The 2009 Roseys: Brash, Cheap and I Wouldn't Have it Any Other Way

For too long, I've let this blog go dormant. It took the 2009 Rosey Awards campaign to get me off my butt. For better or worse, this is what has resulted.

It has been exciting to see individuals debate the merits of the 2009 Rosey Awards campaign and, by extension, the merits of the Portland creative community. This year’s concept—“Nothing Says I’m Better Than You Like a Rosey”—was intended to be controversial and provocative. Judging by what I’ve seen in the Blogosphere and on Twitter, it has achieved those aims. If nothing else, this campaign has us passionately engaging in a heartfelt debate about how Portland ought to present itself to the world as a creative hub.

Still, I have a beef with Portland-area creatives. This city is filled with smart, gifted, talented people. Global- and national-ranked opportunities ought to be ours to turn down. But that isn’t happening—even in the best of economic times. Why is that? Perhaps one factor is our cultural climate itself. Portlanders are often characterized as having a certain “cool detachment.” While I like that lifestyle, it isn’t without costs.

Generous spirits admire our easygoing, coffeehouse-and-bicycle culture, yet snarkier voices call it a slacker mentality. I think there’s a lot of truth in both of those viewpoints. As a third-generation Portlander who has spent most of my adult life in this community, I have to speak up frankly for the latter view.

The way I see it, at the heart of that hip, cool pose is fear. Fear that we really can’t hang with our peers in other markets. Fear of rejection. Fear of being resented or called sellouts or accused of rising above our station if we elbow our way into the VIP suite, where we know we truly belong.

Sometimes I feel like I’m at a prom where hardly anyone is dancing—not for lack of partners, but lack of courage to do the dance.

And it’s holding us back from getting the good gigs.

To echo Jimmy Carter—whose observation was correct, if politically disastrous (he SO reminds me of me)—this attitude is a longstanding, endemic cultural malaise and it’s corrupting our ability to take our rightful place in the national arena as a first-rate creative community. Obviously, there are Portlanders who do not fit this description at all. But far too many fit it to a T.

Which brings me back to the Roseys campaign. Many recognize what it’s trying to accomplish. Note what members of the Denver creative community have to say at the Denver Egotist:

“Granted, the crux of the [Roseys] site involves talking shit about every city other than Portland itself—and it’s damn hilarious. But it’s also the truth—the real way cities already on the map outside ours perceive what’s going on here creatively.”

The Roseys’ pugnacious tone follows in the tradition of Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, Don Rickles and the celebrity roast. (Disclosure: I contributed copy.) It might be ill-conceived if it were not for the fact that the PAF is reaching out to the rest of the nation’s creative communities via direct mail, email, Facebook and Twitter (also #roseys) to return the smack talk. By inviting such replies, the campaign demonstrates a true sense of humor, in that it can both dish it out and take it.

And the responses have been a lot of fun. The Seattlest, for instance, said:

“If, like us, you were wondering what the hell the Rosey Awards are, they're rewards for doing decent creative work in Oregon. Don't worry--you won't be asked about that on trivia night. There's a difference between trivia and inconsequentia.”

Heh heh. That’s what I’m talkin’ ‘bout.

Every year, a few people complain that the Roseys are, as one Twitterer put, “insider-ish and self-congratulatory.” Well, let’s see.... Since the Roseys are by and for the Portland creative community how could they not be that way? It’s like complaining that their ice cream is too cold.

Portland Ad Federation board member Ryan Buchanan said it well in his eROI Days blog: “I think it’s the perfect time for Portland to step up and talk with confidence about its creative talent here.” We sweat talent in this city. But it won’t take off in the way that we claim we want until we, as a hub, get a big-city fire in our gut.

Or like Bill Maher said the other night about Obama, "Enough with the hope. I want more audacity." The 2009 Rosey campaign aims for such audacity. When you swagger, people are going to call you an asshole. They are also going to respect you and give you money in exchange for your ideas. I think that’s a very fair trade-off.

For the record, I would gladly give up a bit of our slacker lifestyle to achieve it.

In the meantime, have some fun with this brief campaign. Give in to your base urges and join the smackdown.