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To set up this particular blog post we can’t help but start off with a little song – so please feel free to listen as you scan over this post:

As a sponsor of Destination Downtown 2015, CCED Director Amy Whitehead and Project Coordinator Shelby Fiegel divided and conquered this year’s conference, which was hosted by Main Street Arkansas at the CALS Ron Robinson Theater in Little Rock.

Destination Downtown is a regional conference sponsored by Main Street Arkansas, and co-sponsored by Mississippi Main Street Association and Louisiana Main Street, attracting more than 200 professionals in preservation-based commercial district revitalization, including new and experienced downtown and neighborhood Main Street directors, board members, architects, planners, economic development professionals, public officials, volunteers and consultants. Attendees hailed from communities of all sizes, from small rural towns to urban neighborhoods in large cities.

Sessions included topics such as “Diversify Your Revenue Sources!,” “Implementing the Four Point Refresh: Stronger Strategies, Stronger Outcomes,” “Blogging on Main Street & Attracting Travel Bloggers,” “PopUp in the Rock: Connecting Underutilized Space and Creating Sense of Place,” “Crowdfunding for Public Spaces & Community Places: Community & Innovation Come Together for the Greater Good” and many other diverse subjects. Our team thoroughly enjoyed all the sessions we attended and learned about a multitude of new ideas, resources, skills, trends, and tricks of the tourism trade.

To keep this post short and concise, we want to share the best “snippets” of information we heard while attending the conference. They are as follows:

• We need a combination of public and private partnerships to rebuild our downtowns: place + space.
• To travel is to learn – go explore different places and learn from their successes and mishaps.
• Successful cities of today think smaller, but in a big way.
• The economic development environment has changed between the 20th century and 21st century. Ask yourself: are you keeping up, have you changed with it?
• “The best way to predict the future is to create it yourself.” – Abe Lincoln.
• “Distinct qualities and uniqueness are the only competitive advantage communities have.” – Ed McMahon.
• Successful cities are distinctive cities.
• “The future belongs to mixed-use development.” – Ed McMahon.
• The PLACE is becoming more important that the product.
• Sameness is a minus in the world we live in, it is not a plus. Be different.
• Community image is critical to economic vitality and quality of life.
• What are we building today that will be worth preserving in the future? Think deeply about this question.
• In your downtown, if you a parking problem that means you are successful.
• Communities that set no standards compete to the bottom.
• People who live downtown spend 40-60% of their disposable income downtown.
• Every $1 spent on downtown investments creates a $27 return.
• Keys to responsible tourism.
• Pop ups – re-imagining downtowns in the some of the most creative ways. Learn more here.
• Public Places, Community Spaces is a crowdgranting program. Absorb this idea, people! Seriously. Learn more at the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and Patronicity.
• “As the world becomes more technological, place becomes even more important.” – Warwick Sabin.
• Problem in the south: we lose our most talented people because they don’t have access to what they need to be successful – we need to provide that access.

We had a wonderful time learning, absorbing, and networking at Destination Downtown 2015! We look forward to Destination Downtown 2016 hosted by Louisiana Main Street in Ruston, Louisiana (especially since we received some peach flavored chap-stick to put us in a Ruston mood). But until next year – that’s all folks!

This week on the Center’s blog, we are featuring a special guest that is VERY close to our staff (both literally and figuratively).

Kandace Keeney is the Professional Development & Special Projects Coordinator in our division at UCA, the Division of Outreach and Community Engagement. On July 24, she attended TEDxMarkhamSt and as a favor to us will be sharing insights and lessons learned with all of our devoted readers. Our team would like to thank Kandace for taking time out of her busy schedule to jot down her thoughts and we hope you thoroughly enjoy what she has to share!

Without further ado, we present Kandace Keeney – TEDxMarkhamSt:

Do you know TED? (If you don’t, please allow me to introduce you.)  Almost thirty years ago, Technology, Entertainment, and Design converged at an idea-sharing conference. Now a non-profit, global platform devoted to spreading ideas about almost all subjects, TED spreads big ideas from the world’s most inspired thinkers.

TEDx conferences are independently organized TED-like events dedicated to exercising the power of ideas to change attitudes, lives, and ultimately, the world. TEDxMarkhamSt is proof that little rocks are creating avalanches all over Arkansas. Everyone who participated in this entire day full of mind-blowing, multi-disciplinary talks left feeling inspired.

