DMC: My View from the Front Row . . .

John Murphy headshotJohn Murphy has played multiple roles behind the scenes for DMC. Check out his first ever blog post below. 

For the last five years, I have had a front-row seat as Destination Medical Center (DMC) has emerged from simple notes on a napkin to a full-on tangible plan. It’s history in the making. I have been in meetings, on trips to great destinations, and played “man on the street.”  I have created videos, tried to create posters, stood at more than a few trade show booths, and presented at public forums from Minneapolis to Leroy to Bemidji and everyplace in between!

Someone just said to me the other day, “You should write a blog post about your experience.” I thought about it, and hey, why not give it a try? So here is my first attempt at a blog entry. It feels like the first time I used Facebook or “tweeted” on Twitter. Let’s hope I don’t hurt anybody.

Last night, I attended the DMC second public forum, and below is my view from the front row:

I attended the DMC Community Conversation event at Mayo Civic Center. There was great energy in the room with an engaged crowd of about 300 people, which is spectacular since it was a “top 10” best-night-of-the-year in the weather department for Rochester, Minnesota.

As I was sitting there, I thought, “What tweet should I send during this meeting?” I couldn’t come up with just one, so here are my top 10 potential tweets:

10. DMC: It’s about Seeing. Listening. Understanding.
9. DMC: Creating a wonderful new address.
8. Think about it: Where would you want to take someone in Rochester when it’s 30 below zero?
7. DMC Planners: “You will hear your own voice when you see the creative concepts.”
6. Rochester is doing it right: community input before the planners got here and after they leave.
5. People want authentic places to live and visit.
4. An “intermodal transit center” becomes the anchor place of a whole new neighborhood.
3. Broadway is the old/new Main Street to stroll, shop, visit.
2. When you double the number of people coming downtown, you need to be smart about access.

And my number 1 tweet idea . . . drum roll please . . .

 1. Second Street, between Mayo and Saint Marys, is the most important mile in the city, and we need to treat it that way!

As I left the meeting, a friend summed it all up for me with, “I am intrigued by the discussion and comments offered by the planners and the community. Now, what we need to do is focus.” So true.

Next: Strategic options . . . What would you tweet?