If you can't attend the conference in the real world, we welcome you to attend in the virtual world. Tape recordings of the conference sessions will be available for a modest charge and summary/abstracts of many of the presentations will be placed on OPENAIR-MARKET NET.
Chef and owner of Down Home Diner in Philadelphia, Pa. is hosting a free dinner with all donations benefitting American Farmland Trust. Come and have a "locally grown" dinner with American Farmland Trust. Also, check out the Trust's cool web site.
Public Markets are being rediscovered in American cities, towns, and neighborhoods. With their emphasis on local products and businesses, public markets are creating jobs, strengthening economies and energizing communities.
The International Public Market Conference will focus on how public markets can provide fresh food access and economic revitalization to our communities. The three-day conference will gather professionals who are committed to preserving and establishing public markets. Planners and community development specialists will join public administrators, market managers and others to explore the successes and failures of many different kinds of markets.
With the farmlands of New Jersey to the east and Lancaster County to the west, Philadelphia has had a long and rich tradition of public markets. The century old Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia provides the perfect backdrop from which to explore the potential in public markets today.
WORKSHOPS
The conference workshops will be structured to promote lively discussion and exchange of information. Topics will include: rural urban linkages, revitalization of downtowns, cultural preservation, small business development, nutrition education, urban market gardening, street vending and markets -- using specific market projects as a basis for discussion.
A series of specialized workshops will present the problems, pitfalls, and possibilities facing market operators, sponsors, and planners. Market case studies will present innovative strategies for market financing, start-ups, sponsorship, strengthening tenants, operations, building the customer base, and evolving and expanding markets to meet today's challenges.
MARKET TOURS
Philadelphia is home to a good number of markets and market goers. Saturday morning will be devoted to an insider's look into a selection of markets in and around the city.
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1996
Day: Registration at the Marriott, Tours of Reading Terminal Market
Evening: Official Welcome, Mayor's Reception Room, City Hall, 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1996
Morning: Conference registration
Lunch: On your Own
Afternoon: Workshop Sessions
Evening: Open
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 1996
Morning: Tours of open-air, enclosed, private, public, city, suburban,
new and historic markets
Lunch: At various markets
Afternoon: Workshop sessions
Evening: After dinner party and dancing, "Valentine to the
Market" Reading Terminal Market, 10:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m.
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 1996
Morning: Closing plenary -- Jeff Smith, The Frugal Gourmet
NOTE: All plenaries and workshops will be held at the Marriott Hotel across from Reading Terminal Market.
CONFERENCE SPONSORS
Project for Public Spaces, Inc. (PPS) is a New York City-based nonprofit corporation specializing in the planning, design, and management of public spaces. PPS's objective is to improve public spaces so they are more active, attractive, comfortable, and enjoyable.
Long recognizing the catalytic role that public markets can play in community development, PPS created the Public Market Collaborative program in 1987. The Collaborative advances the preservation and establishment of public markets and has sponsored two previous conferences on public markets in 1987 and 1991.
MARKET HANDBOOK
Get ready for the conference by reading Public Markets and Community Revitalization, published this year by Project for Public Spaces and the Urban Land Institute. This 120 page handbook, written by Theodore Morrow Spitzer and Hilary Baum of Public Market partners with Stephen Davies, Toni Gold, Larry Lund, David O'Neil, and Aaron Zaretsky, is the first step-by-step guidebook for developing and operating public markets. Books can be ordered when registering for the conference at a special rate of $21.95 plus $4.00 shipping and handling. (List price is $27.95)
The conference registration fee is $260. However, some scholarships are available.
For travel to Philadelphia for the conference, U.S. Air is offering a 10% discount and Amtrak is offering a 25% discount.