What should Helena be known for?

That's what a committee wants to know, as the community moves forward with finding a unique brand for the city to draw more visitors here.

"We're sort of on the full-court press of gathering public opinion," said Matthew Cohn, current chair of the Advantage Helena committee tasked with rounding up people's thoughts as part of the ongoing branding process. "We want the public buy-in; we really do want their ideas."

Working with Destination Development, a Washington state firm, Advantage Helena is collecting people's thoughts on Helena's identity and how we choose to show ourselves to the rest of the world.

"Really, the brand is about finding our identity," said Jim McHugh, director of Downtown Helena, Inc.

City Commissioner Alan Peura, a member of the committee, said he believes the group has overcome the early perception that the branding effort is strictly for the benefit of downtown.

"Our business folks who are outside of downtown recognize there's a synergistic relationship that exists between different parts of the community," he said. "This is going to benefit everybody."

That's an important point, as one of the consultant's keys to successful branding is to find something specific about the community, something that visitors can't find somewhere else.

"Winning a popularity contest will not result in a successful effort because you cannot be all things to all people," Roger Brooks said at an initial workshop in May.

At that time, Brooks presented an initial assessment of Helena from the eyes of a visitor. He said the city is tough to navigate, and pointed to a number of quick fixes that would spruce up the city.

McHugh said early returns show strong support for both the arts and history as Helena's potential calling cards, though neither is likely specific enough for Brooks' taste. Within those categories, Helena might focus on ceramics or performing arts, or combine the two themes into a Western art brand.

Once people's suggestions on branding are collected by the middle of next month, Brooks and his team will narrow down the list of suggestions to "less than five" possible brands for Helena, according to Cohn.

Cohn said the group so far has received around 100 responses to its call for feedback on Helena's identity. That's a good start, he said, but the committee wants more.

"Something's going to happen, so if you want it to happen in a positive way, you need to direct the energy," he said. "We really do need input, and if you care about our town, it matters. Here's an opportunity to define what our future's going to look like."

Speak up

Advantage Helena wants to know what you think. To have your voice heard, send an e-mail to

theteam@destinationdevelopment.com, in which you address the following questions:

- How should Helena differentiate itself from other visitor destinations in the West?

- What do you think Helena should be known for?

- What can Helena offer that no other destination within 200 miles provides?

- How can Helena make our community a great destination for new residents, visitors and even our current local residents?

Some things to keep in mind: The responses should be experiential, not just things to look at; the narrower the better -- being all things to all people is not different; it should be based on something already in the community that can be developed to the next level; and it should be something that the entire community can buy into over time.

Eyes of a visitor

To see the initial assessment of Helena through the eyes of a visitor, click on this link: http://www.helenachamber.com/catalogs/catalog65/section103/file237.pdf

John Harrington can be reached at 447-4080 or john.harrington@helenair.com