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immigrants who brought their culture,
their palate, their artistic ideals to the
region. Most notably the substantial
Italian and Basque populations, but
certainly many others. Also, we have
the pioneers, the miners, the truly
rugged people who cascaded through
Reno on their way to other parts of
the state or country that added a
distinctive flavor to this town from its
beginnings.
When entering into the PR industry,
I was working for local special events
that had national and international
appeal. So it was fun and exhilarating
to relay stories to people outside of our
region that were surprising to them.
“Really, all that happens in Reno?”
Indeed.
Upon entering the agency world, I
worked for a firm based in northern
California that had many well-known
clients near Reno, but not within the
town. So frankly the people I worked
with across the country, and even
world, were flabbergasted when
they learned where I was based—
while pitching international-caliber
destinations to them. And it was fun to
tell them why I was based here. There’s
an airport 12 minutes from my house,
some of the most beautiful outdoors on
the planet practically outside my door,
world-class cuisine and people who
are friendly and warm everyplace I go.
Why wouldn’t I live here??
Change is great and ever present,
however one thing I would hate to
see change in this community is our
fortitude. Our resiliency and pride are
very strong, and I hope it stays this
way.
Natasha Bourlin is the Public
Relations Partner at Biggest Little
Group.
Grit and Moxie
By Mike Draper
R
eno has changed immensely
since I started my career
many years ago and, as such,
it’s dramatically changed
how I represent clients and the region.
When I started out in public relations,
the stories I pitched were geared more
towards the novelty and spectacle
of various facets of our region. Now,
the most successful media pitches
encompass various aspects of the
quality of life in our community, with
individual clients only a piece of a
much larger story. I was born and
raised in Reno and I have always been
proud of it. This town has significantly
grappled with an identity crisis over
the past several years that a clever ad
campaign or inspirational slogan was
never going to fix. Our city has always
had its own compelling story based
on history and region. But, thanks
to a shift in collective attitude – an
overwhelming sense of pride – in the
last several years, our community
believes in its story and hangs a
lantern on its story, rather than shy
away from it. This new attitude brings
out the best in individual businesses
and professionals and this makes for
a much more attractive narrative and
draw for those living outside of our
region. I do believe that we still have a
ways to go. I think as we progress and
evolve and become more comfortable
in the uniqueness of Reno, there are
still pockets of collective insecurity
and sometimes it feels our region
is more accepting of the failures of
businesses, industries and individuals
than we are in the success of those
businesses, industries and individuals.
I think as northern Nevadans continue
to become more comfortable with what
Reno is and isn’t we’ll be able to more
fully support success than occasionally
relish in failure. Looking forward, I get
concerned that, in its excitement and
anxiousness to be what we aspire to
be, the community might get ahead of
itself and not adequately address the
foundation – education, infrastructure,
community issues (homelessness) –
that’s needed for long term prosperity.
Reno is a unique mix of old and
new, of history and progress, of
grit and moxie. We’re cool dive bars
and amazing, modern restaurants,
passionate and dedicated individuals
who have been here for generations
and talented transplants who have
come because they believe Reno is a
great place to live, work and play and
they’re anxious to add to that. If we, as
a community continue to embrace this
diversity and contrast, we’ll continue
to have an exciting story that will
appeal to the rest of the world.
Mike Draper is the Senior Vice
President at Argentum Partners
Reno was cool,
before Reno
was cool
By Jen Eastwood
I
was born and raised in Reno and
was never one of those people
who just couldn’t wait to get out.
I’ve always loved my town and
have been its champion and staunch
defender for as long as I can remember.
I always felt that those who knocked
it, just hadn’t discovered all the cool
things I had. Because Reno was cool,
before Reno was cool. There were
incredible restaurants before Campo
opened, you could bar hop and find
funky shops on S. Virginia before
it was Midtown, you could float the
Truckee long before the kayak park
was built and businesses were doing
business in Nevada before Tesla even
existed.
Of course, all those things and
numerous others have helped put Reno
on the map. So I find that the telling
of Reno’s story hasn’t changed really
as much as the reception of it has. It’s