G-20... Bingo!

I don't think you can overstate the importance of the G-20 summit coming to Pittsburgh. I mean, I suppose you could light yourself on fire and run through the streets of the City yelling "THE G-20 IS COMING! THE G-20 is COMING!", but, frankly, that's overkill and rather tacky. I believe that this violates some international protocol or something.

Anywho, here's the funny thing...

Well, let me step back a second. A friend/colleague of mine once remarked that "Pittsburgh doesn't have an identity problem; it has an image problem." Pittsburgh is, well, Pittsburgh, and any Pittsburgher can tell you exactly what that means to them. However, when you ask people outside Pittsburgh what their impression of the City is (if they haven't visited), you'll probably hear the words "steel" or "smokey" pop up at least once... as opposed to the more appropriate "Steelers" and "gray enough to slit your wrists." To too many people in the Country, Pittsburgh is less an educational and medical epicenter, and more a punchline.

Basically, Pittsburgh has a chance with one week of activities to present the world the face that all of us know and love. With one swift stroke, the White House has done more for Pittsburgh's image than dozens of PRA trips to China, Russia, Japan, Zanzibar, and whatnot have done. This is bigger than Pittsburgh 250 or even Pittsburgh Roars!

Of course, there's a good chance that the City could also be invaded by giant protest paper maché puppets. And I'm not talking about the Allegheny Conference.