BSM: YawnFest 2007

Hurry and sign up for BOLD FUSION 2007, the Chamber's annual YP summit where our "best and brightest" can sit around and hear from speakers about how they're the best and brightest and the answer to all the city's ills, and then leave to drink at some yuppie watering hole, never to do a damn thing to make an actual change in the city.

Ok, so I exaggerate, but with the lofty ideas talked about at past Bold Fusions, you'd think that the participants would be out in the streets, fired up and ready to take real action. Instead I've seen too many of them breaking their own arms patting themselves on the back while talking about what they already do to help the city, without really being interested in anyone else's efforts or working together.

This year's keynote speaker is Carol Coletta is the host of the syndicated public radio show Smart City, so the event is showing some promise. But I'm not sure I like the sound of this:

"At this year's event, YOU, the rest of our YP community, and our local leadership will create the future of Cincinnati USA with the launch of Agenda 360, a comprehensive community action plan to align our region and its leaders on a common set of strategies for our city's evolution."

At first glance, this sounds all well and good, but a second reading uncovers a (thinly veiled) attempt to not really get input from local YPs, but to sell them on the Chamber's preconceived plan (with a few variables to make it seem customized). Sorry to be so skeptical, but I've been to too many of these kinds of events and seen the Chamber pull this sh*t before. Hopefully they can prove me wrong, but I will keep breathing regularly just in case.

If the Chamber put as much work into actual community action as they do into developing marketing language to sell the status quo... but I digress. Congrats! Although not all the way pegged, the Chamber has got BullSh*tMeter's needle jumping.