DCI Monthly Districts Roundtable
Each month our District members join a call to discuss pertinent issues and share ideas and best practices on district management. This past month covered topics including holiday and post-holiday promotions, homelessness, and the evolution of downtown districts.
A special congratulations goes out to Downtown Littleton for their successful 2022 Ballot measure establishing Colorado’s 20th Downtown Development Authority. More information and details on the Downtown Littleton planning process are available on their website HERE.
How can you participate with and support DCI in 2023?
The holiday season is a busy one for Downtown Colorado, Inc. as well! Colorado Gives Day is Tuesday, December 6th and all donations to DCI help support the Colorado Challenge Program bringing support to rural downtowns throughout Colorado. Giving early still counts towards the Gives Day incentive fund, please consider supporting DCI at our Colorado Gives Day page.
DCI memberships provide annual support for your downtown, municipality, organization, and all the downtown champions that help make your community great. Special membership benefits have been added this year for certain levels, and renewing before December 31, 2022 will provide a special discount. If you want to renew or prepay a renewal to your DCI membership, check out our member types or email [email protected] and use the code 2023DOER for 10% off the total membership cost!
DOWNTOWNS CELEBRATE THE HOLIDAYS
Many downtowns throughout Colorado have special events and promotions to highlight their local businesses. Many are clever ways to instigate physical foot traffic among a variety of businesses as well as opportunities to introduce products to visitors that demonstrate a wide-range of local goods and services.
The Colfax BID promotes “Bag of Colfax”, a grab bag with a little bit of mystery and a whole lot of love from local businesses.
Olde Town Arvada is hosting several activities including a pop-up market and their 7th Annual Egg Nog and Cider Festival fundraiser, which has sold out!
The Downtown Colorado Springs Partnership gets festive with costumed characters out and about to delight shoppers during holiday weekends, and features the “Go Elf Yourself” costumed art ride fundraiser for Downtown Ventures.
Downtown Longmont has a Winter Passport campaign with stickers available in local businesses. Completed passports can be redeemed for donated gifts, gift cards, and unique Downtown Longmont gifts inspired by historic designs.
Old Town Spree 2022 is Downtown Fort Collins’ holiday event that rewards shoppers and diners for visiting local businesses. They utilize a custom code that visitors can obtain easily and a downtown gift card program to facilitate prizes.
Downtown Grand Junction has a long history of Holiday events, collectively advertised as The 12 Days of Christmas, with a Parade of Lights, carriage rides, and unique entertainment and artistic features throughout the season. Check out their packed calendar!
Downtown Greeley has launched their Holiday Open House with a neat bingo card entry for prizes from local businesses. To support the festive spirit they have micro-grants available for holiday storefront decorations and a traveling award for the best storefront display.
AFTER THE HOLIDAYS
Members discussed the very important period after the holiday season as well. Often retail and restaurant businesses see a decrease in sales from Jan-March, and district promotions look to keep engagement high during this time. Some promotions planned in downtown districts in Q1, 2023 include:
Restaurant Week
Marketing to leverage gift cards received over the holidays
A Taco Trail of restaurants
AR/ VR events that can carry through the holidays by focusing on art, history, or geographic features
EVOLVING DISTRICTS
Different communities have taken different paths to developing their downtown organizations, some beginning with Urban Renewal Authorities and adding Downtown Development Authorities or Business Improvement Districts to provide ongoing TIF or service delivery to augment the activities of the URA, other communities may have started with a non-profit organization or a downtown BID and are looking for more robust infrastructure support from a DDA or URA. Members discussed the advantages, disadvantages, and the process of these evolutions and helped inform other communities looking to evolve to meet local needs.
OTHER NOTES
If you weren't able to make our call and you're a DCI DDA or District member, we hope to see you on our next one! We meet on the second Wednesday, every other month with our next call planned for Wednesday, January 11th at 12:30pm. A big thanks to our BID and DDA district members joining the call!
UPCOMING EVENTS
DCI always has things going on, so be sure to check out these upcoming events!
DCI, CNU Colorado, and American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) Colorado are hosting a Holiday Networking Event December 6, 2022 at the DCI offices in Denver. Register for the event HERE.
Finally, mark your calendars for DCI’s annual conference. DCI IN THE GAME 2023 will be in Loveland, Colorado from April 11-14, 2023. Sponsorships, tours, and programming discussions are taking place now, if you’d like to participate email me at [email protected].
Not a member yet but you would like to participate on our monthly District calls and enjoy all the other benefits of membership? Click HERE for more information on our memberships tailored to your district, municipality, or organization needs.
