Why do community indicators reports embrace alliteration so often? Does it help?
The first alliteration I remember was the "3 E's" framework -- usually Economy, Ecology, and Equity. There's a site called the 3 E initiative http://www.3einitiative.org/ that's starting to add community indicators to their work. The framework has been used by a number of different community indicators projects, including this one from my old home town of Bloomington, Indiana: http://bloomington.in.gov/sections/viewSection.php?section_id=9. (Performance managers use three e's as well -- economics, effectiveness, efficiency -- so the use of mnemonic devices is widespread.)
A fourth E was added by some -- "Engagement" -- dealing with the civic health of the community. Then Education. I never saw a report above 5 E's, though I may have missed an example or two.
Then it was the Three P's of People, Place, and Prosperity. Some started with the three P's, like South Florida http://www.soflo.org/, and some moved from 3 E's to 3 P's, like http://www.calregions.org/.
Now I just saw a new report released that raises the alliterative bar for everyone else. The Redmond Community Indicators report has not three, not four, but EIGHT C's:
- Conserve
- Choices
- Commerce
- Connections
- Character
- Centers
- Culture
- Community
Can anyone top that? Soon this site will be a must-have for any indicators toolkit: http://thesaurus.reference.com/
(In all seriousness, take a look at what each of these projects are doing. Good work, everyone!)
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