Coldwater Main Street board members attend national conference
Downtown Coldwater representatives Audrey Tappenden Coldwater, Main Street director, and Courtney Dirschell of 2nd Story Marketing, recently attended the “Main Street NOW” conference in Richmond, Va.
The annual Main Street conference provides attendees from across the county the opportunity to convene and learn about innovative methods and practices. More than 40 others represented Michigan Main Street communities.
Of the many available sessions, Tappenden and Dirschell attended more than 24 presentations led by industry leaders.
Topics included trends in downtowns across the nation. Speakers' expertise included economic development, historical agencies, marketing, outdoor recreation and commercial district revitalization.
"As a Main Street board member, this conference was integral in learning more about what others are doing and making connections to those that can help move our downtown forward," Dirschell said.
Tappenden said the conference offered solutions to common problems and new techniques to help the community thrive.
"We can't wait to integrate these into our projects and programs," she said.
They outlined ideas and brought back energy from the conference for a recent presentation at the Coldwater DDA/Main Street board meeting.
Tappenden highlighted the importance of establishing design guidelines and recommendations for the district and shared a data-driven case for making downtowns accommodating to pets and their owners. People of all ages are making travel and lifestyle choices that are increasingly influenced by their canine companions.
Dirschell focused on the need to use market data from geofencing to show who is currently using the downtown or driving through it, and where they come from.
Some of her immediate recommendations include a branding campaign, hiring a photographer for downtown events and collaborating with Coldwater Recreation Department to evaluate and plan events for downtown.
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This article originally appeared on The Daily Reporter: Coldwater Main Street board members attend national conference
