SKOWHEGAN -- Want to revitalize your downtown? Organize a flash mob pillow fight, paint a large mural, set up a statue of the paparazzi peeking around a corner or install a public bathroom made of one-way mirrors.

Downtown achievement awards presented during the Vital Maine Communities Conference:
• Main Street Skowhegan Board Member of the Year: Laurie Denis
• Volunteer of the Year: Patricia Horine
• Business Expansion and Retention award: The Bankery and Skowhegan Fleuriste and Formalwear owned by Matthew DuBois and Michael Hunt
• Marketing and Image Campaign award: Skowhegan Savings for sponsoring River Fest, with Karen Hart, assistant vice president and marketing officer, accepting the award
• Public Official of the Year: Town Manager John Doucette Jr.
• Waterville Main Street and Skowhegan Main Street share an award from the Maine Downtown Center for their community branding initiatives.

If your store sells used shoes, attach a story with each pair to tell where it's been. If you deliver pizza, set up a phone booth at a tourist destination, so people can have it delivered there.

Something as simple as making the colors brighter in your window display can boost sales 5 to 10 percent.

Interactivity and creativity is key to improving both businesses and downtown areas, Kennedy Lawson Smith told about 150 people Friday morning during her keynote speech at the Skowhegan Opera House for the Vital Maine Communities Conference.

As co-founder of the consulting firm Community Land Use and Economics Group and a former director of the National Main Street Center, Smith is considered by many to be one of the nation's experts on downtown revitalization and development.

A two-word quote sums up her talk: "Constantly innovate," she told the business and community leaders gathered for the conference. Throughout the day people attended workshops at the Town Hall, Strand and Opera House.

The Maine Development Foundation's Maine Downtown Center worked with Maine Preservation and Grow Smart Maine for this year's two-day conference, which took place in Lewiston and Skowhegan. The primary sponsors were Bangor Savings Bank, the Maine Office of Community Development and the Maine Department of Transportation.

Smith asked the audience on Friday to look at photos of business development on a screen behind her and yell out "cool" or "not cool." People yelled "cool" for independent cafes and downtown artwork and "not cool" for images of strip malls and fast food businesses.

"It's like pornography. You know it when you see it," Smith said, to laughter.

Some of the "coolest" downtowns, she said -- ones that draw people just for the unique features -- have preserved their historic buildings, she said. They are also providing opportunities for consumers to interact with the downtown.

She showed a photo of one store with an interactive window display where passersby can make arm movements to direct a ballerina's dance steps, projected on a screen. "People love this. They stand outside this building for hours. Cool way to get people downtown," Smith said.

Other people want to know the story behind what they're buying, she said, so some stores allow customers to trace online the path of their clothing items woven and sewn in other countries.

And some customers want to know their purchase is benefiting the environment, she said. Store owners can make parts of their store from recycled parts; or grocery stores can grow vegetables on their roofs and then sell them.

"Young people are spending less money on retail goods and services," Smith said. Instead, they are tending to purchase items that last longer.

She used a quote from Henry Ford, founder of Ford Motor Company, at the end of her talk to drive home her point: "If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses."

It's up to communities to use development in a way that promotes vibrant downtowns, she said. "Go out there, guys, and win the horse race."

Jack Ducharme, chairman of the board for the Madison Business Alliance, said the conference was giving him ideas of ways to help revitalize downtown Madison. It's important to "step outside of the box and say 'what if?'" he said.