Focusing on the WHY. How to communicate your work and grow support

Transcription

1 Focusing on the WHY How to communicate your work and grow support

2 Who is Northeast Indiana?

3 Geographic Scope.

4 Northeast Indiana 10 Counties 15 Cities 377, 057 Population 681,728 55% of the region lives in Fort Wayne

5 Basic Info Name of Backbone Organization: Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership Type of Backbone Organization: regional economic development organization Name of Partnership: Big Goal Collaborative Who s speaking & What is their role? Courtney Tritch, VP of Marketing Ryan Twiss, Big Goal Collaborative Director Theory of Action Gateway: Sustaining Age of Backbone: 8 years old Age of Partnership: 2 yr. 4 months

6 Economic Development Regional Visioning Cradle to Career Partnership

7 K 12 Education Landscape Public School Districts: 29 Districts vary from urban, suburban, to rural East Allen County Schools has 3 high schools: 1 urban, 1 suburban, 1 rural Fort Wayne Community Schools is the largest district in the state of Indiana by student population Diversity within student populations across the region

8 Higher Ed Landscape Private Universities: 8 Concordia, Huntington, Indiana Tech, Indiana Wesleyan, Manchester, Trine, St. Francis Public Universities: 1 Indiana University Purdue University Fort Wayne Community College: 1 Ivy Tech Northeast 29% % of Total Enrollment 34% 37% 2011 Total Enrollment: 38,640 Public Institution Private Institutions Community College System

9 How do we make people care about what we re doing?

10 Simon Sinek TED Talk

11 Apple s WHY WHAT We make great computers. They are beautifully designed, easy to use, and user-friendly. Want to buy one? WHY Everything we do, we believe in challenging the status quo. We believe in thinking differently. The way we challenge the status quo is by making our computers beautifully designed, easy to use, and user-friendly. We just happen to make great computers. Want to buy one?

12 What is your community s WHY? As it relates to the work you do in your community What is your purpose, cause or belief? Why did you get out of bed to come this morning? Why should anyone care about the work we are doing?

13 Turning the WHY into ACTION Our Story Project

14 Reputation & Recognition What is Northeast Indiana known for? What do we WANT to be known for?

15 The WHY Telling a unified story and repeating key messages: Makes us more economically competitive Increases connection with key audiences Helps us shape strategy moving forward

16 Learning from Cincinnati

17 Our Consultants OCHANDER CONSULTING GROUP (OCG) Scott Ochander, CEO of OCG pioneered a consensus-building reputation management model in sectors where stakeholders matter, like government, universities, and non-profits. Now he s bringing transformation to companies and industries of all shapes and sizes. TYLER BORDERS CONSULTING A former agency Creative Director, entrepreneur and founder of four startups, and now owner of Tyler Borders Consulting, Tyler transforms brands and builds insightful and intelligent communication platforms. He s a strategist and full spectrum creative problem-solver that isn t satisfied working on the surface of a brand challenge

18 The How Consensus-building research model More than 20 workshops across 10 counties Active participation by LEDOs, CVBs and chambers across the region Online component for public engagement

19 Buy-In Phase Workshop Phase Personality Messaging Online Workshop Data crunching Reveal Event Partner Training Project Timeline

20 OVER 500 PEOPLE in two weeks

21 Developing Our Story Personality Message Platform Our Voice Strategic Direction OUR STORY

22 Discovering the Region s Personality Simply put WHO ARE WE AS A REGION? Many places have worked on this type of in-depth character analysis and definition, and today, they re easy to identify For example: New York = The King. Las Vegas = The Entertainer. So what character set defines our region?

23 Personality Example

24 Messaging Our Story What are the key message points that define who we are as a region? What are the proof points that show this messaging is authentically us? How do we use this messaging to tell a unified story, but still tailor the messages to our respective audiences?

25 Finding Our Voice Combine key insights collected from personality and messaging exercises into a clear, compelling story Marketing-ready copywriting that covers all major facets of the region: About us; Why we re different; Philosophy; and more.

26 Strategic Direction Translate messaging and personality outcomes into actionable recommendations Compare our region s results with other clients to develop competitive position

27 Project Outcomes Defined Regional Personality: understanding the region s personality to shape how we tell our story Message Platform: concise messaging for all partners to use to effectively tell the region s story Proof Points: examples that confirm the messaging is authentic to our region Voice of the Region: a simple translation of the strategy into copywriting Strategic Recommendations: recommendations on how this data and messaging can affect future strategies

28 Top Takeaways Buy in before you start is crucial What you are NOT is just as important as what you are Cost-benefit analysis of doing workshops: Worth it for the buy in Know the time/staffing commitment Importance of timing for reveal/rollout (show you re buying what you re selling) Media partners are invaluable

29 What was the workshop takeaway? Hopeful and encouraged; Good things happening in our area We have so much untapped potential It challenged me to look at our region through different Impressed with the deliberate and diligent efforts designed to proactively create community and economic development We can work as a team even though we came from very different fields of work I am looking forward to the future of NE Indiana I learned that there is much more going on in my area than I imagined That everyone has a say in the story of our region

30 Finding Your Cause Sample Exercise

31 Q & A