SmartCity Blog

Talent: The Big Dog on the Block

Guest blog post by Carol Coletta, President & CEO of CEOs for Cities

As the economy continues to shift to from manufacturing to knowledge, cities have to become really good at some new things.  Cities have to be very good at developing, attracting and retaining talent.  They have to be very good at connecting their citizens to one another, the city to the region and the region to the global economy.  Cities need to understand what makes them different and then have the confidence to capitalize on that difference. And they have to create the conditions of innovation. 

We call these success dimensions – Talent, Connections, Distinctiveness and Innovation -- the City Vitals.  And each of the City Vitals is accelerated by Core Vitality.

But among the City Vitals, Talent is the big dog on the block.

Our proxy for talent is college attainment. And our proxy for city success is per capita income.  Now, here’s the big news:  College attainment explains 58% of a city’s success.  Think about that…58%. 

Although there are no silver bullets when it comes to the success of cities, talent comes about as close as it gets.

Obviously, to increase talent, you have to invest in improving education outcomes.  But it’s not enough to develop talent.  You also have to keep it.  And based on what we know about the way the best educated people make decisions about where to live, we know that talent retention is a function of quality of place, quality of opportunity and quality of message. 

It’s interesting to note that of the most mobile people in our society – college-educated 25-34 year-olds – 64% of them say, first they choose the city they want to live in.  Then, they look for a job.  Women are more likely to say that than are men – and that’s important because young women are now more likely to be college-educated than young men.  But still a majority of young men say first they look for the city they want to live in. 

What do they want in a city?  They want cities that are clean and attractive, cities that offer them the opportunity to live the life they want to live, cities that are safe, green and offer housing.  They want to live in a city that burnishes their own brand.

It’s interesting when you look at where young adults are choosing to live.  The U.S. trends are quite stark.  In 1980, 25-34 year olds were 10% more likely than other Americans to live within a 3-mile radius of the central business district.  By 1990, they were 12% more likely.  But by 2000, they were 33% more likely than other Americans to live in the central city or the close-in neighborhoods.

And that trend was consistent across every one of the 50 top U.S. metro areas.  My guess is that the same is true in Canada.

So if you don’t have a vibrant core, you’d better get one -- quick. Investing in strengthening your core city is investing in talent.

An interesting footnote to the pattern of young adults flocking to central cities:  People in creative occupations, no matter what their ages, are 53% more likely than other Americans to live close to the central city.  So you can see what that means to the success of the entire city, and therefore the province.  The investment you make in your central city is an investment that will pay off for the entire region.   

It’s important that the central city radiate energy to the rest of the region.

While it is not always easy to convince an entire province that a vibrant central city matters to every one, the evidence is now incontrovertible that it does.  The longer you delay acting on that knowledge, the more behind your city will be.

Carol Coletta is the President and CEO of the organization "CEOs for Cities". She spoke at the 1st 2010 Greater Halifax Partnership Building Our Future luncheon on March 25, 2010. 

For more pictures from the event, click here.

Carol has devoted her life to understanding what it takes to make cities succeed – a passion she has pursued as executive director of the Mayors’ Institute on City Design, and as a host of the nationally syndicated public radio show Smart City.

CEOs for Cities is a national cross-sector network of urban leaders from the civic, business, academic and philanthropic sectors dedicated to building and sustaining the next generation of great American cities. CEOs for Cities works with its network partners to develop great cities that excel in the areas most critical to urban success: talent, connections, innovation and distinctiveness.

Progress Matters: The Case for a New Convention Centre

Guest Blog Post by Cheryl Stewart and Level Chan, FUSION Halifax

 At FUSION Halifax, we recognize that attracting bright, young talent depends on developing a culture of progressive excellence. Young people want to live in cities that are vibrant, celebrate history and embrace the future. They want cities brimming with optimism – cities that know their own strengths and leverage them to attract people and business.

Simply put, world-class cities attract world-class talent.

Halifax can be this city for young professionals. But doing so takes more than talk and debate. We need to show a commitment to growth and a willingness to invest in smart opportunities – things that enhance the value we offer young people while showcasing the unlimited potential of our city. The reward for such investments? A vibrant, engaged and proud community whose energy will continue to help Halifax succeed in a globally competitive market.

The new proposed convention centre is exactly this kind of opportunity. Just like our incredible potential to attract young people, our convention industry is on the cusp of something great. But with only 55,000 square feet of space in the current facility, Halifax is unable to fulfill the requirements of today’s global convention market. The missed opportunities are staggering.

In the past three years alone, it is estimated that more than 70 conferences, each with up to 2,000 delegates, have passed our city by, taking up to $80 million in lost revenue elsewhere.

While the numbers speak for themselves, recent discussions around the proposed centre seem to always fall back to two points. On the one hand, investing in the resilient and lucrative convention industry is a safe opportunity to enhance the global appeal of our city and inject undeniable new energy into our economy. On the other hand, now may not be the time to make such an investment.

