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September 8, 2009
Tag: Main Street
Is your Main Street on the map?
September 3, 2009
In the United States, there are 10,466 streets that go by the name of Main, and no doubt, each has a story to tell. To capture them, a new social media project, Mapping Main Street, is putting to work the internet’s capacity for sharing video, photos, and words. There’s a small team traveling the roads … More Is your Main Street on the map?
Entrepreneurial stories
August 28, 2009
We have been promoting the idea that recessions and layoffs, while very difficult to navigate, provide the impetus for an entrepreneurial boom. Now, the Kauffman Foundation has issued its report supporting our claims. In economic gardening terms, this is the equivilant of burning last years crops to make way for the new “green shoots.” … More Entrepreneurial stories
New York rethinks Broadway
August 14, 2009
As the song says, if you can make it there, you’ll make it anywhere. If the Big Apple can make a park-like setting out of one of the city’s busiest streets, what’s to stop your town from making a pro-people shift in one of your important spaces? Of course we need cars and trucks, delivery access and … More New York rethinks Broadway
Growing a success narrative
July 23, 2009
Is Abingdon on the brink of a new renaissance? That was the title question of a front page Bristol Herald Courier story this week connecting new businesses in the Washington County town to a strategic investment in Southwest Virginia’s cultural heritage. This little town might be the next Asheville, at least according to the buzz downtown,” opens staff … More Growing a success narrative
How to lay out a city…in eight and one half minutes
July 20, 2009
While reviewing some of the great action movie stunts of all times, I was steered (get it: steered?) to this short film by French New Wave auteur Claude Lelouch. While you probably don’t want to recreate this famous and wildly reckless driving scene, take eight minutes to focus on the beauty and layout of Parisian streets. … More How to lay out a city…in eight and one half minutes
Bright ideas for business
June 3, 2009
What is a good business proposition? That is a tough question to answer. I am sure that many people thought that two old hippies were crazy when they started an ice cream company in Vermont, where summers last only a few months and the temperature can drop to near freezing in August. But those that saw promise … More Bright ideas for business
Trading Faces: Building and caring for your online reputation
April 1, 2009
You’ve spent years building your professional reputation and protecting your organization’s good name, but in today’s interconnected, information-rich world it’s easier than ever for the actions of others to damage the goodwill you’ve established. Networking is a basic responsibility of business owners and organizations serving them. We network to keep abreast of best practices, to … More Trading Faces: Building and caring for your online reputation
Get noticed
March 20, 2009
Once you have designed and launched your Web site, your next task is to get it noticed. One of the top ways to do this is to make sure you show up in relevant Web searches. If you are selling your charming and thriving business district, you will want to be sure that your Web … More Get noticed
Report from the Main Street 2.0 conference
March 13, 2009
While the Virginia Main Street staff was unable to travel to Chicago for the 2009 National Main Streets Conference, Becoming Main Street 2.0, Jessie Chase from Harrisonburg was able to attend and reported back that it was fun, interesting and worthwhile. We returned from the Chicago National Main Street conference on Wednesday evening tired and … More Report from the Main Street 2.0 conference
Virginia Main Street 