UTAH'S TECH BRAND NEEDS "DOPE FLOW".

• Author: Plothow, Brad
• Position: SILICON SLOPES

My brother teaches middle school history in southeastern Idaho, where my dad has been a regional newspaper publisher for two decades. Recently, my dad spoke to my brother's class on the topic of media literacy. Imagine trying to convince teenagers to think critically about the information they consume on Facebook and Instagram. Might as well be asking them to eat spinach.

Despite this uphill battle, something interesting happened during the presentation. The kids didn't roll their eyes and tune out. They leaned in, listened and engaged. Afterward, they wrote letters of appreciation. One of the students said my dad had "dope flow."

Now, I may not be "hip and with it," but I can understand what this student meant in context. For most teens, media literacy is probably about as relevant and interesting as monetary policy. On this day, however, my dad found a way to turn a captive audience into converts to his message. Years from now, those kids will remember what was communicated that day.

There's a formula here. To get the dope flow reaction, you need to:

1. Ahem! Capture an audience's attention.

2. Preach without being preachy.

3. Use simplicity to make it memorable.

   There's also a lesson here for Utah's burgeoning tech sector. Increasingly, we have our own captive audience as more and more people pay attention to national publicity about our fair state, but we have a limited window to use the spotlight to create lasting value. Brands abhor a vacuum--we can either fill that vacuum on our terms, or the public at large will do it for us.

   Time's ticking, folks. Our tech brand needs dope flow, stat.

   OWNING OUR STORY

   Let's start with where we are now, and then look at whVere we need to go. Currently, Utah has a unique asset in Silicon Slopes, which doubles as a moniker and a channel for sharing news within our tech community. This gives us a sense of community and a megaphone locally.

   On the national stage, Utah generates publicity mainly on the basis of two strengths: our perpetually high ranking on various "best states for business" lists, and story after story in national publications about why the state is fertile ground for producing high-value private tech companies.

   These are important sources of relevance for Utah, and they've vaulted us into the national consciousness, at least temporarily. But these are storylines--they are not our story. They're means to an end, not the end itself. To establish staying power, Utah's tech brand needs to be...