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Naptown Architours

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Location: Indianapolis
Members: 21
Latest Activity: Nov 16

Naptown Architours is a project to create self-guided architecture tours of Indianapolis using new media technology, especially the iPod. Imagine tourists being able to download an "audio guide" to the city from iTunes before they visit. Or accessing content from the mobile devices real time. This is the place to make that and more turn into reality.

Discussion Forum

Flickr Integration

Started by Aaron M. Renn Nov 16.

Tour Mapping 1 Reply

Started by Aaron M. Renn. Last reply by Pat Coyle Nov 8.

Union Station Script 5 Replies

Started by Aaron M. Renn. Last reply by Aaron M. Renn Oct 29.

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Comment Wall (26 comments)

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26 Comments

Comment by Aaron M. Renn on October 24, 2008 at 7:22pm: Tim, thanks for the research and the links. That downtown LA tour is great. Great find. This is very close to what I'm hoping to accomplish here, only I want us to be cooler :)

Comment by Tim Forrest on October 23, 2008 at 12:28am: Hi. I finally got around to doing some research and found some interesting things.

For a similar concept, check out Downtown LA Walks

National Geographic has 'Walks of a Lifetime'. Hey, why isn't Indianapolis on that list!

Comment by Aaron M. Renn on October 5, 2008 at 9:40pm: Amy, thanks so much for posting that. I'll try to watch it soon. It's looks like a Monon Railroad video, probably worth watching on that basis alone. You are officially the first real contributor to the project. Way to go!

Comment by Amy Stark on October 4, 2008 at 7:54pm: Here is the video I promised to upload. You can skip the first couple of minutes... Begin at 2:30 roughly. This is a PUBLIC Domain Video, which means you can use any part of it in a Mashup without fear of credit infringement.

www.archive.org is so wonderful.

Comment by Amy Stark on October 4, 2008 at 7:48pm

Comment by Donna Sink on October 2, 2008 at 9:42pm: Amy, no I hadn't - but neither have some of my friends who are natives here.

I hate to take this so far off the topic of the architours, but it is an interesting topic: "branding" the city. In a way, "Indy" seems lazy. It's too obvious, and not particularly unique, since "indy rock" and "indy publishing" and DIY and whatnot have become common terminology.

Comment by Amy Stark on October 2, 2008 at 5:15pm: Is there a Naptown theme song?

I like Indy for a couple of reasons 1) the Sandi Patty (sp?) theme song is already out there. Wouldn't it be great to raise an Indy theme song to -- "New York, New York" -- status. Theme songs must work well in karaoke bars to really take off.... and 2) I think it's important to leverage the 500 race as much as you can in branding the tour name. Like it or not, It is the largest attended single day sporting event in the WORLD! And even though it is held in Speedway, it isn't called the Speedway 500.

Perhaps Naptown could be used throughout marketing materials, but Indy will have a better global recognition factor and make branding easier. If we are taking a vote put me down for Indy.
@Aaron this is your baby and you can name it whatever you want, really. If you are looking for advice, however, Pat Coyle knows what he's talking about.
@ Donna- had you ever heard of the name Naptown before you moved here? Just curious.

Comment by Donna Sink on October 2, 2008 at 3:14pm: I'm totally in agreement with Aaron on the use of Naptown.

For those of you who saw Aaron's first Pecha Kucha presentation, the room exploded in laughter - of the supportive kind - when they saw the image that said "Embrace Naptown".

I could carry on far too long about this, but having lived in lots of other cities before moving here, I agree that it's a cool-sounding name that allows multiple interpretations. If it's truly based in a jazz history, cool. If it relates to the African American history here, all the better - it would be great to emphasize the (growing) cultural diversity of the city and have the African American population feel/be included in what makes Naptown unique. If it relates to having a nap, well, since moving here the thing that has struck me about Indianapolis is 1. how nice everyone is and 2. how easy it is to live here. We're laid back, and should emphasize the good aspects of that quality while working on the downsides of it.

Since Aaron's presentation I've been calling us Naptown in pretty much every situation possible. I love the name.

As far as content on the architours: when I lead people through the Decorator's Show House and other such events, they always love to get informaiton that feels "gossipy" or like insider rumors. I think it can't hurt to throw a little spice into the content, personal stories, scandals, etc. - people love that, and it helps them remember.

Comment by Dick Davis on October 1, 2008 at 9:24pm: Martin, I love your idea and it sounds like you do the same thing I do with out-of-towners.

Comment by Martin Schliessmann on October 1, 2008 at 3:30pm: I always swore that if I hit the financially-secure lottery o' life, I would be happy to give the double-decker bus tours of Indy! (Always seemed to be the motivated tour guide when bringing in out-of-town business guests and family!)

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