

• Tipton

• Vinton

• Washington

• Wellman

TOUR THE REGION

OPEN COFFEE TOUR

TOUR THE REGION

TESTIMONIAL

There's a reason why we put ourselves through this and today was a perfect example of pure awesome. It wasn't just 26 people- it was a diverse group of amazing people ready and willing to propel themselves forward. It is going to be so fun to watch what happens in these places over the next few months. ~ David Tominsky

OUTCOMES

• Built buy-in within the region• Engaged economic

development organizations, the private sector, and the creative community

• Unlocked existing local pride• Established the innovation

imperative within the region

• Strengthened connections across generations, organizations and industries

• Fostered more collaboration across organizations and geographical areas

• Engage the creative community• Created a sense of place• Fostered a sense of regionalism

2013 TACTICS

• Empower use of the logo• Tour the region• Host events

• Promote all innovation-related events• Collect and share our region’s innovation stories• Produce Creative Week


HOST EVENTS

The Project LaunchApril 19, 2013288 attendees

TESTIMONIAL

Just wanted to drop you a quick note to let you how much I enjoyed today. You and the entire Seed Here Studio team really hit it out of the park demonstrating the emotional connection of the Corridor's brand and why everyone in the room needs to get behind it..

It's especially exciting to see how far the effort has come along since I was involved on the front end (brand consultant selection and participating on the branding sub-committee with John Lohman).

Know that I have the poster hanging on my office door and that I'll do my part to continue promoting the Corridor's brand and spreading the word!

~ Joel Milefchik, Rockwell Collins

OUTCOMES

• Built buy-in within the region

• Engaged economic development organizations, the private sector, and the creative community

• Unlocked existing local pride

• Established the innovation imperative within the region


• Fostered more collaboration across organizations and geographical areas

• Engaged community imagination with premium branded items

• Premiered the brand PowerPoint and videos

• Gave us a deadline to:

• Build basic organizational infrastructure

• Create tangible programs with measurable deliverables that everyone can understand and be part of

• Laid out the media plan through Creative Corridor Stories and Digest

2013 TACTICS

• Empower use of the logo• Tour the region• Host events• Promote all innovation-related events

• Collect and share our region’s innovation stories• Produce Creative Week


PROMOTE INNOVATION EVENTS

42DIGESTS

588EVENTS

TESTIMONIAL

It's a great e-newsletter that I actually read and it's cool and encouraging to see all the things happening in the Corridor even if not all of them are specifically relevant to me.~Alicia Streeter

OUTCOMES

• Strengthens connections across generations, organizations and industries

• Makes it easier to articulate pride in this place and give examples

• Fosters a sense of regionalism and subtly creates a sense of place

• Engages economic development organizations, the private sector, and the creative community

• Builds buy-in within the region

• Establishes the innovation imperative within the region

• Fosters more collaboration across organizations and geographical areas

• Creates a tangible programs with measurable deliverables that everyone can understand and be part of

• Key part of the weekly media plan

• Aggregates our assets (weekly events) showing critical mass in creativity and innovation

• Introduces branded business stationary

2013 TACTICS

• Empower use of the logo• Tour the region• Host events• Promote all innovation-related events• Collect and share our region’s innovation stories

• Produce Creative Week


TELL THE STORIES

27STORIES

TESTIMONIAL

Thanks so much John, Sarah, and Andy! You all did an amazing job -- I'm really, really impressed with both the honesty and the generosity of the presentation... we come off looking our best selves, but still ourselves, and that's quite an accomplishment. Thanks so much for the opportunity, and thanks for taking the time and care to tell our story in the way that we would hope to tell it ourselves. Looks fantastic!

