Having the luxury of accessing a top-notch public transportation systems is one of the greatest benefits of spending time in a big city such as Chicago (I took the train into downtown from Midway, for the princely sum of $2.25). It’s the sheer volume and enormity of the downtown space that first takes my breath away. It’s a downtown with a history of gorgeous buildings, so many of those buildings still gracing the city’s canvas. In many ways, downtown Chicago is truly a museum without walls.
The conference officially kicks off today (Sunday) but the first two days of the conference (Saturday & Sunday) are spent in coordinator meetings. This gives us the opportunity to receive a personalized report from the National Trust, updating the state coordinators on the status of Trust initiatives. This also gives the coordinating programs a chance to share successes, frustrations, and best practices. Yesterday afternoon we participated in breakout sessions. Jeff met with a group focused on improving the operation of the Economic Restructuring Committee, and I met with a group discussing rural Main Street programs, and how to better provide quality downtown revitalization services to smaller communities. Jeff & I both came out of the sessions with great ideas we can take back to Ohio to improve the services Heritage Ohio offers.
State coordinators and representatives from the National Trust meet at the historic Palmer House in downtown Chicago to share program updates & best practices.
