Associations that Truly Associate

“I can’t tell you how important I think social networking and web 2.0 tools are. For us, our MySpace page has literally been a runaway hit.” That’s Timothy Bishop, talking about the new ways the Ellensburg (WA) Downtown Association  (also known as “EDA”) is putting itself on the map.

How big a hit? Well in just one year Bishop,the Director of the Ellensburg Downtown Association, tells us that the Ellensburg MySpace page has grown to over 1,500 followers. Many of those are students from nearby Central Washington University who were not “finding” the downtown merchants before. (They also host an Ellensburg Facebook page). Now, student welcome bags at CWU include a key chain with EDA’s MySpace address. Bishop told us:

In the past the students would finally discover downtown in their junior or senior year. Now we build relationships with them from Day One.

And, those relationships work both ways. Tallee.com, a software developer, had just re-located to downtown Ellensburg. They advertised for employees in student newspapers and talked their jobs up to professors, but they didn’t get enough applicants. However, after posting their jobs on Ellensburg’s MySpace page they got an instantaneous response – and hired 5 new employees from the college!

Timothy also noted EDA’s new partnership with the nearby university’s chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) “and for the next 8 months they’ll be working with us to help tell Downtown Ellensburg’s success stories.”

Bishop has been described as an arsonist of ideas. Now he’s reaching out getting students and many other folks to start publicity and networking fires for him.

“Timothy Bishop doesn’t go out and rebuild downtowns. He is an arson who lights fires in the hearts and minds of downtown citizens.” – Pug Ostling

How else are downtowns revitalizing their communities by working the social media side of the street? Well, look for the Asheville Downtown Association on Facebook – or better yet, check out @SpudBros on Twitter. Spud Brothers sells “just maybe the world’s greatest fries” – no easy task in health conscious downtown Boulder, Colorado. How are they doing it? Well, one way is by giving discounts to their nearby University of Colorado Twitter followers.

Downtown associations and businesses all over the country are revitalizing by using social networks. Yes, there are a million stories in the “Networked City.” These have been just a few of them. Just ask Timothy. Our money’s still on The Bishop.

Editor’s Note: We’ve written several other articles about the Ellensburg Downtown Association on this blog. Do a search for “Ellensburg” or click here and read the next most recent, “My Money’s on the Bishop.”