Editor’s Note: This story is part of a month-long series that highlights 31 ideas included in the “Mansfield Rising” plan. The 67-page document was created by 15 local leaders after attending the South by Southwest Conference last March in Austin, Texas.
Idea 12: Develop a central processing system and calendar, & create a Downtown Mansfield Volunteer Coordinator position
MANSFIELD — If you want to plan an event in Mansfield, and you want to make sure it doesn’t cross paths with other events in Mansfield, where do you go?
A healthy and bustling downtown begins with awareness. In order to come downtown, residents and visitors must be able to easily access information about events within their community. To facilitate a valuable listing of all events, a central community “calendar” is needed.
A community calendar would give businesses and organizations the ability to easily coordinate and promote events in Downtown Mansfield. The information should feed directly into existing event listings, such as a mobile app, and/or the Destination Mansfield public calendar of “Things To Do” to provide a comprehensive promotion of available activities, resources, and services.
The central calendar and processing system should also measure outcomes like the number of attendees, suggestions for improved experience, and observations of diversity and inclusion. The metrics would provide helpful insights to plan future events.
The comprehensive calendar would be beneficial to those planning events so they can avoid overbooking a specific area, day, or time. Organizations would be able to enter all relevant information for events in listings, including demographic – and interest-specific details to best attract targeted audiences, if desired.
For example, organizations listing an ice skating rink or outdoor concert may choose to tag their listing as “seasonal,” while those listing a movie screening may choose to attach a “family” or “date night” tag.
The central processing system should include a list of available spaces for meetings and gatherings in a coordinated effort to draw in residents from outside downtown to raise their awareness and increase business activity.
Businesses and organizations with capacity could offer free community space for gathering to illustrate a connection between infrequent downtown visitors and potential activities that may interest them. This system also has the possibility for ticketing and to be used to drive data on future programming opportunities.
Cost: Many affordable options have been developed for the type of data collection/organization required for a central processing system; for the purposes of Downtown Mansfield, the Airtable platform would work well and potentially integrate into a corresponding app for the price of $10 per user per month (approximately 30 initial users for a total monthly cost of $300 and $3,600 per year).
Partners: Destination Mansfield, businesses located within Downtown Mansfield.
Timeline: It will take six-12 months to develop this system and another one-two months to allow for platform and user setup. The use of a pre-developed, user-friendly platform allows for immediate implementation and data collection. It would be best to adopt a brand and collaborative usage of Destination Mansfield’s calendar prior to this system and determine which organization will be the owner of this system.
Meanwhile, a Volunteer Coordinator would assist in scheduling, facilitating, and coordinating volunteer efforts in Downtown Mansfield.
As people become more invested in Downtown Mansfield, it will become important to provide volunteer opportunities to continue the revitalization. Specific projects such as mural painting and art installations can provide people an opportunity to get involved with a short term commitment.
Those seeking to invest their time on a more regular basis can be involved in maintenance projects such as clean-ups and recurring events. This position could be created within the City administration or be part of an independent organization such as Downtown Mansfield, Inc. or Richland Community Development Group.
Community support and excitement for what is going on downtown can be further enhanced through an ambassador program to serve as citizen tour guides. Partnering with downtown businesses, the ambassador program can focus on one-to-one personalized experiences for people who are just discovering Downtown Mansfield. Helping them become aware of what downtown has to offer both spatially and in terms of events and activities.
Cost: $45,000-$55,000
Partners: Downtown Mansfield, Inc., City of Mansfield, Destination Mansfield, Richland Community Development Group, Richland Area Chamber of Commerce
Timeline: The city would benefit from the creation of this position immediately. However, it becomes critical in two to three years as activity increases.
Join us for a live discussion of the “Ideas of March” series and the “Mansfield Rising” plan on Thursday, April 4.
