2013 WIMRPC 75th Anniversary Promotion Overview

The 75th Anniversary of the Wisconsin Mississippi River Parkway Commission (WiMRPC) has been a

great opportunity to promote the Wisconsin Great River Road (WiGRR). From creating a 75th anniversary

logo and our Facebook & Website presence to events and proclamations along the entire length of the

Wisconsin Great River Road, the WiMRPC Promotion Committee identified opportunities to let the public

know about the great travel experiences available to them throughout 2013. We have seen an increase

in the number of our visitors which should continue through 2014.

State of Wisconsin Recognition

Governor Scott Walker issued a proclamation recognizing the 75th anniversary of the WiGRR with the

assistance of State Senator Kathleen Vinehout; she also included the event in her January eNewsletter. WiMRPC County Commissioners presented framed proclamations to 33 river town communities, 8 river counties and 8 WiGRR interpretive centers. The Governor’s proclamation was officially presented to WiMRPC in Madison at the State Capitol on June 5

th during WiMRPC’s week in the Capitol rotunda.

The week of June 1

st WiMRPC had a display in the Wisconsin State Capitol Rotunda where 1000s of

visitors tour during the summer. With the success of this event WiMRPC is making plans to have an annual exhibit and distribution of our Visitor Guide each year. State Representative Lee Nerison and his office assisted greatly with the coordination of this display. The Wisconsin Department of Transportation & Scenic Byway Office produced posters for the event.

National Recognition US Representative Ron Kind of Wisconsin placed remarks in record in the US House of Representatives celebrating the 75th anniversary of the WIGRR.

Sites Along The Road WiMRPC identified iconic sites along the Wisconsin Great River Road and various promotion opportunities were taken to promote these sites, their history and their current availability. The list included the Cassville Car Ferry, tourist parks, drive in restaurants, fishing floats and the GRR Interpretive Centers in Wisconsin.

75th

Anniversary Events

WiMRPC requested that Wisconsin’s GRR Interpretive Centers sponsor an event this summer in

recognition of the 75th anniversary. Participating were Stonefield Historic Site (Cassville), Villa Louis

(Prairie du Chien), Fort Crawford Museum (Prairie du Chien) and the GRR Visitor & Learning Center

(Prescott). Stonefield will continue the Great River Road Festival, scheduled for September 20th in 2014

as part of the new annual Drive The Great River Road Month in September.

We also had support from the local communities who sponsored a total of 18 events with the premier

event being Prescott Daze in Prescott who adopted our 75th anniversary as the theme for the entire 3-day

annual celebration. The national office of the Mississippi River Parkway Commission declared

September as Drive The Great River Road Month and will continue this event through the coming

years.

These events were not organized by WiMRPC but we provided promotion through press releases and

social media as well as the availability of 75th anniversary signage at the scheduled event. At several

events we had booth space and used the GRR Tent where we distributed 1000s of our new WiGRR

Visitor Guides, maps and other promotional materials. The Promotion Committee is planning to

participate again in local community events to continue building and to identify the WiGRR within our 33

river town communities and their visitors. We will continue to have access to the GRR Tent for these

events.

Web-Based & Printed Materials

Much of our outreach today is through social media and the internet. Our Facebook page was used as a

promotion site for the 75th anniversary and the WiGRR webpage introduced our 75

th anniversary.

A single page WiGRR 75th Anniversary flier was developed to promote our anniversary and list local

events throughout the year for distribution at trade shows and visitor centers. We also asked that printing

by local organizations utilizing the WiGRR logo use the 75th anniversary WIGRR logo in 2013.

A WIGRR rack card was developed to promote our anniversary and provide our travelers with a handy

travel map of Wisconsin’s 250-mile section of the Great River Road. 10,000 rack cards were printed and

distributed.

Quarterly eNewsletters were distributed to our electronic visitors who signed up to receive our

eNewsletter. Through this outlet we started and continued the conversation about the 75th anniversary

throughout 2013. Each eNewsletter had a section on the 75th anniversary.

Media Opportunities (Earned & Paid)

Working closely with the Wisconsin Department of Tourism, a paid media campaign was developed for

2013 that promoted the Wisconsin Great River Road and the 75th anniversary throughout the Midwest.

The primary advertising piece for 2012 was utilized again in 2013 with a 75th anniversary update. This

piece will be the cover for the 2014 WiGRR Visitor Guide.

Earned media opportunities are available through partnerships with local & regional organizations. For

example, the Wisconsin Department of Tourism included the WIGRR 75th anniversary in their annual

“What’s New: 13 in 2013” and the Pioneer Press produced their regional spring and fall Go Guides with

major articles on the Wisconsin Great River Road and our 75th anniversary. Numerous stories have

been written in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois about the Wisconsin Great River Road this year

and promotion of the 75th anniversary proved to be a great theme. WiMRPC was interviewed twice on

Wisconsin Public Radio and there have been various television spots about our events and activities.

Visitor Guide

A 24-page Visitor Guide was developed for the Wisconsin Great River Road for 2013 with a full page

devoted to each county – 50% content and 50% local advertising. Through local community business

purchases of advertising the printing of the WiGRR Visitor Guide was covered 100% without any major

sponsors. Design, development & distribution were the responsibility of WiMRPC and most of these

costs were covered through volunteer efforts and our working relationship with the Pioneer Press.

50,000 copies of the WiGRR Visitor Guide were printed, 94% have been distributed with a few months

remaining in 2013. The Visitor Guide is full color on glossy paper, size 8 ½ x 11. Distribution was

through major visitor centers coming into Wisconsin as well as local and regional visitor centers. Local

business “hot spots” also provided a great distribution point. It is intended that the 2013 Visitor Guide

supply will be distributed in 2013 but the Guides are generic enough they can be used into 2014 at trade

shows if there is a remaining supply.

