Downtown News Flash

Check out the latest in Downtown news from the Wichita Downtown Development Corp:


FINALISTS FOR DOWNTOWN MASTER PLAN SELECTED
Four firms, from Thirty-Two responses, have been selected as finalists for the Downtown Master Plan. These firms will provide public presentations September 22nd & 23rd, at the historic Scottish Rite Theatre, 332 E. First Street. The presentations will commence at 5:30 p.m. each evening so the public may attend.

The four finalists have extensive experience with developing downtown master plans that have resulted in significant private sector investment. Each of the finalists demonstrate an outstanding understanding of Wichita and innovative approaches to connecting existing downtown nodes of development with private sector infill development projects; streetscape and waterfront improvements; and transit system improvements. All finalists have committed to direct, hands-on involvement with the Master Plan by the highest level staff in the firm. The firms also bring together a multi-disciplinary team of partners that excel in developing plans that identify market-based opportunities for redevelopment and have a proven record of successful implementation of those plans.

The firms are:

Chan Krieger Sieniewicz - www.chankrieger.com

Crandall Arambula - www.ca-city.com

Goody Clancy - www.goodyclancy.com

Looney Ricks Kiss - www.lrk.com



WICHITA DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT CORPORTION TO LAUNCH NEW WEBSITEThe Wichita Downtown Development Corporation is officially launching a new website, tomorrow Friday, July 31st. Through this email you are invited to take a first look at the site. The site will offer pertinent information regarding all the opportunities available in Downtown Wichita. We will continue to add new information and services to the site. In the development section there is great information regarding the Downtown Master Plan. You will want to bookmark this site to keep informed of upcoming meetings on the Master Plan.

In September the site will offer Google based mapping for parking, restaurants, shopping, events, etc.

Make this a site you visit often to see breaking news and pertinent information.




WARREN OLD TOWN THEATRE RENOVATIONS COMPLETE
The renovations are complete at the Warren Old Town Theatre. Now open is the only ALL DIGITAL THEATRE GRILLE venue in the country. The facility offers seven auditoriums offering the best in movie sight and sound together with a full menu dining experience to every seat in the house.


Be sure to sign up for the YPW IMG Showcase: Special Effects and Technology in Wichita event coming up on August 26th. Try out the new Grille by ordering from your seat! Click here for more information or to register for this event.

Chats w/Changers- Jared Brickman, ROKICT.com

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In this town, right now, there's a group of young professionals poised for world domination with "world" being that individual area of expertise and passion that drives that person to create dynamic community change. In this week's Chats w/Changers, I spoke with Jared Brickman, the owner and developer of a new amazing site growing rapidly called ROKICT.com

A few weeks ago, I friended Jared on Facebook. YPW had ROKICT.com as the featured website for November and I was starting to notice this large black box logo thing with "Rock" spelled wrong. Trendy. Cool. Fun. Most important, intriguing!

After a brief Facebook chat about world domination and what makes each of us tick, I wanted to meet this guy. Hanna Cafe was the place-- Sushi was his deal, L-2 was mine-- and we're off and running.

I love talking to younger professionals that have put themselves out there to change the world. In Jared's case, his "world" is the local music scene in Wichita. A transplant via girlfriend from New York, Jared brought his knowledge and passion for the music industry here to organize the craziness that is the local music scene.

"Visual Arts has got it going on in Wichita. Music, I can tell you from hanging out with these people is jaded," says Jared.

Aaaaannnnd and idea is born: www.rokict.com.

"ROKICT.com is a website and an organization. It extends beyond a website. It stands to foster a positive attitude for local music and arts-- all arts; music, dance, drama-- anything having to do with art."

While Jared's main passion is in fact music-- he dabbles in other arts as well-- ROKICT.com and the organization that is was born to do something very simple; organize and communicate.

"Kansas City's happening. Oklahoma City's happening. Austin is one of those national places to be, but you have Wichita where local musicians are frustrated because of the lack of organization. Before ROKICT.com there wasn't a site dedicated to not only promoting local music, but also allowing musicians to communicate with themselves and with other communities."

Here's the plan for ROKICT.com in a nutshell. For visitors that are not bands, it is THE site to go and check out what band is playing where. Simple. Needed. Done.

BUT, ROKICT.com is more. Imagine you are a local band trying to spread your wings and fly. You've practiced. You've got a small following and you may even have a CD or 7. Without ROKICT.com and the growth projected, it can take you forever to get gigs in OKC, KC or Austin, never-mind Lawrence and Topeka. ROKICT.com's other side that's more focused on musicians is that ability to network within the local music community, but also showcase Wichita's great talent (which we have) in other regional areas. (What else does it do? Go there and find out. It is an amazing site.)

