In many industries, eight years is just a drop in the bucket of time; but in the improvement district world, eight years is time enough to see a myriad of changes and transformations occur.
What is so magical about eight years? Nothing really – except that it’s the amount of time I’ve spent in this industry, which has also proven to be a period of continual change in our nation’s city centers along with the mission of downtown organizations.
So then what’s changed? While that list is quite lengthy, one that I find particularly of interest is how Block by Block delivers basic services through events.
When I entered the industry as an Operations Manager assigned to the Louisville Downtown Management District, my district and those of my peers at Block By Block were focused primarily on supplementing supporting the mission of our downtown organizations to ensure basic expectations of a safe and clean environment were met. Sure, some downtown organizations had a research staff or advocated for downtown development; but beyond providing personnel for safety and cleaning purposes, most had little to do with event planning or production.
Today, districts of every size are moving beyond creating the great environment and are finding that events are engines that drive community involvement in and visitors to downtown. Organizations with which I’m involved in my role as a Regional Vice President are taking on an increased role in planning and implementation of highly successful annual, seasonal and weekly events. For example, the farmer’s market produced by the Downtown Community Alliance/Operation Downtown in Des Moines, IA, draws upwards of 30,000 visitors every Saturday morning from late spring through early fall and a mid-week market. Starting just this past summer, it saw several thousand lunch time participants. During my tenure, I’ve witnessed the farmer’s market concept take flight in our other cities with great success such as Raleigh, NC (Downtown Raleigh Alliance) and Columbia, SC (City Center Partnership). Both of these cities use them to cultivate involvement in downtown and to prime interest in other downtown-centric events and businesses.
Start Small
This brings me to another point that events have helped me recognize, starting small is OK, but the real key is starting. Raleigh’s initial market started slow, but the seeds were sown; and through commitment and solid leadership, those early efforts have paid off and spawned not only a successful weekly market but other events as well.
I’ve recognized a large staff isn’t a necessity to pull off a successful event, as many of our cities have found success with volunteer groups and partner organizations that can and will assist.
Connect Volunteers and Community Groups
In many instances, you may find that others in the community have similar ideas and initiatives. Often they have the energy, expertise, and resources but lack the contacts necessary to make it happen. Simply helping locate available space and putting the right people in contact with one another is all it may take to see events go from concept to reality and ultimately meet the desired objective – increased awareness of and demand for downtown.
As an operational minded person, I’m always intrigued with not only the events themselves, but how they are produced. Obviously there must be a contingent that is responsible for setting up and dismantling the event venue along with staff that will help in delivering day-of operational support, which usually comes in the form of ongoing cleaning and security.
Utilize Your Ambassador Team
If your organization has a safety or cleaning program, your existing team can usually serve as a contingency of capable personnel that will allow you to ramp up and back down quickly. Most of our partner cities have found that the same staff that provides hospitality, safety and cleaning on a daily basis is more than capable of handling events. This concept is furthered in our programs based on Block by Block’s mantra of hiring for personality and training for skills.
In planning for events, you should expect a cost to using your existing Ambassador team. You may have to adjust your coverage expectations on event days as staff are focused on pulling off a successful event; but time and time again, our partners have found that the positive dynamics of a successful event more than offset a couple of extra pieces of litter in the far flung reaches of the district in order to support the event within the existing pool of resources.
I wish you the best as you find your own unique reasons for gathering that will draw folks from near and far to experience the best of what your downtown has to offer!
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James Wells serves as Block by Block’s Regional Vice President of the Midwest Region, based in Louisville, KY. James is a ten year employee of Block by Block after starting his career as the Operations Manager assigned to lead the Louisville Downtown Management District’s Safety and Clean Team in March 2003.