– Your Bright Brothers Team
David Romako / Josh Yeager /  Brandi Walsh

Almost two years in now, the pandemic has changed the face of many local activations, events and celebrations. With social distancing and safety protocols in place, we’ve all had to alter the way we do business and drive foot traffic to our districts — and we’d like to call out one stellar installation that really took the cake! We’re a little biased, because we developed the creative/branding, and marketing plan for our client Downtown San Francisco. The ten-night event illuminated San Francisco’s financial district in early December, and really blew everyone away. As the largest projection-mapping holiday event of its kind in the U.S., this spectacular sound and light show tapped the talent of local artists and organizations, while melting the hearts of many. It even earned the recognition and praise of Mayor London Breed, who issued an official “Certificate of Honor” lauding the district for their work. With powerhouse PR efforts that earned tons of media by Starkey Strategies, the event could not have gone better, and post-event polling shows the community absolutely rallied behind this magical, fantastical, phenomenal holiday treat. All we can say is, “Well done, you, Downtown San Francisco” for setting the bar on holiday activations!
 

If there’s one topic that has repeatedly come up in conversation this year, it’s gotta be AI. While many might think Artificial Intelligence is some far-off, futuristic concept from science fiction movies, that’s not the case. AI is already all around us; from predictive technologies to digital assistants to retailers serving you up ads for exactly what you just discussed with your best friend in private, to customer service bots, chat clients, social media and more. It’s not limited to the big and mighty with massive marketing budgets either. AI for small business has been inching its way in and constantly self-improving for years now, and you and your ratepayers can and should be exploring the benefits of said tech. From Meta’s easy-to-deploy, open-source Blenderbot 2.0  which can handle common questions and answers for your district on social media, to small business softbots, AI is here to stay. Anything that can assist your district’s businesses, streamline efficiencies and reduce workforce demand during a hiring epidemic, has got to be good, right?  Right!??! 😬🤖🤯

We live in an hourglass-shaped society in America, with the post-war Boomers fronting the top, a narrow waist of Gen-Xers in the middle, followed by a wider base of Gen Z+ at the bottom. An aging population, coupled with long-term trends in fertility, birth rate and longevity, our demographic balance is about to experience a significant upheaval. By 2030, one in five Americans will be 65 or older, and the over-85 population is growing the fastest. By 2050 it will comprise over 20 million people — 5x its size in 2000! Many of the districts we work with have Boomer or empty-nester Personas that we actively target, and with good reason! This aging “me generation” will not go silently into the night, and our communities need to change in radical, adaptable ways to make the most of our revered elders (and their capital, influence and even physical infrastructure/streetscape requirements). For a fascinating peep into some trends you might not have known, check out this article/interview from Governing.com on the “graying of America” and what it means for your downtown, district or DMO.

Photo credit: Ravi Patel, Unsplash

In the age of the internet meme, we all love a good tongue-in-cheek platitude or daily affirmation, and these “words to live by“ come compliments of Philly-based wheatpaste artist Nero_One when he revealed a shockingly spot-on witticism about self-improvement. Anyone on the East Coast or who has traveled our notorious, if not infamous, Eisenhower-era interstate known as “I-95” (traversing a massive North/South swath of the continent from the Canadian border to Miami, FL),  knows that traffic jams and hours-long ensnarements — all in the name of “progress” are commonplace. This one gave us a hardy chuckle, and we just had to share.  Now, go be the best version of you today, slugger!

Photo credit: @Nero_One

Technological innovation and forward thinking municipalities are those which topped the charts in this year’s “2021 Digital Cities” winners. From overcoming IT obstacles to community engagement, the winners are those who deployed agile response strategies, empowered their towns with digital data and truly tapped the community for feedback on how best to procced. Please take a moment to give a round of applause to First Place Winners: Shawnee, KS, Westminster, CO, and three California communities; Corona (ironically, enough), Long Beach and San Jose. To read about all winners in this year’s Digital Cities Survey, scroll to the bottom of the article and search your city by size of its population.

Photo credit: Datawrapper