Learn from three operations practitioners and their strategies for ambassador training, hiring licensed security, off-duty police officers and how the built environment can help to deter crime.
Ambassadors
Sub Categories: Ambassadors
ATL Downtown Counts: Street Homelessness Survey
The Atlanta Downtown Improvement District conducted the first and only real-time enumeration survey of street homelessness targeted solely in downtown Atlanta and funded by the Community Improvement District. The survey was an all-volunteer, one-day outdoor event adhering to COVID-19 guidelines. Partner agencies included the Atlanta Police Department, the ADID Ambassador Force and a large group of downtown business and residential stakeholders.
A Tale of Two Ambassador Programs
In 2022, San Francisco granted $20M for two radically different ambassador programs poised to meet distinct needs exacerbated by the pandemic. One program inspires pride and hospitality as hosts to tourists across various districts. The other partners a business association with a unique social enterprise to radically transform some of the most challenging blocks in the nation. Download this presentation from team supporting the launch, scalability and management of both programs.
Advancing Places: Public Safety Roundtable
Public safety has always been at the forefront of the work of UPMOs. The reality and perception of crime in dense urban districts continue to impact the return of workers and vibrancy in the urban core. IDA is inventorying best practices and trends and will publish findings from this discussion and other data collection. Participants will be split into breakout rooms to maximize discussion time. Please note: the breakout rooms of this discussion were not recorded.
Agility in the Face of Uncertainty
When the SA Government implemented one of the harshest lockdown responses to Covid-19 in the world, fear and confusion prevailed. The CCID, which operates in downtown Cape Town, sprang into action, agilely changing the operational strategy of 3 departments to meet the needs of a deserted downtown
Advancing Places: Successful Ambassador Teams
As districts enter into the open-for-business phase, it’s important to know the types of services that downtown and neighborhood districts should consider offering to local stakeholders. From safety and security to hospitality and outreach, district service programs can ensure businesses, residents and visitors are taken care of. Join this webinar and hear from two practitioners who are offering different types of programs and how services are unique to each districts’ needs.
Advancing Places: Contracting & Procurement for District Organizations
This webinar will focus on the various details involved when writing a request for proposal (RFP), focusing on what questions district leaders should being asking when considering entering a contract with a third party and when to consider initiating a formal procurement process. Hear from panelists about how to set up standard operation procedures (SOPs) for contracting and procurement along with sample timelines and RFPs.
Project Spotlight: Technology in Your Community
Learn about data driven and predictive urban management and public safety. Working in partnership with global security service provider Securitas SA, the Voortrekker Road CID has built and managed its own centralized control center through which all reporting is processed into a powerful response database. In Downtown DC the BID worked with Cube 84 to integrate the BID’s Salesforce-based database with 311, the District of Columbia’s non-emergency hotline.
Operations 2020: Never Would I Ever Thought I’d Be Doing “_____”!
This year has been unlike any other and essential workers in the operations realm had to adapt quickly to unprecedented challenges, often directly on the front lines. If you’re doing things you never thought you’d be doing, then we want to hear about it! Join your fellow Operations colleagues in an open-forum discussion where you will have an opportunity to share your wildest experiences and hear how your colleagues have adapted as well.
A New Decade of Upward Mobility for Placemaking Ambassadors
In this new decade of placemaking, equity and upward mobility, opportunities should exist at all levels in the urban place management industry. This session addresses development opportunities and how organizations can actively engage and take a fresh approach to workforce development for frontline staff. We will discuss how the DowntownDC BID secured a grant to train and hire 23 ambassadors with employment challenges.
Rising to the Occasion: Operational Insights to Crisis Management (Block by Block)
Discussion on the pandemic, social unrest and natural disaster response.
Lateefah Simon Master Talk
Lateefah Simon is a 20-year veteran organizer for racial justice in Oakland and the Bay Area. She has been the President of the Akonadi Foundation since 2016. That same year—driven by the death of Oscar Grant—she ran and was elected to the Bay Area Rapid Transit Board of Directors—of which she now serves as President.
Adjustments to Clean and Safe Programs Since COVID-19
The pandemic hit downtowns extremely hard in mid-March of this year. With shelter-in-place orders, businesses closures and as much as a 90% decrease in pedestrian traffic, downtowns had to adjust their programs.
Transformation of 16th Street Mall
While considered the spine of downtown Denver, by 2016, the Mall’s image had become one of a place overrun by homeless and violent individuals. Comments on social media and media reports led to a general perception that the Mall was lost to crime and homelessness and not a place to visit. However, what most of the public did not realize was that the Downtown Denver Partnership had already been working with stakeholders to develop a Security Action Plan (SAP).
BID Responses for Emergency
BID’s play an important role as a liaison between the public and private sector. Downtown stakeholders rely on BID’s to ensure they receive accurate information regarding critical incidents that affect the people working and living downtown. Join this session to hear from subject matter experts about the role BIDs can play in emergency preparedness, planning, response, and recovery. Become a BID with a robust emergency plan and notification system prepared to respond and recover effectively when a disaster strikes.
What’s Our Real Role With Homelessness
Work with representatives from Arizona State University’s Watts College of Public Service & Community Solutions to strategize what is truly a BID’s role in homelessness?