Alright- not to get a little Generation Y preachy on you but- Jared is also interested in something that makes the younger generation great. It's a little button called collaboration. ROKICT.com isn't here to dominate and take over every cultural arts website out there, but to work together as much as possible to showcase the talent of the community. It's about putting the message above the dollar (although money is good too.) Jared's site is unique, yes, but it's supplementary and complementary at the same time. It's a trait that makes a project of this magnitude amazingly sophisticated, but due to the passions of Jared and his group of volunteers, definitely doable.

"The bands that are the house bands are being lifted up, go elsewhere and carry that Wichita name so people can say 'yeah, Wichita has some great musicians.'" ROKICT.com is the place and organization to make it happen. Jared Brickman has the talent, the passion, the drive, the ambition, the knowledge to make Wichita that place for change. His strategic business partnerships throughout the community make it easy for him to position his business and the music scene in a much more positive light. It allows artist and fans to connect. It gives visitors a place to see what's going on in town. It allows me to know when and where the Plumbers are playing. I can rank bands. I can listen to them. I can go there and be lost in local talent for hours. It's growing and I can't wait to see where it goes.

The vision is impressive, the change has begun and I can't wait to see where Jared and ROKICT.com leads out community.

Rok on Jared. Rok on.

Rock in the new year with YPW and Lip Survis!

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One of my favorite events of the year is approaching shortly. It's filled with am amazing time with fellow YP's, casino games and this year, A LIVE BAND! Awesome!

The Third Annual Debonair New Year Affair is approaching quickly. That means two things. 1. You need to purchase your tickets and 2. 2009 is coming fast. Time to make some resolutions. (If it's losing weight, check out my friend Matt's Blackhawk fitness. I lost 15 pounds when I did it... and then gained ten back when I quit. Halloween candy is the devil. Pun intended.)

Here's the deal. There is no better party in this town, on this night, for YP's than this. It's going to be an amazing time. Pulse, the YPW Action Team putting it together, has hired local party-band Lip Survis to entertain you all night long. I've seen them a few times and have never been disappointed. As a matter of fact, I don't think I sat down the whole time because they are so fun!

If dancing isn't your thing, try your hand at the wide variety of casino games available all night. You're playing to win some pretty sweet prizes.

Tickets are $75 per person. Tables of eight may be purchased for $560 and corporations can purchase tables for $750. Contact Heather Arreguin (harreguin@wichitachamber.org or 268-1170) for more information concerning corporate tables and the perks that come along with that.

The Debonair New Year Affair will be help at the Hotel at Old Town. The cost of the ticket includes entrance, heavy hors d'oeurves, beer, wine, Lip Survis and the champaign toast at midnight. The Hotel at Old Town is offering special room rates for YP's: $149 for a Queen Room and $159 for a King Room. Please mention YPW NYE when reserving.

I promise this will be an amazing party. I've looked forward to it all year long and I hope you'll come and join us!

What YPW can do for you

I first became a member of Young Professionals of Wichita (YPW) by default. I worked for one of the 27 corporate investors at the time, so my membership was free to me. I went to the kick off event on that very hot, very sticky day in June of 2005 and stood there with the other 400+ people who were waiting, intrigued as to what this organization was about. I had lived in Wichita for three years at that point and my circle of friends consisted solely of my co-workers. I knew nothing of the city around me apart from where I lived, worked, ate and shopped. I knew there had to be more to Wichita than what I had the courage to explore on my own, and thought that YPW might be able to show me what I had been missing. Fast forward to three years later, I now sit here as the manager of the organization that I looked to for guidance. It is my job to help carry out the mission of attracting and retaining young talent to the Wichita community. Funny where life takes you, isn’t it?

I have seen YPW grow from holding at least one social event per month to having anywhere from 4 to 7 events every month. What can I say, we are busy people over here. The amazing thing is, it is actually our members that volunteer on our Action Teams that propel this organization forward. They come up with the ideas, plan the events, and see them through to completion. So tell us what we can help you find. Want to meet people in a relaxed social setting? Come to a YPW Mingle. Want to refuel your brain while refueling your stomach? Join YPW at one of the Professional Development Series seminars or listen to a local business leader speak at an Access Lunch & Learn. Interested in learning more about the diversity Wichita has to offer? Check out Team Mosaic’s Coffee Talks and look for the diversity events they highlight every month. I could go on, but you get the point.

If you are looking to get involved both with your peers and with Wichita as a community, take a moment to look at what YPW has to offer. If there is something you would like to see that you don’t, let us know. Better yet, join one of our Action Teams and help create it yourself. Check us out at www.ypwichita.org. Read more about our organization, what our different Action Teams focus on, and what we have coming up on our event calendar.