Amazon

[BKDotCom]

Cities Are Competing to Give Amazon the 'Mother of All Civic Giveaways'
https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/43aw8q/cities-are-competing-to-give-amazon-the-mother-of-all-civic-giveaways

"It's an intoxicating proposition to detonate an Amazon prosperity bomb in the center of their city," Scott Galloway, a marketing professor at New York University and the author of The Four: The Hidden DNA of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google, told me on a phone call. But "this has the potential to be destructive on the wrong terms for the local municipality."

[heironymouspasparagus]

Okrahoma made the New York Times!  In a bad way again....

Anyone out there still "deaf" enough to think we have a chance with Amazon??

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/20/us/oklahoma-city-police-shooting-deaf.html?mcubz=3

[TeeDub]

You make waving a pipe at the cops sound strangely acceptable.

[BKDotCom]

You make waving a pipe at the cops sound strangely acceptable.

Don't bring a pipe to a gun fight.

[Moderator]

Focus.

Not every thread needs to descend into a political discussion.  We get that just about anything can be related to a topic if you try, but lets not.  Drifting everything towards blatant politics drives many people away from the topic at hand.

Thank you.

- Moderator

[erfalf]

Focus.

Not every thread needs to descend into a political discussion.  We get that just about anything can be related to a topic if you try, but lets not.  Drifting everything towards blatant politics drives many people away from the topic at hand.

Thank you.

- Moderator

Thank you

[heironymouspasparagus]

You make waving a pipe at the cops sound strangely acceptable.

No.  Not at all.  What is significant is NOT just the one little sound bite portion you bring up, but the totality also involved many people yelling to get attention WELL before the guy got even close to the two cops.  And only one saw fit to start shooting - rather than following the taser example of the other.  It is a horrible lack of judgement.  And just highlights the known, ongoing problems with police actions across the country.  

Shelby again.  Only worse.


And this is very directly related to the national reputation we have not just with policing, but education, infrastructure, and just a general perception from areas outside of 'fly over land' that we are simply hicks from the sticks.  It is sad.  I would love to have Amazon here - I bet I could get hired on with them - but cannot see a path to that happening.

[TulsaBeMore]

Let's see...negative headlines in Charlotte, Atlanta, etc...don't seem to keep down job development there.  ConAgra & McDonald's are OK with Chicago...on pace to have more homicides than NY and LA combined. Don't think the OKC thing would impact anything.

While the moderator is around, does the home page get updated much?  I got on here a few weeks ago and thought the site was abandoned till I found the forums...just asking. Realize its volunteer thing.

[heironymouspasparagus]

Let's see...negative headlines in Charlotte, Atlanta, etc...don't seem to keep down job development there.  ConAgra & McDonald's are OK with Chicago...on pace to have more homicides than NY and LA combined. Don't think the OKC thing would impact anything.

While the moderator is around, does the home page get updated much?  I got on here a few weeks ago and thought the site was abandoned till I found the forums...just asking. Realize its volunteer thing.

So ALL those dozens of new companies moving into Oklahoma in recent years just came here in spite of perceptions...  but what about those that have left?


Don't forget Boeing - they like Chicago, too - moved there from Seattle.

[SXSW]

It's already been mentioned but one way to boost Tulsa's profile for attracting technology companies is to create more home-grown talent at the local universities.  In 2008, the mayor of NYC Michael Bloomberg led an initiative to look at how NYC can keep up with global economic trends, and one of the ways was to have an existing university build a new applied sciences campus in the city with a focus on STEM programs.  Cornell won the competition and built Cornell Tech which acts as a branch of the main campus in upstate NY but with a STEM focus in an urban setting.  The same could be applied to the Tulsa campuses of OSU, OU or both. 

Houston is already looking at Cornell as a model for an urban branch of the UT system but, like in Oklahoma, is running into political issues:

"A focus group for the Houston land purchased by the University of Texas System evaluated the Cornell campus as a possible model for its operations. The Cornell campus touts private work spaces and open-plan offices that are modeled after tech companies' workspaces, and The Wall Street Journal says the campus buildings "set a new bar for architecture."

"High-tech companies and new, small companies that will be the next big companies, they tend to be created where the founders go to school. You see that in Silicon Valley. Here was a chance to get a bunch of people educated and create the economy of the future for New York City." 

If Chancellor William McRaven hadn't called off the Houston plans, the task force would have proposed an idea for an institute for data science, saying it would bolster Houston's energy and health sectors and would allow UT to collaborate with industry and national laboratories.

That operation, of course, was called off in March amid growing criticism from lawmakers, regents and Houston campuses – before the system or task force unveiled publicly any vision for the property. McRaven said he couldn't develop a "shared vision" for UT's use of the land. The project cost him political capital in Austin, and he pledged to sell the land.

