Another Big Weekend in DTMesa Between Black Friday and Cyber Monday

The BIG WE [that catchy phrase from Natalie Lewis in the City Manager's office]  is all-hands-on in a public relations campaign regenerating The New Urban DT Mesa.          Public and private partnership forces are re-turning and targeting their interests to the heart and central core of Main Street. Make your mark and plan your time to be here.    Read more >>

To borrow another phrase [from NEDCO, the Neighborhood Economic Development Commission] "If you knew it, you'd do it" . . . there's no if about it anymore: The Future is Now.

It's all about Creative Place Making, however you call it - making it local here with Downtown Mesa's Indie Fest, the one-day Small Business Saturday, or the six-week revival of Merry Main Street.                                                               Arts & Culture, Arts & Entertainment, Recreation, Tourism, Sight-seeing [plenty of sites + installations all over downtown], Foods and Restaurants and Coffee Houses [+ a local-crafted brewery!] , Commerce and Local Shopping at small, independent merchant enterprises all going on NOW.

If you live downtown please take a walk or cycle in/around Main Street.If you don't live downtown please use public transit to get here: Valley Metro bus service delivers you right here and Valley Metro Light Rail connects right on the line with Tempe and Phoenix with station stops on Main Street at Country Club Drive, Center Street and Mesa Drive. If you have to drive, keep in mind there are limited parking spaces downtown and streets can get congested for high-interest events like the Holiday Lights across from Pioneer Park.

VALLEY METRO LIGHT RAIL Merry Main Express - Free Fair Zone

You can ride the light rail for FREE during Merry Main Street between Country Club Drive and Mesa Drive.

The Merry Main Express will have stops at Country Club Drive, Center Street and Mesa Drive daily from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. through Dec. 31. There is also a large park-and-ride lot at the northeast corner of Main Street and Mesa Drive.

 

The benefits of going local? Take a look at the image to the right. For more details and events you can hook up with a link by going to >> downtownmesa.com

MACFest, for years on the streets here, has added two additional days to its October-April calendar of downtown events. One this weekend is to coordinate with Small Business Saturday organized and promoted by the Downtown Merchants Association and the City of Mesa.

Mesa Arts & Crafts Festival (MACFest). MACFest is a free event featuring unique artist creations, music and fun for the whole family.  http://www.macfestmesa.com/
MISSION STATEMENT: The Mission of  Mesa Arts and Crafts Festival (MACfest ) is to provide an environment that encourages the economic and artistic growth of emerging and established artists and crafters while revitalizing downtown Mesa and building a sense of community. 

 

In an online report just minutes ago from Entrepeneur Magazine in response to an article "Why Small Business Matters" http://www.forbes.com/sites/chrismyers/2015/11/24/why-small-business-saturday-matters/that appeared in Forbes on November 24, 2015.

The reply, written by Gene Marks with the headline and some excerpts included here below to provide context for what is a local campaign by THE BIG WE - You are involved in your community because it’s the right thing to do.

"Are you naïve enough to think that your customers care about your business? That you deserve any more support than a charity for the homeless or a non-profit trying to eradicate multiple sclerosis? That, just because you have a little shop on Main Street selling crafts or coffee or whatever knickknacks, people should spend their money with you just because they’re “thinking small”? Especially if they can spend less money down the street at a Walmart or Toys r Us? Exactly what does anyone owe you, the small business owner? What’s so special about you that there’s a whole day on the calendar devoted to drawing attention to your existence? So you’re a small business. Big deal.
You don’t need “Small Business Saturday” to succeed.

 

It's Naive for Small Business to Expect Much From Small Business Saturday

Can you feel it? The building anticipation for what seems to be the small business event of the year . . . this is the day that all of America is supposed to be honoring small businesses. It’s our moment. We’re hanging signs and putting out the displays. “Support us!” we demand to our communities. “We’re small businesses!”

Readers of this blog can see an earlier post featuring Miss Piggy complaining about "just one day".

' . . . Small Business Saturday means a lot to American Express. And good for them, because American Express is a good company and they hit solid gold here. Who was the PR guy who came up with this idea? He (or she’s) a friggin’ genius. That’s because Small Business Saturday is nothing more than a PR stunt for big businesses. The marketing minds at American Express thought this up a few years ago and the day has ballooned into a national event. Their logo is plastered everywhere. Their name is associated with news stories, contests and promotions . . .

other big companies are getting in on the action. Banks, retailers and corporations that cater to small businesses are jumping on the “Small Business Saturday” bandwagon to use that day and show how much they care about America’s small companies too. . . But no, it doesn’t stop there . . .

Are you naïve enough to think that your customers care about your business? That you deserve any more support than a charity for the homeless or a non-profit trying to eradicate multiple sclerosis? That, just because you have a little shop on Main Street selling crafts or coffee or whatever knickknacks, people should spend their money with you just because they’re “thinking small”? Especially if they can spend less money down the street at a Walmart or Toys R Us? Exactly what does anyone owe you, the small business owner? What’s so special about you that there’s a whole day on the calendar devoted to drawing attention to your existence? So you’re a small business. Big deal.
You don’t need “Small Business Saturday” to succeed.
 

 

Mesa Arts Center has a full program in the works upcoming for the Holidays.

On Friday Nov. 27 only, Mesa Arts Center will offer the $24 for 24 Hours

Black Friday Sale.The sale is available online only through 11:59 p.m.

November 27 and includes select shows with limited seats starting at $24. The sale will include Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer – The Musical (Nov. 29), Riverdance: The 20^th Anniversary World Tour (Jan. 12-17, 2016), The Tenors (Feb. 18, 2016), Disney’s Beauty and the Beast (Mar. 28-30) and many more.

 

For a complete listing of performances in the 2015-16 Performing Live season at Mesa Arts Center, download the mid-season brochure at https://www.mesaartscenter.com/download.php/media/2015-16-mid-season-brochure.

 

About Mesa Arts Center
Mesa Arts Center, owned and operated by the City of Mesa, is a unique, architecturally stunning facility located in the heart of downtown Mesa. Arizona's largest multidisciplinary arts center is home to four theaters, five art galleries in the MCA Museum, and 14 art studios. Guests, patrons, and students come to Mesa Arts Center to enjoy the finest live entertainment, performances and festivals, world-class visual art exhibitions, and outstanding arts education classes. The Mesa Arts Center mission is to inspire people through engaging arts experiences that are diverse, accessible, and relevant. For more information, visit mesaartscenter.com.

 

Casey Blake

Director of Public Relations

Office: 480-644-6620

Cell: 480-390-1258

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Even the dinosaurs in town are getting in the action with things to do at The Arizona Museum of Natural History.

 

.  . .  For more about the new "bigger and better" revival of the most reminisced-about short-lived seven-year event [1998-2005] in previous downtown public relations that used to be the biggest event in The Valley attracting 35,000 people according to one source, readers can link up here >> merrymainstreet.com

Celebrate the holiday season with Merry Main Street in downtown Mesa Post Date: 11/24/2015 5:52 PM     

Merry Main Street is back, after a decade hiatus - a winter holiday festival presented by SRP, will have an exciting variety of activities to help you celebrate the season.

-   City of Mesa newsroom/Public Information and Communications
Contact: Steve Wright
Tel. 480-644-2069
steven.wright@mesaaz.gov  

Merry Main Street is presented by SRP in partnership with the City of Mesa; Downtown Mesa Association; Arizona Coyotes; Mesa Arts Center; Mesa Parks, Recreation and Commercial Facilities; Mesa Chamber of Commerce; Visit Mesa; Lennar Homes; Sundt and Cox Communications.