An update from the recent webinar from the Night Time Industries Association, with 24 Hour Economy Commissioner Mike Rodrigues.

We’ve distilled the key take outs from our Uptown Program Webinar with 24 Hour Economy Commissioner Mike Rodrigues and Programs Director Victoria Moxey.

If you missed the session these take outs below are the must know facts from the webinar.

Applications for round two of the Uptown Accelerator Program are now open until 20 July 2023. You can apply here.

If you are considering a new precinct you can see the existing precincts which have been funded under round one of the Uptown Program here.

The NTIA is offering a support service for existing precincts to assist with administration, governance and measurement. To find out more contact the NTIA.

As always, please reach out to me if you have any questions or comments.

Until next time,

Mick

WHAT IS THE UPTOWN ACCELERATOR?

The Uptown Accelerator program is about attracting and encouraging collectives of businesses to come together under a unified vision, to promote their local offering and their local area with those great and distinct stories.

The Accelerator Program provides the resources, the skills and networks to enable those businesses to develop districts into going out destinations. The Accelerator Programme is a free eight week capacity building programme for businesses. It covers a few different modules of skills that have been identified as essential to accelerate precinct development.

WHAT IS COVERED IN THE UPTOWN ACCELERATOR PROGRAM?

Accelerator Program Modules include developing a vision for the district, understanding branding of place, learning how to work with sponsors and partners as a collective and as a district, understanding governance structure for the district and its members and then of course upskilling on skills like pitching, digital marketing and grant writing in order to access all of those opportunities that might be there across different levels of government.

Each module is delivered by a specific leading expert in their field.

Two modules are presented online while the rest are in person. There's two different locations that are offered for each one of those modules. One is in Parramatta and one is in Sydney, CBD.

WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THE UPTOWN ACCELERATOR?

The Uptown Accelerator Program finishes in a ‘District Showcase’. This is an event that will take place on the 24th of October this year. It brings together an audience of corporate brands, event organisers, government agencies, local councils and creative leaders from the night time economy. We invite all of the team members that have participated in the Accelerator to pitch their district with a two-minute pitch to the audience. This is an opportunity to broaden and expand the networks for each district. Last year, there were 23 districts pitching on the district showcase night to 240 attendees. That night created more than 300 new connections for districts.

WHAT IS REQUIRED TO APPLY?

Every application needs to be a team application, not a business application. Each application needs a minimum of three businesses coming together as a district team in order to apply. The application form is a series of very simple questions. The program is looking to see teams coming together representing various sectors within that district with a clear understanding of the geographic boundaries of the district. We are looking for an identifier cluster of going out experiences that is defined then as a district. Ideally an application will include the long-term vision and a commitment to developing that district and understanding the future potential available.

A precinct is a geographically distinct area like a high street or block of streets that has a unique identity and diverse cultural and entertainment offerings across multiple venues within a short walking distance.

WHAT MAKES A GOOD PRECINCT?

Districts need good leadership. That tends to be people that understand that there is a time and cost approach to it. But ultimately the benefits of working together as a collective outweigh the time and effort spent. The program speaks to those people who are very proud about their city and want to see areas thrive. That's the type of collaborators, the leads that will get in and bring others along that journey.

It's not for the Government to describe what precincts should be, it's really up to each area to say, "Hey, we're from Bondi, the way that we think about our area is this. This is what works for the community and what works for us." If there's enough people who are behind that, then the impact can be felt. That gives rise to those different stories and different characters of Sydney that we know are there, but it isn't necessarily broadly communicated.

I HAVE A PRECINCT IDEA, HOW CAN I BUILD MY PRECINCT TEAM?

Nothing beats just going out around your area and speaking to people. A second option is working with your local council. There are councils in different areas at different stages of their night time economy journey who often have business engagement teams.

The Night Time Industries Association can also help new and existing precincts along their precinct journey. For existing precincts the NTIA is offering an administration and governance service.

WHAT ABOUT NEON MARKETPLACE?

The Neon Marketplace is an online B2B platform. It’s an opportunity to showcase all of the Uptown Programme graduates online in order to connect these districts to opportunities. Any stakeholders wanting to connect to districts can do it very easily online through this soon-to-be-launched platform. We are expecting to launch the MVP for the Neon Marketplace at the district showcase on the 24th of October.