Promote Your Downtown to New Markets

This is a session that gives an overview on LEED design in buildings, and how it’s being used in Michigan. Learn how state and local governments are leading by example and how LEED is a significant component of downtown revitalization projects.

Presenter:

• Amy Butler, Michigan Department of Environmental Quality

Find out from experienced travel writers what they are looking for and how to pitch newsworthy story ideas to maximize awareness of your downtown, destination or major event. Travel Michigan's Public Relations team leads the session with an overview of its strategy to implement tourism publicity for Michigan, and offers tips on how you can do better in those efforts. A Q/A session will follow the panel presentation. Leave the session with the top ten ways to generate great news about your downtown.

Panelists:

• Kristen Borgstrom, Travel Michigan
• Ellen Creager, Travel writer
• Kim Schneider, Travel writer, Booth Newspapers
• Amy Eckert, Freelance travel writer

Sustainability is transforming the building industry. Green is mainstreamed. Yet, sustainability remains more aspiration than reality. The path ahead is still debated.

The challenges of “greening” existing buildings are just beginning to emerge. Stewardship of the existing building stock has been addressed primarily in terms of historic preservation. Preservationists have protected existing buildings as both historic and cultural resources. The responsibilities and benefits of preserving the building stock are magnified. Renewing existing buildings preserves their current economic and social value, reinvests their embodied material and energy resources, and avoids the needless expenditure on new resources and, most importantly, yields substantial positive environmental impacts. There are many exciting case studies and lessons learned relevant to both preservationists and green building advocates. Presented by Carl Elefante, Quinn Evans, Architects.

Are you looking for a fun, cost-effective way to instill pride in your community, clarify your community identity and celebrate your area's history? Festivals and special events are a great way to showcase your community while offering financial incentives by stimulating travel into your community.

• Sue Bila, Michigan Festivals & Events
• Joanna Hardesty, Hamburg Township Clerk

Everything you must know about connecting and selling to Generation Y is in this session. Learn what media and message will resonate with this most valuable of all existing customers. This presentation breaks down the technology barrier, removes any fear and explains the perspective needed to successfully market to this new generation. You can’t miss this session presented by our keynote Marianna Hayes!

Simply stated, a design charrette is a brainstorming session where lots of ideas are brought forth by both professional designers and local citizens, in an attempt to resolve a problem of local interest. Learn why a design charrette is an important part of creating a vision for the future of your downtown and in gaining public support for redevelopment. In this session, learn how to organize a design charrette, who should participate, and what to do with the results.

• Jeff Mason, Hamilton Anderson Associates

Over the past several years, young professionals groups have begun to form throughout Michigan. Encouraged and influenced by the writings of such people as Richard Florida (author of “The Rise of the Creative Class”), these groups have come together to provide opportunities for young professionals to meet and interact, as well as to assist in the broader concept of attracting and retaining young talent in their respective areas. While several groups have been established in the Detroit area, others are thriving in smaller communities across the state. Representatives from Holland Young Professionals and the Grand River Connection (Lansing) will present on who they are, how they operate, how they provide services to young professionals in their communities, and how they serve as indirect economic development tools in their regions.

Panelists:

• Ali Gaylord, Grand River Connection
• Brian McGrain, Grand River Connection
• Barry Rice, Holland Young Professionals

Learn how to create a common-sense, administrator-friendly code for your downtown that recognizes both form and function...and is supported by the community. Form-based coding in downtown Grand Rapids has been in effect for more than a decade. The city's new 2007 ordinance implemented a hybrid form-based code for the entire city. Coding based on a vision, valued places and citizen education can lead to success. This session will address how to engage citizens in a re-write process while developing a code that you can live with. Smart Growth, LEED-ND, Transit-Oriented Design (TOD) and Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED) principles will be highlighted. The benefits and challenges of administering this type of ordinance will be discussed.

Presented by:

• Suzanne Schulz & Jay Fowler, Grand Rapids Planning

Entrepreneurship is one of the seven components of a highly successful downtown. Who are the emerging entrepreneurs and where are they choosing to start their businesses? Hear from our panelists about the Greater Baltimore Technology Council’s MoshPit! Business plan competition, Central Michigan University’s Labelle Entrepreneurial Center, and the Small Business Association of Michigan’s Vice President on new ways to think about entrepreneurship!

Panelists:

• Penny Lewandowski
• Mark Clevey
• Charles Fitzpatrick

Although often perceived as “beggars,” arts and culture groups contribute to the economic well-being of today’s cities and towns. The prized and often elusive young adults are making lifestyle and location choices based on amenities offered in a location and a sense of adventure. Baby Boomers are becoming urban explorers, often relocating based on lifestyle choices. Cities are evaluating housing stock, historical districts, and support of the arts in an effort to attract “the creatives.” Explore the adventure open in your locations while looking at the unique setting of Bay City, MI.

Presented by:

• Joy Butler, Bay Arts Council

Many communities across the state are experiencing a renewed interest in downtown housing and mixed-use development, particularly from private developers. In downtown Bay City, a former marina and warehouse complex on the Saginaw River built in 1921 has been successfully converted into condominiums. And in downtown Lansing, a former parking lot has been transformed into a newly-built residential, commercial, and retail development. Come hear from developers as they discuss these two projects (the Boathouse in Bay City and the Stadium District in Lansing), the challenges they faced in completing them, and the impacts they have had on their respective communities.

Panelists:

• Paul Rowley, Jennison Place/Boathouse/Mill End Development
• Rachel Michaud, The Gillespie Group

Customer experience is all the promises and perceptions that a business’ customers feel about its products and services. It is what you do and who you are, as seen by your customers. Our panelists will discuss their business points of view on the Customer Experience and what we as downtown practitioners can do to work with our businesses.

Panelists:

• Paul Saginaw, Zingerman’s
• Tom Tabor & Barb Bosco, Herman Hiss & Company

Downtown is a business, a business that has significant economic value. But economic assets and businesses need management. Imagine building a successful retail operation and then concluding that it is going so well you could walk away for a year, that the business could manage itself and that it would still be prosperous. Of course it wouldn’t; it would be bankrupt. The “inventory” of downtown is the buildings, the businesses, and the public spaces. If the economic value and the economic benefits of downtown are going to be realized they, like any business, need ongoing management.

Presented by:

• Donovan Rypkema, PlaceEconomics

After a short and unusual review of downtown parking issues, the session will primarily focus on real solutions and new technology. Case studies with valuable information from a variety of perspectives, and a fun musical act that includes a live Blues Band, guarantee this will be an interesting and informative session. Attendees will have fun and leave with potential short and long term strategies and solutions that can be utilized in their communities. This is a session you won’t forget.

Presented by:

• Bob Donohue, Oakland County Main Street
• Gerald Dettloff, Principal of Downtown Management Strategies
• Paul Zelenak, Village Manager of Lake Orion
• David Rich of Rich & Associates