WOW!
What a year it has been.
1 year ago I had an idea to " Brand" our City as " The City of Waterfalls"
It all simply started out as an idea, a dream, a vision.
Nothing out of the ordinary for me, as an entrepreneur its a thought pattern and language I speak every day.
In my 26 years in business and community involvement I have done this countless times, and will continue to do so.
But, my little voice was yelling at me that this one was different.
It was telling me that this was going to be huge and a home run.
My little voice was starting to hurt my ears so much I almost had to use ear plugs at times!
What I did not know, or dream, was how big and how fast this entire project would grow.
It has gathered attention around the world, media, politicians, my peers in the marketing field, and grass roots citizen involvement way beyond my wildest dreams.
It takes an outsider that is totally new to what is going on to really express their feelings and then you see,hear and feel the movement that is happening.
When people start to move here, and travel every weekend from hundreds of miles away, that is telling you something.
When Hamiltonian's start to grab onto this and OWN it, it is a time when any marketing person will say " we have arrived".
The absolute groundswell of support from people is absolutely astonishing, so much so, that many people are saying this should be on the top of the list at every election in the future.
A very distinguished and well respected Hamiltonian, took me aside and whispered to me the other day, that what we have here is magical, it is " By the people, for the people."
Truer words could not have been spoken.
When one looks at radical and explosive growth in a business or any community group or organization, and or in any business, one always looks at building it " From the ground up", versus from the top down.
As a marketing person and company owner, I can tell you that my money is ALWAYS on the ground up approach, as following this model you are simply steering the ship versus powering it.
Having your customers or in this case the citizens power your idea or vision is a one in a million scenario, so much so, that one marketing person told me that what I have here is a " once in a lifetime opportunity".
Meaning, they would have given anything to have been involved in this, you see in the marketing field, when you have your target audience grab ahold and run with your product you have achieved something that only a handful of campaigns ever do in ones lifetime.
This is what has happened and will continue to happen into the future.
Every day I receive emails from people wanting to get involved with the movement, so much so that we are preparing to double our waterfall walks for this year.
A internationally acclaimed branding expert has communicated with me over the year and has said some very flattering comments on what is going on as well.
The best is yet to come, how far we have come in 1 year is absolutely amazing, but the biggest thing and to what I owe the most thanks, is to the people.
This is all about the people, everyone of us, this is not about me or anyone else.
No-one owns this project, except you.
I could not be prouder of fellow Hamiltonian's and the countless visitors who come in daily to see our waterfalls and get involved.
Year 2 will be even better, the initiative will double if not triple in size, more investment, more staff, and a bigger picture of where we are going with this.
The greatest thing in all of this, is that I am simply giving people what they want.
Nothing is forced.
The people decide our future, they tell us what we should do and what they want.
Every day I get up to 200 emails from people around the world all talking about the waterfall initiative, and how proud it makes them feel.
Hamilton, stand up and take a bow, The City of Waterfalls is on the map forever.
http://www.chrisecklund.com/
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