Category: Articles
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Come to Create!
We are very excited to announce the Create West Virginia Conference, November 12-14, 2007, at the Stonewall Resort in Roanoke, WV. We hope you will spread the word about this first conference and help us make it a memorable leadership and training experience. Registrations are now being taken at http://www.createwvconference.com. First, a few words about…
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A Step Towards a More Open West Virginia?
Dictionary.com defines “tolerance” as: Recently, with relatively little fanfare (so far), the City of Charleston amended their human rights law to include a ban on discrimination based on sexual orientation. This adds to the list that provides protection against discrimination based on race, sex, age and disabled status. Few modern issues flame passions like the…
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Attracting With Jobs…Or Opportunities?
Kevin Turner, Chief Operating Officer at Microsoft Corporation, recently said during a speech to 20,000 employees: “Great people are attracted by great challenges.” I thought about this in terms of our “chicken or egg” challenge here in West Virginia. Typically, the conventional thinking is that until we have companies offering jobs here in the state,…
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Bridging Eras, Transitioning Images
Legendary marketing guru Al Ries has suggested that companies or branded products can only “own” one position in a consumer’s mind. Those brands that focus on a powerful, singular image are more successful than those who try to stand for two or more things at once. In other words, “Low prices, always” is more likely…
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Either/Or?
We are thrilled that many of the ideas represented by the Create WV initiative are being incorporated in a wider statewide dialog. A recent example is the op-ed piece by William Schweke of the Center for Economic Development in Durham, NC in this week’s State Journal. It is a good sign that more people are…
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Competing for and Developing New Talent
In the New Economy, talent is oxygen. The very nature of creative economy work is defined as the constant pushing of boundaries to create new ideas, new processes and new combinations of the physical and intellectual. Anything that can be packaged, processed and replicated can ultimately be done cheaper over time through technology and outsourcing.…
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“Country Living with a Cosmopolitan Edge”
A great profile of Lewisburg, Greenbrier County, in the Charleston Gazette today provides some valuable insights into the hard work and attention to the “little things” required to transform an area into one of the nation’s best small towns. It’s a lesson on vision, leadership, persistence and trade-off decisions. In the case of Lewisburg, architect…
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Can West Virginia Compete in a Creative World?
The success of academic Richard Florida’s effort to broaden awareness and action around the growth of the Creative Class has sparked numerous efforts around the world similar to Create West Virginia. Here is an initiative from Northern Minnesota and Wisconsin. If everyone is making a mad dash to attract these New Economy creatives, it begs…
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Wood County E-Government Pilots Huge Success
As a follow-up to the last post on what will help drive broadband adoption in the state, it is great to see the Parkersburg area taking a leadership role from a local government perspective. The Parkersburg News-Sentinel reports that personal property forms filed online in Wood County have exceeded their expectations after the first month…
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Is eBay the Killer App to Drive WV Broadband Adoption?
West Virginia ranks near the bottom of the list of states in PC usage and broadband accessibility and adoption. However, the Marketing Genius blog just highlighted the fact that Charleston, WV, is the leader in eBay usage among Internet users according to a recent Scarborough Research report (requires Adobe Reader). Forty-four percent of Internet-using adults…