"How to Create Successful Markets" Training Course | Project for Public Spaces (PPS)

Registration for the fall course is full!
To join the waiting list or inquire about future workshops, please contact Sandy Pan or Craig Raphael at (212) 620 5660. You can also email them at span@pps.org and craphael@pps.org.

MARKETS & PLACES

people actively engaged in a course Nowhere is the vibrancy of public markets and farmers markets more apparent than in New York--a city rich in cultures, food, festivals, music and street life. This workshop puts us in the heart of the action. We'll visit some of the city's most famous markets, including Union Square--a former hangout for junkies--now home to the city's best known open-air farmers market and one of the best public gathering places in the city, which draws over 100,000 shoppers on a hot summer's day. We'll also visit smaller, though equally vital, neighborhood markets, like the city-operated Essex Street Market, which shares in the growth of the Lower East Side while managing to retain its historical customer base. Finally, we'll cross the East River into Brooklyn, to visit and learn about some of the city’s best neighborhood-scale farmers markets as well as a unique program that combines youth education and empowerment, urban agriculture, and local food system development..

THE WORKSHOP

A course group What are the dynamics behind the incredible resurgence of public markets and farmers markets in North America? Through PPS's innovative research, grant-making and technical assistance programs, we have gained an unparalleled perspective on how markets work. To be truly successful, markets need four crucial elements: the right mix of vendors and products; a strong sense of place; solid economic and operational underpinnings; and a firm commitment to the surrounding community.

Through this interactive training course, learn about each of these elements and more through workshops and on-site tours of New York City's thriving open-air farmers markets and indoor public markets.

Specific Topics will include:

Benefits of markets
Ingredients of successful markets
Introduction to Placemaking
Market planning process
Community engagement
Sustainable market operations
Market management

Past participants have included mayors, community development officials, neighborhood organizers and market sponsors.

FACILITATORS

Steve Davies, as senior vice president of PPS, has directed nearly 500 major projects in the U.S and abroad and is sought out as one of the foremost thought leaders in public markets. He oversees the activities of PPS's Public Market Program, where he currently directs a three-year, $3 million dollar grant-making, communications and policy initiative for public markets and farmers markets with the Ford Foundation and W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

A specialist in all phases of market development, David O'Neil has worked on over 200 market projects around the world and has directed four international public market conferences, the most recent in October, 2005 in Washington DC. David recently published "Reading Terminal Market: An Illustrated History," a beautifully illustrated narrative about one of the country's largest public markets located in Philadelphia, PA.

Kelly Williams manages and coordinates PPS's public markets programs and works with markets around North America through the grantmaking, technical assistance, communications and training programs. Kelly has been with PPS since 2006 after three years at Greenmarket coordinating manager training and communications efforts there.

The next How to Create Successful Markets training course will be held October 17-18, 2008

REGISTRATION

The course is full, and registration is closed.

FOOD

Light breakfast on Friday and Saturday, lunch on Friday and Saturday, and the Friday evening cocktail reception are covered by the registration fee.

ACCOMMODATION

Here are some of our favorite places to stay in New York. They are close to the course site and public transportation. Book early as spaces tend to fill up quickly during this time of year! If you find that these hotels are all booked up during your stay in New York, you can search for additional hotels online by clicking here. The most convenient neighborhoods to search in are: the Village, the Lower East Side, Soho, Flatiron/Union Square/Gramercy and Chelsea.

WASHINGTON SQUARE HOTEL
103 Waverly Place
Phone: (212) 777-9515
Recently renovated, this little gem of a hotel offers a great location a few blocks from PPS's office and right on Washington Square Park.

UNION SQUARE INN
209 East 14th Street
Phone: (212) 614-0500
A small, reasonably priced, European-style hotel close (1/2 mile walk) to the PPS office and the Union Square Greenmarket. "Affordable and very clean."

MURRAY HILL INN
143 E. 30th Street
Phone: (212) 683-6900
A small budget "no frills" hotel about 1.5 miles (and a quick subway ride) north of the PPS office. Rooms are very small - but the rates are low. "Very clean and excellent location (but no elevator)."

HOTEL 17
225 E. 17th Street
Phone: (212) 475 2845
A highly recommended budget hotel close to Union Square, the East Village, and Grammercy Park

HOTEL CHANDLER
12 East 31st Street
Phone: (212) 889 6363
A boutique hotel that is a top recommendation by past participants

OFF SOHO SUITES
11 Rivington Street
Within US: 1.800.OFF.SOHO (1.800.633.7646)
Outside US: +1.212.979.9808
An affordable alternative to hotels, you can rent suites for 2-4 people in the heart of the eclectic Lower East Side or East Village neighborhoods

AMSTERDAM HOSPITALITY HOTELS
Five modern though plain hotels, perfect in terms of balance of aesthetic and budget. Rooms for under $200 per night. The hotels are The Ameritania, Amsterdam Court, Bentley, The Marcel and The Moderne (The Marcel is the closest to our office).

BED AND BREAKFASTS
For those who prefer bed and breakfasts, this site lists New York's ten best as rated by Hotel-Guides.us. Soho Bevy's comes with high recommendations.

WHAT TO BRING

Dress code is casual throughout the course. Bring comfortable walking shoes and a raincoat and umbrella for site visits. Even if it rains, we like to stick to our existing schedule for the walking tour and site visits.

DIRECTIONS

Airport travel information can be found at these links. Any of these airports are suitable, though if you're into transit systems, both JFK and Newark have Airtrains that link the airport to train stations. Cabs might be the quickest way, but will run you $40-50. There are also a variety of shuttle buses available.
From LaGuardia Airport
From Newark Airport
From John F Kennedy International Airport
Map of New York City Subway

BIOS

Once you register for the course please send us a short bio of yourself and your organization. Please see sample bio below.

Rich Miller
Director, City of Rome, NY, Dept of Parks and Recreation
Rich is the director of Parks, Recreation and Community Activities for the City of Rome, New York. The City of Rome, located in upstate New York about halfway between Albany and Syracuse, has 20 parks, 11 playgrounds, and one civic arena in its inventory. He is very interested in the role civic spaces play in community revitalization and in the development of trail systems. He has a Bachelor of Science degree from Syracuse University. He and his lovely wife, Nancy, have two sons and two cocker spaniels. All remain avid New York Knicks fans in spite of the past few years.