Life in the Fort

Time for a little rant and a little praise.

The subject: Fort Wayne, Indiana

I was forced to live here for 12 years.

I had no choice. I was 6 when my parents moved here and they said I had to come too.

I left at 19 to seek fame if not fortune in the radio business, which a couple years later brought me back to town when I worked on the air at WMEE in the early 1980's.

I left again and returned a dozen years ago without the intention of staying until I met my wife.

Marrying Kathy 10 years ago was also a decision to stay in Fort Wayne.

Kathy is a transplant herself. She decided to move here years ago.

And when we were dating she really showed me the town that I grew up in was a pretty cool place.

From the parks and river greenway, to some of the unique restaurants and coffee shops, this is a place to call home.

So what's the rant?

It seems like a lot of the press we get is negative. 10 years ago there was talk about "brain drain" referring to young people who could not find the jobs or environment that would keep the bright rising stars in town, and they would leave for greener pastures.

Looking back on this, I see this is common unless you are in a city like New York, or San Francisco. When you are young and can't find what you want, it is common to want to go find it.

Fort Wayne is also a conservative town. By that I mean cautious. There are plenty of people who are all over the spectrum politically, but I'm referring to certain midwest values that we seem to hang on to in our city.

The look before you leap mentality is alive and well in many circles.

However we are also a city filled with an entrepreneurial spirit and now instead of seeing the "brain drain" from a few years ago, I see a growing entrepreneurial class emerging.

Fort Wayne is much more diverse than it was 30 years ago when the loss of a major manufacturing company meant tough times for our economy.

Because I work in the media world and have friends and acquaintances at most of the media outlets, plus my involvement in the Fort Wayne Social Media Community I get annoyed by certain stories and lack of understanding by some members of our government, by our school systems and by some of our journalists.

One example was the city hiring a Chicago firm to update the city website and create a social media presence. Click here to read more.

Then we had all the stir up with Harry Baals. Click here.

Despite the city's reluctance to name a building after the former Mayor, one of my radio stations, ROCK 104 has jumped on board, renaming their studio's after Harry.

The Fort Wayne Community Schools has hired an Virgina firm to handle "Communications" according to this story, click here.

And in a long standing battle with Men's Health Magazine, their latest mention puts us in the bottom of the Social Networking list. Click here.

For additional perspective, click here and read the comments on Anthony Juliano's Blog.

On one hand, it is frustrating to see those in charge of tax payer funded organizations spending our money with firms that are not only outside of Fort Wayne, but not even in Indiana. This is either due to laziness, ignorance, or something worse.

On the other hand, it is equally frustrating to see the media rely on a few sources and either through incomplete investigating or editing, not tell the story of what is really going on behind the scenes in the social media world locally and Fort Wayne overall with all of the positive aspects to living in this city, I and thousands of others call home.

Your comments and questions, be polite please, are welcome.