Ambassadors are finding their job duties are more frequently putting them in situations that take a toll on their well-being. This brief describes how organizations are supporting these critical employees. IDA would like to thank Block by Block for their generous support of this Top Issues Council.
Clean, Safe, and Hospitality
Sub Topics: Clean, Safe, and Hospitality
Using Ambassador Collected Data to Drive Business Decisisons
Learn how data collected daily by Ambassador teams using state-of-the-art technology is crucial to informing program decisions in the public realm. Counting event attendees, downtown pedestrians, concierge services, litter collected, and more, drives the ever-evolving service mix to increase Ambassador impact.
Successful ESD/BID Safety Programs and Police Bureau Partnerships
Many cities with BIDs have under-staffed and over-stretched Police Bureaus. This presentation will explain how Downtown Portland Clean & Safe’s Public Safety Program works effectively with Portland Police Bureau to provide a presence of public safety, improve livability and reduce crime.
Collaborative Approach to Clean Streets & Social Impact
Learn about an innovative clean streets approach which provides job readiness skills, social impact and support in lifting underserved neighbors and individuals in the community who are experiencing homelessness – all while beautifying the BID and ensuring streets and sidewalks remain clean and open for business.
HPCDC
The purpose of Hollywood Partnership Community Dispatch Center (HPCDC) was to establish a collaborative community hub that can receive non-emergency requests via call or text and initiate service responses within the Hollywood Entertainment District (HED).
Ambassador Trikes
The purpose of the trike program was to increase the mobility, visibility and impact of the clean ambassadors’ work. The implementation of the trike program allowed the ambassadors to respond to more cleaning requests at a quicker pace.
Mardi Gras Parade Cleanup
Downtown Development District of New Orleans (DDD) has created an efficient, multi-agency approach to cleaning streets and public rights of way, properly disposing of the trash that litters every surface after each night of parades within a few hours of the last float clearing the streets.
Downtown Burbank 2023 Annual Report And 2022 Accomplishments (20th Anniversary Edition)
To enhance safety and improve the aesthetics of Downtown Burbank (Downtown), the PBID developed multiple public space management initiatives to address the needs of the district. The Hospitality and Social Outreach Program and additional programs and initiatives for public space management together achieve the PBID’s goal of creating a welcoming environment.
Advancing Places: Technology Trends for Managing Operations
Are you managing your district operations? Digital platforms enable UPMOs to deliver accurate information for more effective decision making. In this webinar recording, learn from four practitioners about the tools and technology they are using in their district to power more efficient operations.
Top Issues Council Brief: From Traditional to Trailblazing
The Ambassadors Council explored how ambassador job responsibilities have expanded, work culture has changed and new technologies have become more critical to improving operations and responding to changing community needs. IDA would like to thank Block by Block for their generous support of the Ambassador Council.
Keeping Downtowns Safe with Public-Private Security Camera Programs
Creating a Layered Approach to Community Safety & Visitor Experience
PMOs have begun to create layered approaches to public safety, which seek to fill the gap between no response and emergency response to quality-of-life issues, focused on how community safety can be developed through engagement and ambassadorship.
River District Clean and Safe Team
The Public Space Team, under the guidance of the Clean and Safe program manager keeps the River District public areas, such as streets, sidewalks, bike lanes and parks, free of stains, litter, graffiti and bad odors. Most candidates have been referred to the team through, a volunteer work program or local shelters and service providers.
The Community Engagement Team
The Community Engagement Team (CET) is a unique, business-led outreach team that provides rapid response support and intervention for non-violent crisis situations and traditional street outreach services in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The CET partners with Toronto Police to divert vulnerable individuals from the criminal justice system and into local community support programs.
Advancing Places: Talking Trash Part 2, Collective Composting in your District
In July 2022, IDA presented part one of Advancing Places: Talking Trash Recycling and Compacting where we explored recycling, managing ambassadors and clean teams. Join IDA and the US Composting Council along with two of their members for part two where we will learn about the importance of composting in cities, neighborhoods and downtown districts. We will learn about the latest trends in composting and how to go about setting up a program.
Public Safety Initiatives
Clean and Safe has long played a central role in place management, but public safety has taken on increasing importance amidst the protracted return to work, increases in homelessness, and efforts to square law enforcement practices with demands for social justice.
