It’s no secret that storytelling is at the core of marketing. Even so, few would have guessed that 2024 would go down as the year the Greater Portland Regional Chamber of Commerce would publish a children’s book named after its longtime annual event Imagine Portland. “Last year, we made a great video with a first-person drone that flew through windows of businesses,” said Nick Rogacki of BrassBound.
“I was thinking, ‘How are we going to top that?’ ” And then he thought of something: He’d write a rhyming ode to the chamber, have it illustrated and published, then film business and community leaders reading the book to children. “Nick came to us with this crazy idea,” said Quincy Hentzel, the regional chamber’s president and chief executive officer. “I love the theme of a welcoming community and a focus on the future of Maine – our workforce and children.
” The picture book, commissioned by the chamber and whimsically illustrated by Ally Frame, shares a child’s-eye view of the eight communities that make up the regional chamber: Scarborough, Westbrook, Gorham, Falmouth, Cumberland, Cape Elizabeth, South Portland and, of course, Portland. “Maybe some other cities are bigger, richer or warm ..
.” Rogacki writes. “But Portland’s a place that knows how to transform.
” That transformation includes continual efforts to support economic development, sustainable energy, regional transportation, affordable housing, social impact, workforce developm.
