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It’s dorky as hell and is ripe for parody: the city needed people to be nicer to them, so they decided to try to influence mass appeal by launching this little happy campaign. As a direct result of years of city government bashing by the press and pissed off home owners…………well they had to do some thing. In 1974 boulder launched a Boulder is Better campaign which backfired on the chamber and city. People started seeing us as even more rich white and smarmy than we already are. How is this latest love fest with ourselves going to be taken?? We’ll have to wait and see

Community launches celebration of Boulder life with I love Boulder campaign

What do you love about Boulder? That’s the question thousands of people and businesses will be asked in 2011. And the answers are expected to be heard around the cybersphere.

The City of Boulder has joined efforts with partner businesses and organizations to kick off a year of celebration about what those who call Boulder home love most about the city we share. The “community-owned” campaign is designed to be viral and invites the community to personalize the theme, logo and branding to share individual tributes to Boulder.

“There are so many things to love about being in Boulder,” said City Manager Jane Brautigam. “Boulder tops the nation’s top 10 lists every year for quality of life, innovations and hot jobs.  The goal of this campaign is to capture all of those great stories from our community and showcase our unique city to the world as a terrific place to live, visit, recreate and do business.”

“Boulder is one of the best and most beautiful university towns in America,” said CU-Boulder Chancellor Philip P. DiStefano. “The combined cultural, artistic, recreational and intellectual resources are unparalleled, and the quality of life on campus and in the city is unmatched. I have lived here for nearly 40 years and am still in awe of this amazing community.”

City Communication Manager Patrick von Keyserling said the concept for the campaign started as a discussion about what attracts people and businesses to Boulder. It became a communitywide effort when local businesses volunteered to donate their time and talents to celebrate the cultural, traditional and happily unconventional characteristics of Boulder life.

“The campaign is designed to be fun and engage every segment of our community,” said von Keyserling. “Our partners have helped create an open-source campaign that empowers people to be involved at a variety of levels.”

The  happy website is www.loveboulder.org

A number of organizations have already agreed to incorporate the theme into their annual marketing plans. Others are using the I love Boulder concept to challenge members and students to tell their stories and learn more about the community. Boulder Public Library has capitalized on its film series to promote films with strong Boulder connections; Boulder Facebook Page is asking its 30,000 fans to submit photos and favorite places to highlight lesser known Boulder attractions and events; and the Boulder Valley School District is challenging students to produce short films about their Boulder experiences and create art about their favorite Boulder places.

“This is a great opportunity for students and teachers to use real life experiences in the classroom to be part of a community effort to celebrate our history and school spirit,” said Boulder Valley School District Superintendent Dr. Chris King. “The classroom becomes much more real when the students are focused on current conversations that are occurring in our community.”

BVSD’s engagement is exactly what the city was hoping for when it introduced the concept to community partners.“Really anything goes with this campaign,” said von Keyserling. “It’s wonderful that students are telling us what they love about the city. We also hope to hear from entrepreneurs who chose Boulder over New York, Seattle or Paris; athletes who train in Boulder; and individuals who have a favorite restaurant or hiking trail.”