Eddie Kendrick Memorial. © Art Meripol/Greater Birmingham CVB
Registration
Registration is open! Discounts and special rates are available.
May 6 – 8
Register Now!
Birmingham, Alabama
Whether you come from a downtown in a small town or a city-based commercial corridor, Main Street Now 2024 offers educational and network-building opportunities designed to help your team address pressing issues impacting your community.
The Magic City
Join us in Birmingham, Alabama, for the 2024 Main Street Now Conference from May 6 – 8! Register today to join fellow commercial district stewards from across the country for three days of insightful education sessions, unique special events, immersive mobile workshops, and memorable experiences in Birmingham.
“Hosting the 2024 Main Street Now Conference in Birmingham offers a great opportunity to create opportunities for our network to learn from revitalization efforts happening in nearby towns, as well as showcase the powerful legacy of the city’s rich cultural and social justice heritage, and the ways it informs modern civic life.”
- Hannah White, Chief Impact Officer at Main Street America
Attend
Be a part of the largest convening of local leaders and place professionals advancing grassroots revitalization initiatives in local communities.
Registration Rates
Discounts and special rates are available to Main Street America members, civic leaders, and students. For additional savings, register by the early bird or regular online deadlines. Register here >
Early Bird (by March 11*): $465 Member | $635 Non-Member
Regular (by April 26*): $565 Member | $735 Non-Member
On-Site: $775 Member, Non-Member
One Day: $399
Student: $200
Civic Leader: $199
Venues & Hotels
Conference sessions will be held at the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex and nearby venues. Room blocks for conference attendees are available at the Sheraton Birmingham, The Westin Birmingham, and others. Conference room blocks are limited and available on a first-come, first-reserved basis. Learn more about conference hotels and making reservations here >
Host City
Between sessions, enjoy local shops, eateries, and attractions in downtown Birmingham and the Historic 4th Avenue Business District. Come early or extend your stay to explore dynamic Main Streets in nearby towns and the city’s vibrant arts, culture, and heritage, from historic architecture to monuments dedicated to the American Civil Rights Movement, metalwork manufacturing industry, and music icons. Start planning your visit here >
Sessions & Events
From inspiring plenaries and immersive mobile workshops to engaging education sessions and interactive courses, the Main Street Now 2024 schedule features 150+ opportunities for local leaders to strengthen networks, gain new skills, and find solutions to issues impacting their communities. Explore the agenda here >
More Information
Ferrill’s African Wear © Main Street Alabama
Kelly Ingram Park © Greater Birmingham CVB
Lyric Theatre and Alabama Theatre © Randal Crow/Greater Birmingham CVB
Magic City Rotary Sign © Ann Smith/Greater Birmingham CVB
Alabama Peanut Co. © Greater Birmingham CVB
Conference Themes
In addition to perennial commercial district management topics, education sessions will explore three timely themes.
Welcoming & Belonging
Welcoming and belonging strategies help build bridges between new and existing residents, business owners, visitors, and other stakeholders to create stronger bonds within communities. Successful Main Streets foster a sense of community ownership for each resident by ensuring equal access to, and a role in, downtown for people from all backgrounds, including incomes, ages, races, and abilities. Whether it’s welcoming new neighbors, championing strategies to prevent gentrification or displacement, adopting immigrant-friendly policies, or creating space for group expression, Main Street organizations are well-positioned to advance these principles and strengthen their districts’ social, civic, and economic fabric.
Connectivity Through Civic Infrastructure
Civic infrastructure — parks, trails, town squares, play spaces, libraries, and other public places — boosts local economies, increases resiliency and trust, supports health and well-being, creates a more equitable society, increases civic engagement, and strengthens democracy for all. Underlying a community’s civic infrastructure is a system of interconnected policies, programs, and people that work in tandem to build and foster a sense of place. Main Streets share in the community-wide need to dedicate time and resources towards expanding access and use of civic infrastructure to enhance quality of life and create more sustainable communities with vibrant social capital.
