2014 Destination Downtown 

Enjoy the sights, tastes and shops of downtown Pascagoula! This fun-filled tour will highlight attractions in downtown and afterward, attendees can eat lunch in downtown for under $10 and shop around. Visit Anchor Square, a collection of 16 Mississippi Cottages originally used as temporary housing following Katrina, now repurposed into a specialty shopping village in the heart of downtown Pascagoula. These businesses include gift shops, skin care services, bath and body products, a photography studio, hair salon, clothing and accessories, and a barbeque restaurant, and employ more than 25 people. There have been four businesses to graduate from Anchor Square into downtown vacant buildings. Anchor Square has become a hub for community activity while fostering small business growth for downtown Pascagoula.
Tour guides: Rebecca Davis, Pascagoula Main Street and Tripp Muldrow, ArnettMuldrow & Associates 
Sponsored by City of Pascagoula, Pascagoula Main Street, and the Pascagoula Police Department

3 p.m.  Guided tour of the historic Mary C. O’Keefe Cultural Center, formally the Ocean Springs High School

1-5 p.m. Exhibitors set up – Mary C. O’Keefe Cultural Center, First Floor Exhibit Hall

5-7 p.m. Welcome Reception at the Community Center next to the Walter Anderson Museum of Art (510 Washington Avenue, Ocean Springs, 39564)
Sponsored by the Ocean Springs Chamber-Main Street-Tourism Bureau

7 p.m. Dine Around Downtown Ocean Springs
Enjoy an evening of great food and and networking in downtown Ocean Springs.   

Enjoy a Tato-nut donut with your coffee, a breakfast favorite made in downtown Ocean Springs!

Welcome – Bob Wilson, Mississippi Main Street
Margaret Miller, Ocean Springs Main Street
Mayor Connie Moran, Mayor of Ocean Springs

A panel discussion on the rising trend of female entrepreneurs and business owners on Main Street and their perspectives on the benefits and challenges of what they do.
Panelists:
Coulter Fussell - Yalo Gallery, Water Valley
Belinda Stewart - Belinda Stewart Architects, Eupora
Rothann Richey - Lula Lee's, Baldwyn
Laura Bolton - Rue Vieux LLC, Biloxi

This training session takes a Main Street approach to community design and planning. The companion questions and checklists render this workshop a virtual “self-help diagnostic” for individuals and Main Street programs who want to enhance their communities but don’t know where to begin. Individuals will be able to evaluate their community and identify practical responses to design and planning issues that range from gateways to streetscapes, from parks and open spaces to facades and much, much more.

Great Session for managers as well as board members! Topics include: IRS Publication 1771—Charitable Contributions, Nonprofit Compliance, Record Keeping and Substantiation Rules, Written Acknowledgement, Goods & Services, Non-cash Gifts and Qualified Appraisals.

An important part of the recovery process for any community facing the destruction of much-loved historic landmarks is to tell the story of rebuilding and renewal, as well as commemorate landmarks that were lost.  Learn how the Save My Place educational outreach program utilizes social media, traveling computer kiosk exhibits, a web-based application and printed materials to tell the stories of 29 historic places affected by Hurricane Katrina and help the Gulf Coast celebrate its preservation victories. Lolly and Amber will share insights on how to develop your own program with multiple media sources that tells the story of place.

“Design Strategies for Downtown Buildings” – Susan Shaddox, Interior Design Consultant and Mark Miller, Small Business Consultant, Main Street Arkansas

Susan and Mark will show appropriate visual merchandising and window displays for businesses in historic districts as well as employing temporary visual enhancement strategies for vacant buildings. Come away with new ideas for "fixing up" your downtown facades!

A must for new board members and managers! Topics include: Why Nonprofits have Boards, Legal Duties of Care, Loyalty, and Obedience, The Three C’s--Conflicts of Interest, Corporate Opportunity, and Confidentiality, Third Party Actions, Tips for Avoiding Personal Liability & Liability Insurance, and Basic Responsibilities of Governance Structures.

Topics include using Facebook to market tourism events including paid advertisement strategies as well as using organic engagement strategies.

Learn marketing tips and strategies from veteran Ocean Springs director - not only for events but for your businesses and Main Street program. Find out how Margaret leveraged the information from two festival economic impact studies to increase her marketing and grow her sponsorship dollars.

Rue Vieux LLC Panelists: Laura Bolton and Debbie Collins
This interactive session will be followed by a tour of the Rue View LLC properties in downtown Biloxi, including Gallery 782, the Cousins house, a branch of the Mississippi Craft Center and several properties rehabilitated within the Rue Magnolia & Water Street area.

Wear your cowboy hat, boots and spurs and come on downtown to enjoy a “Taste of Ocean Springs” with food provided by local restaurants, adult beverages sponsored by Blue Moon, Crooked Letter Brewery and Lazy Magnolia and music to kick up your boots to with friends old and new!
Continuous shuttle service from hotels will be provided.

Is your Main Street program in a bit of a rut, spinning its wheels with lots of ideas but not a lot of action? Do you focus on the easier stuff: promotions and marketing and facade improvements instead of tougher economic issues? Hear how your Main Street program can turn around and become recognized as the economic catalyst for your city or town by assessing your longterm vision and crafting a new kind of strategic plan.

Learn how your business can grow through analyzing and optimizing your website for customer satisfaction and sales.

This highly visual training session takes a quick tour of design issues that affect the public spaces and privately owned buildings of our downtowns, but more often than not, blur the lines between the two. Whether dealing with lighting, signage, streetscapes, open spaces, public realm amenities, or building specific design elements, this presentation will outline basic principles to ensure each issue is sympathetic to a Main Street approach to downtown design.

Think urban living in a small town is impossible? Think again. Ron will walk you through the development of a unique space in small town Siloam Springs. He will share with you critical learnings and perspective on practical preservation, creating urban-inspired living spaces for the growing Millennial population in the heart of Main Street and the importance of downtown living and its innate contribution to the vibrancy of your communities.