Marketing Yourself, Your Business, Your Town

Every holiday is an opportunity to improve your community, your business, and your life.

by Alex Goldman ISP-Planet Managing Editor [July 6, 2006]

On the ISP-Marketing list in June, I asked a question:

So, how local are you? Is anyone on the list engaging in cheap local reputation marketing, being a positive presence in the community, by, say, sponsoring a marching band or handing out hot dogs or discounts on July Fourth? Any other good ideas?

I received one reply, from Terry Conrad, who said he'd met me at ISPCON a few years ago, where he was part of the AASP booth. Conrad is a consultant to ISPs and others, and one of the groups he helps is the American Alliance of Service Providers run by Russ Ferguson.

More interesting to us, in this case, is that Conrad is also part of his city's business association. Conrad lives in Grants Pass, Oregon, a town of over 25,000.

He is part of the Grants Pass Towne Center Association, which is the subject of this article. Everything that this Association does is something any local business can learn from.

The Association is preparing an event later this month, the Back to the 50s event featuring a car show, music, and family entertainment. The Association, founded in 1983 by local businesses, works to improve the town, to improve relations between local businesses and residents, and to bring people to the town.

It's the sort of thing that every local business, including every local ISP, should be doing. So why don't they? "Perhaps they're worried that they'll be wasting their time, that they're not doing the right thing, or they're worried about offending someone," muses Conrad. "But in your community, every little bit helps, and if you building your community and also your business, what's the harm?"

The Towne Center Association does not compete with the local Chamber of Commerce. Instead, Conrad says, the two organizations work together.

The Association has its own icon, a trolley car that helps people get to and from events and, Conrad says, has stepped in occasionally when the town, cutting costs, had to reduce bus service.

It's well known and liked. Conrad says that when he talked to his family about working for the Association, his youngest daughter said, "those are the trolley people!"

Conrad says he's grateful to his God for the support of family and friends.

Events the Association sponsors include:

• Back to the Fifties
• Safe Halloween
• Holiday Tree Lighting
• Spring and Fall Grants Pass Wine Stroll

Here in New York City, where each apartment building can house over 100 homes, each building arranges its own safe Halloween. In Grants Pass, local businesses work with the candy industry to obtain high quality bulk discounted confections, and the local businesses hand out the candy.

Conrad says that the town sets aside an area at the center of town of about six city blocks, and 4,500 to 6,000 children participate (with their parents, of course!) in an environment that is well lit and safe. "Doing this is a win win win situation, everyone helping each other."

For the wine stroll, a part of town is, similarly, blocked off to car traffic. Local vineyards, even the local Safeway all participate. Tickets are sold in advance. A deli or a cheese vendor will participate as well. Even though he himself doesn't drink, Conrad appreciates what the event does for the town. "It becomes a packed event for the downtown, and tickets always sell out."

The Back to the Fifties event in late July pulls in 50,000 to 75,000 people, Conrad says, which we think is quite impressive for a town of 25,000! The Friday Night Car Cruise gets bigger each year, he says, and there are nice cars. Food vendors are restricted so that people patronize local business. No alcohol is served in the street at family events (although people are free to order what they want in a restaurant).

For the holiday tree lighting, the Towne Center Association buys the tree, "I think it was a 28 footer last year," and businesses donate what they have. A business that rents lights will donate lights for the tree, ornaments might be made by the local youth ministry, and Santa arrives either on the trolley or on a local train. There's a live band, Conrad says, and a local dance troupe in elf outfits. "Kids line up for hours to sit on Santa's lap," he says. He says that it's a holiday event and a family event, and no religious group feels excluded.

In October, the city also hosts the Art Along the Rogue festival (Grants Pass is in the Rogue River Valley) featuring local artists, chalk drawings (ranging from professionals flown in for the festival to drawings by local children), and bluegrass music.

Local businesses and the city government, Conrad says, recognize that when art thrives in Grants Pass, the city does well.

This summer, the city is celebrating the 230th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence with statues of bald eagles. Each statue is made of bronze, is about 12 feet high, and has, on a shield, a picture of a significant event in the history of the United States or Oregon. The statues are called An Old Fashioned Celebration of America. So there's something for July Fourth after all.

—End