Newt Gingrich gets surprise role in “Parks and Recreation”

Tue, 04 Dec 2012 16:32:00 +0000

NBC's "Parks and Recreation," set in fictional town Pawnee, Indiana, this week filmed in Indianapolis, where the cast had a serendipitous run-in with former House speaker Newt Gingrich. "It was a completely random chance," said co-creator Mike Schur to the Indianapolis Star. "But you can't pass up an opportunity like that."

Every city needs a brand

Sat, 30 Jun 2012 16:00:00 +0000

When you think of Indianapolis, what springs to mind? Besides the annual Indianapolis 500 race. Take a minute to sum up the essence, the unique identity, of the Midwest's second-largest city.

It's hard to do -- not because Indianapolis doesn't have a unique identity, but because if you don't live in or around it, you probably have no idea what it is. There are lots of cities like this. For every clearly defined Detroit, New Orleans or Las Vegas, there's a more amorphous Columbus, Ohio; Louisville, Ky.; or Providence, R.I. "People move to Indianapolis because it's cheap, has great schools, is family oriented and offers easy living," says urban analyst Aaron Renn. "Those are hard things to brand. For outsiders, it can be difficult to understand what it's all about."

A few years ago, unless you were a tourist mecca, this didn't matter so much. Some places had big personalities (Dallas has always been DALLAS!), but many cities didn't bend over backwards to market an identity. Then along came the knowledge economy, the work-from-anywhere jobs and the renewed fascination with urban life. Suddenly cities that never felt they needed more PR than a catchy nickname began mapping out multi-tiered branding strategies, taking a fresh look at their image and even trying to create a whole new persona that they hoped would be a better sell.

Salon.com > Indianapolis

Newt Gingrich gets surprise role in “Parks and Recreation”

Every city needs a brand