Wichita Downtown Development Corporation
For Immediate Release
October 7, 2010
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Jeff Fluhr
316-264-6005
Wichita Downtown Development Corporation

Wichita Downtown Development Corporation Wins Two
2010 Downtown Achievement Merit Awards
The Wichita Downtown Development Corporation received an Award of Merit for ?2P campaign and the Tallgrass Film Festival.  The awards were made by the International Downtown Association and announced during the organization's 56th Annual Conference in Ft. Worth, Texas on Oct. 3rd.
 
Now in its 25th year, the International Downtown Association Achievement Award program recognizes the best practices from across the world that are making center cities better places to live, work, shop, play and visit.  The award program is competitive and juried on several criteria including innovation, replication, inclusiveness and outcome.   
 
The IDA recognized projects and programs in nine categories: Economic and Business Development, Downtown Leadership and Management, Planning, Public Space, Marketing and Communication, Events and Programming, Transportation, Sustainability, and Keep America Beautiful's Cigarette Litter Prevention Program. Tallgrass Film Festival received the award in the Events and Programming category and the ?2P Campaign award was in the Transportation category.
 
The ?2Park campaign was created through a partnership with the City of Wichita, Wichita Transit, Sedgwick County, SMG and Wichita Downtown Development Corporation.  The campaign launched in November, 2009, shortly before the official opening of the Intrust Bank Arena in an effort to help answer the often asked downtown question - where to park or ?2P. The campaign includes a website - www.parkdowntown.org - that features an interactive map highlighting locations, availability and pricing for parking options.  In January, 2010 a mobile version of the site was introduced that allows easy usability on touchscreen phones. In addition to being able to find specific parking lots and pricing, the mobile application has the same features as the desktop version, including an interactive map that gives users the ability to find restaurants, shopping, and entertainment venues in downtown.  The site also provides information for the Q-line, downtown's shuttle service, and is slated to take another technological leap forward in the future.  The new edition of the site, slated for later this fall, will give users the ability to track in real time the location of individual Q-line trolleys as they navigate through downtown.  "This new feature combined with the parking, restaurant, shopping and entertainment information, puts downtown in the palm of your hand," stated Fluhr. Since the website was launched there have been more than 130,000 page views of the site.
 
The Tallgrass Film Festival will celebrate its 8th year this Oct 22-25, 2010 in Downtown Wichita and has proven to be one of Wichita's most popular events. "Tallgrass Film Festival has seen remarkable growth despite setbacks and challenges, and to be recognized for those efforts is wonderful," said Ann Keefer, President of the Tallgrass Film Association and Vice-President of Marketing for WDDC. "It took innovative, outside-the-box thinking to overcome the community's initial skepticism and this award serves as an indicator of just how far we have come."   The Festival offers filmmakers from around the world an opportunity to submit films, including shorts, features, documentaries and narratives to the 25-member programming committee.  The selection process narrows the field of 600+ submissions to approximately 100 diverse films that screen at six venues throughout Downtown.   In 2009, Tallgrass attracted nearly 8,000 attendees over the three-day festival.
 
"We are delighted that the IDA selected ?2P, Tallgrass Film Festival and the WDDC to receive these prestigious awards," said Jeff Fluhr, WDDC President.  "The award process is highly competitive and we are appreciative that Wichita was recognized by other professionals in the downtown development field," he added.
 
Wichita Downtown Development Corporation, Board Chairman Larry Weber expressed his appreciation for the award.  "This is a great honor for Wichita," he said.  "WDDC embraces the collaborative process and the award recognizes the work of everyone involved," he said. 
 
The Downtown Achievement Award is just one way the International Downtown Association serves towns and cities engaged in downtown revitalization. IDA is a world leader of and champion for vital and livable urban centers. Through its network of committed individuals, its rich body of knowledge and its unique capacity to nurture community-building partnerships, IDA is a guiding force in creating healthy and dynamic centers that anchor the well being of towns, cities and regions of the world.
 
 
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