A few weeks ago, Fr. Tim Kitzke, the pastor at my parish, Three Holy Women, preached on community. He’s a great speaker, not to mention person, and does a wonderful job crystallizing messages, usually tackling a topic with three key points.

I’ve always admired and appreciated his style and couldn't help but think how his recent talk about "the three Cs" of a community is exactly what Milwaukee is all about.

What are the three Cs – and why are they important to Milwaukee, the Democratic National Committee or any other group that wants to come to our fine area?

Compassion

Admit it, we all struggle with this. We don’t take enough time for others or to put ourselves in each other's shoes. But when we do as a community, we soar. Feeling the feelings of others, of other groups, companies, organizations and entities, is what helps us grow and get better. Milwaukeeans – for a number of reasons, including our general Midwestern niceness – are a compassionate bunch. We’re nice, we say please and thank you, we open doors and we care. Sure, we can always do better but the DNC or any group (or family or person, for that matter) who wants to come to Milwaukee can easily sense that we’re a compassionate city. It matters.

Collaboration

Collaborate or die. It’s a mantra that Milwaukee lives by. No matter what subject we're talking about – entertainment, education, development, sports, retail, transit, etc.– joint operation and action is key. And while competition is healthy and needed, greater Milwaukee steps up, and our people and organizations work together, not in silos. A community our size can’t do it alone, so our connectedness and strength through collaboration is key to any big event.

Celebration

You won’t find another community in America that celebrates like we do in Milwaukee. We’re built on it, and it’s a part of all we do. We cheer our teams, companies and take pride in our civic pride. We’ll cheer you and your group, too, when you come here.

No matter how you cut it, Milwaukee is aligned and locked in with compassionate, collaborative and celebratory people. We’re ready to take that next step as a community. No event is too big, no task too tall.

DNC or any group: Come to Milwaukee. You won’t regret it, and I promise you’ll love Milwaukee!