But in his annual State of the City address, Mayor Sylvester Turner asked the University of Houston, Rice University and Texas A&M to work with UT to take on a task force's recommendations for how to use the 300-plus acres near the Texas Medical Center.

"If Houston wants to remain a global leader in energy, aeronautics, health care and education, we also need to be a leader in data science. And the world's premiere data science center needs to be and must be right here in the city of Houston," Turner said.

http://www.chron.com/local/education/campus-chronicles/article/Cornell-Tech-campus-once-a-model-for-UT-in-12205042.php

[TheArtist]

Few angles that I hope they would not overlook when approaching Amazon.  

1. Best of both worlds, small city with big city amenities (and they could be a big partner and influence in shaping a brighter future, essentially helping to create an ideal city).  Imagine a bustling urban setting, but without the terrible traffic you find in places like Austin and Denver. Beautiful neighborhoods, world class parks, museums, arts, arena, etc.   In a way we have been working for a while now essentially to "set the stage and create a place for them".  There is more to be done, but a big company like them, in a smaller city like ours, they would be in the position here to help shape the future into something great.  Show them what we have done, show them what we are doing to improve our city, show them some of our hopes and dreams. Get them to think of partnering and having a voice and adding something positive to that.

2.  Our story.  Stories are important, they can create a positive sense of connection.  I would have someone like Kelly Gibson from "Tours of Tulsa" take them on a historic tour of downtown, show them the architecture and tell them of our incredible history, the amazing Boomtown growth, the oil barons, flappers and gangster aspect. The great wealth and companies that started here.  Tell them about and show them our great Native American history, etc.  Yes, even tell them about the Race Riot/Massacre.  Show them how the arts came about in Tulsa and how they still play an important part.  That kind of thing helps the city stand out and stick in the mind, creates something to "connect" to and understand.  Its not just another place and a bunch of statistics.  Not everyone "gets" this sort of thing, but for those who find this stuff interesting and important, Tulsa can make a BIG impact.  For a young city we have some incredible history and stories to tell!  If I were at a table with others and they laid out a bunch of cities on it and there was one that stood out because you knew so many interesting things about it and had that sort of connection.  That puts that city up a notch.

3.  Sex sells.  I know this sound tacky but truth be told... we all know its damned well true.  Every time you meet with them, when they come into the airport, meet with them in an office, or whatever, make sure there is some eye candy in the room (male and female) to greet them or be a representative for some group or another. Its another thing that will stick in the mind and that they will remember and possibly even talk about. And thats what you want.  If you really want this company, no detail should be overlooked.  We all know that, all things being equal, the good looking person will have an advantage over the average person.  Its not right, don't like it, but there it is.   The second part to this is (Great personalities sell)  Bring in those people who have stand out, positive personalities.  That is another important aspect to not overlook.

[sgrizzle]

3.  Sex sells.  I know this sound tacky but truth be told... we all know its damned well true.  Every time you meet with them, when they come into the airport, meet with them in an office, or whatever, make sure there is some eye candy in the room (male and female) to greet them or be a representative for some group or another. Its another thing that will stick in the mind and that they will remember and possibly even talk about. And thats what you want.  If you really want this company, no detail should be overlooked.  We all know that, all things being equal, the good looking person will have an advantage over the average person.  Its not right, don't like it, but there it is.   The second part to this is (Great personalities sell)  Bring in those people who have stand out, positive personalities.  That is another important aspect to not overlook.

Now I want to see the Decopolis business plan.

[TheArtist]

Now I want to see the Decopolis business plan.

Can you handle it?  
https://i2.wp.com/www.decopolis.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Tulsa-Skyport-black-e1486497884588.jpg?fit=4800%2C3999

http://www.decopolis.net/product/goddess-of-oil-11x14-matted-print/

Couple of best sellers!

And lest we go too crazy here thinking those 3 things would be my main approach.  NO.  I hope it was understood that I am assuming that any positive "numbers stuff", listing off whatever positive attributes the city has along with any "financial goodies" we can offer, and putting forth a good assortment of our "best and brightest" creative folk, famous people, smart people, doing research on anyone involved with the selection process (finding out what their likes, hobbies and interests are to play off those, finding out who we know that they know in order to influence,) etc.  will obviously be done as a matter of course.  I was just trying to put out some additional details that could perhaps make a difference.  If we really want this, every legitimate possible angle should be considered along with trying some creative off the wall stuff.   Tulsa is at best a "Wild Card" option so our hand will have to be played to the max with attention to every possible detail.

[Conan71]

The down-side of landing an Amazon:

https://www.texasmonthly.com/the-daily-post/texas-cities-amazon-headquarters-hq2/

[cannon_fodder]

I can't fathom Austin if something added to the boom.  The area of that city that is in any way "weird" has remained the same as the city doubled and double again.  Most of it is already just Anytown, USA, add another level of boom and it's just Dallas with a cooler downtown area.