by Miranda G. McLeod
Staff Writer
Downtown Vision Inc.’s new marketing director has a simple plan: change the way folks look at downtown and the way they feel about it as both a place to live and as a destination.
Angela Mack joined DVI on Oct. 31 after working for Community Hospice. She said downtown has so much to offer and several of those things are of particular interest to her professionally and personally.
Events such as the Farmers’ Markets, the ArtWalk, and the recently developed Happy Half-Hour —10 things to do after work instead of sit in traffic — are cultural events and treasures, says Mack, that people just don’t know about.
“My job is to make them aware of it,” she said. “I love the idea of being challenged.”
Mack updates DVI’s Web site, sends out brochures and works on DVI’s television show “Downtown Now” to get people informed.
“My goal is to change the perception of downtown. Yes, it is clean. Yes, it is safe. There are activities for singles, married people and elderly. There is something for everyone downtown,” she said.
Mack graduated from the University of North Florida in 1997 with a communications degree specializing in public relations and marketing. She originally wanted to be a broadcast journalist, but decided she liked being behind the camera more than being in front of it.
“(TV-4 anchor) Rob Sweeting let me shadow him and it was a wonderful experience. He knew the facial expressions of every reporter that walked by. He’d say, ‘Ok Angela, that reporter just lost his source and his deadline is in two hours or less.’ It’s a stressful field,” said Mack. “I decided then it was better to be behind the scenes and working with the media than be the media. The dynamic changed, but I still love to write and love working with the public.”
Mack works downtown of course, but says she comes out at least once a week to go to downtown events as well.
“I love the arts. I was a dancer for 27 years and that inspires me to promote not only the visual arts, but also the performance arts,” said Mack.
Mack’s family moved from Patuxent River, Md., to the Jacksonville area when she was three years old. She says her friends and military family are informal focus groups and provide helpful insight. Mack says they come downtown often, but one of the things that inspires her the most is a story from her childhood.
“When I was nine or 10, I wanted to quit an activity I was involved in,” she said. “I just didn’t like it. I had a statue of Gemini, my sign, in my room. When I told my mother I wanted to quit this activity, she pointed at that statue and said, ‘See you are a true Gemini because you never finish what you start.’ From that day on, I have always finished what I’ve started and am very proud of that.”