The pundits and politicians have been buzzing and posturing since last week’s Forbes article citing Memphis as number 3 among America’s 10 most miserable cities.  While Mayor Wharton whittles away at quality of life issues, and preaches that Memphis must control it’s own message and tell it’s own story; and Congressman Cohen challenges Steve Forbes to come down and have a look at Memphis, few seem to have even read the internet post of the article, citing Memphis’  high crime, high foreclosure, high unemployment, and high political corruption rates.

The message that Mayor Wharton should be thinking about fashioning should not the product of some PR hack, cranking out the usual  FedEx, Graceland, St. Jude, Mississippi River, and music copy.  If Wharton, Cohen, Herenton, or anyone else wants to send a real message, it should be a message of change – not “let’s build a new convention center,” but “let’s learn to collaborate to make Memphis great”.  Memphis is a town of great diversity, but that diversity does not have to be divisive, nor does collaboration always have to be trumped by competition and power plays.  Memphis’ lack of collaboration has allowed charlatans and snake oil salesmen to exploit this city since it’s early days.  I don’t think Memphis can forge an image until it has a Vision.  And I am not talking about a vision espoused by a handful of politicians, business folks, and marketers.  Memphians are willing to accept mediocrity, or misery, because it is the status quo.  We have had a long running dearth of leadership.  We are going to have to start feeling better about ourselves and seeing more light at the end of the tunnel before we can move forward.

Memphis’ best PR Person

Memphis best PR person is not a seasoned PR guru, politician, musician, or athlete, but a 20-something blogger.  Kerry Crawford produces the I Love Memphis Blog.  Go check it out, and get over some of that misery.