What does Milwaukee stand for?
This question's been on my mind lately. As a co-owner of a media company that has a mission to "create amazing media and move Milwaukee forward," I'm always asking others about Milwaukee's image and perception, and constantly talking up all of the positives in and around Milwaukee.
It perplexes, frustrates, challenges and flat out irritates me that too many leaders don't feel a sense of strong civic pride and passionate Milwaukeeism (is that a word?). It's our responsibility, I believe, to not stand on the sidelines and always tell the great Milwaukee stories. This doesn't mean turning a blind eye to the many challenges that we have, it means facing them with optimism, ideas and enthusiasm.
I guess this quote from a book that I read every morning sums up my positive Milwaukee philosophy:
"... A sense of inferiority and inadequacy interferes with the attainment of your hopes, but self-confidence leads to self-realization and successful achievement." --Norman Vincent Peale in his classic 1956 bestseller "The Power of Positive Thinking"
Anyway, what does our city stand for? What makes us unique? What's our selling point?
As reaction to our latest "This Sucks" feature has shown, Milwaukee's connection with Chicago is something that needs to be better leveraged and expanded upon. We are, when you add up all the people and economic power between Chicago, and us living in one of the biggest "mega-cities" in the world. Do we stand to be a sister city to Chicago? This could be a decent answer and should be something that we build upon, but it doesn't truly answer my question: What do we stand for?
Cut to the chase, Jeff. I know what San Francisco, Austin and even Detroit stand for. I'm sure you do, too.
Here are, finally, 10 reasonable answers to the question, "What does Milwaukee stand for?"
- Hard work. Hard play.
- Real life.
- The High Life.
- Tradition with innovation
- The birthplace of beer, or just beer
- Midwestern values
- Summerfest
- Ease
- Friendliness, without pretense
- Emerging and searching
This is a difficult question, I'll admit. Especially since I'm not searching for a slogan or a mantra. I do want to know, though, what you think our city stands for. Use the talkback feature to submit your suggestions.
A life-long and passionate community leader and Milwaukeean, Jeff Sherman is a co-founder of OnMilwaukee.
He grew up in Wauwatosa and graduated from Marquette University, as a Warrior. He holds an MBA from Cardinal Stritch University, and is the founding president of Young Professionals of Milwaukee (YPM)/Fuel Milwaukee.
Early in his career, Sherman was one of youngest members of the Greater Milwaukee Committee, and currently is involved in numerous civic and community groups - including board positions at The Wisconsin Center District, Wisconsin Club and Marcus Center for the Performing Arts. He's honored to have been named to The Business Journal's "30 under 30" and Milwaukee Magazine's "35 under 35" lists.
He owns a condo in Downtown and lives in greater Milwaukee with his wife Stephanie, his son, Jake, and daughter Pierce. He's a political, music, sports and news junkie and thinks, for what it's worth, that all new movies should be released in theaters, on demand, online and on DVD simultaneously.
He also thinks you should read OnMilwaukee each and every day.
