I wouldn’t expect this post to take too long to write. After all, the year itself passed in the blink of an eye. Unless you watched a lot of election coverage, then it seemed interminable.
The year started with our team being very busy with client work and ending the same way, for which we are very appreciative. Early in the year at a fun event in the movie theater of The Omni Homestead in Hot Springs, we helped unveil an awesome tourism video for Bath County. That evening we offered a sneak peek at the video to all the local folks who are in it or allowed us to film on their property. Since then it has been viewed more than 35,000 times on social media with 559 shares on Facebook alone. Would you consider that going viral? How about if I told you the entire county has less than 5000 residents. The video was part of a body of marketing work that won a prestigious Shining Example Award from Southeast Tourism Society.
As Spring rolled around, we launched projects for two brand new clients. We developed a new Visitor Guide for Harrisonburg and a new website for Staunton, two super cool towns in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.
If there was a theme to 2016, it had to be regional tourism initiatives. We created and launched a cool new website promoting freshwater fishing in Virginia. The Fish Virginia First program is made up of approximately 20 cities or counties. The group’s leadership team told us to make a website that not only speaks to the interests of anglers but also makes it very simple for them to connect with local tourism websites so they can book a visit. Done.
Next came a branding project for the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. This project gave us the opportunity to spend significant time exploring the region, learning its geography and history and most certainly sampling its restaurants. A case study will be coming soon.
As the year comes to a close we are in the final stages of developing a website for the Virginia Creeper Trail in Abingdon and some new marketing materials for the Upper James River Water Trail in Botetourt and Rockbridge counties. Launching these websites will be a great way to kick off 2017. In our humble opinion, The Virginia Creeper Trail and the Upper James River Water Trail are two of the finest outdoor recreation attractions in Virginia.