Recruiting, Training, Coordinating Clean Safe Teams
This session provides a behind the scenes look at what it takes to staff, train and coordinate the work of Clean, Safe & Outreach programs in our dynamic city centers. Discussion topics include data collection, efficiency, building partnerships and creating employee pipelines.
Managing the Nighttime Economy
A strong Nighttime Economy is made up of more than just a string of restaurants and bars in close proximity. A variety of experiences must be available in order for districts and communities to encourage visitors to linger and visit multiple entertainment options. However, what is even more vital are the often overlooked things. Discuss how Ops teams provide the foundation through infrastructure and amenity management that encourage strong nighttime economy opportunities.
The Power of International Partnership
Ahead of Mayflower 400, the downtown orgs in Baltimore, MD and Southampton, UK have “twinned” with each other after meeting at the World Towns Leadership Summit in Berlin. With a mirrored history of waterfront regeneration, the two organizations have identified common themes and shared, knowledge, ideas, staff, and artists. The Japan Area Management Network will review its new collaboration with Singapore and South Korea on common issues and opportunities resulting from the summit in Tokyo.
Former Mayor Edwin Lee Master Talk
Before passing in 2017, Edwin Lee was an American politician and attorney who served as the 43rd Mayor of San Francisco, and was the first Asian American to hold the office.
Social Service Outreach and Ambassador Services: How to Effectively Address Homelessness with Existing Ambassador Services
This “how-to” session explores strategies and tactics that have worked in cities like Reno, NV and San Francisco, CA. Learn how one downtown designed their ambassador services to effectively deal with homelessness, and discover and effective model to communicate and work with multiple city departments and community benefit districts that was developed by one city’s Police Department.
Improving Safety, Security, and Emergency Preparedness
The Golden Triangle BID, adjacent to the White House and in the heart of Washington’s central business district, has a unique understanding of the post 9-11 paradigm and has responded by creating a safety, security, and emergency preparedness program that is rapidly becoming a national model. The foundational strategy of the Golden Triangle’s program is to engage regularly with building management and the community about security and preparedness.
Bicycle Roadside Assistance Program
The Hartford Business Improvement District’s (HBID) free on-site bicycle roadside assistance program is the first of its kind in the nation. HBID Ambassadors will fix a flat, inflate a tire, replace a tube, reattach a slipped chain or tighten up loose bolts, free of charge, anywhere in our District. This program, designed to support cyclists and foster an increase in bicycle commuting, received international attention with news stories running in outlets across the US and Canada.
Top Issues Council: Downtown Districts at the Table – Planning for Safety and Security
The 2017 IDA Top Issues Council on Safety and Security has developed this guide as a tool for strategic safety planning for urban place management organizations. The council studied the latest crime trends districts face, examined how a district management organization’s role in emergency response and crime prevention has grown, and explored how technology is revolutionizing communication between law enforcement agencies and the business community.
Top Issues Council: Attracting Commercial Development
Attracting commercial development to an urban core relies on a multitude of factors to be successful. Some of the issues that need to work in tandem to create a platform for attracting commercial development include: a vibrant downtown, a user-friendly permitting process, available capital and land, infrastructure and ongoing management and maintenance. This report provides an overarching view of the evolution of urban retail throughout the past fifty years to the present.
Nighttime Economy: A Guide for Emerging, Growing and Established Downtowns
The members of the Nighttime Economy Top Issues Council will present their findings and explain their process in the drafting of the various facets of a healthy nighttime economy. Delve deeper into the four main topics discussed in the final Top Issues Council report: Nighttime Infrastructure, Social and community safety, Activation and Engagement, and Quality of Life Mitigation.
Trash Talks: Approaches for a Waste-Free Public Realm
The cleanliness of a neighborhood’s streets and sidewalks is one of the most visible metrics by which urban place management organizations are evaluated. BIDs get firsthand experience with the impacts of too much trash on budgets, pedestrian activity, and business retention. Practitioners will share learnings on moving towards a sustainable and waste-free public realm by partnering with property owners and businesses and implementing innovative solutions.
Community Policing and Partnerships: A Canadian Perspective
Urban center organizations are increasingly impacted by social street issues and while they cannot solve such complex social problems, it is vital that BIAs/BRZs/BIDs are involved in the discussions. Forming partnerships with the municipalities, local police, community and social organizations is the foundation to educate and foster understanding around such issues, and to begin to develop strategies and solutions for issues like homelessness and safety.
Downtown Districts at the Table: Top Safety Topics of 2017
Every thriving downtown community requires public safety. As downtown centers become re-populated with residents crime has shifted to include dangerous behaviors. Police forces have been thinning and patrols may not be as commonplace. More city centers are destinations for major events, which may also make them targets. How do districts plan for public safety? As a part of IDA’s Top Issues Council, the Safety & Security team explored this topic and more.
Safety and Security Webinar
Every thriving community requires public safety. Now that your downtown center has become re-vitalized, it’s important to protect the investment within your district. Members of IDA’s Top Issues Council on Safety & Security explore the topics of planning for public safety and capitalizing on available resources to keep your downtown safe.