So now that we know that YPs from 25 states (and counting) will be descending on Cincinnati September 17-19, what do we want them to get out of it? 

The obvious answer is that we want them to develop a new-found appreciation for the region.  The organizing team’s goal from the beginning has been to get attendees up and moving – not just to avoid the “glaze” (the coma that ensues from too much sitting in one place), but to experience Cincinnati’s walkable urbanity, view its incredible Italianate buildings and breathe in Downtown and OTR’s renewed energy.  So in addition to hearing presentations from Rebecca Ryan on how to re-focus their YPO, Jake Greene on how to get ahead without becoming a “sell-out corporate tool” and Sarah “Intellagirl” Robbins on leveraging Web 2.0, they’ll attend breakout sessions at iconic Downtown buildings such as the Aronoff, CAC, Freedom Center and Shillito, along with such Over-the-Rhine gems as Know Theatre, Art Academy, Media Bridges and Coffee Emporium.  In the evenings, they’ll have the opportunity to attend an opening reception at the McAlpin, one of Downtown’s swankiest addresses.  They’ll join local YPs for the Bacchanalian Society wine tasting, have dinner on a pedestrian bridge overlooking our beautiful two-state skyline, and polka at the largest Oktoberfest in the Western Hemisphere.  From a tourism and economic development perspective, the ultimate aim is for them to leave with an open mind and an empty wallet.

The other obvious answer is that it is an opportunity to showcase the talents of our young professional community to the rest of the country.  Local YPO leaders will serve on panels such as “Mobilizing Members,” “GREEN, the New Black” and “Maximum Impact, Minimum Budget.”  They’ll teach other YP communities how to “Organize Signature Events,” develop “Employer Relationships” and forge “YPO Partnerships.” They’ll engage in a special session with cities of similar size to share their success stories.

The less obvious answer is that the Summit will provide our local community with an opportunity to learn.  These best practice sessions and networking receptions aren’t an arena for monologue but for dialogue.  Cities from Hartford to Reno have weathered the past year’s economic storm, and their YPOs have their own unique stories.  Cincinnati’s YP community will benefit greatly if it listens as much if not more than it talks.

An octogenarian friend of mine, who racks up more community organizing credits in a year than I can aspire to in a lifetime, recently asked me “where have all the YPs gone?” “What’s happened to the movement – where’s the noise?”  I explained to her that the reason we’ve fallen silent recently is because we’re struggling to survive – we’ve either lost our jobs or are trying our hardest to keep the ones we have.  That doesn’t leave a lot of hours for fighting the good fight.  But we will emerge stronger than ever – the movement is already re-grouping, and we’ll probably shout even louder so that the tribulations of the past year never happen again.  The next leaders coming to the 2009 Summit aren’t coming to fall in love with Cincinnati and move their families here.  They’re coming because they are committed to their own communities and want to go home with solid strategies on how to make them better. 

Hmm. YPs as passionate about their cities as we are about ours?  In building a better world, that’s a pretty comforting thought.

While talk of Cincinnati hosting a YP Summit wasn’t new (the city now had several successful Bold Fusions under its belt, and a delegation of 17 attended the 2007 Louisville Summit), the experiences of Cocoa Beach made it evident that the Queen City was ready to welcome the nation’s next generation of community leaders.  Luckily, a lot of Cincinnati’s own leaders agreed, including the Mayor’s Office and YPKC, the Chamber’s HYPE Team, Downtown Cincinnati, Inc., CincyUpdate, the Convention and Visitors Bureau, LEGACY, CityBeat/Midpoint Music Festival, and United Way’s Emerging Leaders Society.  The effort became not just a pitch for Cincinnati, but an experiment in regional and organizational cooperation.  How would we collectively sell the region to Next Generation Consulting’s selection committee who’s receiving applications from all over the country?  Not only that, but how were we going to raise the seed money required to even submit an application in one of the worst economic crises in history?  These were questions that we had only three weeks to answer.

