Knowledge Center
Marketing, Communications and Events
Place managers narrate and communicate the identity and outward facing mission of the place to residents, tourists, businesses, and other stakeholder groups, thereby communicating the place’s unique brand. By expressing the identity of the place, the brand should invoke a sense of place, leaving individuals with the intangible feelings that one gets when engaging with the authenticity of the place.
The brand is used to market the place to these various stakeholder groups, attracting and inviting them to live, work, play and invest in the place. A diversity of tactics are used to market a place ranging from events, messaging, online engagement, street-level activation and more.
Telling Your Story – Post-Pandemic PR & Marketing Strategies
UPMOs place many resources, time and emphasis on owned and paid media because they are trackable and can be done cheaply. However, earned media, secured through public relations efforts, will not only drive brand awareness, ticket sales and word of mouth, it can also result in a transformative economic impact for your downtown or main street.
We’d love for you to see this member-only resource to help make a difference in your district. Make sure you are logged in or join IDA to learn more about how members get sh*t done!
Planning Successful Holiday & Winter Decor Activations
Just like painting, achieving success with décor activations is all about the prep work. Garrett Peterson from Downtown Decorations, Inc. will explain the steps involved in the process, from infrastructure requirements to design and considerations for install storage and maintenance.
We’d love for you to see this member-only resource to help make a difference in your district. Make sure you are logged in or join IDA to learn more about how members get sh*t done!
Mounting Successful Gallery Walks in Vacant Store Fronts
In 2021, three vastly different-sized NYC BIDS (Columbus Avenue BID, Alliance for Downtown New York, and East Midtown Partnership) partnered with a new arts nonprofit to display art and create gallery walks in vacant storefronts. This presentation dives into their experiences and best practices on how to create a theme, put together a call for submissions to artists, recruit property owners and anticipate expenses and legal requirements.
We’d love for you to see this member-only resource to help make a difference in your district. Make sure you are logged in or join IDA to learn more about how members get sh*t done!
Data-Driven Decision Making in Marketing & Event Planning
Who are we trying to reach, and who do we actually reach? How do we use that information to plan and promote events for a diverse audience. Speakers will explore examples of how research, data collection and marketing tactics were used for an arts and culture series in downtown Philadelphia. Discover how data helped the marketing team collect pedestrian counts, attendance figures and attendee geography, and how it assisted in advertising and other outreach efforts.
We’d love for you to see this member-only resource to help make a difference in your district. Make sure you are logged in or join IDA to learn more about how members get sh*t done!
Kassandra Linklater Master Talk
As a serial founder, engaged citizen, community builder, visual artist and storyteller, Kassandra’s passion for entrepreneurship, international relations and ecosystem building spans almost two decades of experience.
We’d love for you to see this member-only resource to help make a difference in your district. Make sure you are logged in or join IDA to learn more about how members get sh*t done!
Explorer in Chief
Prior to Covid, the Downtown Alliance launched the Explorer in Chief contest, calling for one-minute video submissions for the ultimate summer dream job. For the Explorer in Chief, this would be a life-changing opportunity to work as a travel ambassador in one of the world’s high-profile tourism destinations. For the Downtown Alliance, it would be a game-changing way to showcase Lower Manhattan as an extraordinary place to visit, work and live.
We’d love for you to see this member-only resource to help make a difference in your district. Make sure you are logged in or join IDA to learn more about how members get sh*t done!
Festival of Markets
The Festival of Markets took place in December 2021 for four consecutive weekends on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and a one day event held on December 23rd. Each weekend had a different theme and vendors including IndigenART, POPArt, Very Vintage Xmas, Afrik and Last Minute London. Vendors who were featured at our Festival of Markets came from various ethnicities including individuals from African, Asian and Indigienous descent as well as members from the LGBTQ+ community.
Marriages on The Mile – Weddings at Wrigley
Marriages on The Mile – Weddings at Wrigley was a first-time event collaboration between The Magnificent Mile Association and The Wrigley Building/Zeller. It existed as the premier event of a larger closed-street activation series on Michigan Avenue. The event featured 50 real-time weddings for couples displaced by the COVID-19 pandemic in a very public, very Chicago-centric location on The Magnificent Mile as part of the free, accessible lineup of programming on September 26, 2021.
We’d love for you to see this member-only resource to help make a difference in your district. Make sure you are logged in or join IDA to learn more about how members get sh*t done!
Mpls Downtown reanimation: collective action
Downtowns across the country are changing. The stakes for the future of downtowns could not be higher, with the vitality of urban cores hinging on employees returning to their offices and patrons returning to restaurants, events and activities. The Mpls Downtown Council recognized the weight of the moment early and identified an opportunity in our community to lead with collective action.
We’d love for you to see this member-only resource to help make a difference in your district. Make sure you are logged in or join IDA to learn more about how members get sh*t done!
Night Circus: A District New Year’s Spectacular
The Cool Spring Downtown District partnered with the city to launch the inaugural Night Circus: A District New Year’s Eve Spectacular. The family-friendly event was the first NYE celebration to occur in the city in nearly a decade. The event brought the magic of a traveling circus to the heart of Fayetteville. As the last seconds to midnight counted down, a commissioned 18ft. multi-colored star rose above the crowd, illuminated at midnight from within and without via a vibrant fireworks
We’d love for you to see this member-only resource to help make a difference in your district. Make sure you are logged in or join IDA to learn more about how members get sh*t done!
