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HomeMy WebLinkAboutDAC - 2015-02-26 DOWNTOWN ACTION & ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES February 26, 2015 City of Kitchener The Downtown Action & Advisory Committee met this date, commencing at 4:00p.m. Chair: Melissa Bowman Present: Erin Atchison, Tyson Bond, Andre Chin, Councillor Frank Etherington, David Harmes, Zenia Horton, Dean Knipfel, Jessica Kropf, Councillor Sarah Marsh, Christine Michaud, Kevin Muir, Scott Thomson, George Trihenea, Brad Watson, Mallory Wheldon, and Don Zehr Staff: Cory Bluhm, Monika Grau, Janette MacDonald, Eric Rumble and Sandy Curzon 1. Information Items/Unfinished Business 1.1 Development Updates LRT construction schedule starts this Spring with King St.W. from Victoria St. to Union and Charles St.W. from Victoria St.S. to Borden Ave.S. 1.2 Arts & Culture Advisory Committee (ACAC) Updates There were no updates from ACAC 2. New Business 2.1 Downtown Brand Strategy How do you get people to change their thoughts of downtown? How do you take people from having a negative image to a positive image of the core? To accomplish this we are focused on changing the physical landscape, creating events that have an emotional experience and by telling the stories of community leaders and business owners. http://www.downtownkitchener.ca/en/pages/DTKlove.asp Following the video, committee members provided their questions/comments: How do we engage the suburban community/neighbourhoods? - Who is the audience? start with ambassadors first Panhandlers have stories too Bring attention to causes Embrace the stigmas Humans of NY - http://www.humansofnewyork.com/ is an interesting approach Perception has been focusing on homelessness Downtown Action & Advisory Committee February 26, 2015 Reach out to suburban community is important There are lots of negative experiences throughout the city, not just downtown not knowing what happening downtown Where do people who do not live downtown feel they belong? Make downtown a destination Communities are where you live How do we attract community groups? Integrate events with businesses challenge is to get families to discover how great it is Are there key strategies within the brand strategy? Who is the target audience? Social Media is how you reach the younger demographic i.e. Instagram & Facebook Build a network to get people comfortable with downtown Show the person behind the story Baby Boomers and millennials are already moving into the downtown core targeting them would be different than other demographics Add a healthy/competitive anchor i.e. marathon Focus on the downtown neighbourhoods target the current audience Marketing dollars better spent on those most likely to come downtown 2.2 Working Groups DAAC members were assigned to one of five working groups, to assist city staff in the further development of Downtown Brand Development; Beautification Initiatives; Event Development; Retail & Business Attraction and; Kitchener Economic Development Strategy (KEDS) 3. Adjournment Meeting adjourned at 5:00pm followed by DAAC members splitting into their working groups for further discussion S. Curzon Committee Coordinator Downtown Action & Advisory Committee February 26, 2015