The Downtown Springfield Association offers many opportunities for college students to get involved within the Springfield community.
To learn about the different events throughout the year, one can reference the association’s social media, website, press releases, and weekly e-blasts, says Jeff Kessinger, the organization’s communications manager.
Kessinger, 41, grew up in the Springfield area and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in mass media and broadcast journalism from Missouri State University. Kessinger worked as a journalist for 16 years covering high-school sports before coming to the association to return to his hometown roots. In an interview with The Scoop, Kessinger noted several different festival events sponsored by the association that can help college students get involved.
“It’s been really neat to work in downtown, promote downtown, and make it a fun place for people to be,” says Kessinger.
Q: What’s your favorite part of your job?
A: I’ve met so many amazing people. That has been my very favorite part. I’ve met countless business owners, and our members are really great people as well. Everyone has a story. I’ve gotten to learn about what brought them to downtown, why they love downtown, and I see the relationships that everyone develops by spending time here. Our retailers are very supportive of each other. They all recognize that if one of them does well, they will all do well. It’s a kind place.
Q: Do you help with festivals downtown? Which is your favorite to promote?
A: Cider Days is a lot of fun because it has become so popular. We do not necessarily have to do a lot of work to promote it. We are looking at about 30,000 people that came this year. I know growing up here, Cider Days meant a lot because it reminds me of my childhood. I am excited other people are also getting to experience that. Another one of my favorites is the Christmas parade. The parade is a big part of people’s favorite time of year. I love knowing that other people are making connections and memories around these events the way that I did.
Q: Do you have a specific way for college students to get involved with the Downtown Springfield Association?
A: One of the small things we do to benefit college students is a membership discount card. A lot of our businesses have special offers that they give to our members. Most people think of the club and bar scene downtown as being the biggest attraction. But there’s great shops with unique things, museums, movies, and we have something on the square almost every Saturday in the fall as far as community events go. Those are the things that college students can get the most involved with to help them get acquainted with the area.
Q: Are there a lot of volunteer opportunities for students?
A: Absolutely. We cannot do our events without you guys. Our staff consists of only three people. We do six or seven large events throughout the year, and if we do not have volunteers, then it just cannot happen. At Cider Days, it’s needing people to do things such as take money at the gate, helping out the artists when needed, taking out the trash, and recycling. It is a great connection making opportunity. We love our college volunteers. I think the students aren’t aware of all the behind-the-scenes action that has to happen to put on a festival. We could always use the help, and at the same time they can benefit by learning about project and event planning.
Q: What are your main events?
A: We have Taste of SOMO on Park Central Square in June, Cider Days on Walnut in September, the Jazz Festival on Park Central Square in September, the Downtown Open in October at various businesses, the Christmas parade in December that runs through the streets of downtown, Rated SGF in March, and Artsfest on Walnut in May.
Q: What are you most passionate about in this job?
A: I love helping downtown grow. It’s been a dream coming back. When I grew up, you never came downtown for anything. There wasn’t always something to do, and it wasn’t always clean. I love helping it grow and develop into a place that I want to bring my kids all the time. I think what drives me the most is always finding a way to do better. We know people are going to show up to our events, so for us it’s a challenge to find new ways to market, and to have an event that people want to come be a part of. There are so many other things people can do with their time nowadays, and we want them to want to spend their time here.
Q: If you had one thing to say to college students in the Springfield area about their participation and involvement with DSA-sponsored events, what would it be?
A: Come check them out. It’s a great way to become a part of this community. I know someone from out of state that went to Evangel, graduated and moved away, but they come back every year for Cider Days. It’s a great way to connect with this community, be involved, develop memories, and spend time with your friends.
On the volunteer side, there is a real feeling of satisfaction being a part of an event and then seeing it executed successfully with everyone having fun. It’s a wonderful life experience. Springfield is a big enough town to where there is a lot of cool opportunities, but small enough that it’s easy to get around, and the community is so close-knit. The people are so kind here, and it’s worth coming downtown to our events to get closer with the community.
