This quote first came to me from a high school buddy, and it seems to shed some light on what is "The New Local".
Gertrude Stein wrote this quote first in her book "Everybody's Autobiography" about returning to Oakland, CA to visit her childhood home, but she could not find the house. Hearing the way my highschool friend used the quote, it means a place has no sense of being some place.
A childhood home is full of memories, it has a strong sense of place. If the house is torn down, or the neighborhood changes dramatically, that sense of place is gone. But notice it is a very personal feeling. For the people who live there, perhaps they have a strong sense of place, but perhaps it will be temporary and only for them.
In the "new local", it needs to have a sense of "there" when you're there. Those creating virtual localities for their businesses or communities will need to pay attention to this. Google has seemed to have created a sense of place. It started small, and it started with a strong sense of purpose and with high ideals. Apple seems to have this in their many different Apple Stores - go visit one. How many people feel a sense of place around their Microsoft products these days? Perhaps a reason their stock has been flat for years now, hmm?
8 comments:
When we say, "...a place has no sense of being some place..." I think what we really mean is that a place has no sense of being some place... to me. Emphasise, "to me."
Sure, Gertrude or your friend could go somewhere and find it's not as they remembered it or it doesn't seem the same. There's probably a bunch of folk to whom it is "there" or home or their locality - and to them, Gertrude or your pal passing though probably looked like strangers!
To me, this simply reinforces the notion that "local" is very little to do with geography and more about what you make of a place and what the people in the community do to create and perpetuate a sense of community. Like Eric says, "In the "new local", it needs to have a sense of "there" when you're there."
My wife was watching the film, "All Creatures Great and Small" recently. It's about a young vet in c.1940 who goes to live and work in a tight-knit Yorkshire community. He falls in love with a local woman and asks her father for permission to marry her (hey, Trevor - that's pretty quaint, eh?!). In the course of their conversation, the father says something to the effect of, "...but home is where you're born."
Wow! Not any more, my friend! It's interesting how 60 years ago in GB people "knew their station" in respect of where they lived, what job they would do, how they would live etc.
I relish living in a world of greater possibilities. I relish knowing that I can move around and live (as I have) in several diverse UK locations and in France. Home = where I am. I use technology to keep in touch with people, to meet people. I no longer live in a world where people know their station for the simple reason that we can change it pretty much as we choose.
Now, this will sound nuts and mark me down as a rampant Trekkie but I want to live in a universe where local means it's no big deal if I pop out to see some friends who've gone to live on Mars. Or in an adjacent galaxy, perhaps.
The other thing that the quote says to me is that things change. For Gertrude, there wasn't there anymore because a whole bunch of people had come and gone so the neighbourhood changed. No big deal, says me. If it was so good, why didn't you do something to keep it all together? What good things would never have happened if you hadn't moved away?
Another thought hits me: you know the old glass half full / glass half empty question? Here's another:
- Do you think that "new doesn't mean better" or "just the same doesn't mean better"?
Harold and Mark
Forgive my latest ramblings ....
Great exchange - wow what can I say? – The physical is becoming less important than the virtual maybe. A ‘place’ is not a physical thing – brilliant!!!
First of all Mark I saw a bit of the film too over the New Year Holiday! Sadly I could not watch it all. The TV Series ‘All creatures great and small’ was also very good. A lovely nostalgic look at Britain as it was 60 years ago apparently. I’m 53 so it was just before my time I hasten to add!
Yes it is very quaint to have someone ask a father for his daughters hand in marriage. How times change.
My daughter was married three months ago and I only recall the conversation going something like this...'By the way Dad we are getting married’ – I was ‘told’ for information not ‘asked’ - and that is fine by me. We have to trust our kids judgment.
I love the question about whether ‘new’ is better.
I use this analogy. The National Health Service (NHS) has around one million employees. The NHS had been in existence for almost 60 years. That means we have had 60 million ‘people years’ of experience so far. To make statements like some politicians do that ‘new’ is good and ‘old’ is bad is frankly ridiculous. Don’t get me wrong here. I am the greatest advocate of change in the NHS and there is room for massive efficiency increase in healthcare practices. We are still primitive in many ways. And yet the myth that all ‘old’ practices are irrelevant is to demean the efforts of millions of people and their ideas. So what I am saying, in my inimitable rambling way, is that it is not as simple as ‘new is better.’ I prefer to say new is just different.
