Reno: A Fabled City Finds Its Soul - Tapa dura

Mark Curtis spent three-and-a-half decades as an advertising agency owner and creative director based in Reno, handling a range of clients around the nation. In 1990, he became a founding member of Reno s first arts commission: C.I.T.Y. (Culture In The Year) 2000. In 1996, he conceived and co-founded Reno s month-long arts festival, Uptown Downtown ARTown later shortened to Artown and marketed the festival through its first eight years. The annual July event grew into America s largest visual and performing arts festival. Curtis was the 2000 recipient of Reno s annual Shakespeare Award for sustained excellence in support of the arts. He also received the Platinum Star from Truckee Meadows Tomorrow and the 1998 Outstanding Achievement Award from the city of Reno. In 2015, he received the Thomas C. Wilson Award from the Reno chapter of the American Advertising Federation, recognizing his lifetime contributions to the field, and his community involvement. A father of three, Curtis, his wife Valerie and their son, Henry, live in one of Reno s most historic residences.

Reno's reawakening as a vibrant city has been a long time coming and is still a work in progress. And while some are pointing to Tesla, Microsoft, Switch and other post-recession outside arrivals as the jolt to that resurgence, longtime Reno ad man Mark Curtis makes the case in a new book that the reawakening is much more home-grown, culturally based and has been steadily building for the past 20 years. It all started, he believes, with a little summer event that started life as Uptown Downtown Artown. "There is that moment in time in 1996 when Renoites discovered we had a river and we really liked living here," said Curtis, who spent a year writing, "Reno: A Fabled City Finds Its Soul." --Guy Clifton, Reno Gazette Journal

Mark Curtis is a master at storytelling, writing compelling words and capturing human emotion. This book is a paced and enjoyable read about the history, people, potential and politics of a city successfully undertaking a difficult economic transformation. Three takeaways give hope to other towns and cities seeking to find their True North, their heart and soul: 1) Arts and culture are dynamic springboards for economic development; 2) Entrepreneurs and creative types are highly persuasive to those reluctant to change; 3) It takes just a small group of passionate, well-positioned believers to make big things happen. A resurgent Reno is welcoming Tesla, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Switch and others. It is attracting new residents and building its future as America's livable city. It is celebrating the rediscovered abundance of its residents, activities, location and relevance. This book explains why and how. --John Brodeur, Brodeur Partners, Boston MA

I met well known Reno Ad-Man, Mark Curtis at Swill, a funky coffee shop in downtown Reno a few weeks back, and it had nothing to do with his new book RENO: A Fabled City Finds its Soul. The conversation began around his creative work planned for 2016 on behalf of The Lake Tahoe Summerfest Classical Music Concerts. We discussed how successful marketing strategies and tactics come from truth about the product or event being marketed, and how the goals and messages of a campaign need to be clear, well defined and most of all simple. In Curtis new book Reno: A Fabled City Finds its Soul which chronicles the history of the Biggest Little City in the World from its origins to a change that Reno began to experience during the summer of 1996 that would spur the city to embrace its easy livability, the authentic cultural presence lurking beneath the surface for more than a century. Curtis also shares a creative example of simplicity and focus in marketing through the description of print ad he created for The Weird Sisters who performed during the 1996 inaugural season of Artown, or as it was originally referred to Uptown, Downtown Artown. The ad had all the elements that Curtis described were key to a genuine and effective campaign: a truth about the product and a simple clear message. The ad featured a woman s bosom and an image of Bob Dole, (who was probably running for President at the time) on a stamp covering an explicit part of that anatomy. The ad s headline said it all.. He wouldn t like it. Creative and on point which is what Curtis is know for, but what I find most intriguing about his book Reno: A Fabled City Finds it s Soul is the position Curtis takes in identifying the tie between the humble beginnings of this, now globally recognized festival as the flashpoint that has brought together the creative, cultural, quirky, intelligent, eclectic people and elements of Reno and ushered in evolution of growth and recognition for all the attributes that the area has always possessed. With the Tesla, Panasonic, Microsoft and new tech innovators like Elevate Blue calling Reno and its environs home, the cliche perceptions surrounding the Biggest Little City in the World fade away like the dusty paths to the mines of the original Comstock Lode. What remains is the sophistication and anything goes independence that Curtis chronicles in vivid detail. Curtis tell you this is no historical essay. Reno: A Fabled City Finds it s Soul is a story of serendipitous moments, hard choices, happy realities and coincidences that led Reno to where it is heading today. Strung together by photograph s of today s Reno, not yesterday s. Personally, I would have still liked to see the Weird Sister s print ad that Curtis created. I have a feeling Bob Dole still wouldn t like it, but you would. Also, I think, actually I know, you will enjoy this creative informative and entertaining read. --Ted Kelly, Tres magazine, 2/6/16