Do you ever wonder what other cities do as promotions? One town in a nearby state that I was in left stacks of Scavenger Hunt Maps in stores, shops, gas stations, restaurants, diners, all three of their libraries, bars, taverns, drug stores at the registers and at the pharmacy counter. They were everywhere. Nine very simple Harry Potter-esque drawings. On a checked background.
The directions were simple. Figure out the clues on the game board and travel to each one. At each station there will be something to do or eat or take. It was most important to collect a stamp at each one and be entered into a drawing for some special prizes. Nope they didn’t list them.
The Grand prize was a pizza a month for a year at a local pizzeria.
On the weekend I visited on Friday night there was a young children’s story teller at the old fire station.
High school students interested in careers in early child education were on hand with additional activities.
Adults were welcome at other various sites for tours and short programs. In front of a colonial era home you were invited to join the chorus of singers. The mixed chorus of singers from middle school thru members of the senior center regularly present a variety of music at different local events. Non-singers served spiced cider.
Learn a trick or two about decorating a cookie? Play the marimbas? How about making a card for someone special? Do you have an interest in making a toy? How can you change a box package of mac & cheese into something spectacular? How will you carry all this stuff around? Stamp your own bag! You could even learn how to make your own logo stamp. So that the business people could meet and have discussions and problem solving sessions they also had short sessions in how to make logo stamps for business promotion during the year. They have also worked together to make pies to bake and drink coffee. Some had to learn how to work with their competition. It is a process.
At 5:30 and 6:30 there were fire spinners in one of the smaller parking lots. The lot can be difficult for cars to maneuver in at the best of times so the organizers like to use it as a stage. Yes, indeed, this town uses this event formula multiple times during the year.
The area is never really empty between stage acts as there are wandering magicians, and jugglers that appear from the crowd for longer acts of entertainment.
The local high school vocal ensemble performs in a variety of places during the evening. Did I mention the costumes? The town is close to the ocean so of course there is at least one group singing sea chanties. In one of the public parks local engineering students create a “machine” that humans must be a part of. Participants are each given a job of push, pull, lift, drop, pass and so forth. When there are enough participants doing their job properly the machine works well but when there is a even just one piece (person) missing . . . well there may be chaos or a mess that someone must clean up.
It is all great fun! The professor who teaches this design class to his entry-level engineers and to his graduate students said that the “engineering students understand the mechanics of why machines work but this reinforces how machines work.”
Most of the activities are located within walking distance but some were located further out and required personal transportation by car or bike. Why can’t Norwich, CT do something as inventive? Find a way to get people out to explore the nooks and crannies of the entire city?
All it would take is a central promotion of the various activities that take place across the city on the same day at the same time. Greeneville and Taftville have both been strong demonstrators of community activities and frequently have events at the same time and day. Instead of competing what if they promoted together and encouraged their supporters to participate in both events during the day? By working together they could become a destination to more supporters. If other parts of the city joined in the promotion the destination increases and so does the attraction of the city and its events and shops. The more limited the promotion of the event the smaller the number of participants.
It is also important to note that advertising is not the same as promotion. Support your local newspapers by writing short articles about the event. About the meetings that are held to work and plan always, always, always including the date, time and place of the events.
Talk about the events on radio, pod casts, social media. Don’t limit yourself to just one person. Have well informed team members help. Together we can make Norwich, CT the popular destination we want it to be.
Thank you for reading and sharing my history and Norwich Community blog freely with your family or friends or anyone you think might be interested or in a position to take on some of the suggested projects. Don’t hesitate to contact me for further information. I am happy to pass along anything I can. Together we can make a difference. Email comments on this blog to berylfishbone@yahoo.com View my past columns at http://www.norwichbulletin.com/section/blogs .