Every year, IDA sends each of its members an email that says, “Are you interested in serving on a committee?” When you get that email, SAY YES. It doesn’t even have to be the Awards Committee, although as the Chair, I have been known to call it the very best, most interesting, most rewarding committee in the whole wide world. The Downtown Achievement Awards Committee has a special opportunity to get an inside look at the most creative, transformative, and inspiring innovations in Economic Development, Public Space Management and Operations, Policy and Advocacy, Marketing, Communications and Events, Organizational Management, Leadership , and Planning, Design and Infrastructure.
As a long-time committee member, I’ve gotten to spend time getting to know other urban place managers beyond the brief time we spend together at conferences. As practitioners ourselves, we have had deep philosophical conversations about purpose, scope, scale and intention in the work we do. We have debated, analyzed and championed projects of all types and sizes.
Committee members have had the unbelievable privilege of getting to call a fellow UPM and tell them that they’ve won a Pinnacle Award – an honor given to only a handful of other districts in the WORLD. It is a spectacular feeling… almost as good as winning a Pinnacle or an Award of Excellence yourself. Almost. There have been Pinnacle awards given to multi-million-dollar infrastructure projects completed over the course of a decade and to $1,000 marketing projects that provided a unique way to respond to a common industry challenge.
The submissions that received the distinction of being added to IDA’s Knowledge Center, having been deemed a best practice, an Award of Excellence, or a Pinnacle Award, become resources for our colleagues and friends. We can look to that database when we need a little nudge, some inspiration or a roadmap to execute a project that’s been tested and proven to be successful. Although we all like to joke about R&D (standing for Rip Off and Duplicate), it’s such a collaborative industry that every project is shared with the hope that it will help another UPMO. We hope to see our work ease the burden for another city center and uplift other communities in the same way our was uplifted.
Congratulations to all the 2024 Downtown Achievement Award winners! If you missed this morning’s announcement, head on over to the Innovative Projects webpage to learn about the Pinnacle Award winning projects. And use the Knowledge Center to source some inspiration this month. The Downtown Achievement Awards applications will reopen in January 2025, and we can’t wait to see what you made happen in your cities this year.
The 2024 Downtown Achievement Awards are sponsored by American Christmas.