Public Relations

Sub Categories: Public Relations

Advancing Places: Accessible Ways to Connect With Your Audience

In this session, you will learn about different types of podcasts and cable television programming produced by three IDA member organizations all with varying budgets and in different geographic regions of North America. From shoestring budgets all the way up to working with professional production teams, attendees will hear about lived experience and explore producing their own programming.

Friend or Foe – How to Effectively Manage the Media

Marketing is central to our work as downtown leaders. Understanding how the media works is key to getting your message out and making sure that your community is represented in the best light possible. Learn how to position yourself as a thought leader and become an effective and persuasive communicator.
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Advancing Places: Working with Media and Managing PR Campaigns

Communications is an important part of our work in urban place management. Two experienced practitioners, both downtown leaders with extensive marketing & communications backgrounds, to learn how they are building relationships with media, what the media is looking for in news stories, and how to go beyond traditional media relations to take control of your district’s story. We’ll also dive into crisis communications and some tips on planning and executing an effective PR campaign.

Advancing Places: Crafting Recovery Messaging

The new year has brought with it many of the same challenges, but that doesn’t mean your outward messaging needs to be doom and gloom. 2021 is bound to be complicated and exciting for districts. How do we bring positive messaging back to cities and districts that are unsure about what is next? What strategies can marketing and communications professionals use to jettison economic anxiety for business owners, residents and visitors? Where do we begin crafting year-long messaging for stakeholders operating week-by-week?

Strengthen Your BID Through Branding

How do you brand something as complex as a city? Two BIDs talk through how their successful rebrands not only modernized and unified their identities, amplified the effectiveness of all of the organization’s endeavors, increased the recognition the BIDs got from stakeholders, and saved time and money – but also accomplished something larger. Rebranding positioned both BIDs to move from identifying their communities as a “place” to representing a “destination” – answering the questions “Why visit here?” “Why live here?” and “Why invest here?” No matter the size of your BID, these branding insights will make your work more effective.

Downtown Long Beach Economic Profile Press Release

This 2015 sample press release from Downtown Long Beach Associates is spreading the word about their recently published Downtown Economic Profile. The press release highlights a number of statistics from the report, summarizes the report’s introductory letter, and provides a brief description of the organization.

Developing a Retail Strategy

All downtowns are dealing with the changing world of retail and developing strategies for retention and attraction. Learn from Cherry Creek North, Downtown Memphis and Downtown OKC, three very distinct downtowns, as they discuss their respective approaches for filling vacant spaces and retaining and attracting retailers.   

New Development Meets a Neglected Neighborhood

Congress Heights Community Training and Development Corporation developed a framework for investing in a place-based inclusive economic and social development strategy centered around Congress Heights. It was built on extensive community engagement with a broad variety of stakeholders, from large developers to local youth, to city economic development officials, to local civic association members and more.

Making the Switch: Branding the Organization

In 2011, the Downtown Denver Partnership acknowledged the need for a cohesive brand for downtown Denver and embarked on a branding campaign that encouraged residents, visitors, and employees to enjoy all that downtown Denver had to offer. The downtown Denver brand was already beginning to surface organically as the city emerged from an economic downturn, and the Partnership embarked on creating a strategic marketing strategy to more intentionally encapsulate the place brand.

Developing a Retail Strategy

All downtowns are dealing with the changing world of retail and developing strategies for retention and attraction. Learn from Cherry Creek North, Downtown Memphis and Downtown OKC, three very distinct downtowns, as they discuss their respective approaches for filling vacant spaces and retaining and attracting retailers.   

Sponsorships, Marketing and the Controlled Chaos of Events

This session is designed to aid districts in navigating the ins and outs of event sponsorships and marketing. Learn about knowing what types of events best suit your districts, when and what to market, as well as how to capitalize on sponsorship opportunities. Case studies include Pittsburgh’s “Picklesburg,” Wilmington’s hurricane recovery events and Hartford’s multitiered space activation.

NYC BID Trends Report – Telling the Story of NYC BIDs

The annual NYC BID Trends Report targets multiple audiences, serving both a promotional and educational role for the public and NYC BIDs themselves. SBS collects, analyzes, and features program output data, budget information, and highlights of exceptional programming in this report each year. The report highlights the overall impact and financial data for all BIDs and expense and output data organized by comparable BID cohorts. The report also provides financial and output data from individual BIDs.

Old Town Scottsdale Rebrand

The Old Town Scottsdale Rebrand started as a straightforward marketing and communications assignment to promote the Old Town area to in-state residents for the purpose of increasing local foot traffic. The perception was that Old Town was too touristy and didn’t offer much for our local residents. What began as a simple marketing strategy of how to best present Old Town’s best offerings turned into a much deeper brand exploration that would redefine a city.

Welcome to Capitol Hill Placemaking Video

With recent developments in our BID boundaries, we decided that it was time to consider filming a new placemaking video that reflects the urban renaissance of Capitol Hill. We collaborated with a professional videographer, our Board of Directors, stakeholders, local businesses and constituents to produce a placemaking video that would help create a sense of place and set the tone for the message we want to convey to our audience, which is that Capitol Hill has something for everyone.

Tim Tompkins – San Francisco

Tim Tompkins has been the President of the Times Square Alliance since 2002. The Alliance is a business improvement district that works to improve and promote Times Square – cultivating the creativity, energy and edge that have made the area an icon of entertainment, culture and urban life for over a century. Prior to coming to the Alliance, he was the Founder and Director of Partnerships for Parks, which works to support New York City’s neighborhood parks.

IDA’s Urban Place Management Narrative Toolkit

For decades urban place management professionals have been waking up each day, determined to improve their cities, strategically fill vacant buildings, activate public spaces, and more. They have had great success, but, too often their work goes unnoticed by the general public. IDA’s toolkit provides a framework for communicating IDA members commitment to shaping dynamic city centers all around the world. It includes key messages and facts about the downtown management industry.

The Minneapolis Big Build

The Mpls Downtown Improvement District (DID) tracks their progress with a perception survey of downtown workers, residents, and visitors. In 2015 and 2016 surveys showed significant decreases in the perception of downtown Minneapolis cleanliness. The #1 reason was construction. Led by the DID, the team developed a POV about all the construction called “The Minneapolis Big Build.” The campaign kicked off with www.MplsBuild.com which communicated the details of the projects.

Looking Ahead Video

Downtown Seattle is experiencing record growth and investment. It seems everywhere you look there are cranes. While most DSA members and stakeholders view this development as positive, there are those who remain frustrated with the impact on mobility. To focus attention on the future instead of the inconveniences the DSA Communications & Marketing team produced a video using renderings of major projects to paint a picture of the future, allowing people to see Seattle’s skyline post-construction.

Raising BIA Awareness: #BIAweek Twitter Chat

The Toronto Association of Business Improvement Areas (TABIA) and the City of Toronto’s BIA Office worked together to declare “BIA Week” in the City of Toronto for January 29 – February 2, 2018. The goal of the event was for Toronto BIAs to educate Councilors, City Staff and the public about what BIAs are and how they contribute to Toronto. This included information displays and decoration in the City Hall rotunda for the week and a reception hosted by TABIA with City Councilors and Staff.