Ambassador Operations

Important information for the Downtown Madison Information Ambassadors including Operations Director's notes, upcoming shifts, event listings, business turnover, and more.

Director’s Notes

It is that time of year, spring is here and summer is just around the corner. The Downtwon Info Booth will return Friday, May 2 in its NEW location, outside 9 W. Main St. (near the Capitol Square Subway and Old National Bank). Shifts for May are posted below!

Also, we have 15 businesses that have opened already in 2025, and 40+ that have either opened or will be open soon since the beginning of 2024. Take a look here to see what businesses have opened and closed!

Business Turnover 2024
Business Turnover 2025

A few other updates from the district:

  • The Wisconsin History Center project is underway. Demolition of the previous building is complete, and construction will begin later this spring, with the museum hoping to open in 2027.

    • This project will come with a full redesign of the Mifflin Street Plaza which is currently in the design phase.
    • We have not yet received word about the Wisconsin Veterans Museum project.

  • You will see in the business turnover charts linked above that we have a NEW Downtown Madison hotel, the Embassy Suites on S. Pinckney St.

  • There is a new parklet called the Lakefront Porch near John Nolen Dr. and Williamson Streets. This is intended to be a new community space for the neighborhood.

  • The State Street Pedestiran Mall experiment will NOT be renewed for 2025. The 400-600 blocks of State Street will still not have buses, but will not be branded as a pedestrian mall as it was last year. The City is still looking into redesigning the area in a few years to make it a true pedestrian mall.

  • Our staff and committees comprised of board members and downtown stakeholders are hard at work trying to help improve downtown.

    • The Marketing Committee is working on building a brand new downtown madison website!
    • The Events Committee is looking into how to reallocate our resources now that the ped mall experiment is done, and how to make our Holiday activities more enticing.
    • The NEW Retail Advocacy Committee will be tasked with helping connect businesses with resources and educational pieces to help them succeed, so we can return to a level of health for the district that we haven't seen since pre-covid. The number of new businesses is encouraging, and we want to keep this trend going!

Ambassador Resources
Ambassador Binder
Ambassador Communication
Events and Press Releases
BID Business Info

Upcoming Volunteer Opportunities
If you are interested and available for any of the shifts listed below, please e-mail Tim, tjenquin@visitdowntownmadison.com . Remember, for every 25 hours you volunteer as a Downtown Ambassador, you will receive a $25 Downtown Possibilities eGift accepted at 50+ Downtown Madison businesses.

Downtown Info Booth

Date: Sunday, May 4
Time: 11:00am-2:00pm

Date: Friday, May 9
Time: 11:00am-2:00pm

Date: Sunday, May 11
Time: 11:00am-2:00pm

Date: Friday, May 16
Time: 11:00am-2:00pm

Date: Sunday, May 18
Time: 11:00am-2:00pm

Date: Sunday, May 25
Time: 11:00am-2:00pm

Date: Tuesday, May 27
Time: 11:00am-2:00pm

Date: Wednesday, May 28
Time: 11:00am-2:00pm

Date: Thursday, May 29
Time: 11:00am-2:00pm

Date: Friday, May 30
Time: 11:00am-2:00pm

Date: Sunday, June 1
Time: 11:00am-2:00pm

Ambassador Staff Calls
Ambassador Staff Calls feature event orientations, downtown business tours, and other topics to expand your knowledge of downtown Madison. All Ambassadors are invited to attend wearing their green Ambassador shirts.

None at this time, check back later this spring

Business Turnover
If you notice a new or closing business and it’s not on the list, please let us know, so we can share it with everyone.

Business Turnover 2024
Business Turnover 2025

Downtown Events

To see a schedule of major events that we know are scheduled, check out the Downtown Event Listing on our website.

You can also see the info sheet from the binder here: Major Downtown Event Updates

OR visit our facebook page for more event ideas, or see what our partners have going on.
Downtown Madison Events on Facebook
Destination Madison Event Listings

Tim Jenquin
Operations Director
Madison's Central BID
Office: 122 W. Washington Avenue, Suite 250
Madison, WI 53701
(608) 512-1341
tjenquin@visitdowntownmadison.com