Concentrate On Culture, Place And Jobs

So, Concentrate has been reporting on the Ann Arbor area for just over a year now and you may have noticed there have been a few concepts and phrases we tend to dwell on:
 
What's next?
Place matters.
Economic transformation.
Disrupting the dominant narrative.

These are the ideas our magazine builds its content around. The concepts are, on the face of it, simple. But putting those concepts into editorial action is a challenge.

People sometimes mistake us for being pro this or pro that. They think we are cheerleaders. That's too simple and too inaccurate a description. It fails to understand the context we are striving for, the narrative we are determined to present.

What are we doing? I mean, really.

Above all else, we are interested in what's next.

What's next for our economy? What's next for our downtowns? What's next in community leadership, or sustainable practices or entrepreneurship? What businesses will lay the foundation for Michigan's future? What living trends will accommodate the next generation of downtown dwellers? What cultural amenities will appeal to future residents? And who are the people that are laying the groundwork for all this change?

We write about the industries that will transform Michigan away from its traditional manufacturing and automobile base and into a knowledge-based economy.

We cover the next thinking in sustainability, urban development, diversity and technology.

We report on the policies, businesses and cultural trends that will attract educated, creative young professionals and innovators to our community.

We spotlight the innovative people who are investing their ideas, talent, money, and time into the region's future.

How is this disruptive?

Read most publications and they are about job loss, young people fleeing the state, housing markets bottoming out, political partisanship and crime. And those are all important topics to cover. But they don't tell the whole story.

So, we at Concentrate figured those areas are covered roundly and soundly. The predominant narrative of traditional media isn't oriented toward tracking where our community is heading, how we benchmark ourselves against national and global trends in culture, lifestyle, business and development or who tomorrow's thought leaders are. It can't or won't or, in some cases, shouldn't elaborate on what might transform or evolve our community.

So, that's what Concentrate, er, concentrates on.

We don't endorse any one business or developer or politician. Instead, we're interested in how they represent where the Ann Arbor area is headed.

Yes, our approach is positive and solutions oriented. But not without critique or context. We try, particularly in our features, to examine issues and subjects with broader insight and deeper frame of reference.

Yes, we have ideas about what's important. We think urban density, sustainablilty, regional cooperation, diversity (economic and cultural), green spaces, higher education, mass transit,entrepreneurship and technological innovation are key to our community's success. And we will doggedly write about those people, businesses and projects that reflect those trends.

So, about those new sections...

Which brings us to all those young smiling faces in our "Jobs Landed" section. You may have noticed how they suddenly appeared on the Concentrate homepage about a month ago. They feature thumbnail sketches and Facebook-style photos of young talent and the positions they've landed in the last 6 months. What's that all about?

The common wisdom in Michigan is that there are no jobs to be found for college-educated talent. Now, it would be pollyanna-ish of us to suggest that the job market is hunky-dorey. It's not. But the overriding narrative is that there are NO quality jobs to be found locally. And that's simply not true. We know it by the job news stories we unearth every week and we know it from the pictures recent hires have sent our way.

"Jobs Landed", "Jobs Available" and the "Internships" feature offer up weekly examples of where high tech and new economy workers are finding or can find employment. We think these companies and people represent where the Ann Arbor area is heading, and we hope to bust the narrative that our region is a wasteland of layoffs and soon-to-be-lost blue collar jobs. We are trying to disrupt that perception.

And if you don't think perception matters you haven't been paying attention to the economy lately. Perception fuels or derails business each and every day. Where people move, invest in, support or reject --in good times or bad-- are influenced by perception. And we're determined to present an alternative point of view. It's not illusory or blind-to-reality cherry picking. It's the flipside to the crushing narratives of loss, divisiveness and failure.

Why do we focus on this sliver of the overall story? Because we think it's important that the next generation of our best and brightest stay here in Michigan. That they not become high value exports to other cities and communities. Because the two jobs that are added at a software startup and the six positions created at an alternative energy research firm could potentially be the next Microsoft or Genentech or Intel. They represent the future of our economy and work force. We can't promise that young talent will find everything they want or need in the Ann Arbor region, but if it's here we're going to try our damnedest to root it out.

So, if you've landed a job and you're under 35, or you've got a new economy position you want trumpeted in our Talent Crunch section send an email to dana@issuemediagroup.com

FilterD filters out the best

...Or, at the very least, most interesting.

It all comes down to our belief that place matters. The common wisdom is that the age-old mindset of 'job first, life second' is changing. New urbanist organizations like CEO For Cities claim that two-thirds of millennials (people demographers identify as between the ages of roughly 18 to 35) choose where to live first and then search for employment. It then stands to reason that what a community has to offer in the way of creative culture and quality of living matters.

Concentrate tries to focus on the things that make the Ann Arbor region unique and intellectually, artistically and culturally challenging. You'll see that in our features, insider guides and videos.

But what about the events that pop up each week and are really worth attending? What about the concerts and performances and gallery showings that push the boundaries of our artistic and cultural identity? 

We decided that instead of building a calendar that just lists everything that's going on (thank you Observer for doing that so incredibly well), we'd select the half dozen events each week that we think are worth attending or taking a chance on. The section is named FilterD because we (ahem) filter out what's worth checking out. Clever, huh?

Some of the selected events will be high profile performances. Others will be off-the-radar scenes. We get suggestions from local tastemakers and, well, tap our own editorial sensibilities to make our selections. Hopefully you'll learn to trust our recommendations. 

And to better help you decide whether these spotlighted events are your cup of tea, we'll include video, informative links and, of course, our own scintillating commentary.

Got an event that you think Concentrate readers should know about? Email the particulars to jeff@concentratemedia.com. (Please make sure we get them at least a week before the event. Images and contact info is always helpful.)

Insider Guides

Pop onto any community-based website and they're gonna point you to the most obvious places to dine, drink and shop. I mean, you don't need a PhD to know that Zingerman's is Ann Arbor's claim to deli fame or that Borders sells lots of books.

In acknowledging that place matters we must also acknowledge that not all restaurants are created equal. Not all bars can boast a scene seven days a week. Sometimes you want to hang out in a cafe that doesn't look, feel and smell like a Starbucks, endlessly playing Norah Jones and Michael Buble.

What's the answer? Well, we've created the Insider Guides to offer you just that... an insider's perspective of Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti.

We want to tell you where you can find a cool scene on a Monday night, where the best burger is, who sells comic books and vinyl LPs, and who makes a mean martini. There might be five fashion boutiques downtown but we want to point you to the one that doesn't cater to the middle-aged hausfrau or High School Musical wannabee.

Not only that, we profile a quartet of locals who recommend the places where they hang out, chow and party with friends. Read their profiles, catch their vibe and see if it's in sync with your own highly developed predilections. Results may vary but you'll get a good feel for what's worth checking out.

And if all else fails, we provide Yelp reviews below our recommendations. Check out who agrees with us and who thinks we're a few beers shy of a six-pack. Add your own say-so. After all, it takes a village to have a good time.

What's next?

Well, we can't really spill the beans on all the things we've got cookin' in Concentrate's lab but look for an upcoming speaker series that features thought leaders on the issues we care about most, challenging opinion columns and greater presence in the community through partnerships and sponsorships.

And by all means, share your thoughts with us. Know someone who should be a Mastermind? Tell us why. Own a new economy business that's bucking the trend and hiring? We want to hear about it. Have an idea for a feature story or video, drop us a line.

Most importantly, thanks for reading!