Welcome to the second issue of the EconomicDevelopment.org newsletter. We'd love to hear your feedback, so feel free to send your thoughts to connect@economicdevelopment.org.

From the EconomicDevelopment.org team, have a safe and happy new year!

By Clark Hoskin

As the snow begins to fly, it is time to think about a gift for the economic development officer in your life.

A magic wand would make a great gift ($15 to $100, Merlin’s Realm) if it could guarantee to lure a major employer to town. Once a few spells are mastered with the VooDoo Doll Spellbook ($16, CreateSpace Independent Publishing), EDOs might better influence clients, stakeholders and elected officials.

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By Karolyn Hart

This past weekend I had the privilege of attending the iCanada conference in Montreal where leaders from across Canada gathered under one roof to discuss how we would build an intelligent nation together. After listening to numerous speakers throughout the day, one thing became very clear – if we want to compete then it’s not enough to just say that you have a Twitter account, you’d better have a strategy on how you’re using that Twitter account and ensure it integrates with all your other social media platforms.

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By Steven Thorne

In my last post, I talked about place-based cultural tourism – an approach to destination planning I’ve developed to maximize a community’s ability to attract cultural tourists. How?  By capitalizing on any community’s most strategic asset: its sense of place.

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By Brock Dickinson

Last month, I had the chance to speak at the annual conference of the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) in Houston, Texas, with a focus on the question of how and why Business Retention and Expansion (BR+E) is evolving to be more effective in the new economy.

I’ve had a lot of requests for transcripts and copies of the speech but I generally don’t speak from notes, so I promised I’d provide an overview of my thoughts on this blog. Here’s the second of three blog posts that will cover off the main ideas and themes of that presentation…

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By Brock Dickinson

Gary Hamel is a management consultant, professor and writer who’s been called the #1 most influential business thinker by the Wall Street Journal. Back in the 1990s, he was the co-creator of the idea of “core competencies”, an idea which describes the key factors that allow businesses (or communities in economic development) to differentiate themselves from each other.  His latest book is "What Matters Now: How to Win in a World of Relentless Change, Ferocious Competition, and Unstoppable Innovation".

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