Downtown Partnership September Newsletter

While its office at the Acacia Park substation undergoes some maintenance and repair, the Business Improvement District staff has temporarily relocated to 8 S. Tejon Street. A huge thanks to Griffis Blessing for providing the space! BID Manager Beth Ortiz can still be reached at (719) 499-7745.

Spend it Downtown

New Gift Card launches

Sure you could get a gift certificate for a single store, but how about a gift card that works at a hundred or so of them?

Gift cards are hugely popular and soon, those who like to shop Downtown (but may be stymied on just what to purchase where) will have the option of purchasing a gift card accepted at numerous downtown shops, restaurants and galleries.

Participating Downtown merchants will be leveraging the same kind of revenue-generating convenience as big box chains and malls.

The Downtown Gift Card will launch September 18, and can be purchased online at www.downtown80903.com or at the Downtown Partnership office, 111 South Tejon St., Ste. 309. As of early September, 105 Downtown merchants had signed on. Whether you give or receive a card, you'll be able to go online and find detailed information, including addresses and maps, about all participating merchants, too. How's that for strategic shopping?

Recently a downtown employer who had canceled the company picnic and holiday bonuses gave its employees an unexpected $100.00 and one hour to "spend it downtown." What a great idea! Think about using the Downtown Gift Card to give your employees a little boost in morale -and invest in downtown in the process. Downtown gift cards could also be used to create other employee incentive programs or as a gesture of appreciation to your clients.

Downtown merchants who haven't yet joined the program still can! Contact Denise Schall at 719-886-0088.

Catch a flick

Kimball's opens third screen

"Kimball's Twin Peak" at 115 E. Pikes Peak Ave. will soon be a thing of the past. But not in the way you think!

Downtown's only movie theater has added a third screen and thus will soon undergo a name change-to Kimball's Peak Three Theater.

Kimball's offers an alternative to the mega-plex/mall movie experience with its full bar serving liquor, draft beer, espresso drinks and wines by the glass. The "first run" movie theater shows the best current independent and foreign films (with an occasional blockbuster).

General Manager Matt Stevens said that since opening on August 10, the intimate 48-seat auditorium has been well received. "Cute," "charming," and "love it!" have emerged as patrons' most frequent descriptions.

In addition to its cozy feel, the additional viewing room is versatile. The seats are movable, and the room is available for rental. Businesses or groups needing conference space or a place to comfortably present their own films should contact Stevens at (719) 447-1945.

Moviegoers can still check out what films are showing when, as well as other information at www.kimballstwinpeak.com.

At your fingertips

New! Online DP Video Directory

If you haven't been to the Downtown Partnership web site recently - www.downtown80903.com - you're in for a treat. In addition to updating lots of content and making the site more user-friendly, we've added a cutting-edge new feature: an online video directory. (On our home page, look at the top right corner of the main menu to find the link.)

The video directory is a joint effort of the Downtown Partnership and Springs Video Pages. We predict it's going to knock your socks off.

This directory isn't merely a listing --- unless you're only looking at the location and contact information at the top of the page! Rather, it's a cornucopia of options including introductory video, Google mapping, slideshow, online coupons, virtual brochure/catalogue, store, link to your business web site and more. The best way to begin to comprehend its versatility and scope is to go to our site, click on a member, and then tool around a bit.

The online video directory is a for-fee option. Downtown Partnership is absorbing the cost of hosting at our site; the listing fee is paid to Springs Video Pages, which handles all of the technology and back-end processes. Additionally, your DP Video Directory is directly linked to and included in a larger citywide directory built and hosted by Springs Video Pages.

Erin Gilman, owner of Springs Video Pages, believes this will be "the most powerful multi-media local search vehicle ever." As a Google developer, he ensures all of the directory content is continually optimized.

Downtown Partnership members and other Downtown entities will continue to be featured at no cost in our Downtown Guide.

For more information, contact Denise Schall at (719) 886-0088.

Expand your marketing reach

Free Internet marketing classes

Retailers, are you overwhelmed trying to figure out (let alone implement) your online marketing approach? The choices are many and constantly shifting in effectiveness. To help you over the hump, Downtown Partnership is offering an ongoing series of free Internet marketing classes every Wednesday morning, from 8:30 to 9:15. Each week has a unique focus, including a 15-minute "bright idea" segment. Come to one or come to all.

