I'm a big pro-Milwaukee guy. I love its lack of pretense and, of course, everything it has to offer.
So, I relish opportunities to spread the Milwaukee love. It's in my DNA, and as I've always said, a city is only as good as the stories it tells. And, I truly believe we all have a civic responsibility to be better Milwaukee story tellers.
So, when I see blogs like this I take notice. Read it and form your own opinion. The author, Michael Doyle, told me via Twitter that he "loves Milwaukee" and his here often. He suggested that I ask readers for a "better campaign." So, have at it.
I love fun, creative messages as much as the next guy. And, beer and brats are important to Milwaukee. But, today they are side dishes. Frankly, creativity in advertising can too often be too creative. If we want to tell the Milwaukee story and get people to visit, just ask them to. It's sales 101. Tell the story, make the ask.
I love Chicago, and its incredibly important to Milwaukee's economy. Chicago already loves Milwaukee and, as I just said, the feeling is mutual (take away sports teams).
Marquette University has a great event, Milwaukee's Future in the Chicago Megacity, planned for July 17. Take note of it as the Chicago-Milwaukee megacity needs to flourish and expand, and Milwaukee must leverage it properly.
Maybe, though, when Milwaukee is talking tourism to Chicago it needs to tone down its creative messages and just ask for the sale.
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.
