Why do so many people seem blind to the DC that exists beyond the National Mall?

In particular, why is the creative life of the city so far below the mainstream radar?

What should DC be doing to support its creative constituents?

And just how big is the our creative community, anyway?

These are just some of the questions we tackled at the DC Creative Economy Forum, a meeting I attended this morning at the Harman Center for the Arts. The event was put together by the Washingon, DC Economic Partnership (WDEP) and the DC Office of Planning as part of a longer-term project they’ve undertaken to strengthen DC’s “creative economy.” I take issue with how the project defines the creative economy — it’s unclear to me how they decide what does and does not constitute creative work — but I applaud their efforts to tackle some of the questions I’ve articulated above, and found it encouraging to see just how many passionate, intelligent people are committed to giving DC’s creative community the attention and support it deserves.

My favorite part of the meeting was a break-out session where we brainstormed ways to raise the profile of creative activity in DC. One of the things we talked about was the need to change DC’s image for both internal and external audiences. In other words: there’s the challenge of changing DC’s image in the world at large – where we’re so often equated with federal government, the Mall, and nothing more; but there’s also the challenge of changing DC’s image for people who live here.

It can be disspiriting to be a creative person living in this town, since so many people are so down on DC, and creative activity feels perenially below the radar, no matter how many intensely creative people live and make art here. Media coverage of the city is partially to blame, as is the disaggregate nature of the arts community – we’re a sea of individuals and small groups spread across the DC area, often unaware of each other’s efforts, and it’s hard to get a sense of any common “pulse.”

A brand campaign that rallies those who live here to see our creative community as a core, exciting part of the city’s identity would not only get residents who are down on their city to feel more excited about it (and stay here longer), but also, it would energize members of the creative community themselves – and keep them invested in building the community. More excited residents means more evangelists who spread the city’s gospel beyond its borders – using word of mouth to gradually shift outside perceptions.

Because the creative masses of DC are so spread out across neighborhoods and organizations, we need strategies and tools for changing DC’s image that will work on a grassroots level. Imagine if some communications whippersnappers came up with a brand campaign to sell DC to itself, and individuals and groups – bloggers, gallery owners, bands, etc – could opt-in to the campaign in really simple ways. For example, they could:

• Grab a logo and stick it on their website; have the logo link into some central website with the campaign’s core messages (“yay, DC” – only better)
• Use common hash tags (#s) when posting messages about local creative events on Twitter
• Become “fans” of a “creative DC” cause on Facebook
• Optimize their websites for particular keyword searches – for example, if someone searches in Google for “visit DC,” they currently get a pretty uninspired list of tourism sites…how can we help them easily connect in with vibrant neighborhoods, and bloggers as trusted, insider guides to those neighborhoods?

Take it one step farther, and imagine you’re walking down the street, and that logo, or symbol, you saw on a local band’s website is also on the front of a building. Intrigued, you take a second look, and realize it’s a gallery, or a boutique showcasing work by local fashion designers. Imagine, in other words, that we create a universal, visual tag that signals, “I’m part of Creative DC” (not my blog :) – the larger concept of a creative DC). What about this, for example?

It references the DC flag, so it ties us to the push for home rule, and therefore intrinsically links DC statehood and identity with DC’s creative community.

WDEP and the Office of Planning will publish their findings on DC’s creative economy in the coming weeks, and I’ll keep you posted as further discussion of the project unfolds. In the meantime, share your thoughts on any/all of the issues raised above!

Tagged as: creative_business, creative_class