Media Exposure Fun

In case you've been out of town over the last 3 or 4 weeks our neighborhood has been highlighted in 3 newspaper articles. All three articles have painted a positive picture of the neighborhood. Most of the attention is a result of the reinvestment and neighborhood plans being developed by the city in partnership with the comunity. Yours truly has been interviewed all three times for these articles and for the most part it's been fun. This media exposure gig is all new to me so I'm still getting used to saying the appropriate things during an interview. For those of you that do not know me, I tend to be a little irreverent at times. My sense of humor is a little warped and I don't generally take myself too seriously. I use words like "cool", "weird" and "interesting" during conversations. I often fall back on the language of my youth. I can't help myself!

After the most recent newspaper article about our neighborhood was published I was taken to the woodshed by one of our association members for using the word "cool" in a quote. Thought that I sounded too much like a surfer dude....sigh! I thanked him for his honest critique and told him I would work at my interview giving skills. I suppose I do need to be mindful of what I say when ever I'm involved in an interview. It's never too late to learn new skills! Coming across as "polished" matters to some folks.

On the other hand, what truly matters to me is the fact that our neighborhood is on the cusp of experiencing some significant changes, that there is a sense of hope bubbling up, that we have an excellent association leadership group in place that really cares, that we are dealing with issues in a thoughtful manner, and most importantly I can see the beginnings of a transformation in attitudes of some of my neighbors. Now, is that cool or what?!