(a lot of logistics and cost hurdles aside…) If we could come up with a way to have a combination hockey / soccer arena with a retractable roof, it would likely be the only one in the world and could be a centerpiece branding for the city.
3 Likes
Neat idea but unless the outer stands can contract towards the rink it would be terrible for watching a hockey game, plus the ice would be terrible because it would probably be really hard to control the humidity in that building in the spring/fall.
3 Likes
Yep, those are both of the TBD logistics…
2 Likes
Why not just brand Raleigh with Amy Sedaris?
1 Like
I am sorry, who is this person?
1 Like
Google is a thing, as is Wikipedia…
Amy Louise Sedaris […] is an American actress, comedian and writer known for playing Jerri Blank in the Comedy Central television series Strangers with Candy. She regularly collaborates with her older brother David, a humorist and author. Since 2014, Sedaris has voiced the character Princess Carolyn in the Netflix animated series BoJack Horseman.
Well, sure, her character in BoJack is from Eden, NC, but… aside for that, …why her, specifically?
Also, a single brand ambassador is best for a single campaign, at best. Not exactly the most strategic investment you could make of all time.
3 Likes
Great idea - count me in.
3 Likes
Because her and David are from Raleigh. Half his books are based here.
4 Likes
The Sedaris family grew up in Raleigh after IBM moved them to Raleigh in the mid sixties. It’s a very typical story for many of us who grew up in Raleigh from the 60s through the mid 80s. Since then, they are arguably the most (counter) culturally relevant and interesting people that have come out of Raleigh, and certainly work against the narrative about Raleigh that comes from our Triangle family members to the west.
She currently has her own show “At Home with Amy Sedaris” and plays Mimi Kanassis on Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.
4 Likes
Oh yeah, Strangers With Candy!
Just imagine how cool and fun Raleigh’s image would be with her as the face of a campaign? Even making fun of the city, and playing off of all the shade that gets thrown at us would seem cool.
Her show, At Home with Amy Sedaris was influenced by all the Home-Ec sort of segments that were common on the local TV channels when she was growing up.
3 Likes
I think it would be brilliant, but we take ourselves too seriously to do it.
That last clip you posted from At Home with AS is only 90 seconds but it had me in tears. “I’m learning all sorts of new things about myself, like, when did that happen?”
1 Like
Please read some of David’s books, you’ll get some great laughs! If you’re looking for a quick read, Holidays on Ice is a good start. Me Talk Pretty One Day was my introduction to him, and I’ve laughed to the point of not breathing reading his stuff. Lots of Raleigh references, which I didn’t understand when I starting reading his work before I lived here.
Their brother, Paul, (featured in many of David’s stories) currently operates local flooring company Sedaris Hardwood Floors.
6 Likes
From that book, I’ll eat what he’s wearing is the funniest freaking story that I’ve ever read. I was roaring out loud until my stomach hurt as I was trying to silently read it in bed. When I read it out loud to my family one year after Christmas dinner, they were all laughing their asses off. I could barely get through it because I was laughing the entire time.
1 Like
Have always thought “Rising Raleigh” would serve as catchy phrase that help define the city’s continuing growth, upwards and outwards, locally and worldly, small and urbane.
2 Likes
Beats ‘Rooting for Raleigh’ which has hilarious connotations in Australian slang.
2 Likes
Thought this article from Citylab was good for this thread.
"It’s curious that while every company tries its hardest to convince you of how much different and better it is than every other company in its industry, every city tries its hardest to convince you it’s exactly the same as every other city that’s conventionally considered cool.
Look at any piece of city marketing material, from promo videos to airline magazine ad inserts. It’s amazing how so many of them rely on the same basic ingredients: hipster coffee shops, microbreweries, bike lanes, creative-class members, startups, intimations of a fashion scene, farm-to-table restaurants, new downtown streetcars, etc."
https://www.citylab.com/perspective/2019/02/city-branding-traps-marketing-campaigns/582496/
6 Likes
A lot of companies try to imitate each other. Insurance companies all have funny ads like Geico, meal prep services, beer trends, etc.
I like their Nashville example in there. What are the authentic things we love about doing/living here for. Highlight that.
2 Likes
I think that’s the big challenge for Raleigh. Every time that’s been asked, it feels like the only things we come up with are generic answers (“we have beer! we have southern-ness! we have schools and relatively low taxes/living costs!”) that are true but pretty hard to enthusiastically love.
The idea of better branding/marketing has also been tossed around here a few times, too, but that seems to have rung hollow as well. I wonder if the real issue is that we actually don’t have much that separates us (yet?)…
1 Like