Here’s what I took home:

• Enhancing our 4G infrastructure is key to the future of agriculture. Diversity matters A LOT if your food is important to you. Eat local. Raise some chickens.
• Understanding doesn’t mean agreement or approval. Set aside agenda. Risk vulnerability. Listen.
• Never say anything that couldn’t stand as the last thing you ever say.
• Chasing meaning is better for your health than trying to avoid discomfort.
• Stress can be good for you when you choose to think about it as your body’s way of energizing you and helping you rise the challenge, your body will believe you. People matter most. Business culture can make or break a company.
• My recent and unscientific green room experiment shows that 100% of nervous TEDx presenters I hugged absolutely killed it on stage afterward. Thanks, Kelly!
• Promote social change. Ask yourself, “So what can I do?”  Know your options, dismiss excuses, start small, and do, and do more.
• Nonviolence is a way of life for courageous people. Adversaries are the best teachers of nonviolence. Without being broken-hearted we cannot have compassion.
• Birth situations do not determine destinations.
• Overcoming our fears is key to improving ourselves, our communities, and our world. We were all meant to be great, it’s our choice whether we accept it. Go beyond where you’re supposed to be. Believe. Go to the mountain top. Jump. Focus.
• We are not investing wisely in our future. A Pell grant is $7,000 per year, incarceration is $30,000 per year.
• A mother’s education is directly related to her children’s health and economic well-being, and one in five women in Arkansas do not complete high school. Arkansas ranks first in the number of teen births. Twenty percent of Arkansas women live in poverty, and the poverty rate for female-headed families is forty-eight percent. These statistics are scary, but anything that can be measured can be improved.
• 73 of 75 of Arkansas counties are designated as underserved, but telemedicine has measurable results showing its success in Arkansas. I repeat: Anything that can be measured can be improved.
• Architecture is powerful and changes places. Places shape every decision that we make, and our decisions shape later generations.
• We need to invest ourselves in quality of life and urban. We need to change minds on public transit or make a wrong turn for our future. For Little Rock to grow in the future thinking must change from I to we.

The current competitive economic environment is making it harder for communities to command attention and display relevancy. Thus, many Arkansas communities are getting lost in the crowd. One way these communities can redefine their situation and demand consideration is to develop a strong community brand. A community’s brand aims to establish a significant and differentiated presence among other communities. A strong brand influences public perception, makes investment in the community attractive, supports tourism activities, and provides citizens with a sense of identity.

In the mind of a typical consumer, the concept of branding is most often associated with a logo or tagline — the Nike swoosh, the Chevrolet bowtie, Coca Cola’s “Open happiness,” “Like a good neighbor State Farm is there,” or “Got Milk?” While logos and taglines are important in branding, they are not necessarily the most important part. This notion is especially true concerning community branding. To create a community brand that generates top-of-mind awareness and “sticks” in the mind of consumers, a city cannot simply pluck a logo or tagline out of thin air because it looks/sounds cool or they “think” it represents their community; a community brand has to be developed through research and self-identification. A good brand should provide a community with added value by conveying a powerful identity and create consumer trust and respect.

Las Vegas is a solid example of a successful community brand (though maybe not one any given community could or would want to recreate). The city would not be known as “Sin City” if the residents of Las Vegas and the general public did not attribute the city with that description. Las Vegas delivers on its brand promise (benefits and experiences that are associated with a community in its current and prospective consumers’ minds) by providing the experience, “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.” The city created brand success by understanding, playing off, and building its tourism-focused identity that is now known throughout the world.

So, how does a community in Arkansas compete with the big boys in branding? It starts with research. Review your community’s history and identify its future direction. Do you have a strategic plan set in place? If so, draw upon it during brand development. Define your competitors, conduct case studies of other successfully branded communities of similar size, and map out your strengths, weakness, opportunities, and threats. Make sure you ask yourself the right questions, such as:

• How do you define yourself as a community?
• What are the key features or unique attributes of your community?
• What are you selling (a good place to live, business environment, tourism, etc.)?
• What do residents think about your community?
• What do outsiders think about your community?
• What is your community vision or mission statement?
• What are your goals and objectives?

