On this blog, I make a conscientious effort to not be negative and/or critical of everything that happens in the City of Peoria. Frankly, if you want to just gripe about everything the City has going on, there is another Peoria blogspot who has got that covered. Anyhow...
On March 6, 2010, I posted about my confusion as to what exactly it means to “step-up”. I didn’t want to be appear to be immediately critical of the campaign, because if it is about volunteering in the community it’s a wonderful thing to encourage people to step up. So I took the post down. Today, I put it back up (see it below) because I am still somewhat skeptical of this campaign.
The confusing thing about this campaign is the fact that it appears to be more advertising for businesses, than it is about businesses actually encouraging and allowing their employees to step up and volunteer in the community. Here are some suggested ways you can step up today...
So, is it really stepping up, if you run the Civic Center, or you are the Mayor, or you are selling cars, or real estate? Isn’t that the job you are getting paid to do? Kudos to Ad-Co for volunteering their services to this campaign – brilliant move for them in a season when ad sales are slow and advertising budgets are pretty much nil. What a wonderful way to make contact with potential clients. Smart.
The campaign is described as a campaign aimed at bringing people and organizations together so they can "step up" and say what they are doing to help move the region forward.
Today, the pjstar’s, Business Editor, Paul Gordon wrote about his impression of the campaign. He too appears to be skeptical of exactly what this campaign is supposed to be about…
Mr. Gordon is not the only person rolling his eyes. Again, I don’t want to appear cynical, but mentoring someone, helping beautify your neighborhood, carrying someones groceries, coaching a team or volunteering your time just seems far more appropriate to step up and talk about, than doing your job selling cars, running a business or selling real estate (it is good, cheap advertising though).
Unfortunately, the advertising component of this campaign is watering down the call for volunteerism. The day an employer buys a box and steps up to say they will let their employees volunteer in schools without penalizing them for being off work, that will be the day that I will believe that “stepping up” is about more than just advertising for businesses.
Mr. Gordon is going to stepping up to do his job and keep an eye on the campaign; he will keep us posted.