Principals & Practices of Operations
Operations in place management covers a wide scope of work from cleaning and maintenance to providing on-street services addressing safety and quality of life issues. For new professionals to be successful in their role as operations staff they need to have an understanding of building and running a successful operations program that caters to the unique challenges and opportunities in their districts.
Keeping Downtowns Safe with Public-Private Security Camera Programs
How have San Francisco and Oakland been able to leverage technology to tackle crime and promote economic development while balancing privacy and social equity? Learn best practices based on real-world case studies and methodologies.
Improving Placemaking & Community Engagement with an Innovative Waste Solution
Due to pervasive public space waste issues, creating clean, welcoming, sustainable and resource-efficient spaces that engage and delight communities is an ongoing challenge for UPMOs. Learn how BigBelly combats visible waste, windblown litter, rats, birds, excessive waste collection, lack of recycling and compost infrastructure, and demands on maintenance staff.
Breaking New Ground for Safety Operations
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.
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.
Advancing Places: Talking Trash
Keeping our districts clean can be a daunting task. Hear how three district experts, with a multitude of talents, are managing ambassador and clean teams. In this session, learn about their approach to cleaning as well as other areas related to public space management.
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.
A Tale of Three Cities Fueling Recovery
This presentation focused on three cities (San Francisco, Berkeley, and Los Angeles) and how they identified challenges the pandemic presented to their downtowns and strategies being implemented to fuel the recovery. Challenges include the increase of homelessness and violence related to the civil unrest; lack of pedestrian traffic and downtown workers; and the role safety, security and cleaning played during the pandemic. Learn what strategies were implemented and positive outcomes achieved.
Advancing Places: Embedding Public Safety in UPMOs
Listen to place management professionals from Downtown Dallas, Inc. and Minneapolis have a conversation on UPMO Public Safety efforts, centered on IDA’s recently published research brief.
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.
Adapting Public Realm Innovations to Post-Pandemic Downtowns
How can mixed-use downtowns build on learnings from COVID-19 to enhance the public realm and boost commercial vibrancy? This session explores opportunities for BIDs to adapt pilot projects developed in the last year (shared/pedestrian priority streets, temporary plazas and outdoor dining) into long-term initiatives to increase foot traffic, retail activation and entice office tenants to return to the workplace.
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: Talking Snow in the Summer Heat
While most of the nation is sweltering in record heat, many of us in the operations world are already in deep preparations for winter weather. Representatives from Cleveland, Denver and Edmonton will discuss the preparations they undertake to be ready for winter weather, specific areas of management and responsibilities, and the partnerships they depend on to keep their districts accessible and safe throughout the winter months.
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.
Advancing Places: Graffiti and Murals
Unwelcome graffiti can significantly affect the perceptions of cleanliness and safety in a district. Questions surrounding who is physically responsible and economically liable for removal can cause confusion among urban place leaders, business owners and local government officials. This session will explore how three graffiti removal programs were established and maintained to positively impact their district.
Advancing Places: Emergency Preparedness
Urban place management organizations are increasingly at the forefront of emergency preparedness. Today, UPMOs are working closer than ever with members, security and building managers, police and fire departments and government emergency professionals to ensure a safe and secure district. Hear from expert panelists on their approach to planning, training and communication strategies that can be scaled for any size district.
Advancing Places: Keeping Your District Clean in an Era of Physical Distancing
This webinar presents different perspectives from three UPMO Operations Team leaders who are faced with different challenges each day. Gain helpful tips on sanitizing and disinfecting your district, restaurant, home and office. Come away from this session with tips that you can apply immediately.
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.
Shock Absorber: Bouncing Back from Major Crises
2020 may be the year that tested our fortitude more than any other in a generation. Beyond COVID, it seems that downtowns everywhere have become the epicenter for other shocks such as environment damage, economic impacts and social unrest. Join the conversation as we explore how communities in different contexts have responded to various shocks to their system and how they built back stronger.
Health and Safety in the Public Realm: Frontline Staffing
The COVID-19 pandemic and public protests have put additional pressure on clean and safe teams to consider higher levels of cleanliness and safety unlike anything they have dealt with before. Join operations professionals to discuss keeping frontline staff and the public realm clean, safe and healthy.
Rising to the Occasion: Operational Insights to Crisis Management (Block by Block)
Discussion on the pandemic, social unrest and natural disaster response.