All across America, we work with districts and downtowns, tourism and CVBs and a smattering of cities directly. We have our fingers on the pulse of the nation from Downtown San Francisco to Lower Manhattan and everywhere in between. Our small-but-mighty consultancy offers unparalleled insights into trends, technologies and market pressures affecting place-based organizations everywhere. We diligently research the world on the daily, to collate, curate and produce one of the most revered industry publications for place-based organizations with our Bright Brothers Bulletin. Plain and simple, we know place.
As place management practitioners, you constantly feel the pressure to prove your worth, show the value of your initiatives and undertakings, and provide tangible results, outcomes and impacts of the work your organization does to support your local communities. Whether it’s monthly board meetings, State of Downtown, public pressers, or even worse — the dreaded BID renewal process — smart and savvy place leaders understand that the conversation starts with a solid plan, measurement and reporting. That reporting is critical. And it must be approachable, understandable and easily-digestible for myriad audiences — from municipal authorities to funders, sponsors and most of all — the community at large.
We also know that “Everything we do is Economic Development”, and in the words of one of or favorite Executive Directors, “…we’re responsible for all the things”. But telling that story is a challenge and a struggle for many, so we’ve developed this Trends Report, our second of 2026, to help lay the foundation, frame the context, develop storytelling approaches that speak to “all the things”. Read on and if you need help setting up your own district’s metrics, measurements, dashboards, reporting or public content strategies — give us a shout. we’re here to help!
Looking for more lively convo on the topic and real-world insights from fellow place management practitioners? Look no further, fam. In Spring 2026, District 360, the only customized Salesforce CRM for placemakers to manage downtown data the way they want, hosted a series of digital roundtable conversations with UPMO leaders from across the country around the topics of measurement, quantification, and storytelling specific to the place management industry. Both roundtables were moderated by our co-founder Josh Yeager, and featured a variety of UPMO professionals discussing common pathways, pitfalls and lessons learned on these topics. Listen to the convo and learn from your place management peers:
Session 1 Roundtable: Measuring Perception & Belonging Outcomes from Downtown Activations — featuring Mary-Claire Burick, President and Jenna Sobray, Marketing & Communications Director from the Rosslyn BID in Virginia, and Ashley Everett, Program & Events Manager from Charlotte City Center Partners in North Carolina — this conversation focused around measuring sentiment, belonging and net promoter scores. Participants shared insights and AI prompts used to tell the story for districts like yours. Read the full blog on District360’s website, or watch the video here.
Session 2 Roundtable: Telling the Impact Story: Quantifying the Value of Activations & Placemaking — again featuring Rosslyn BID’s peerless leader, Mary-Claire Burick, and the Downtown San Francisco Partnership’s Research & Data Analyst, Annoushqa Bobde, this conversation focused more on the storytelling aspects of your district’s initiatives, means of measurement, mixed methodology reporting and an advanced formula for calculating the economic impacts of events. Watch the video here.
If your district is struggling with measurement, reporting, storytelling or even knowing where to begin, fret not! As a data-driven consultancy, we’re here to help. Give us a shout to start measuring and reporting out your district’s successes in meaningful and easily-digestible ways to ensure all of your stakeholders, supporters and the communities you serve understand the impacts and value of what your organization provides.