As you slowly accumulate this information, you will see your community brand take shape. Only after this research is complete and these questions are answered can a community begin to develop a logo or tagline. As the branding process winds down and decisions are made, there are many key things to remember. Be aware of perception (inside and outside of your community) so you can stay true to your community’s identity. Do not under deliver on your brand promise. If your brand falls short of its promise, you will lose the attention and trust of consumers and your brand will be unsuccessful. Most importantly, create a brand that adds value to your community and is consistent with your community’s future plans.

“Good community branding adds value” by CCED Project Coordinator Shelby Fiegel was originally published in the Arkansas Municipal League’s June 2015 publication of City & Town.

Shelby Fiegel is project coordinator of UCA’s Center for Community and Economic Development and Community Development Institute (CDI). Contact her by phone at 501-450-5269, by email at sfiegel@uca.edu, or visit the Center’s website.

One of our favorite conferences to attend is the Arkansas Rural Development Conference (ARDC) hosted by the Arkansas Department of Rural Services. Since our target audience at the Center is small to mid-sized community leaders, this conference always opens new doors for us within the state (which is especially handy with all the new elected officials making their mark in Arkansas municipalities this year). As an exhibitor and sponsor of ARDC 2015, our team met Arkansas leaders from every corner of the state including mayors, county judges, city administrators, police chiefs, city council members, state agency employees, non-profit leaders, and a variety of others. We were able to rub shoulders, shake hands, spread the good word of the Center and the Community Development Institute (CDI) to potential future partners, and learn a few things along the way. By the end of the three daylong conference, we were rendered exhausted – but in a good way!

Though “Exhibitor Life” has its perks (NETWORKING!), we did miss out on quite a few intriguing sessions, but our team was able to attend two.

The first session we were able to sit in on was “Session 5: Political Roundtable” held on Tuesday, May 20. This session was especially helpful because we got a glimpse into the minds of several prominent state legislators on the upcoming special session called by the governor and their opinions on several other hot topics. Topics discussed included moving the Arkansas primary to March 1, restructuring government agencies, the issuance of bonds for “super projects,” funding for Arkansas infrastructure (most prominent: funding for highways), the future of the Private Option, tax cuts, and the transformational Criminal Justice Reform Act.

The other session we attended was “Session 6: Workforce Readiness.” Two pieces of important information that came out of this session included two key programs: the ACT Work Ready Community program and Career Readiness Certification provided by the Arkansas Department of Workforce Services. As stated on their website, “The ACT Work Ready Communities (WRC) empowers states, regions, and counties with data, process, and tools that drive economic growth. Participants are leveraging the National Career Readiness Certificate (NCRC™) to measure and close the skills gap — and building common frameworks that link, align and match their workforce development efforts.” The Career Readiness Certification is described as “a portable credential based upon the WorkKeys® assessments that demonstrates to employers that an individual possesses the basic workplace skills required for 21st century jobs.
Getting a CRC will allow an individual to show prospective employers that he or she possesses the basic skills they are looking for.” Both programs are free of charge to participants.

A learning experience in and of itself was the final agenda item for ARDC 2015 – the Governor’s Luncheon and Awards Ceremony. All those in attendance had the privilege to hear Governor Asa Hutchinson speak about the upcoming special session and the importance of the agenda items that will be discussed. In connection to the theme of rural Arkansas, Governor Hutchinson also left the audience with fundamental advantages of rural communities (originally outlined by Diane Smith of The New Rural). These advantages include: high speed broadband internet access (which Governor Hutchinson called a “necessity and must”), availability of Telehealth, opportunity to capitalize on distance learning, and the rising availability of financial capital for entrepreneurs and innovators. Governor Hutchinson also made a point to relay to the audience that all high schools in Arkansas will offer computer science courses to capitalize on those advantages and the importance of technology as Arkansas continues to progress.

Following the lead of the wrap up of the conference, we would like to wrap up this blog post by congratulating all of the Arkansas Rural Development Conference grantees and the 2015 Rural Advocate of the Year Sam E. Angel (and Arkansas Department of Rural Services Director Alex Johnston and AEDC Deputy Director Amy Fecher for coordinating such an excellent conference)!