Note to readers: this article was published prior to a significant growth spurt for Sensible City in 2009. The company now employs 9 US-based staff and maintains partner and network affiliates in 39 countries.
By Anne Fitten Glenn
CITIZEN-TIMES CORRESPONDENT
ASHEVILLE – Ian Bryan’s message to businesses is that they can succeed by giving back to their communities.
His company, Sensible City, is a business development firm with a twist. Bryan, 35, eschews traditional public relations practices in favor of what he calls community-oriented marketing. Part of that includes working only with clients “whose primary goal is improving the world,” he said.
“I want our businesses to become helping hands, to roll up their sleeves, to create change by being good citizens,” Bryan said.
Central to Sensible City’s approach is organizing media events so reporters can see specific products [and ideas] in action. For example, Sensible City brings reporters into classrooms where interactive whiteboards [and other classroom technology] are in use. Bryan estimates the company has organized more than 200 media events [...] including one at Hall Fletcher Elementary in Asheville earlier this month.
“We focus on where the contribution is. We show the media real kids and real teachers using this product. We bring them into the real story,” Bryan said.
9 years ago, Bryan was waiting tables at the now-defunct Dragon Restaurant in Swannanoa. Working from his background in computer programming, Bryan created a computer ordering and sales system for the restaurant’s owners, who paid him with credits for meals at the restaurant.
Then he put those credits to work: He called restaurant customers – whose business cards he had collected – and invited them to lunch in exchange for business advice.
Those informal networking sessions led him into the world of marketing.
Today, Bryan runs a company with six employees based in Asheville, as well as one-person satellite offices in New York and Chicago. He travels all over the world, helping environmental and educational businesses and nonprofits find their niche within their communities.
Bryan and his team at Sensible City work hard to practice what they preach. The company is carbon-neutral, which means they keep extensive records of their emissions, including Bryan’s flights, calculate their monthly carbon footprint, and pay offsets to organizations that focus on watershed and timberland restoration.
The company strives to be principle-centered in all things, Bryan said. That includes promoting respect for others, active listening, accountability, integrity and what Bryan calls “courageous honesty.”
“I want my team to tell the truth even if it means losing money,” he said, laughing.
Bryan and his team donated their time to organize the media coverage and live capturing (blogging, Web streaming) of the first Ashevillage Building Convergence in Asheville in June. The three-day event promoted sustainable building practices and techniques.
“I don’t think our team could have pulled off Ashevillage Building Convergence without Sensible City. They were extremely generous. People said our media was awesome, and it was,” said Janell Kapoor, initiator of Ashevilllage Building Convergence and director of Kleiwerks International.
One of the down sides to the quick growth of his business is that Bryan recently had to remake the company’s meditation room into a meeting room.
“Although we still all sit on the floor,” he said.
ABOUT THE BUSINESS
WHAT: Sensible City: community-oriented marketing and development for socially-aware businesses and non-profits.
WHO: Ian Bryan, President and Founder, + six employees.
WHERE: 78 1/2 Patton Ave., 348-0319. Satellites offices in Chicago and New York, www.sensiblecity.com.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner.