Leaders Gather To Brainstorm Promoting El Paso

Misconceptions about El Paso and headlines about the violence in Juarez are making it hard to recruit top talent to the Sun City. That’s why group of local stakeholders intent on promoting a positive image of El Paso gathered at the Civic Center Thursday morning.

“I think people here feel like we’re very safe. We love our community. We have a fabulous culture. We have great people. We have great weather. Wonderful climate. We all know that,” said Deborah Hamylyn, Deputy City Manager for the City of El Paso. “But for some reason the rest of the country is viewing us in a different manner.”

About 30 local leaders took notes and brainstormed about how to attract good talent to the city.

“Currently, we are heavily recruiting at the school of medicine,” said Dr. Laura Gallegos, Ed.D., Communications and Marketing Director for the Paul L. Foster School of Medicine. “We are trying to get people who are at the top of their game.”

The medical school tries to woo doctors and students with a thcik packet promoting Sun City attractions and opportunities on campus. But it is not cheap to put something like that together.

“As we operate in a leaner, meaner environment, I think social media has the opportunity to reach a lot of people at a very cost effective way,” said Chester Jacinto, the Associate Vice President for University Communications at the University of Texas at El Paso.

“What our thought is in this group is how can we take this to the next level? How can we reach new audiences? How can we even promote the awareness that we’ve got these channels available?” Jacinto said.

El Paso law enforcement groups, Fort Bliss and other El Paso groups also have a social media presence. Leaders say it’s this sort of collaboration that is key in promoting a unified message.

“What it’s going to take to overcome this negative stereotypes and those negative messages is for El Paso’s leadership to come together, come up with one plan, that’s really gonna be strong and powerful,” Gallegos said. “Something that we wouldn’t be able to do on our own as a single organization.”