Eric Richardson [Flickr]

The Torch of Learning, located atop the Central Library, site of Wednesday's workshop.

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — Run a Downtown business? Want to let more people in the neighborhood know about your business? If so, you're the target demographic for a Wednesday evening session at the Central Library titled "Using the Internet to Promote Your Business."

Put on by the Historic Downtown LA Retail Project, the event will feature appearances by blogdowntown's Eric Richardson and Ed Fuentes.

The emphasis of the night will be on how Downtown businesses can make a name for themselves in ways other than traditional advertising.

Bert Green will talk about the Downtown Art Walk, and how the event created recognition for galleries on Gallery Row. Charity Tran and Curt Gibbs will discuss the Experience LA site and its cultural calendar. Audrey Madrigal will talk about various business assistance programs available through the Historic Downtown LA Retail Project.

I'll be talking about how businesses can create a relationship with potential clients by engaging in the online conversation taking place about Downtown. More and more often, that discussion is helping to shape the development of our neighborhood. Becoming involved in the discussion as stakeholders is a great way for businesses to create an association with residents.

Following that, I get to moderate a discussion between three individuals involved in very different sorts of blogging. From blogdowntown, we've got Ed Fuentes. Zach Behrens of LAist offers a more city-wide perspective, while Andrew Nystrom of the LA Times comes from a big-media vantage point.

At the end of the session we've got a good-sized chunk of time for the audience to ask questions of any of the panelists or presenters.

The session will take place in the Central Library's Mark Taper Auditorium, running from 5:30pm - 8pm on Wednesday, February 18.