The classes are presented by (Mr.) Erin Gilman, owner of Springs Video Pages and a former longtime Silicon Valley ad agency creative director. A Colorado Springs native, Gilman has come home to share his expertise locally. (And just to be clear: sales pitches are not part of the classes!)

Upcoming topics include:

Sept. 16 --- "Basics of being found on the Web." Learn how to effectively utilize search engines and other online venues.

Sept. 23 --- "Get people out of the Web and into your store." Find out techniques to convert online viewers to real-time, on site customers.

Sept. 30 --- "Beyond Google." Learn more about how Google works, what's effective and not, plus how to build your brand online without Google.

Classes are held at the Downtown Partnership conference room, 111 S. Tejon, Suite 309. Space is limited, accommodating up to 10, so get there early! For more information, contact Terri at (719) 886-0088.

Can you guess?

Downtown Puzzler

DDA Challenge Grant funds in action! Do you know what this is and where it's located?

Sept Puzzler

Trailblazer

Bronze cyclist dedicated

Fred Darpino's beautiful "Trailblazer," a larger-than-life bronze sculpture of a cyclist in the median at Bijou where it becomes Kiowa, was formally dedicated during a ceremony on August 26. Local dignitaries, including Mayor Rivera, were on hand. Art for Land Sake 1

The work was conceived of more than a decade ago, but wasn't fully funded until recently. Gifts from arts donor Lucy O. Ross, as well as from the estate of the late General Arthur G. Salisbury, helped bring the project to completion.

Appreciation goes to Murphy Constructors and Colorado Springs Utilities for their great assistance in installing the new art.

Save the date

"Fall into Autumn" membership mixer

Don't forget! The Downtown Partnership Fall Member Mixer will be held Thursday, September 17, 2007, 5:30 to 7 p.m. at Pueblo Bank & Trust, 415 E. Pikes Peak Ave.

Enjoy light hors d'oeuvres, wine and beer and maybe even win one of the great door prizes from Kimball's Twin Peak Theater, William Kurtz Limited, Boulder Street Gallery, Springs Video Pages, the Downtown Partnership and the Business Improvement District.

For more information, contact Terri at (719) 886-0088.

Learn about it

Downtown Colorado, Inc. Conference 9/23-25

The Downtown Partnership is thrilled to present the 2009 Downtown Colorado, Inc. annual conference, Downtown Economic Vitality: Creative Solutions Through Preservation & Management in Colorado Springs (at the Antlers Hilton) on September 23-25, 2009.

With three days of sessions, mobile workshops, lunch dine-arounds, receptions and networking opportunities, the conference provides a leading forum for learning effective downtown revitalization efforts for economic development and recovery in Colorado.

This is a tremendous opportunity to learn best practices from national, state and local experts.

Sessions topics will include "Municipal Commitment to Downtown;" "Greening Downtown: Incoroporating Sustainability into Economics;" and "Visioning for Downtown."

Additionally, the conference includes a Governor's Awards for Downtown Excellence Gala at Colorado College's Cornerstone Arts Center on Thursday, September 24, at 5:30 p.m.

Registrations are still being accepted online at http://www.regonline.com/checkin.asp?eventid=705837. For more information, contact Jacque at (719) 886-0088.

We've got answers

Puzzled no more

The image above is detail from a mural created this summer by local artist Douglas Rouse for Sierra Madre Investments, LLP. The mural graces the south side of 14 N. Sierra Madre St. (which has long housed the legal offices of Alpern Myers Stuart LLC) and faces the historical old railroad Depot. Funded in part with a matching DDA Challenge Grant, the mural is meant to evoke not only an era gone by but also to provide artistic reference to a famous legal case, Palsgraf v. Long Island R.R.

The case is required law school reading for its theoretical depth of opinion (pitting against each other two great thinkers in American jurisprudence) as well as the urban legend-like aspects of the case (which involved a series of mishaps, including an explosion of fireworks and claimed injuries to Mrs. Helen Palsgraf). The case was ultimately dismissed.

Help us help you!

Send us your news

But please send it early!

The Downtown Partnership e-newsletter is sent out on or near the 15^th of each month. If you have news or events to publicize, please keep that date in mind and submit your materials by the first of the month. If your event falls on a date during the first two weeks of a month, you'll want to contact us by the first of the preceding month. For example, a September 10^th event should be publicized in our August15^th newsletter... so we'd need to have your information by August 1. Questions? Contact Terri at 886-0088.