Many of us feel uneasy with the lack of recognition that our community, city, region or country receives internationally and with the stereotypes and outdated clichés by which “outsiders” define us. This has probably been the case for as long as man exists, but in today’s world with its global connections and social media, it is becoming more apparent, more relevant and more frustrating; to citizens generally, but in particular to policymakers, public administrators, leaders and representatives in public, private and civil society sectors.

Why this is so and what to do about it is the focus of today’s show. We will discuss the topic of community reputation. For communities to be admired, they need a sense of belonging and purpose in order to do amazing imaginative things befitting their character while captivating others.

Our guest is an international adviser, scholar, speaker and author of “Imaginative Communities: Admired cities, regions and countries” Dr Robert Govers

We discuss:

• Place reputation, how it impacts other’s view of us and our view of ourselves
• “Think twice before you speak, because your words and influence will plant the seed of either success or failure in the mind of another.” – Napoleon Hill. People can be influenced by how others speak about them and then it can become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
• Globalization: In 2000, 2/3s of the worlds online population was from North America and Europe. In 2010 2/3s of the worlds online population was from elsewhere
• How countries, regions and cities can no longer compete based on functional characteristics like accessibility, service levels and other advantages
• How interconnectedness and globalisation have led to homogeneity so imagination can be a competitive advantage?
• “Imagination is its own form of courage” – Frank Underwood, House of Cards
• How it takes courage to paddle your own canoe, just like business, just like life
• Kazakhstan and the “Stan Effect”
• Collaboration as a key to gain maximum benefit from imagination
• The story about Oslo’s future library
• “The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit.”
• Estonia as an imaginative community
• The little-known country of Bhutan and its gross national happiness
• Most of our listeners are in the USA so let’s share the imaginative virtues that founded America?
• Communicating communities, you can’t advertise this, it is pull and not push
• Communities addressing existing clichés and stereotypes?
• Finland (hello to our listeners on Business FM) where they developed their own set of emojis
• Communities are built on mental Models: Schema and Schemata
• How we limit information processing and selective learning by applying five filters?
• How mainstream Media also plays a huge part
• The 2006 World Cup hosted by Germany and Germany’s goal to change its reputation to be one that is much more friendly than perceived
• How marketing requires reputation and reputation leads to sharing of great experiences
• Like any strategy, we tend to focus on short-term returns on investment. This is a long game you want perceptions to seep into the consciousness of outsiders

More about Robert here: https://rgovers.com/ and https://www.imaginativecommunities.com/contents/

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