It’s been a busy winter for the Downtowners as members recently hosted speaker AIA chapter 2010 president Kevin Klinkenberg (above with Dawn Kirkwood) to talk about Design Week in Kansas City, which wraps up today. “Kansas City Design Week is basically a whole week to highlight the importance of design,” Klinkenberg said.”Our target audiences are the design community, the general public and the business community.” All week there have been activities, day and night, centered around interesting issues such as “branding Obama,” how to take cities into the 21st century in terms of design, and the product and process of what is Garmin. The week wraps up today with “39 & Counting: Steve Frykholm & Herman Miller,” from 11:30-1:00 at the KCAI- Epperson Hall. Then there’s a “design scavenger hunt” tonight in the Crossroads, followed by a wrap-up party at 8:30 p.m. at Kemper at the Crossroads. Klinkenber’s talk was well attended with a full house including (below) David Scott with Avid Communications, City Councilwoman Jan Marcason, and asst. city manager Rick Usher.
And next week’s luncheon should be a sell-out as the Downtowners also have announced that Tom McDonnell, CEO of DST Systems, Inc. will receive the 2010 Jim Davis Award on Wednesday, Feb. 10, at 12: 15 p.m. at the Hereford House Hollywood Room in the Crossroads District. In addition to focusing on the growth of DST Systems on the west side of downtown, McDonnell was a guiding force in the development of Union Station. He was instrumental in assembling the sites for the Sprint Center and the Entertainment District, and in bringing to downtown the new Internal Revenue Service Center with more than 6,000 jobs. Below, Joe Close with Country Club Bank, Paula Pratt with Harvesters (the Downtowners gave a donation to the food bank) and Ryan Duffy of Duffy Creative.
ICSC Networking Event
The ICSC, or International Council of Shopping Centers, held a “Networking. Deal Making and Education” conference in Kansas City recently at the Hyatt Regency Crown Center hotel. Among the hundreds attending were Bob Lindeblad with BHC Rhodes and Mark McConahay with Block & Company, Inc. (below); and Jeff Haney with Red Development, Audrey Navarro with Kessinger Hunter, and W. David Hickman with CB Richard Ellis (also below). These conference-goers said they enjoyed the two-day event, especially the part that focused on positioning yourself for that much-anticipated market rebound, and wrapped up their session with some friendly “deal making.”
B2B Group Gathers at Screenland Theatre building
