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The thought may have crossed your mind once some balmy spring day in early March, pre-heat, as the flowers start to bloom but the mosquitoes haven't yet returned. Or perhaps you realized it some fall evening as you relaxed on a patio having drinks while people in the northern half of the country listened to their radiators clank like a death knell. "Houston's not so bad, in fact, despite the [_____], it's worth it."
Okay, a lot could go into that blank space. There are plenty of reasons why Houston can be a pain, but at the same time, plenty more why it can be surprisingly terrific place to live. Randy Twaddle and Dave Thompson, the ideameisters behind HOUSTON. IT'S WORTH IT. decided to take that sentiment and turn it into first a web site, then a photography exhibit and now a book. Partners in a marketing communications firm called ttweak, the two have piercing ideas about getting a message across.
Houstonist gabbed a bit with these two about the book and our secret gem of a city.
> How did HIWI come to be?
Randy: We were asked by our friend, Mimi Swartz, Managing Editor of Texas Monthly magazine, to think about the rest of the country's perception of Texas vis-a-vis the Bush Presidency. As Dave and I were talking about it, we started discussing image campaigns in general, and then we started naming criteria for what we thought an image campaign for Houston should include.
We decided it should be non-hyperbolic, honest, and exhibit a self-deprecating sense of humor. I said, "it needs to say, 'sure it's hot as hell, the traffic sucks, mosquitos are bad, but it's worth it because the food's great, people are friendly and the art scene is really vital,'" and Dave said, "Houston, it's worth it." We both instantly felt that we were on to something, so after thinking about it over the weekend, we came back on Monday and decided to create a web site which acknowledged the difficulties of living here -- what we called "The Twenty Afflictions" -- and then invited visitors to the site to write in to "tell us why" Houston's worth it.
Last summer, we decided to see if people would "show us why" so we did an open call for photographs of Houston. The show was hosted by the Houston Center for Photography, where we hung each of the over 600 photographs that were submitted, as well as a selection of the printed comments that had been submitted to the website.
The book is a compilation of those photographs and quotes. It contains over 258 photographs taken by 121 photographers - mostly amateur.
Read more after the jump about HIWI, ttweak, and what might make Houston even better.
> What kind of traffic were you getting on the site? How many posts?
Randy: At one point, we were getting thousands of visitors a week. The site has received over 2000 posts.
> What is your favorite part of Houston?
Randy: That's a really good question. I like a lot of different parts of the city for different reasons. I live in the Heights and love the sense of community there. I also like Montrose, the East End, downtown, the "new" Chinatown, Hermann Park, any street lined with large Live Oaks. There's interesting stuff to see all over the city. I love to drive around and gawk.
Dave: I live in and love Montrose, Rice U., the new and improved Hermann Park. Now older with kids, I really appreciate the sheer big show of the Med Center I¹m not a hypochondriac really, but it is one of my favorite places. Not to visit. It¹s just extremely comforting that it is there.
> Tell me about how the philosophy of your company ttweak jives with HIWI.
Randy: Another really good question. As we were both involved in documentary film making when we began ttweak, we brought many of those skills to the enterprise; listening, mainly, is something we think we're pretty good at. In all of our branding and corporate identity work, we believe the answers to any of our client's problems lie within the culture of the company or organization. We feel like the Houston. It's Worth It website and the HIWI book are both excellent examples of that. We provided a platform from which Houstonians could express their fondness for the city, either through words or images, and in our opinion, they did a really fantastic job of doing just that.
> Is this an official project of ttweak or something you guys did on the side?
Dave and Randy: Both. We created it on our own and have funded it almost exclusively with our own money. It is not, however, our main work, though the possibilities continue to grow.
> What do you think could improve Houston as a city?
Dave and Randy: Additional rail should improve mobility and offer more people a way to get around the city in a more environmentally responsible way. We think the rail also has unquantifiable benefits; it seems to liven up the parts of the city it goes through.
Electing smart, open-minded people to city offices couldn't hurt.
Improving the air quality would certainly improve Houston.
> Why do you think Houston has had such a bad rep nationally?
Randy and Dave: We suspect one big reason is the lack of a marketing and advertising infrastructure here in the past to produce positive images of the city. In turn, we think that a lot of the bad rep is based on ignorance, and the tendency for voids to be filled with negativity rather than positivity.
> How do you see that changing, and what else can Houston do to bring on that change?
Dave and Randy: We humbly hope that the HIWI book can play some part in the change. We hope it can begin to alter people's negative impressions about the city. We also think that if people don't get the book, there's a good chance they won't get the city. In that case, there probably isn't much one can, or should, do to change their minds. Houston seems to be a city that functions pretty well under the radar, and we suspect there are a fair number of people that don't really care if the city has a bad rep anywhere else. Realistically, though, it would benefit the city if it was at least understood for what it really is -- a place of great opportunity where people work hard, are generally friendly, have a good sense of humor, and are confident enough in their abilities that they like to collaborate when appropriate. This is, of course, a generalization, but the most frequently recurring comment on the web site is that the city's worth it "because the people are so friendly."
Houston also has the potential to be the "new energy" capital of the country, as there are already a number of significant and emerging alternative energy companies creating energy from wind, biomass, solar, etc. Aligning Houston with forward thinking, environmentally conscious industries would also help.
> Where can people buy the book in town and what are the upcoming events for the book?
Dave and Randy:
Threads That Are Worth It:
A. Taghi
Edin
M. Penner
Bookstores That Are Worth It:
Borders @ Kirby
Brazos Books
Christchurch Cathedral Bookstore
Domy
Kaboom
Rice Campus Bookstore
River Oaks Bookstore
Galleries That Are Worth It:
Diverse Works
Houston Center for Photography
Lawndale Art Center
Lifestyle Retailers That Are Worth It:
Casa Blanca
Cool Stuff
Events
Jubilee
Kuhl-Linscomb
The Peel Gallery
Salons/Spas That Are Worth It:
Atelier
Stacy Chapman Studios
Musuems That Are Worth It:
CAMH
MFAH
The Menil
Coffee That¹s Worth It:
Agora
Cugina Cucina
Inversion
Food That¹s Worth It:
Central Market
Gravitas
Kraftsman Bakery
Picnic
Big blowout party at Lawndale on Thursday, Nov. 29th
Big blowout party at CAMH on Friday, Nov. 30th
> What next?
Randy and Dave: It's a secret.
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Can someone please give me more details on the reception? I only heard about the one on Thursday at the Lawndale Art Center - but I can't find any details on the one supposedly taking place Friday at the CAM? Help!?
http://www.camh.org/index.php
Scroll down a screen or two and you'll see it listed with Steel Underground on Nov 30th.