oprah live in chicago on michigan avenue!

Which makes me wonder… w/ all that good, both in this video and on the show tomorrow morning, why were some locals complaining about Oprah filming on Michigan avenue?  I for one am thanking her!  The amount of positive exposure she gives our city is priceless.  Like Mayor Daley found out from other mayors, any city would die to have her pick up and move it all there, including one day of filming outside in the heart of the city as the backdrop. (Reminds me of Olympic exposure financial benefits at the end of yesterdays blogs if want to see those huge numbers!)

Yes, there were some inconveniences and extra work, but what good things in life don’t have that?  I mean, yes I had to think about my route to work that one day and take an extra minute or two to get there… Yes, I lost business that one day because of some street closures… but I am perfectly happy (and thankful) as that short sighted loss of that one day is extremely outweighed by all the dollars (many millions in my opinion) that Oprah’s free PR drives to our city in tourism for many years to come.

I do have to admit that I almost got upset too when someone said I had to walk 3 blocks extra to get around the excitement on the way home, but then remembered I was just taking a wonderful stroll on a beautiful day not working, while someone else had to work, w/huge investment, all while she was bringing my city exposure, tourists, money, and international respect & admiration.  That and I knew that if we all complained about the relatively little work that it takes to allow someone else to invest a lot of work, money, love, effort… into our city, there would easily be countless cities elsewhere ready to snatch it all up from us one day… and that would just suck.