Reimagining Local Spaces & Economies
Major economic transformations over the past decade — from real estate market conditions and pandemic disruptions to macro-economic shifts and local entrepreneurship trends — have presented local communities with myriad challenges. In response, Main Streets have adopted future-focused solutions to leverage their place-based assets, remain competitive, and reorient their economic bases for local prosperity. To adapt in an ever-changing landscape, Main Streets can support local investment and ownership in their districts, activate underutilized spaces through creative reuse, champion people-centered infrastructure, and bolster grassroots economic vitality strategies.
Featured Articles
Main Spotlight: Restoration and Resurgence in the Historic 4th Avenue Black Business District
Urban Impact Inc., harnesses strategic investments and collaborative efforts to foster a vibrant and sustainable future, from visionary adaptive reuse ventures to transformative development grants for small businesses and property owners in Birmingham, Alabama’s historic 4th Avenue Black Business District.
Civic Leaders: Don’t Miss Main Street Now 2024
With a specially priced registration rate of $199, tailored education track, free lunch & learn session, and abundant networking opportunities, Main Street Now 2024 is made for civic leaders passionate about community preservation and economic development in historic downtowns and neighborhood commercial corridors.
Main Spotlight: Fostering Connection in BHAM by Creating Third Spaces in Downtown Birmingham and Woodlawn
REV Birmingham and Woodlawn United share how they work to reenergize spaces and places in Birmingham, Alabama, through civic infrastructure projects in the city’s historic commercial corridors.
Ultimate Immersive Learning Experiences: A Roundup of Main Street Now 2024 Mobile Workshops
Opportunities to experience time-tested Main Street Approach techniques and creative solutions in action abound in Birmingham with these great excursions.
Main Spotlight: Exploring Birmingham’s Commitment to Equity and Inclusivity
Learn how Main Street Now 2024 host city Birmingham, Alabama, is deepening their commitment to creating a welcoming and inclusive environment.
Just Added: Can’t Miss Main Street Now 2024 Experiences
Check out these new experiences at the 2024 Main Street Now Conference in Birmingham, Alabama.
Meeting in The Magic City: A Preview of the 2024 Main Street Now Conference Sessions
Check out some of the highlights of the many sessions that will be offered at the 2024 Main Street Now Conference.
Get Involved
Main Street Now 2024 offers many opportunities for attendees, industry experts, and supporters to engage the Movement.
Sponsorship
Sponsoring the Main Street Now Conference is a highly visible, cost effective way to reach community leaders and partners as they foster new ideas and solutions for preservation-based economic development in their historic downtowns and neighborhood commercial districts. Sponsor packages provide partners with the opportunity to demonstrate leadership through programming and promotions, connect directly with local decisionmakers, support communities on their path to economic revitalization.
Questions? Contact Katie Eckstein at keckstein@mainstreet.org
Exhibition Hall
Please note: The exhibition hall has reached capacity. A waitlist is available, with booths released based on exhibitors’ position on the waitlist.
The Main Street Now Expo offers a variety of promotional opportunities for companies specializing in products, services, and resources designed to assist downtown and commercial district management professionals take their efforts to the next level. For more information about the venue and show times, check out the exhibitor prospectus here.
Questions? Contact Steve Amraen at samraen@mainstreet.org
Sessions
Please note: The call for proposals submission portal has closed. A preview of the sessions can be found here.
Along with our partners at Main Street Alabama, we invited proposals for educational sessions at Main Street Now 2024 from July 31-October 6, 2023. We welcomed proposals for educational sessions in three thematic areas (see below for details), as well as perennial downtown and commercial district management topics guided by the Main Street Approach™. A committee comprised of leading community development practitioners and Main Street experts is reviewing each application and notified submitters about the status of their proposals in late 2023.
Questions? Contact info@mainstreet.org
Stay in the Know
For updates, check this page and follow our Main Street Now Conference accounts on Facebook and Twitter. Subscribe to our newsletter to receive the latest conference-related news delivered to your inbox.
Questions? Email info@mainstreet.org.
