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FlickrPossibility City, What It’s All About
Great editorial in the Louisville Courier-Journal yesterday about the Possibility City campaign of which this site is very proudly part of. Written by Jonathan Blue, chairman of Greater Louisville Inc. the editorial gives a little bit of back story to the campaign and why he thinks it’s important.
He says:
The campaign would be an effort to find an authentic, broadly
embraced identity for Louisville that reflects the city’s true
strengths — to clearly express that identity.I am a
fourth-generation Louisvillian. I left to attend the University of
Pennsylvania and to work in New York. After three years, I returned to
Louisville to discover that more than half of my high school class no
longer lived here — they had taken their talents to other communities.
That has stayed with me. Young residents and Louisvillians of all ages
need a better sense of what’s possible here.
Now let me tell you a little story of my own. Call it Michelle’s Possibility City story. After four years away from Louisville I landed back in town less than two years ago. I have been amazed at what I have been able to accomplish both personally and professionally in less than two years. Yes friends, I’ve drunk the Possibility City Kool-Aid because I really do believe it’s possible to do anything here. Well actually, I don’t just believe that anything is possible here I’m proof that it is. Whatever you want to get into in Louisville there is no barrier to entry. You knock on a door, you go to a meeting, you offer to buy someone coffee and connections start to get made. When I got back to town all my personal and business contacts were pretty slim, I was essentially starting from scratch since I’d been gone so long.
I started Consuming Louisville with the notion of making it an asset for the city that the community would embrace and embrace it has. I started attending events like Louisville Geek Dinner and Let’s Tweetup to meet folks from all different background interested in technology and I have. I started getting involved with Social Media Club Louisville and am now the vice president of that non-profit organization. I started being active in supporting arts in the city and making connections and have approached about being on the boards of two other non-profit organizations. I am doing business and projects with small business, large companies and interesting organizations. I tell you this not to brag on my accomplishments or to say that I’m special in some way. What I am saying is that Louisville opened up all of these doors for me.
Louisville has an atmosphere and an attitude that makes it possible for anyone with ambition, hard work and ideas to build a life and a career here. If you ask people for help people will help you. I’ve yet to have anyone turn me down when I’ve asked them to help me make contact with someone or asked for their advice. Everyone from coffee shop owners to multi-millionaire business people, from social activists to acclaimed artists, everyone has been open to have a cup of coffee and discussing ideas for the city or nascent projects. By and large people here want to help other people here. We want your Louisville business to be a success, we want your Louisville project to grow beyond your wildest dreams, we want you to make us proud and we’re willing to help make that happen. That’s why Louisville is Possible City and why I’m so pleased to call it home.
I write Imagine Louisville because I want to share that love and excitement with everyone, Louisville based or not. I want smart people of all ages to know the creative energy and can-do spirit we have here. I want rock star entrepreneurs and brilliant artists to consider Louisville as a place to live, I want people in Chicago and Cinci and other regional cities to know what a great vacation spot Louisville is, I want to help businesses recruit great talent here because once that talent gets here I’m beyond confident that they’re going to love it here. I embrace the idea of Possibility City because it completely rings true to me and I think it’s valuable to share that idea both within and far outside of our fair city’s borders.
