We live in interesting times. Few of us have been through a more worrying economic downturn, small business is struggling, the arts are under threat from funding cuts, the media has been turned on its head, and competition for customers has gone global…
So why is this the best time for businesses in Leeds to get involved with local independent artists, food producers, events, productions, movements and forums?
1. Because business must talk with authenticity.
There was a time when business talked, and we all listened. It wasn't long ago that the print media ran ads, and we reacted to them, the internet was just another new channel, and with the right spend, you could still bring people through the door and help them part with their cash. Big biz thrived, media thrived, agencies thrived.
Then something happened. Through social media actual real people began to build networks and have their say, blogs, Twitter, Facebook etc. gave ordinary humans the same power and reach as big biz.
No longer was there one, single voice proclaiming the 'truth' about a brand. Now there were many voices, many broadcasters – and what's more, they could not, would not be bought.
But this challenge to the old ways was also an opportunity. Online, we read more reviews than ever about more things, we discover great places for ourselves, make informed decisions based on what our peers think. Bad news travels. Good news can travel even faster. By working with the right networks the best businesses can share genuine stories, values and objectives.
In particular, the leisure sector has a huge opportunity to work with local independent organisations to convey the holistic reality of a place or destination. Visitors to a city don't just read the 'official' literature – the brochure, the guidebook – they Google, search, check blogs, follow Twitter accounts, and when they find something great they share it with the world.
Leisure businesses in Leeds can benefit from working with local indie people, inviting them in to use their facilities on quiet days, helping them promote events, sharing 'marketing' and collaborating whenever possible. If they do, they will become a very real part of the vibrant, authentic character of our city – and that is what visitors want to share too.
2. Because independent stuff benefits us all
Unlike so many tourist destinations where the appeal to the visitor is utterly unlike the appeal to the resident, Leeds has the chance to bring these two, often separate, ideas together. If we support and encourage activities that are not mere window dressing for the day-trippers or coach tours, we nourish the cultural, culinary, community activities that make Leeds such a great place to live in.
If Leeds leisure business points its customers towards genuine, authentic Leeds events, great local produce, unique, extraordinary things to do, they will find they have a more distinctive, more dynamic offering. Big stuff is great (Armouries, Harvey Nicks, Milennium Square events) but the little things are what people talk, blog and tweet about.
Thankfully we are not like Edinburgh – stuck with tartan tatt shops – or living in the shadow of a minster or cathedral, or even a Golden Mile or West Pier. No – ours is a complex city and better for it!
If leisure business engages with local indie organisations the appeal of the city broadens, there is more to say about Leeds, and more for everyone (residents as well) to enjoy.
3. Because all business benefits when people want to live here.
Ask anyone who comes to Leeds for a stag/hen do if they would like to relocate to Leeds and they would probably say no - great place for a piss-up, but nothing else. Ask a businessman who has come for a conference why they came to Leeds and you'll hear how cheap their generic hotel room was, and the familiarity of same breakfast sausage he would have in any other part of the chain, in any other city (and a few motorway junctions too!).
Surely if people visit our city, shouldn't we make it our mission to make the visit memorable, to give them some experience that is not generic, to send them on their way with a little bit of something special that they can only get in Leeds.
Otherwise, why would we expect them to come back? If we want businesses to relocate to Leeds and bring prosperity, shouldn't we start by winning over everyone one who comes here, so they think 'Yes! I'd love to live here!'
By working to promote and support local indie organisations the Leeds leisure business – hotels, restaurants, events, attractions – get an amazing spectrum of unique, memorable, tasty authentic experiences to share with their customers, an incredible variety of real life, real people, real food, all on their doorstep waiting for them… to do anything less is a missed opportunity!
So that are three reasons for businesses to support local indie organisations – there are plenty more!
Now is the time to act
And now is the time to act. Extraordinary times demand extraordinary actions. Much of the great stuff that happens here is done without thought for reward, remuneration or even the sketchiest business plan, but it still needs support from everyone who can provide it. Without support, in a few months or years, many people will have given up, run out of time, money, energy.
Business not only has the resources to help, but benefits directly from the richness and excitement that these many different activities deliver. It is time to step up and get involved!
Experience Leeds 2 will focus on the business benefits of supporting our local food and drink industries – and will take place on 11th October, 2010, at The Queens Hotel, Leeds at 6pm.
Guest blogger Nick Copland is one of the people behind Experience Leeds.
What do you think? Have your say in the comments section below.
