DOWNTOWN VISION RECEIVES INTERNATIONAL AWARD
FOR DOWNTOWN JACKSONVILLE
(JACKSONVILLE, FL. Oct 7, 2010) -- The International Downtown Association (IDA) awarded Downtown Vision, Inc. (DVI) a Downtown Pinnacle Award, IDA’s highest honor for success and innovation in downtown development worldwide. One of ten winners, Downtown Vision won the marketing and communications category for the explore the more campaign. Seventy-three qualified entries were submitted this year.
“We are pleased with the campaign’s success and the recognition for Downtown Jacksonville,” said Terry Lorince, executive director of Downtown Vision. “It is humbling to have our counterparts from other cities throughout the world use Downtown Jacksonville as a model for their campaigns. That is success.”
The campaign is DVI’s largest marketing partnership to date, involving more than 50 property owners, 100 street level retailers and city support for a unified effort to promote Downtown Jacksonville.
“The goal was to create an engagement campaign that would awaken Downtown users – businesses, workers, residents and visitors – to Downtown Jacksonville’s diverse and unique offerings,” explained Andy Dykstra, principal at Burdette Ketchum, the integrated marketing firm that created the campaign with Downtown Vision. “It is rewarding that the campaign was successful for Downtown Vision and that it has earned this peer recognition.”
The campaign was also featured in one of the industry’s leading publications, Downtown Promotion Reporter, which specifically highlighted the parking meter wraps with Downtown’s mobile website address, DTJAX.com, as the most innovative marketing strategy of 2009. As a result, DVI received multiple calls from other cities inquiring about the campaign and various elements as they sought to adapt concepts to their own needs.
In addition, The Great Fire Party a nightlife promotion held in May of this year, was one of 10 events selected from more than 200 submissions as a best practices case study for other cities. The promotion was lauded for its creativity, economic impact and cost-effective strategies.
“Even large cities are watching what we’re doing. When the executive director of a Los Angeles Business Improvement District comments that he is was impressed by what Jacksonville is doing and would like to do a similar event, it reinforces that we are being innovative,” added Lorince.
The Washington, D.C.-based International Downtown Association (IDA) is a champion for vital and livable urban centers and strives to inform, influence and inspire downtown leaders and advocates. With 600 members, IDA is a guiding force in creating healthy and dynamic centers that anchor the well-being of towns, cities and regions.
About Downtown Vision, Inc.
Downtown Vision, Inc. (DVI) is a not-for-profit 501(c) 6 organization whose mission is to build and maintain a healthy and vibrant Downtown community and to promote Downtown as an exciting place to live, work, play, and visit.
Founded in 2000, DVI is dedicated to promoting the Downtown area, building a neighborhood Downtown, serving as a one-stop shop for information on Downtown and advocating the interests of local businesses and property owners. Downtown Vision is the only organization solely devoted to revitalizing Downtown Jacksonville. For more information, visit downtownjacksonville.org.
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Pamela Nix Elms
Director of Marketing
Downtown Vision, Inc.
214 N. Hogan Street, Suite 120
Jacksonville, FL 32202
w 904-634-0303 ext. 222
www.downtownjacksonville.org
mobile: DTJAX.org
***UNDER FLORIDA'S VERY BROAD PUBLIC RECORDS LAW, COMMUNICATION TO AND FROM DOWNTOWN VISION IS SUBJECT TO PUBLIC DISCLOSURE.***
