Bob from Cleveland

This article in the New York Times Magazine does an excellent job in documenting how a communications team and political campaign manager create the “brand” of a Presidential candidate.  From historic packaging, to daily messaging, to decision making;the process is outlined in its entirety.  I guess we will see if this effort pays off in a few weeks.

This is the stuff that most voters never take the time to understand about a campaign but what campaigns spend the most time in crafting.

Eaton recently launched their new slogan: “Powering Business Worldwide.”  The central hub for this power has been located in Cleveland since 1914 but will now be generated in Beachwood.  There will be plenty of arguments in the coming months on why this is horrible and how this is another nail in the coffin for the business environment in Cleveland.  This does not have to be the case.

We in Northeast Ohio need to stop viewing this as Beachwood vs. Cleveland or Westlake vs. Avon.  The game is now between major metropolitan areas both within and outside the country.  Cleveland competes just as much with Charlotte as we do with China.  This is why major law and accounting firms are opening up operations or partnering with existing firms in these markets.  The governing structure of Northeast Ohio needs to catch up to this fact or we are never going to be able to move forward as a region.

The Northeast Ohio Mayors and Managers Association, through Mayors Bill Currin (Hudson), Bruce Akers (Pepper Pike), and Mike Lyons (Richfield), are working with other elected officials to draft a proposal and conduct a vote of the people on just such an idea.  You can learn more about this proposal HERE.  The simple concept is that any new business that moves into Northeast Ohio (or relocates within Northeast Ohio) would pay a portion of its tax base to a regional pool.  This pool would be used for regional infrastructure projects, regional business attraction efforts, and other regional services deemed necessary.  The purpose of this effort is to level the playing field by creating a system that does not encourage one community to offer more incentives than another to attract businesses.  A high tide raises all ships sort of thing.

The reality is this: employees of Eaton (or any other company) do not limit themselves to the amenities of one municipality.  Eaton must rely on the assets of the entire region (parks, dining, theater, sports, etc.) when recruiting talent; not just those located in Beachwood.  The CEO of Eaton does not have season tickets to the Beachwood Indians or enjoy the fine music of the Beachwood Orchestra; rather, he will work in Beachwood, live in another community (I assume), and entertain clients/executives in dozens of municipalities.

It is time that the local tax structure insert this “modern” lifestyle into how municipalities compete for and tax businesses.  I encourage everyone to review the revenue study being proposed by the Northeast Ohio Mayors and Managers Association and encourage participation by their individual municipality.

This post is not about one candidate or the other in the upcoming Presidental race.  This post is simply some advice to both campaigns to make the race more interesting for the rest of us to watch from the sidelines.  This is an open letter to each candidate.

Messrs McCain & Obama:

I, an average voter from the swing state of Ohio, recommend and request that you announce a handful of the individuals that you intend to nominate to positions within your Cabinet.

Let’s be honest, neither of your “bases” are in love with you at the moment and there are considerable factions within each party that you are sill wooing.  Wouldn’t it be nice to not have to pander to these groups anymore?  Announcing a portion of your Cabinet will either make their concerns irrelevant (by energizing undecided voters) OR address their issues directly (through the characteristics of the person that you chose).  It’s a win-win!

I understand that many of your advisers will tell you that no one votes for anyone other than the top of the ticket: they are wrong.  The individuals surrounding the President (or potential President) reflect the candidates true beliefs on where he/she stands on niche issues that are important to Americans.  BTW, if you still don’t believe that these individuals can help with votes, look at the other areas that they can be helpful to you: endorsements, fundraising, media stories, fundraising, acting as a campaign surrogate, fundraising…you get the point.

You may decide which Cabinet level positions to announce but I would recommend the following:
1. Energy
2. Defense
3. Education
4. Treasury
5. Homeland Security

Enjoy the chicken dinners, endless campaign stops, and the stump speech!

Bob

Many who know me know that I am deeply interested in the political process and the characters that play in that process.  I’ve worked for political campaigns, run political campaigns, admired the way other political campaigns are run, and genuinely enjoy participating in the process of politics.  Yes, we in the business understand that this is oftentimes viewed as an illness by those not directly engaged in politics.

One political commentator that I have began to follow over the past year or so is the Professor over at Political Science 216 (LINK).  The Professor (who publishes under the name Dr. Peter Boyd) is oftentimes out in front of a story before the mainstream media dedicate a staff person to the topic and always has a witty approach to the sometimes dull topic of local politics.

Today the Professor received Cleveland’s rite of political passage: inclusion in Michael McIntyre’s Tipoff column in the Plain Dealer.  Congrats Professor!  This attention is a direct result of one of the Professor’s current polling questions: “The Biggest Jackass in Greater Cleveland Politics.”  I will let the dialogue around this poll play out in the Professor’s classroom but would like to suggest a poll question for the Professor to consider: ”If you knew my identity, would you share this valuable piece of information with greater Cleveland?”  Thoughts?

