Florida Main Street Conference

Sacha Martin reported to Historic City News that the Vilano Beach Town Center Streetscape is being awarded OUTSTANDING PUBLIC IMPROVEMENT at this year’s Annual Florida Main Street Conference in Venice, Florida.

The Award’s dinner is Thursday night, September 18th. Our County Commissioner, Jim Bryant, is planning to attend the dinner as well as the Florida Secretary of State, according to Martin.

There will be car pooling and sharing hotel rooms to make this as affordable as possible. Please contact Sacha Martin at 904-824-1212 to coordinate if you don’t already have sharing plans.

Martin says, “If you have never been to a Main Street annual conference before, you are really missing an unusual opportunity for networking with people from all over the state and to become educated in civic topics of interest.”

The conference begins with registration between 8 to 9 am on Wednesday, September 17th. Cost of the awards dinner is $40 per person which you must sign up for in advance. There are other options for tours and breakfasts. The conference ends at noon Friday, but you can leave earlier if you want.

For more information on the 2008 Conference or to receive a registration package contact Venice Main Street at (941) 484-6722,

The conference hotel is Best Western Maingate / HOLIDAY HOUSE HOTEL and can be reached by phone at 800-237-3712. Mention “Venice Main Street” for a special $69.00 rate (For 16th, 17th and 18th).

Sample topics of interest: This year there is a web page design workshop offered for the first time. “How to Build an Urban Village”, “Beyond Google Advantage: Strategies to Make you Smarter and Richer than the Average Yahoo”, “Business Guide for Government Regulation”, “Communities for a Lifetime: Prepare for Tomorrow — Today”, “Financial and Technical Support for Main Street Redevelopment”, “Negotiating Road Blocks”.