Emporia Main Street's PROMOTION programs are run by a committee of volunteers along with Main Street staff. Our promotion activities are focused on drawing visitors through year-round events, promoting local shopping, and marketing Downtown Emporia as a destination.
Emporia Main Street hosts or supports over 40 events each year. Our largest event, the Dirty Kanza Finish Line Party, brings over 10,000 visitors to downtown Emporia. Our Midnight Madness shopping event boosts sales at retailers throughout Emporia. All of our events promote a positive image of our community to both visitors and residents.
Whether we're putting on an event or reaching out through marketing, our promotion activities are designed to encourage economic activity and investment in our community.
Promotion Programs
Events
Emporia Main Street and the Promotions Committee host some of Emporia's biggest events, drawing thousands of visitors and locals each year. View our event calendar to see what's next.
Traffic Builders
Our events are designed not only to elevate the community, but also to provide exposure and foot traffic to our member businesses. Learn more here, and then contact us to register for an event!
Marketing Opportunities
Let us help promote you! Get your business in front our followers and other members.
Gift Certificate Program
Our gift certificate program is free for member businesses and encourages local shopping.
Interested in Joining the Promotions Committee?
The Promotions Committee is great for those who like to help to plan events! Click the button below if you'd like to join!
Promotion Education
When an Event is more than an Event
Emporia Main Street events evolve over time. What starts out as something small, often grows and changes to meet new challenges or take advantage of new opportunities. They say necessity is the mother of all invention, and the small staff numbers at Main Street often require that each event impacts multiple goals. Because of the…
Continue Reading >Simple Ways to Capitalize on Events
Anyone associated with the Emporia Main Street Promotions Team will tell you that we break down promotional events into two distinct categories: those specifically designed to create spending in targeted businesses, and those meant to generate traffic that creative businesses can take advantage of. Main Street works for the collective good, and some activities are…
Continue Reading >Independent Success
Independent businesses are obviously a huge part of the fabric of our community in Emporia. For years, stagnation and low occupancy rates crippled the downtown area, but as focus has turned away (not quite completely) from big box stores and looked more favorably on small mom and pop shops, independent businesses have seen a sort…
Continue Reading >2015 Emporia Main Street Annual Meeting
The Emporia Main Street Annual Meeting tends to emulate the organization itself. We have a group of super busy people that get together to honor productivity and offer thanks to those people making tangible improvements to the community, then we start working on making the future even better. This year’s tribute to Steve Hanschu made the…
Continue Reading >2014 In Review At Emporia Main Street
Emporia Main Street is a results oriented organization. The culture of measurable activities that push for community growth has been fostered by you, our membership, since the inception of the program in 1991. Each year, we look back briefly to assess what was accomplished during the calendar year, and we utilize your feedback to help…
Continue Reading >Converting Festival Attendees Into Paying Customers
Through the Promotions Point in the Main Street concept, we focus on community marketing, the production of “register ringers” (like Midnight Madness or the Shop Hop) and “gathering” events (like the Great American Market and Dirty Kanza). These three different promotional mindsets have different purposes and require alternate tactics for businesses to fully realize potential…
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