“The Neighborhood Your Brand Built” a session at last week’s International Downtown Association (IDA) Conference and Tradeshow, San Antonio, explored how urban districts rely on brands to express their essence and deliver impressions—especially in an age of social media and global competition. Moderated by Managing Partner, Jonathan Alger, the talk show-style session included a case study of our rebranding for longtime client Union Square Partnership. Also featured was place branding by Oak Park Economic Development Corp and Centro San Antonio. The variation in scale, geography, and governance of the three districts helped emphasize the vital role of branding in expressing the character of a location.

The session included over 100 attendees who took away key learnings from panelists that included Scott Hobbs, Deputy Director of Union Square Partnership, Cameron Gearen, Marketing Manager at Oak Park Economic Development Corp, F. Philip Barash, Creative Director of Sasaki, and Edward A. Romero, Vice President of Marketing and Community Engagement of Centro San Antonio. Read more about the conference on the Union Square blog.

Conference guests
Conference guests