Doug Small is a man who has lived in many places. It's Grand Rapids, however, where he wants to retire.
"[Grand Rapids has] been the easiest to become a resident of a new city than anywhere," he says, "and I've moved enough for two lifetimes."
Small has been the president of the Kent County Convention and Visitors Bureau (now
Experience Grand Rapids) for two years, but his experience has made its mark in five states. He started his career in Dayton, Ohio, moved to Palm Springs, California, and then moved to Syracuse, New York. His last stop was Denver before Small, his wife and 10-year-old daughter rooted themselves in Grand Rapids.
"Denver's a fantastic city ... I liked it, but I realized two things: one, my ultimate goal was to get back home, and two, I didn't want to live in a big, big city. I'm more comfortable in a mid-sized city," Small says.
The "home" Small aimed to get back home to included his parents and 13 brothers and sisters. His birth order is number 10. Though his family is big, Small is close with them. He says they come from all walks of life and describes them all as successful.
"My mom and dad, God love them ... stayed together after 64 years. The reason is, they made a pact that whoever left had to take the children," he says. "They are unbelievable because we all get along like best friends, from one to 14. It's truly a family, which is the main reason why I wanted to move."
Though he's been in the hospitality and tourism field for 28 years, Small planned on having a career in education when he first started college in Ohio. Successful in track and field during high school, Small wanted to teach young children and coach.
"My roommate was in the hospitality program. I looked at his workload and I looked at mine ... so I changed my major because his sounded more fun."
Small enjoys what he does for a living. His passion for Grand Rapids is palpable. He realizes the city's potential and is intent on turning it into something better.
"Doug is friendly, engaging, motivating and forward-thinking," says Janet Korn, the vice president of marketing for the Convention and Visitors Bureau. "He saw Grand Rapids with fresh eyes."
Part of Small's mission to tap into the city's potential is through a name change that took effect on Sept. 7. After 83 years of being the Kent County Convention and Visitors Bureau, the organization is now known as Experience Grand Rapids, which Small says sums up the mission.
"We tried to come up with a word that describes what we have here, and we came up with experience, and experience can be anything you want it to be. Your experience can be different from my experience," he says.
There were multiple reasons for the name change. One has to do with keeping the organization current, another, is that the previous name was just plain confusing.
"It gets used 20 different ways in the media, including our own media. I've got board members who don't get it right. It's not their fault, it's tough to get," Small said. "It's old, it's stogy, it's bureaucratic."
As part of the unveiling of the new name and website, the organization held an invite-only event at
The B.O.B. on Sept. 7 called the Tweet Elite. It was a networking event where the goal was to use Twitter, the social networking site, to describe the energy in Grand Rapids.
"We want to encourage people to be a promoter of their own town," Small said. "We shouldn't be on our own, the whole community should be selling this city."
In terms of visibility, the event was a success. It was talked about all over
Twitter, as well as
Facebook, and proved to be a great forum for conversation outside of social networking sites, whether that conversation was good or bad.
Though the event received positive remarks from those in attendance, it took a lot of criticism from those who were not invited, those who did not quite understand the event, and those who were put off by the somewhat highbrow name.
Jonathan Seely, social media specialist for
Meijer, was invited to the event, but did not attend. He says he had reservations regarding what the event was about.
"Using the term 'elite' made it about the people and not the event," he says.
Seely, however, says he does not have a problem with social networking-type events.
"It probably didn't quite deserve all the backlash," he says. "It was just a poor word choice. 'Elite' is a loaded word."
Exclusivity was not the point of the event. Not only did Experience Grand Rapids unveil its new name and website, it used the event to cultivate the "energy" Small says Grand Rapids needs.
"I'm not concerned about bigger, I'm concerned about better - going from good to great," he said. "We're never going to be known as a big city, but we can be known as the best city of our size."
Small's coworkers agree.
"The work we do has a positive impact on making Grand Rapids a better place," Korn said.
Until his mission to make Grand Rapids a great destination city is complete, don't expect Small to leave anytime soon.
"I'm going to tackle this job like I'm going to be here forever," Small said. "I'm going to get in the community like I'm going to be here forever."
Today's QR Code: Scan the QR code above with your smartphone, which will take you directly to Experience GR's new mobile site.