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For Immediate Release October 7, 2010
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For Immediate Release Contact: Jeff Fluhr 316-264-6005 Wichita Downtown Development Corporation
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Wichita Downtown Development
Corporation Wins Two 2010 Downtown Achievement Merit
Awards
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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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