What's Great About Phoenix, and How Some Miss it, Entirely
It's always interesting to me how everyone, including our local government, insists on selling Phoenix on it's weather. It's programmed in all of us to say, "it's a dry heat," and "it's only hot three months out of the year." That's not true. At all.
So, you ask, why the heck do I live here now? Well, I'll tell you, for me, the weather is awful, almost 9 months out of the year in some years (certainly 6 consistently.) (And yes, winters are awful in other places, but I don't mind cold.) And before you flame, I do truly believe that our six months of beautiful weather is the MOST beautiful you can get away from the water...and I love it.
So, the bigges winner is that the business climate in Arizona, for SMALL/MEDIUM sized businesses is wonderful. I have never lived in a town where businesses truly work together to help generate success, even when it's your competitor. I wish someone like McKinsey would do a case study on this phenomenon, seriously, because it's in amazing. Any business would be lucky to at least get their start in a great business climate like Phoenix - where the struggle to get in front of customers and people that can help extend your reach are right outside your front door, always willing to answer an email, and usually willing to grab a drink and share thousands of dollars worth of intellectual property to help another.
I cannot tell you how many times I'm at an event speaking with someone that is seemingly my "competitor" only to get a great cross lead within months, or even a direct referral from them. Businesses in Arizona really do work together to help make each other successful. The owners and employees are empathic about networking, and generating leads for each other, and always connecting. You would never see this in my NY office, and certainly not in Southern California.
So, what's my ache today about this? The fact that the few larger companies, or ones that gain a large amount of funding, finally, and even the universities and government here does NOT hire local agencies or contractors for the "large" jobs - whether that be advertising, or higher end technology development. Do some research on your own. Who did ASU hire to help "reinvent" their brand after Crow preached about how Phoenix will grow? (It wasn't a local firm.)
Another group of companies, some of which my agency and my great competitors have done work for over the years at a ridiculous rate to help them get up and running, have just landed investment dollars. Great! We want to see them grow. However; now that they've "hit the big time" they've abandoned the "smaller" agencies (many of which are not small, and in fact have offices and reach on both coasts to help generate national PR/Web, etc.) for agencies out of town. The oddest part: it's not agencies in the truly competitive cities like NY or LA. It's other "small" towns.
So, some will say that I'm mad, because there's one company in particular that we did some pro bono work for when they were about to file for bankruptcy, and it was some press coverage that got them the recognition to gain funding in the millions last month. Some will say I'm mad because WE didn't get the job. But, I'll tell you this...I'd rather some of the other agencies in town that do wonderful jobs (SoapBoxPR, Off Madison Avenue, Lavidge, CK, Moses Anshell, Resnick, to name a few) get the jobs. How can Phoenix truly grow, and keep attracting great talent, if they keep outsourcing to other small locales?
For more information on our services, and to look for the clue of who we are speaking about, go to www.amandavega.com
So, you ask, why the heck do I live here now? Well, I'll tell you, for me, the weather is awful, almost 9 months out of the year in some years (certainly 6 consistently.) (And yes, winters are awful in other places, but I don't mind cold.) And before you flame, I do truly believe that our six months of beautiful weather is the MOST beautiful you can get away from the water...and I love it.
So, the bigges winner is that the business climate in Arizona, for SMALL/MEDIUM sized businesses is wonderful. I have never lived in a town where businesses truly work together to help generate success, even when it's your competitor. I wish someone like McKinsey would do a case study on this phenomenon, seriously, because it's in amazing. Any business would be lucky to at least get their start in a great business climate like Phoenix - where the struggle to get in front of customers and people that can help extend your reach are right outside your front door, always willing to answer an email, and usually willing to grab a drink and share thousands of dollars worth of intellectual property to help another.
I cannot tell you how many times I'm at an event speaking with someone that is seemingly my "competitor" only to get a great cross lead within months, or even a direct referral from them. Businesses in Arizona really do work together to help make each other successful. The owners and employees are empathic about networking, and generating leads for each other, and always connecting. You would never see this in my NY office, and certainly not in Southern California.
So, what's my ache today about this? The fact that the few larger companies, or ones that gain a large amount of funding, finally, and even the universities and government here does NOT hire local agencies or contractors for the "large" jobs - whether that be advertising, or higher end technology development. Do some research on your own. Who did ASU hire to help "reinvent" their brand after Crow preached about how Phoenix will grow? (It wasn't a local firm.)
Another group of companies, some of which my agency and my great competitors have done work for over the years at a ridiculous rate to help them get up and running, have just landed investment dollars. Great! We want to see them grow. However; now that they've "hit the big time" they've abandoned the "smaller" agencies (many of which are not small, and in fact have offices and reach on both coasts to help generate national PR/Web, etc.) for agencies out of town. The oddest part: it's not agencies in the truly competitive cities like NY or LA. It's other "small" towns.
So, some will say that I'm mad, because there's one company in particular that we did some pro bono work for when they were about to file for bankruptcy, and it was some press coverage that got them the recognition to gain funding in the millions last month. Some will say I'm mad because WE didn't get the job. But, I'll tell you this...I'd rather some of the other agencies in town that do wonderful jobs (SoapBoxPR, Off Madison Avenue, Lavidge, CK, Moses Anshell, Resnick, to name a few) get the jobs. How can Phoenix truly grow, and keep attracting great talent, if they keep outsourcing to other small locales?
For more information on our services, and to look for the clue of who we are speaking about, go to www.amandavega.com
posted by Amanda Vega Consulting at 9:15 AM
1 Comments:
Welcome to what I was saying for a year, and why I left Phoenix. And, well, you cannot just look at the businesses who abandon Phoenix for PR in larger cities, it is the fact that the local press - as a whole - just does not get it.
I was winning awards, speaking at conferences around the country all because of my blog. And, well, the Repulsive (and useless) did not understand what the deal was. I worked with companies that wanted local press - something I never really desired to do in Phoenix - and the pitch I could use for a WSJ, NYT would not work at the Republic ... because they just didn't get it.
Phoenix will never escape it's biggest little town mentality, and companies will continue to go out of state for PR at a higher cost, because they are not Phoenix-based. And, well, sometimes it is the right decision.
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