Our New Local team has really got some energy now and we need to think about how this is all being pulled together. It feels like there is enormous potential. Is everyone ok about how things are going along? I hope Walter is in charge!!!
Whether or not we get a paper that is endorsed is not really the issue. The issue is what a fantastic thing it is that we guys can ‘chew the cud’ (a very English saying guys) from various corers of our planet and the ‘process’ is wonderful to me.
I grew up watching quite a bit of PBS (Public Broadcasting System) growing up. It was on Channel 13 back in NYC. We liked watching "All Creatures Great and Small". It seems an excellent example of the "old local". It had a permanence, a resonance, such that the echos still resonate today.
There are shows in the US that give that sense too, in fact there's almost a mythos about it, in shows like "The Waltons" or "Little House on the Prairie". They describe close nit and deep family ties, rich in feeling and a sense of place.
In this new era, we can all see that things are different, and they're going to get more different. There were huge rumors about a Google PC for less that $200 that was going to be announced today. They didn't, but they did show the MIT Media Lab $100 laptop computer that they're designing to help third world nations get connected. Can you imagine the intense change this will have on the world?
The changes we're seeing in global connectivity aren't good or bad. Like Trevor said, it just different.
But there's a lot of value-add if we can bring some of the good things of "All God's Creatures..." or "Little House..." to the wild wild ADHD world of the WWW.
The concept of community and the new local being somewhat temporal has always been an awareness with me - even before the internet. I can recall growing up being advised by those older that things change over time. The buildings come and go. The people of the town change. The businesses and issues change.
They said that "You can never go home." I always found that to be true whenever I visited. It just wasn't the same home as I grew up in. As more time passed, more things changed. The place where I grew up is still my hometown - it just isn't MY hometown. It belongs to the current residents who live there and engage in the local issues of the day.
Those same people that told me you could never go home also said that the most important constant in your life will be your family. You can't change that even if you want to so you need to take care of each other because in the end that is all the permanence you have.
To me, these thoughts are consistent with the observation that a business should focus on creating a sense of "local." Those companies that create a sense of community and make their product/store/website feel familiar will capture those people who identify with their concept.
I think Starbucks probably illustrates this point very well. They maintain a consistent, comfortable, and relaxing environment while they sell their coffee. Its like going into your den with friends when you go into their store - no matter which store you enter. And, they call you by name and treat you like they are glad you came. Its like being welcomed back each time to go there. At Starbucks, you really can go home. Anybody know of other companies which do this as well?
Walter and Paul, thoughtful writing, I enjoyed reading your posts. It's so easy to forget history and how much of what's happening has happened before in a similar if not precisely the same way.
About the sense of place being built in businesses, this seems a very valuable application of this concept. The Small Island Marketing website speaks right to this need people have today. We want to feel like we're part of something, and being recognized at the counter restores some of the feeling the old local had.
It seems the whole concept of branding is like this. By creating a brand, a company gives a sense of permanence, of place, for the consumer. But it seems more like a faux-local if all you give is the same look and feel. A real place isn't just one that you recognize, but it also recognizes you (and not just your name and stats from a database!). That's when the real feeling of there being a "there" there.
Woops forgot to make a link for Small Island Marketing in the previous comment. Small Island Marketing shows how to have an impact through friendship and integrity, rather than making war to claim mindshare with more and more aggressive techniques.
Walter - in addition to Starbucks, I think you could add numerous retailers who have a house feel: Marks & Spencer, Apple stores, John Lewis, Tesco, Waitrose, O2 outlets etc. One interesting thought though: in order to expand globally, many of them have to tweak the format or the content to suit local tastes, e.g. McDonalds. I think this adds to the sense of faux-local that Eric refers to because you go into the store in a foreign country and it feels or tastes not-quite-right.
Excellent point about a business recognizing YOU! That would be a critical element for long term success. Even if someone did keep their info on you in a database they would benefit greatly by projecting a personal approach where it wasn't apparent.
Paul - those are good examples. The "tweaking" you describe would also be important. It makes me think of Hard Rock Cafe's - they have the general flavor yet always include a local flair as well.
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