Right now, the people trying to bring an old building back to life are often flying blind. Architects and planners work from photographs and educated guesses. Community members are asked to get excited about a project they literally cannot picture. This session looks at a set of tools that fix that problem—drones, 3D scanning, and photorealistic modeling that capture a building or a block exactly as it is and turn it into an interactive digital version you can walk through, measure, and pull real drawings from.
We'll also dig into how location and foot-traffic data—from platforms like Esri and Placer.ai—can sharpen your fundraising and help you design and measure events. The takeaway: how to turn this kind of data into a story that wins community buy-in, builds a smarter fundraising pitch, and launches downtown events that make an impact.
