M at t h e w S c h u lt z
(executive director of The Generator artists’ space and lead artist for the Pier Group):
Yes, very much so. It’s interesting when you look at artists and art communities, most people from other communities don’t expect what’s happening here to be happening here. It’s because when you move through Reno, when you’re traveling here, you move through the I-80 corridor. You never get out to the old Southwest. You never get out to see the Holland Project. You never get out to see the beauties of the city or the artistic ventures the city is pushing forward. I think it’s mostly because for such a long time we have been portrayed as little Vegas, and this divorce and marriage capitol. It’s very hard for the national dialogue to shift from that. I’m not sure if it’s much of a problem—our comedic reputation as the place that gets kicked around in the movies, I’m not sure that hurts us so much. We get a level of attention that cities our size across the nation don’t get.
l aRRy De ViNceNzi
(partner, Biggest Little Group advertizing and marketing company):
I don’t disagree with that. The question that I have is, when you ask that question, to whom are you referring? When you say, Does Reno have an image problem? Among the media? Among our citizens? Among the general public? I personally don’t think we have an image problem. I think we have a problem accepting our image. As much as we would like to sanitize that and make it look a certain way for certain audiences, it may or may not be who we are. And we’re always trying to make excuses for who we are or we get upset when the Muppets tear us down. I thought that was hilarious, and it was an opportunity to leverage ourselves against the Muppets that we missed.
RN&R: But people have that kind of knee-jerk reaction. why is that? N ata S h a B o u R l i N
(partner, with Biggest Little Group):
It’s a feeling of shame sometimes, in the past, especially we who grew up here, when you’re sitting on a plane, and you’re talking to the guy next to you. “Where are you from?” Um, [hides face] Tahoe or something, and you shift your head. Or you say, Reno, and depending on where you are in the world, doesn’t really matter actually, they say, “Oh, by Vegas?” “No, nowhere near Vegas actually.” … It’s almost like this inherent shame that a lot of us that grew up here feel because of those blows, because of that ridicule, because of being perceived by the world as Vegas’ little stepsister or something like that. We needed to incite that pride that we should feel for living in the amazing that we do. We don’t like being defined by other entities outside of our community as well.
The question, “Does Reno have an image problem?” doesn’t necessarily imply that yes, we Renoites do have an image problem, or we wouldn’t even worry about it. Sometimes we might think we have a problem when we really don’t. And why should we even care if we have an image problem? The RN&R got some smart people from different corners of our community—the business, arts and marketing worlds—and got the conversation rolling. This roundtable conversation transcription has been lightly edited for space and clarity.
Doug eRwiN
(VP of entrepreneurship, Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada, curator of TEDx Reno):
I totally agree with that. I think we have to stop making excuses for who we are. On the flipside of that, there is an image problem. I see it on the business side all the time. People either don’t know who we are, have some negative image of us, or think we’re right next to Vegas. That has tangible benefits when you’re talking about recruiting companies and getting people to move here. If we want to bring in high-quality jobs and grow that, we do need to transform our image to some degree. I think that means getting clear with our DNA and owning it. There’s lots of companies in Austin, and Austin is “Keep Austin Weird.” So I don’t think we have to sanitize it, but there is a reality that a lot of places around the world, or America, perceive us through some sort of negative lens.
BY
BR aD By NuM
S c h u lt z : It doesn’t help that the casinos seem to drive our image more than anything else. They’re the primary advertiser and the primary marketer. They’re the ones that are pushing more people to come into the community, theoretically. I mean, directly pushing. There are a lot of other reasons why people come, but they’re writing that media message. And casinos aren’t great writers of a media message. Especially in Reno, it’s, “Oh, you’re too broke to go to Vegas, come to Reno.” Fuck that. Reno is a rad town. We have everything you’d want—if you’re one of the weirdos.
bradb@Newsreview PHOTOS BY
eRic MaRKS
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