Over the past year Summit volunteers have been working to connect young people to events downtown, spotlight local entrepreneurs, tell the stories of the people that make the Dayton region great and promote the assets of local neighborhoods.

Street Buzz. At the 2010 Summit, attendees helped characterize the “street buzz” that helps make a place feel vibrant: pedestrian traffic, ad-hoc art performances, and dining spilling onto sidewalks. Last summer project volunteers worked to build this buzz by organizing meet-ups of young attendees around existing events like First Friday. These events brought new attendees to downtown events and connected young people around a common interest.

Entrepreneur of the Month. Project volunteers have interviewed several local entrepreneurs and in January launched a series of articles on DaytonMostMetro to spotlight an entrepreneur of the month. Articles highlight key strategies and hints to help aspiring entrepreneurs, but also tell the great stories of these risk-takers that help make the Dayton region a great place to be.

Howdy Neighbor / Community Asset Maps. Attendees at last year’s Summit wanted to better spotlight assets in our communities, so volunteers for this project set out to do just that. Early last summer team members participated in Mayor’s walks and attended Priority Board meetings to learn about Dayton’s neighborhoods. Late last year this group connected with the Fitz Center for Leadership in Community to find ways to share the information it’s collected online.

GREATer Dayton Stories. Seeking to change perceptions about Dayton, project volunteers have launched a video project called the “People I Know.” Over the past several months they have been circulating flip cameras to various young, creative professionals that live in the Miami Valley and have been asking participants to document their life in the Dayton region. The group has collected several videos and is currently working to edit the material into short segments that will be distributed online.