Best,Eric JonesAdamantine Spine Moving

OUTCOMES

• Makes it easier to articulate pride in this place and give examples

• Establishes an innovation imperative within the region

• Fosters a sense of regionalism

• Creates premium media collateral

• Subtly creates a sense of place

• Strengthens connections across generations, organizations and industries

• Fosters collaboration across geographies and organizations

• Directly involves and celebrates the private sector and the creative community

• Creates a tangible program with measurable deliverables that everyone can understand and be part of

• Aggregate assets to show critical mass

• Shows real people creating and innovating in the region

• Creates a fun way to collaborate and easy way for everyone to participate

• Has led to the Gazette’s We Create Here section in the Sunday newspaper

2013 TACTICS



PRODUCE CREATIVE WEEK

CREATIVE WEEK

137EVENTS

CREATIVE WEEK THE MEDIA HOOK

CREATIVE WEEK

TESTIMONIAL

Amanda, I know that when we first got started on this journey, I was one of your toughest challengers. That said, I want to be one of your BIGGEST Congratulators!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was in the middle of so many projects/changes in my life that I could not participate fully. However, that did not stop me from observing, reading and keeping track of what was going on. Kudos to you, Andy and all who worked to make this week EPIC! ~ Diane H. RamseyExecutive Director, IWLC

A focus on creativity and innovation is exactly what the Corridor needs, and I'm very impressed by Creative Week! ~Liz Bennett

TESTIMONIAL

I got to about 9 places...All were very encouraging about job prospects and quality of product coming out of the corridor. I have made 6 solid contacts including one that has turned me on to 2 job opportunities.

So my experience was very good and well worth the time. I hope to see it again next year. Maybe expanded to include office based business; graphic design, web-base and such.

Thank you for the great opportunity to get out and see what is happening in our area!

Well Done,John Bregoli

TESTIMONIAL

I would like to thank you for providing such a great opportunity for me, and my studio team would love to take an active role for future events! This is super fun! ~ Tim Zhang, photographer and University of Iowa student

I did want to pass on my congratulations to you and all who contributed to what turned out to be an absolutely wonderful week of creativity. Thank you for allowing ConnectFive to be part of the team and we look forward to hearing about how Creative Week spreads throughout the country and to helping create an even bigger and better experience next year.~ Jeff Nock, ConnectFive

OUTCOMES

• Makes it easier to articulate pride in this place and share personal experience

• Established an innovation imperative within the region

• Fostered a sense of regionalism

• Created a sense of place

• Created premium branded collateral


• Fostered collaboration across geographies and organizations

• Directly involved and celebrated the private sector and the creative community

• Created a tangible program with measurable deliverables that everyone can understand and be part of

• Aggregated assets to show critical mass

• Showed real people creating and innovating in the region

• Created a fun way to collaborate and easy ways for everyone to participate

2013 TACTICS


• Build some basic organizational infrastructure

ORG STRUCTURE

• Project Name, Website, Budget, Board of Directors, Social Media

ORG STRUCTURE

56PARTNERS

2013 IMPACT

TESTIMONIAL

I told my husband the other day, that after nearly 5 years of living here, I can finally say that I'm proud to call the Creative Corridor my home. You, and the entire regional branding group helped me get there! Excited to see what unfolds next. Thank you!~Kelly McCann, Iowa City Area Chamber of Commerce

WHERE WE ARE NOW

I would like to introduce Aubrey Secrest, Founder of Bride Meets Wedding. Her and her husband, Nick, recently moved into the Corridor to be a creator and she doing some pretty cool stuff in the wedding planning space. She is helping other local area vendors and businesses find customers.

I’ve talked up the Creative Corridor community quite a bit which helped make their decision to move to the Corridor, so now we have to follow through. :)

Thanks everyone!Roby Miller, TelePharm

2014 OBJECTIVES

• Find sustainable homes for existing programs and expand reach and professionalism

• Expand awareness in the region through more traditional promotions, gateways and awareness-raising

• Expand inclusiveness and connection with next wave of key audiences internally

• Expand awareness externally

DAVID [email protected]

2013 report: the creative corridor project

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