I've always said that a city is only as good as the stories it tells. And, I believe we all have a responsibility to tell good stories about greater Milwaukee. We're the caretakers of our community and the messages and vision we project matters. Of course, it also matters what others say about Milwaukee too.
It's always interesting to read an outsider's opinion of Milwaukee. Live in a place long enough and some of the extraordinary can become ordinary. We all do it.
Hats off to Visit Milwaukee, our tourism and convention entity that regularly brings in travel writers to see all that's happening in Milwaukee. One such writer, Bill Cleven, was here during Summerfest.
The St. Louis native Clevlen writes "Bill on the Road," and in his latest post he tells everyone that Milwaukee's secret is out. He starts his feature like this, "Nobody ever brought up Milwaukee, Wisconsin as a "must see" destination when I started traveling around the country. Maybe that’s because Milwaukee has been keeping a secret from the rest of America – it’s a really cool place to live and visit."
You can read it all here, and take note of this first time Summerfest-goer's impressions of the Big Gig. "I was completely blown away and downright stunned as I walked the grounds and passed stage after stage of concerts. And I don’t mean like four or five," writes Clevlen. Yep, "World's Largest Musical Festival" holds true.
Travel writers seldom rail on their selected destinations. I get that. But, Cleven's impressions and observations of Milwaukee seem genuine and should make us all a bit more proud of our state's largest city.
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.
