Sunrise in the Forest
To make Lancaster, PA the most photographed place in the world.
Yes that includes Lancaster county and city. Most of photos displayed around the world of Lancaster are of the rural scenery and the Amish lifestyle. But there is more to Lancaster, MUCH more.
Seth Godin argues (can someone please help me find his blog post about this a few years back) that the best way to change the behavior of a group of people is to point out the progress leaders who are already doing the thing it is that is going in the direction you want to community to head then tell those (often hidden) stories to the other people who could really benefit from that new behavior. And so on. It is almost impossible to teach people something new from the outside and for that new behavior or science to stick beyond the time that the said outsider is in residence. Stick with me now…
What do you take photos of? Well… sift through your Facebook feed and the pics that your friends share. It is a whole lot of people enjoying or mourning an emotional and always relational event: birthdays, holidays, first day of school, best place to work in PA, and so on. Then there are the shots of vacations which when they are not emotional or relational they tend to be about architecture and scenery: Rocky Mountains, Eiffel Tower, Grand Canyon, Statue of Liberty, you get the idea! Last of all, there is art, which is usually the stuff and the person behind the stuff. So to make Lancaster the most photographed place in the world we need to create experiences that are rich in people, emotion, and art.
November sunset, Snake Hill Road
I have already taken steps on my enrich Lancaster journey by becoming friends with the lynchpins in our tribe. Check out my Twitter feed and you will notice I follow photographers, videographers, web developers, artisan foodies & drink snobs, architects, a few politicians, local business owner/operators - the best leaders, managers, storytellers, and creative genius’s who inhabit this place we all call home. It will take all of us to pull this together. And home sweet home will only become more enjoyable and more sought after.
