Speaking of the Web 2.0 conference . . .
When I was in San Francisco for that conference I had the opportunity to meet lots of people, many from the Bay area. I ended up at dinner with a few people from Microsoft one evening. One of them was pregnant and due soon. She asked what I did and I filled her in on the basics of our regional reference guides, local websites and magazines. The Bay area just happens to be our next market; in June we’ll be launching seven editions of our books as well as a regional magazine. So at first she was very excited. Then came the question: Where are you based?
I gave my answer, and the conversation took a very different turn. It went something like this:
Her: Hmmm, here in the Bay Area we are a very different from a market like yours. The women here are very sharp, highly educated and tech savvy. I’d be interested to see if any of your content would be a good fit for this market.
Me: Interesting. Well, much of the content comes from moms in the Bay area as well as some national outlets (after this I didn’t have much else to say).
Her: Hmm (turns away).
Me: (I started to have a conversation with myself in my head about what she really should know about my business and the market we are based out of, but I kept figuring I was overreacting, so I kept it in my head).
This interaction is really not too big of a deal in the scheme of things. But in the broader world of business, I always get funny reactions about the city we are based out of. We are not in Silicon Valley or New York, but we are in a very entrepreneurial, very savvy market.
The others who were at dinner with me were flabbergasted by the interaction. When we left they expressed their awe at the comments made (which made me wish that I had snapped back with something sassier than I did). But I told them that I frequently get odd reactions when I tell people where we are based, especially because we are not a Silicon Valley startup.
My companions actually suggested to me that I set up a “faux” office in the Bay area so we can have a multi-headquartered feel about our company and get a boost in credibility by looking a little more “big city.” I laughed because the stubborn part of me wants to say, “Brace yourself, big world, and wait for the big things that come out of my hometown!”
Let’s see if you can guess where we are based:
- We have more plastic surgeons per capita than any other city in the U.S.;
- Voted number one vainest city by Forbes;
- More computers per household than any other U.S. city (at least that is the last stat I heard);
- Lots and lots of startups and tech companies are based here.
And my follow up question: How important is the city where you are based?
This entry was posted on Sunday, May 4th, 2008 at 10:37 pm and is filed under Random. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.3 Responses to “Is Your Hometown a Liability?”
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May 5th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
Is your city Salt Lake City, Utah? Try having your business in small town America. No prominent address for us but doing business over eBay, we hide well.
May 27th, 2008 at 5:15 pm
Is your city Los Angeles? I don’t see why it would matter at all what city you were in…It’s what you can do that matters. The pregnant woman you were speaking to sounds a bit affected by things that are really of no value. Maybe you should have told her that on April 1st, 1976 Steve Jobs’ founded Apple Computers in his family’s home garage.
May 31st, 2008 at 12:23 pm
Are you in Salt Lake? That’s a whole lot bigger than the area I’m in. I’m living in Southeastern Washington in a town that is still amazed that you can add attachments to email! Although I’m a business coach and speaker, I find most of my time is spent explaining websites and blogs. Ah, great training for patience.