10 Tough Questions with Chris Farias

Imaginitarian and Partner, Chris Farias is a Hamiltonian entrepreneur and owner of kitestring creative marketing + design.

Now in kitestring`s third year of business, Chris acts as Creative Director on all campaigns with his knack for creating unique identities and on-target brand awareness. He has a stellar background in print design, illustration and art direction. Chris also brings over 9 years experience in brand development to kitestring.

Chris enjoys fostering his community, and thoroughly believes that Hamilton is a city that is comprised of intriguing young people who are changing it for the better. Chris acts as President of the James South District, is actively involved in the Art Gallery of Hamilton`s Clic board and founded HYPE, the Hamilton young professionals and entrepreneurs group. Welcome to 10 Tough Questions with Chris Farias.

1.You act as President of the James South District. Can you describe what that means and what type of initiatives you are involved in, in the James South area?

The James South District was started by a few local business owners who wanted to make the area they lived and worked in the best liveable space possible. I have lived and work in this area for five and a half years. With the James South District, I work with a dedicated board focusing on cleanliness in the community and providing a forum of communication between the businesses in the area. The James South District is not looking to compete with James North, who does such a fantastic job at branding itself as the arts and culture centre of the city. This year, we’ve started to look at re-branding the James South District as a restaurant hot-spot in Hamilton, giving it its own unique character as a place to provide a variety of culinary experiences from French bistros, Ethiopian cuisine to seafood pubs. With both sides of James working together, we can enhance the downtown experience for all.

2.What are the challenges and opportunities on James S?

The challenges that present themselves on James South occur due in part because a large majority of people who come to the area during their nine to five gig often leave the area when the 5 o'clock whistle blows instead of staying to enjoy the community. There are huge opportunities present to feature this area as the place to venture out for relaxing dinner or an after work drink in Hamilton.

3.You are described as someone who “believes that Hamilton is a city that is comprised of intriguing young people who are changing it for the better”. In the face of very poor voter turn out in the last election, what type of things could be done to inspire young people, or all people for that matter, to take a greater vested interest in local politics?

Young people who are passionate about the city are going to alter its landscape whether they are vested in politics or not. And we shouldn’t expect young people to actively participate when they aren’t even included in the initial conversations.

To engage young people in activity you have to find out where they are having conversations and then participate in them using language they can relate to.

As a young person in Hamilton, I have never been exposed to messaging about when, where or why it is important to vote. Young people are on the internet... a lot. They’re not looking at signs on suburban lawns, or even necessarily reading traditional newspapers.

Obama used twitter, facebook and appearances on t.v., like the Jon Stewart Show, to reach a younger audience.

Messaging for a Boomer audience about the importance of voting should be entirely different that for Generation Y, and so should the medium.

4.Creativity appears to be large part of the business you are in. Has Hamilton been creative enough in marketing itself? What other approaches might we use to that end?

There are some really creative, talented and intelligent people managing to create some serious pockets of amazing buzz and activity around town. I’m not convinced that the city is doing its best to really capture the essence of this energy in their marketing.

There is a lot to be said for a little market research. If these creative, talented and intelligent people were polled using the right questions, I’m sure that themes would be present in regards to their idea of what the city of Hamilton is to them. I know that some departments are investing in market research trying to tap into this voice, and I’m interested to see what the marketing results will be.

5.You founded HYPE, the Hamilton young professionals and entrepreneurs group. When you consider how this city is run, at the political and bureaucratic levels, what impression does that leave with young professionals and entrepreneurs.

As I said earlier, I think that young people in this town are not included in the conversation, and if anything, feel that their opinions are an untapped resource. Tap that resource Hamilton.

6.What can we do as a city, to further encourage, channel and leverage the energy and new ideas that young people bring? Or do you believe that channels and opportunities are available and are being utilized?

Here’s the thing: You have no right to eat the tomato unless you help to grow it. Unfortunately for Hamilton, Toronto loves buying our juicy tomatoes.

The city has no right to “leverage” talent they cannot properly foster.

There should be a focus on how we can attract and retain bright, young people by providing more opportunities for meaningful employment. There are obvious benefits for these types of young people being here.

Walk into any book store in this city and ask the young person working there what subject they studied for their Masters degree. We have smart people in this city. Give them an opportunity to use those smarts here, or you leave them no choice but to vamoose.

I know we’re a mustard town, but we’ve got to start bottling more ketchup.

7.Is the business model for people who work in the creative arts, different than a “regular” business model, from the perspective of requirements? What are the nuances or differences, if any, with respect to what the requirements would be?

I work in the creative media and marketing industry, which is a little different than selling a manufactured product, so naturally these business models should differ. kitestring sells creativity, talent and expertise.

The only difference between our business and a lawyer’s for example, is the lack of general public understanding of our services and how important they are to help organizations do what they do even better.

8.Your firm has expertise in employing imagination, to create, brand and re-brand. By way of this question, I am asking you to huddle up with your group and paint a picture of what downtown Hamilton could grow to be. Describe it 5 years from now, in accordance with an imaginative vision your group might conjure up.

We imagine that in five years,

...Hamilton is a lot easier for people to get around using greener transportation.

... a lot less people are commuting out of the city to work.

... there are less boarded up buildings and more revitalized businesses downtown.

... that more people live in the downtown core.

... that Hamiltonians view their poor, sick or homeless as equal members of the community that deserve better options.

...Hamiltonians finally see what this city has to offer and stand up as advocates for the city when they encounter a negative perception of it.

These answers are not exactly creative, but the vehicle to get there has to be a creative one.

9.What needs to happen to realize the results of question 8?

There would need to be a shift in the minds of a lot of people who live here. It has been my experience that people who have moved here from elsewhere say the best things about Hamilton. A lot of Hamiltonians have a Monet perception of the city because they only focus on narrow portions of it from a short distance. If these people backed up a bit, they could see the beautiful picture.

10.If you had the undivided attention of all Hamiltonian’s for 5 minutes, what would you say to them, in terms of how to contribute to moving our city forward?

I don’t think that having the undivided attention of all Hamiltonians at once for five minutes would be very impactful because it would be impossible to inspire a 65 year old woman and a 13 year old boy with the same message.

What I might do is tell the crowd of Hamiltonians to turn to their left and meet the person beside them. The only way to get to know Hamilton is through knowing its people.

We are a city of great people.

Thanks Chris for your interest in Hamilton. Visit Kitestring Creative Marketing and Design by clicking here