Congrats again, Professor!  Keep up great work!  ~Bob

Thanks to “The Moderate Voice“ for bringing this to my attention.  I think that author Michael Hais did a great job in summing up my generation with two words: civic engagement.  He took it one step further:

“they are a generation that is not intent on — as other types of generations are — not intent on implementing their own personal moral values, but rather in rebuilding civic institutions, in acting together as a group to resolve political problems, which we expect the Millennials to do, problems such as health care that have really bedeviled the U.S. political process for the last 40 years or so.”

Obviously this quote is geared towards the political ramifications of the actions of Millennials (as is their book) but we are seeing this philosophy carried out every day in many areas.  Yesterday, after the Collaboration Technology Conference, I posted about how web 2.0 technology should be utilized in the recruitment of the millennial generation.  That effort needs to occur, but during the conference I was listening to speakers who are using this same technology to make a difference in the civic realm.  From community organizing to personal blogging, the speakers were civically engaged and many were of the “millennial” generation.

Think of the challenges that we are able to quickly solve when we open up a question to our Facebook or LinkedIn network.  I’ve posted several technology related questions on LinkedIn and typically have multiple solutions within half a day.  Wikinomics, a book on this very topic, outlines several challenges/opportunities that have been solved through crowdsourcing.  Corporations are using web 2.0 technology to source new products or improve existing products, community groups are using weblogs to quickly disseminate information, and college students are using Facebook to stay in touch with friends across the globe.

With the Millennial generation growing up surrounded by technology I wonder how this “phenomena” will continue to grow and in what ways it can be utilized to address the civic issues that we’ll be facing in the coming decades.  Could crowd sourcing lead to a design for a center to house conventions, or the future of an educational systems curriculum, or could we even modify our own behaviors based upon the general input from a large audience, such as the entire population of the internet.  This example gives you a small idea of what that could look like.

Do you feel that you are civically engaged?

Enjoy,
Bob

Just a quick observation on how us young ones blend our “professional” lives with our “personal” lives.

1. The Tech Czar is blending.
2. Hannah participated in some civic dialogue and then visited a castle.
3. I ran into friends at the Film Festival that had skipped out of work for a bit to catch a quick flick. Their secret is safe.

This practice will only continue as more and more serial “multi-taskers” are released out into the wild that is known as the real-world. Many companies are realizing this trend and are modifying their workplaces to adjust to this new demographic. Some are even being acknowledged for their efforts…and a few are right in our backyard!

Quicken Loans: “Popcorn and Slushies flow freely, cubicles are grouped into “teams,” and meeting rooms feature walls made of dry-erase board so leaders can literally write on the walls, like Cavs coach Mike Brown outlining a play. Salesmen pump their fists in the air after a sale while others stand up and clap to rouse their colleagues.”

Sherwin Williams: “Other perks are more concrete. Sherwin-Williams is one of the few companies to match 401(k) contributions 100 percent, in addition to its pension plan. The company is also concerned for physical wellness, maintaining a large, on-site fitness center and subsidizing gym memberships.”

J.M. Smucker Co.: “Treating people well at Smucker takes many other forms. It starts with gift baskets for new hires and continues with free snacks, a company wide 2 percent bonus at Christmas, flexible shifts, annual picnics at Cedar Point and a policy of promoting from within. “

Remember, with a name like Smucker’s, it has to be good:)

Enjoy!

I received a call yesterday from my dad asking if I had seen 60 Minutes on Sunday night. It turns out that they did a feature on “Millennials” (workers born between 1980 and 1995) and my dad wanted to know if I agreed with their assessment. I did not see the story but have attended conferences on the topic, have launched a company to recruit this demographic to Northeast Ohio, and was born in 1980…so I am aware of the stereotypes. I’ll let you read the article on the CBS site but would like to share some things that we’ve learned as we’ve launched Identi-fyi.

• Millennials want a quality work/life balance. We typically have skills and degrees that are transferable from region to region and we know this. Companies need to continue to be creative in the work environment (including work schedule) that they create for their employees to address this demand.
• Millennials want to know how their work affects the end product. We have grown up learning in teams, playing on sports teams, and we need to know that our effort is part of a larger cause.
• Millennials should not all be dumped into the same category. We have unique needs, wants, and desires. We are use to having products and services customized for us and we expect this with our job. Companies should embrace this fact when attempting to stand out from their competitors. Create a customized recruiting process for your candidates and you’ll be the company that they remember at the end of the job-search process.

Enjoy the article and share your thoughts.