'There's Nothing Like New London': Influencer gets out positive message about the city

New London ― Frank Colmenares is perhaps best known locally for organizing the New London Talent Show with Curtis Goodwin following the 2010 murder of Matthew Chew, an event that galvanized the city to channel random youth rage into something positive.Over the past few years, the 34-year-old Colmenares went from working with youths as a mentor in the city schools and on the basketball court as an assistant coach to forming his own company, ReelE Media, which has a recording and video studio in Niantic. And over the past few months his name has been getting out there as part of a City of New London campaign to put a positive spin on the Whaling City through a series of short videos with the tagline "There's Nothing Like New London."Colmenares said during an hour-long interview at the Quinn & Hary marketing firm downtown that 10 videos were contracted to start, about one a month, with hopes of others down the line if the city decides to renegotiate. Now he's on his way to becoming a key local influencer with a new social media campaign titled "Forget What You Heard & Take It From Me," posted on TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram at iAmFrankColmenares. The cost is covered by a $10,000 economic development grant for small businesses offered by the state."I want to highlight some of the gems that are very specific to New London," Colmenares said. "It's not like I have this list of things I have to highlight; they kind of get what I give them. ... This wasn't a concept that was birthed from a business meeting. I literally was in my car and came up with it."The subjects of Colmenares' up to 90-second videos, done with editing and videography help from another local company, Opulent Multimedia, have ranged from the Muddy Waters coffee shop on Bank Street to the Fit F.A.M. gym on State Street; Jeffrey's Barbershop on Elm Street to Fred's Shanty clam shack on Pequot Avenue, and the Puerto Rican restaurant Cultura on Broad Street to the Riverbank Apartments downtown, where Colmenares lives.The videos, posted on the Explore New London Facebook page, are particularly hot with people between 25 and 44, who make up about two-thirds of the viewers, according to statistics provided by Colmenares. Women account for more than 62% of the views, and engagers overall are heavily skewed toward New London residents, Colmenares' target audience.Mayor Michael Passero said Colmenares' videos, which he believes the city is "grossly underpaying" for, is part of New London's effort to move into the 21st century in its marketing efforts."All of the younger folks get their information ... from these influencers," Passero said in a phone interview Friday. "It's sort of cool that New London has this up-and-coming guy who has a large following around here."Passero said the videos are only one aspect of New London's overall comeback highlighted by the Chamber of Commerce of Eastern Connecticut's decision to relocate from Waterford to new headquarters on Eugene O'Neill Drive."I think New London's image has completely turned around during the last few years," he said.The videos, with a "mind, body and soul" theme, capture the upbeat Colmenares working out, getting a haircut, having lunch, running along Pequot Avenue and showing off his apartment, punctuated by amusing Frankisms such as "men lie, women lie, but I don't." The videos, with voice-overs by Colmenares, are professional looking but not overly glossy, and include some drone shots of New London showing off its water views."Right now I'm keeping the energy high, highlighting a bunch of things in a fast-paced style," he said.The feedback so far has been very positive, he said, with the first two of his videos getting between 40,000 and 50,000 views on Facebook and Instagram, plus a lot of comments telling him he's on the right track while others continued to pile on New London, calling it "a trash can of a place" and "an armpit."The negative comments don't faze Colmenares, who says there will always be haters out there. "For everything that could be negatively highlighted about New London, I have 10 things I can combat it with that are beautiful, right?" he said. "As we know, negativity travels a lot faster and it sells."He likes to point out to people who live in New London but often leave town to check out other spots that they can usually find the same types of businesses doing good work right here.To the New London native, a rapper who travels widely and just came out with a new album last spring, the videos with some of his music in the background are all about expressing authenticity, so he goes to the places he knows and likes and tells about his personal connection. He's been trying to keep the format down to highlighting just three businesses at a time to stay within the 90-second format best for Facebook Reels and Instagram."Always keeping some different component of wellness, so the next might be Hot Yoga on Bank," he said. "Then I'll do a food spot and highlight Favorites Bistro. And then I'll go to The Annex to shop or something like that."Some of the places he loves have such a great story to tell that it might take a full episode to explore just one spot like The Annex, an artist-owned urban clothing store on State Street, he said. And this series of videos is just one possible platform; others could include speaking to New London homeowners, exploring the cultural scene and looking at issues such as affordable housing, he added.While his early videos have been about places with which he's already familiar, he's happy to take suggestions about new places to try, and social media feedback is helping him point the way to new New London experiences."People are suggesting restaurants, like, 'I'm linking up with friends' or 'I'm bringing my mom out,' and we're going to go sit down and eat at these places and show up to see what's going on," Colmenares said. No matter what, though, he will need to love a place before it shows up in one of his New London videos."Once people feel that this is not authentically Frank anymore, it's gonna lose a lot of its value, and it's going to lose a lot of just what makes it authentic and genuine," Colmenares said.The thing he likes about New London is how close-knit and helpful the people are, he said."If there's something I want to do, there's an issue that I have to solve, it's always been a Facebook status or a phone call away," Colmenares said. He said that every project he gets into, from the New London Talent Show to his work at Writers Block Ink to the annual Water Gun Fight he introduced to the city as a young man, he tries to inject a feeling of love."I'm trying to create this spark of excitement for all things New London," Colmenares said, "just ignite this pride that's always run pretty thick with, you know, anybody that's a Whaler."l.howard@theday.com