So what did we have that other cities didn’t?  As mentioned in my previous blog, we have a regional YP community that is dynamic, engaged, and LARGE, and NGC knew it.  Bold Fusion consistently brings in YPs by the hundreds, so we knew that the Summit would be a draw not just to groups from across North America but also to the folks right here.  But we also have a vibrant, walkable downtown with unique architecture and a beautiful river in a city a mere 500 miles away from 60% of the US population.  We have a corporate community that demonstrates a consistently high level of monetary and operational support. We have a diverse nightlife, arts and culture scene.  And we have a musical heritage few know about, beginning with King Records and Bootsy and continuing with groups like Freekbass and festivals like Midpoint.  We are, in a myriad of ways, a City That Rocks.  And thus a campaign was born.

So we had the message, but we needed to package it with the “wow.”  The wow was 35 companies and organizations pledging financial and in-kind sponsorships, funding us well above the required level.   The wow was another 25 business and community organizations from as far away as Akron writing letters of support.  It was a 1,900-member Facebook group advocating for Cincinnati and a five-minute video touting the region’s physical and intellectual assets, all accompanying a graphically stellar PowerPoint (thanks again to Cameron Knight, Dan McCabe and the Chamber, respectively).  As the dozens of people who touched the proposal began to see the campaign take shape, we realized that something was happening the city hadn’t experienced in a long time – a sense that CINCINNATI DESERVES THIS.  It’s a sentiment that isn’t expressed enough.

Less than a week after submitting our collective proposal, we received word from Next Generation Consulting saying they agreed – Cincinnati had earned the 2009 Next Leaders Summit. 

Clara looks at "What do we do now?" in her final Soapblog on Thursday.

It’s September in Cocoa Beach, Florida, and I’m at the YP (now Next Leaders) Summit, which touts itself as the only forum in the world committed to developing the skills of future leaders to create better cities and workplaces.  I’m preparing to listen to a keynote speech by Rebecca Ryan, head of Next Generation Consulting and renowned author and speaker on all things YP.  Suddenly, a gentleman with a Green Bay name tag approaches me and says, “I’ve been reading about this YPKC Cincinnati has – that’s really awesome, how does it work?”  About an hour later in a breakout session, a woman remarks, “you have 60 young professional organizations?  WOW.  In Phoenix, we’re setting up our first!” It occurs to me that maybe, just maybe, Cincinnati had not only arrived to the national YP table, but was one of the communities planning the menu.

That’s a far cry from the city I moved to seven years ago.  Downtown was in “healing mode” in 2002, struggling to figure out what its identity should be in an aftermath of distrust and fear.  While established organizations like Enjoy the Arts had already been around for a decade, the ones we now call “veterans” like Give Back Cincinnati and CincyUpdate were just getting their feet wet.  My initial reasons for getting involved were admittedly self-serving – I knew absolutely no one and wanted to find people with similar interests.  Contemplating a career and venue change years later, this sense of community and potential for creating an impact are what would keep me here.

I don’t know if anyone can actually pinpoint the moment where Cincinnati’s YP community turned the corner.  Maybe it was when Bill Donabedian, speaking on a panel at a Chamber forum, charged that “if you see a need in the community, don’t just talk about it – go out there and fill it!”  Maybe it was at the first Bold Fusion, where attendees told Forbes where they could stick their city rankings by smashing a piñata shaped like the magazine.  Or the revitalizations of Fountain Square and OTR, which gave YPs urban meeting places in which to cultivate their ideas.  Something gradually awakened young professionals to the notion that we didn’t have to settle for what previous generations had proposed for us.  Five organizations in 2004 became 40 in 2006 became 60 in 2008.  The business community took notice, seeing the sponsorship of YP events and programs as part of a sound marketing strategy, and the Mayor assembled his YPKC, the first young professional organization in the world created to support a city official. 

Shortly before leaving for Cocoa Beach, I received a call from a radio reporter in Munich wanting to do a story on Cincinnati’s dynamic community of 20 and 30-somethings.  The secret was out – Cincinnati was a place where YPs had a voice, and the Summit provided the perfect opportunity to share that voice with the rest of the country.

Clara answers the question "Why Cincinnati?" on Wednesday.