BIA News & Updates
Porchfest is Coming to Preston Street

----Ottawa Porchfest is a FREE community based arts festival that allows local artists to entertain and express on volunteered porches and businesses around the neighborhood. Multiple acts go on simultaneously on porches and in shops throughout the local community. 

----This is the third year for this festival and the first time that Preston Street will be involved. Porchfest is happening on Saturday, September 8th, with performances going on between 1PM and 5PM. There will be performances happening at businesses and residences through Little Italy, this will be a great event for getting people out on Preston. We encourage any merchants to participate by hosting an event, see  http://www.ottawaporchfest.ca/Porch_Registration.php for details.

----"With 3 years behind us, we  want to continue to see people use our festival to further their own dreams," said Ken McKay, co-founder of Ottawa Porchfest.  "We appreciate the city we live in, it's great to be in a position to give the amateur and professional artists a platform to expose their generosity and talent.  We are happy being a local festival that slowly grow as artists grow. This year that growth comes from adding the Preston St. BIA which along with, the Hintonburg community assoc. and Wellington West BIA  are all working together to create one big day on September 8th!" 

All participants will be asked to follow  the below code of conduct:
  • Musicians play for approximately 45 minutes
  • Musicians respect the family friendly atmosphere 
  • No Smoking and No Open Alcohol policy at all porch venues 
For more information, contact festival organizer, Ken McKay at 613-878-1198 OR contact@ottawaporchfest.ca 

Check  http://ottawaporchfest.ca/ after August 30th to see the full schedule and line-up.

Presdelicious 2018 Wrap Up

Thank you to everyone who participated in this year's Presdelicious and helped make the event a success.

Overall we saw a 50% increase in the number of dinners sold, over last year's event. Over 500 Presdelicious meals were served.

Through our online marketing we were able to reach over 500,000 people. This includes 4,000 visitors to the Preston BIA website, who spent and average of 3:45 minutes reading the Presdelicious magazine. We made over 37,000 impressions on social media from July 18th to August 2nd.

Thank you to all restaurants that have provided their feedback already, we would love to hear everyone's thoughts on this event.

Planning is already underway for Presdelicious 2019, and we want to work with you to make this event bigger and better for everyone.

BIA Census is Still Underway

----A reminder that the BIA has hired Acacia Consulting & Research to do a "door to door and floor to floor" census of the membership.

----Two students will be gathering the census information throughout the summer. They will be stopping in to each business to interview the owner or manager.

----As well as assisting us in updating the membership list, we are also asking the Members for information to help us show the City the significant economic impact that our businesses have on the prosperity of the City of Ottawa. We will be asking questions such as "how many full and part-time employees do you have?" and, "In what year did you launch your business?"

----Only public information about your business will be put on the BIA website in the business listing section. Public information includes: Business name, address, phone, email, website and social media coordinates. The rest of the information collected will be kept strictly confidential.

Your two surveyors are:
Eamon Kelley and Jamie Carrick.
















We know we can rely on your cooperation with these surveyors to assist us in assembling the Census data.



New Traffic Box Wraps
The BIA has partnered with the City of Ottawa to graffiti-proof traffic signal boxes by covering them with distinct artwork. The new graphics should be installed shortly. 

This is the design that is being used:



Harvest Decor Will Return This Fall
We had such an enthusiastic response to the street décor last year, that we have hired Avant Garde again this year. 

Installation will start Sept 10th .





"Meet Me on Preston" Events Calendar gives you free listings of events and promotions at your business





Did you know that as a BIA Member you can put your events on the monthly calendar?

This is your tool to promote your business and attract customers. All you need do is come up with a great promotion, and we'll get it up in the calendar. 

Start thinking about promotions you might want to do in the month of June. Deadline for the print version of the October calendar is September 14th.

We can add events to the web calendar throughout the month so be sure to make us aware of any special event or promotion you are having. We will also use that information to expand your advertising reach through the BIA social media channels.

If you have an event that you would like listed on the website, please email prestonbiainfo@gmail.com.
Other News

Shopping ethically has never been more popular than it is now. At least, that's what studies seem to suggest.

Yet, these bold statements from consumers appear to be just empty words. Their good intentions aren't translating into today's real spending habits. Understand this (so-called) shift in consumer behaviour.

To illustrate this phenomenon, let's observe Oeko-Tex, an association that assembles independent professionals in textile research, and their example of a batch of clothing that is fair-trade certified. For 60% of declared interest, only a third of consumers move beyond intention into the act of purchase. According to a survey conducted by eMarketer, products' functionality, quality, and aesthetic dominate the brand's values during the act of purchase, regardless of the generation.

Once again, the significance that consumers attribute to a brand's values remains strictly a declaration. In truth, many clients panic in a supermarket aisle, guiltily placing an organic carton of eggs back on the shelf as they opt for one that is 50% cheaper.

In other words, though consumers' environmental consciousness is slowly coming to fruition, the cost and function of the product remain the factors that hold the biggest impact on their decisions.

Move over greenwashing; we need to discuss consumers' environmental schizophrenia. Green products remain a niche market and the individual advantages of a product take precedence over its advantages for the collective.
Certain companies like Whole Foods Market, Stonyfield or Patagonia have managed to convince segments of the population to follow their tracks. It took a lot more than a few isolated ethical products and a bit of luck for these brands to become successful. They repeatedly promise profound engagement; it's written in the companies' DNA and strengthened every year.

Considering the rate at which ethical consumerism is gaining in public
interest, the commercial opportunities are tremendous. However, we're a long way from convincing every consumer to put their money where their mouth is.











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CONTACT
CONTACT US:

Lori Mellor
Executive Director
Preston Street Business Improvement Association
118 A Preston Street, K1R 7P2
613-231-2815



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