The Destination Creation Conference above all brings together passionate people. Their desire to make their places attractive and enjoyable will make for interesting conversation.

Add to that mix speakers with compelling presentations on remarkable changes to places made by people with limited resources.

As if it can’t get any better, the conference takes place in the setting of Dublin’s waterfront leisure town, Dún Laoghaire. Be prepared for spectacular harbour walks and views of Dublin Bay as well as lovely sidewalk cafés, character pubs and a range of eateries for every taste.

Two specific themes form the continuous narrative for the conference namely place making and place branding.

Place Making has gained international recognition as a framework for judging good public spaces as well as for the time-tested systematic process and tools to develop a good public space. The custodians of this process are organisations such as the Project for Public Spaces (PPS) in New York. Two definitions used by PPS:

“Placemaking is a dynamic human function: it is an act of liberation, of staking claim, and of beautification; it is true human empowerment.”

“Placemaking is turning a neighborhood, town or city from a place you can’t wait to get through to one you never want to leave.”

Place Branding is relatively in its infancy as a public process where key stakeholders in a city, town or neighbourhood use the principles of brand development and user experiences to promote their place. In recent years a mix of local place advertising and events/festivals are becoming very visible in the public eye, but is there clear place distinction or are place perceptions morphing into noise and sameness?