The Inspiration

I was sitting in the back of the room during the AMA New Orleans annual President’s Forum. One of those presidents (for whom I have a great deal of respect) was lamenting the number of negative stories about New Orleans in the local and national press. His solution was to combat those with a series of positive stories. And he wanted us to get past the “Katrina fog” that still hangs over the city.

Well, there are a couple of problems. First, the reason there are negative stories is because there are still too many things going wrong. Simply saying things are better or good isn’t going to change that. Second, all of the national attention we still get related to Katrina is our own doing. Since the storm, we have made it a point to make sure that we are not forgotten, that we get the national support we need to complete the recovery. We can’t have it both ways, wanting the national support while avoiding the national spotlight.

I turned to a good friend of mine seated at the same table and asked, “Why aren’t we using all of our marketing talents to speak directly to the people in charge about how important it is to fix things?” For me, it was a bit of an “a-ha” moment. I know, I know, there are a number of organizations around that are doing just that. Those groups, however, are narrowly focused on specific issues.

Shortly thereafter, I had a second epiphany: this concept extends beyond the crime problem or the levees or political corruption. All of us can apply this idea on a much more personal level. Think about your home and work lives. What are some of the problems there? What are you doing now to fix them? Are you capable of fixing them? If you are capable and you’re not doing it, then you have a decision to make. You either need to take the steps to fix it, or get out of the way. You owe it to yourself and the people around you to do what is right.

I have some of my own ideas about what we can be doing to right some wrongs. But, admittedly, I don’t know everything and I don’t have all the answers. In other words, I am not advocating a soapbox or a forum for complaints. That is the problem we face now. It’s the same concept that IBM is advocating: “Stop talking and start doing.”

I am talking about a larger collaboration where people share their ideas for fixing what is wrong and look for crossover effects. We started the process by establishing a space on Wridea. Now, we need co-collaborators to help us generate and flesh out ideas related to home, work, crime, healthcare, corruption, you name it.

If you are interested being a part of this, please send me an e-mail at chris.mccrory@kennen-bmc.com, and I will send you an official invitation to join the space. If you would rather keep tabs on how its going and what ideas we are generating, then subscribe to this blog. I’ll keep it updated with the happenings.

Join the fray.

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