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ASHLAND — Sandra Tannell, executive director of Ashland Main Street, told members at the organization's annual recognition ceremony that the organization signed a contract to use Placer.ai in November.
He said the technology will allow Ashland Main Street to track data about who is entering stores and attending events in downtown Ashland.
How to use
The technology uses “anonymized location data from millions of mobile devices” to understand who is in what location, according to a video explaining the technology on Placer.ai's website. Helpful.
Tanel said she has not yet received further training on the technology, but is preparing a webinar to help people improve their skills, although her understanding is that it does not have the ability to track individuals.
“From what I understand, this phone number is not saying they spent $10 on coffee,” Tanel said. “My understanding is that 50 people from this part of the world attended on this day.”
She said that based on already available cell phone data, Placer.ai can more accurately determine how many people enter a store in a given time frame or attend an event on Ashland's Main Street. Count.
Currently, organizations can estimate these numbers based on metrics such as ticket sales and business anecdotes, but they could not provide “hard data.”
“I think it’s great for us as an organization just to be able to say, ‘Look at what we’re bringing to the community,’” Tunnell said.
Where did that idea come from?
The process of bringing this technology to the city began last year at the Ohio Heritage Quarterly Conference.
Tunnell said a speaker spoke about the subject and Heritage Ohio provided more information about the subject at a state conference last October.
Placer.ai charges upwards of $20,000, depending on population, so she thought it was out of reach.
But Heritage Ohio reached out to several Main Street organizations in the state to ask if they would be interested in a co-op. A cooperative allows all organizations to provide funding and access to analysis. Tanel said seven organizations have joined the cooperative.
Ashland Main Street went under contract for a $6,600 tab. Explore Ashland and his Ashland County Community Foundation helped fund the technology, Tunnell said.
looking to the future
Tunnell said he understands privacy concerns, but said it's important to embrace new technology.
“We're not taking this information at face value,” Tanel said. “This is not the first step towards world domination using your phone's data.”
Instead, providing accurate analytics to downtown is a goal for Ashland Main Street's future, Tunnell said.
When the organization first started, Tanel said, it encouraged people to come downtown.
Now that people are regularly attending events on Ashland Main Street and shopping and eating downtown, Tunnell said the next step is to track the impact. said.
“We don't intend to be just a party planner,” Tanel said. “I mean, party planning is fun, but downtown is an economic development tool. We're doing big things here, and your shopping is helping the entire economy.”
In Tunnell's view, it's not just Ashland. We can track tourists and provide insight into who is visiting Ashland and where they are coming from.
“I think we’re a hidden gem,” Tanel said. “I think it's really exciting for people to explore that.”
