Countdown to Placemaking Week!

Hello placemakers! We're just about 10 days away from Placemaking Week!

Please note that online registration for the conference will close officially on Friday, September 27th. The sooner you register, the more time you have to sign up for one of Tuesday's mobile workshops [1] on Sched, which are filling up fast! These are first come, first served, and we will close mobile workshop sign ups on Sept 30th -- don't miss out.

Our plenaries!

There's so much we're looking forward to in Chattanooga. We're especially proud of our "conference without walls", perfect for a convening of placemakers. This is not your traditional or formal conference venue with freezing cold AC, long endless hallways, and corporate rooms that all look the same, but instead one that has tried to make the most out of Chattanooga’s compact downtown and the community spaces that serve the people of this city.

For example, places like the Bessie Smith Cultural Center [8], The Palace Theater [9], Chattanooga Public Library [10], Waterhouse Pavilion [11] and the Edney Innovation Center [12] all play a role in serving the community of Chattanooga, and we wanted to showcase them in this event. Take a look at the map in Sched [1] to see where they are located. A map will also be in the print program you receive when you pickup your badge at registration at Waterhouse Pavilion or Walker Theater (please check Sched for registration times and locations).

Other conference info

• Still haven't made your travel plans? Be sure to review our travel info page here [13]. Our room block sold out a while ago but there's still plenty of accommodation options available in downtown that week.
   
• Want to host a meetup with people in your region, or city, or any other reason, at Placemaking Week? Let us know at [email protected] [14]. We can't organize the meetup for you but we can guide you to the right space and time, put you in touch with fellow attendees, and announce it in our final newsletter before the event.
   
• We're excited to share that our local team has organized a public Placemaking 101 talk for Chattanoogans with Project for Public Spaces's Cynthia Nikitin on the evening of September 30th. If you're in town you are welcome to join us @ The Camphouse at 5:30. Register for a free ticket here [15]. After that, everyone will be at the Honest Pint [16] around the corner for a nightcap!
   
• A free, all electric, CARTA shuttle bus [17] makes a loop in the downtown every 5 minutes. You can use it to get to most of our parties! Yes, we wish all cities had this.
   
• Would you like access to a bike during Placemaking Week? Grab yourself a 3-day Bike Pass! Use the city’s bike share program, Bike Chattanooga [18], finding bikes using either Transit App [19] or Cycle Finder [20].
   
• If you are still in town on October 4, be sure to check out the extra activities [1] on Sched on Friday! We will be adding a couple more options over the next week, including a general list of things you can do this day (or during the actual week).

Getting to know Chattanooga

• To better understand part of the Walnut Bridge activation taking place on Tuesday night, we encourage you visit the website of the Ed Johnson Memorial Project [21] which aims to preserve a story that changed the course of civil rights for the country. More to come about this important project at the event.
   
• Chattanooga artist Brian Behm's artwork "The Handshake" makes a special appearance in our conference program, and was the inspiration behind the conference program design. The artwork is part of ArtSpark [22] - artwork that covers downtown traffic signal boxes with art designs printed on vinyl from local artists. This was part of a partnership with Public Art Chattanooga, Chattanooga Department of Transportation and EPB, and we encourage you to check all of the utility boxes during your stay!
   
• Just so you're aware, this conference will be 100% offset with Solar energy through the SolarShare [23] program. We would like to thank green|spaces [24] and EPB who have helped us make this happen as part of their green|light conference package. If you're looking for more ways to be green at the event, take a look at hotels [25] and restaurants [26] that participate in the program.
   
• And finally, to get you in the mood for public space festivities, read more about Passageways [27], a program that highlights the potential of forgotten and unused spaces in Chattanooga, which is also where our closing party at Cooper's Alley will take place!

Sponsorships

We'd like to thank Urban Story Ventures [28], Ford Mobility [29], and Vision Hospitality Group [30], for sponsoring at the Innovation level this year!

We'd also like to give a special thank you to Fermob USA [31], who is sponsoring Placemaking Week at the Connectivity level. PPS has worked with Fermob over the years to make so many public spaces all the more vibrant -- we can't wait for you to see (and sit in) their beautiful furniture onsite in Miller Park during Placemaking Week!