It’s true – timing is everything. And the time is now. We need to move forward as a city. We need to see the convention centre as not only an investment in the long-term business potential of the global convention market, but also an investment in our community.

With a proposed 120,000 square feet of space, more than double our current capacity, the new convention centre will easily accommodate the large conferences our city has been missing – the kind that come with immediate economic spinoffs for our entire region. The business case is clear, but so is the broader case for our community. Expanding our convention industry will open the doors to a thriving global market, enhance our economy and contribute to the urban revitalization that we desperately need to remain relevant.

But we need to act now. There has never been a more important time to invest in our city. We need grow or be left behind. Halifax won’t attract young people by telling them that progress and change will come eventually. Neither will conference organizers line up for the chance to bring millions of dollars into our economy. We need to step up.

The good news is that Halifax is more than ready to take this next step. We offer a great overall package. A central and accessible location, friendly business and political climate, and appealing culture and history continue to drive our competitive edge as a leading convention city. That is, of course, why the large conferences want to come here in the first place. That’s our value proposition for attracting and keeping young people, too.

Halifax, it’s time we rolled out the welcome mat for this opportunity and for progress in general. It’s also high time we stood up for the things that will really showcase our region and drive us forward. Our future depends on it. 

Cheryl Stewart is chair and Level Chan is vice-chair of Fusion Halifax. Fusion is not-for-profit, volunteer-based organization representing young people in Halifax. Visit them online at www.fusionhalifax.ca . 

The King is Dead! Long Live the King!

Guest Blog Post:

I could never figure that line out as a kid growing up.  I forget what movie I heard the line in but I know I wasn’t watching the images at the time.  Had I been, I would have seen the old king take his last breath and the crown placed on the young prince.

When websites first started getting attention from marketers in the late 90’s the hot word was “content”.  Things changed after businesses found that content on the web alone didn’t make them money or drive their sales.  Interestingly in the last few years the word keeps popping up again.  “Content Is King”, and surprisingly in the same breath I hear the “Big Idea” is dead.  In fact I was just at a Canadian Marketing Association conference and heard it again.  Thankfully there were defenders of the “Big Idea” concept on the panel.  I’m always left puzzled by the “Content Is King” statements though.

The Internet is a communication medium and people use it to find information or entertainment of some sort (this is over simplified).  The information/entertainment on a website is considered its content. Generally the thinking is the more useful, fresh and interesting the content the website has, the more successful it will be. In theory this is because more people will want to visit it again and again, link to it, and generally talk about.  This is especially true if a website is constantly adding more and more content on a regular basis.  This could also be said about TV, Print and Radio and the strategy leaves a lot to chance.  You could be lost in the clutter!

In the past the “Big Idea” was the game changing concept in traditional marketing and advertising.  This was the “Where’s the beef?” idea.  If you had a good enough idea, theory said you could connect with the consumer, cut through the clutter and the product or service would be a success.  To me, though, the “Big Idea” can be two things:  giving people want they want (whether they know it or not) in a way that is more enjoyable than the competition and/or creating emotion that motivates them to an action.  Right now, the web needs the “Big Idea” more than at any other time to date!

As I see it you can have all the good content in the world, but you can still fail without a great idea.  Case in point are the sites with great content (pets.com, drugstore.com) but had flawed “Ideas”.   All the content in the world could not save them.

My line of thinking is if you combine valuable “Content” with a “Big Idea” you are almost guaranteed success.  On the web, Crispin Porter produced a great example combining the two.  The subservient chicken site, was built a few years ago for Burger King (ironic) to launch their new chicken sandwich and also build the brand slogan, “have it your way”.  Without the “Big Idea” I could easily see this site having been just pictures or descriptions of the many different ways to get your BK Chicken Burger (I’m sure we have all sat through those briefings)…. Instead it was an early micro site viral success!

Most times I will take the “big idea” over “content” (though I would take a million dollars over the idea of a million dollars in a second).  To say that there needs to be no “Big Idea” for successful marketing and websites as long as you have good content is rather foolish.  You are just keeping the door open for the competition to come eat your dinner.  Statements like “Content OR Idea” need to be refined to “Content AND Idea” in order to position yourself best for success.  I am almost thinking that the “Content Is King” line of thinking doesn’t consider monetization of the product? Am I misguided? Maybe I’m just not seeing the King for what the King is?

SW

Scott Westerlaken

With over 25 years of award winning experience in marketing, television commercials, film, video, communications, web, radio, print, and events, Scott has the ability to maintain focus on the big picture and offer a wide range of solutions appropriate to the clients message and budget. He has been recognized with dozens of awards in business, communications, and filmmaking from around the world. For the client, this means a truly unique balance of hands on technical knowledge and high level strategic experience that always leads to unique and creative solutions.

PHI Group has been an investor in the Partnership since 2001.