With the success of the 2013 WiGRR Visitor Guide, WiMRPC is currently developing the 2014 WiGRR

Visitor Guide. It will increase in size to 40 pages and 50,000 copies will be printed and distributed

through trade shows, visitor centers and community businesses. County-specific content will be

increased from ½ page to a full page with the increased size of the Visitor Guide.

The development of two Visitors Guides (2013 & 2014) in a 12-month period has been a major

commitment by the WiMRPC Promotion Committee.

Familiarization Tours

From September 16th through the 19th the WiGRR Press Tour traveled the Wisconsin Great River Road

under the sponsorship of Wisconsin Tourism and WiMRPC. This required a financial commitment and

participation by 6 host river towns for lodging and meals. The purpose was to introduce and familiarize

25 travel journalists to tourism opportunities specifically along the Mississippi River and the Wisconsin

Great River Road. Promotion of the 75th anniversary reinforced the longevity of the Road and its

historical significance. Several of these journalists have already published articles and tourists have

already come to our area as a result of these articles. We will continue to see articles over the next 18

months from sponsorship of this press tour.

Additionally Wisconsin Tourism has brought several others groups to our area to familiarize them with the

Wisconsin Great River Road. We even had an international group from Japan.

WiMRPC 75th Anniversary Event Schedule

DATE

MAY 17th—18th

MAY 28th—JUNE 3rd

JUNE 1st—6th

JUNE 5th

JUNE 8th

JUNE 15th

JUNE 22nd

JUNE 22nd

JUNE 30th

JULY 20th

AUGUST 10th

AUGUST 21st

SEPTEMBER

COMMUNITY

Stoddard to Seneca

Fountain City to Prescott

Rotunda Display, State Capitol

Madison, Wisconsin

Governor’s Office, State Capitol

Madison, Wisconsin

Alma Historical Society

Alma, Wisconsin

Stonefield Historic Site,

GRR Interpretive Center

Cassville, Wisconsin

Phoenix Park, Downtown

Eau Claire, Wisconsin

Riverside Park

La Crosse, Wisconsin

Fort Crawford Museum,

GRR Interpretive Center

Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin

Stockholm, Wisconsin

Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin

St Feriole Island

National Fish Hatchery, new

GRR Interpretive Center site

Genoa, Wisconsin

Entire Great River Road System

EVENT

70 MILE RUMMAGE ALONG THE RIVER

Community Garage Sales — Ribbon Cutting & Grand Kickoff

100 MILE GARAGE SALE

Community Garage Sales, Wisconsin & Minnesota communities

WISCONSIN MISSISSIPPI RIVER PARKWAY PUBLIC DISPLAY

Public Display & Information Distribution

WISCONSIN MISSISSIPPI RIVER PARKWAY PRESS CONFERENCE

Announcing Wisconsin’s 75th Anniversary Proclamation By Governor Scott Walker

WISCONSIN STATE HIGHWAY 35, “Main Street USA”

Impact On A National Historic District, Alma, Wisconsin

Sponsored by Alma Historical Society

GREAT RIVER ROAD FESTIVAL at Stonefield Historic Site

Sponsored by Wisconsin State Historical Society

GREAT RACE Lunch Stop, 1pm-3:30pm

WiGRR Booth Distributing Information to the Public

GREAT RACE Overnight Stop, 5:15pm-8:00pm

WiGRR Booth Distributing Information to the Public

BITS & PIECES

History of Prohibition, Bootlegging, Rum Running & Moonshine Stills

Keystone Barbershop Quartet Presenting “Music of the Upper Mississippi River”

STOCKHOLM ART FAIR

WiGRR Booth Distributing Information to the Public

GREAT RIVER ROAD DAY

Co-sponsored by Villa St Louis (GRR Interpretive Center) & Prairie du Chien Parks &

Recreation

GROUNDBREAKING & DEDICATION

New Great River Road Interpretive Center at the Genoa National Fish Hatchery

Sponsored by US Fish & Wildlife

NATIONAL DRIVE THE GREAT RIVER ROAD PROMOTION

Sponsored by the National Office of the Mississippi River Parkway Commission

DATE

SEPTEMBER 6th-8th

SEPTEMBER 8th

SEPTEMBER 20th-22nd

OCTOBER 2nd

OCTOBER 22nd

OCTOBER 26th

NOVEMBER 10th

MAY 2014

COMMUNITY

Main Street

Prescott, Wisconsin

WiGRR Visitor & Learning

Center

Prescott, Wisconsin

Alma, Wisconsin and

Blank Hill, Waumandee,

Wisconsin

Ferryville, Wisconsin

Trempealeau, Wisconsin

Nelson, Wisconsin

Platteville, Wisconsin

Trempealeau, Wisconsin

Wisconsin State Historical

Marker

EVENT

PRESCOTT DAZE, Celebrating the 75th Anniversary of the Wisconsin Great River

Road

Sponsored by City of Prescott, Northern Gateway to the Wisconsin Great River Road

BIRTHDAY PARTY & CAKE, Celebrating the 75th Anniversary of the Wisconsin Great

River Road

Sponsored by GRR Visitor & Learning Center

WAUMANDEE HILL CLIMB

Alma to Waumandee event with time trials up Blank Hill, Vintage Vehicles 1983

Sponsored by Minnesota Austin-Healey Club

DEDICATION OF GOV PATRICK LUCEY HIGHWAY (WI 35, GREAT RIVER ROAD)

Ferryville to Prairie du Chien, honoring Gov Lucey for his service to the State of Wisconsin

WALK WITH WALKER With First Lady Tonette Walker

Perrot State Park and Trempealeau

Sponsored by the Walk With Walker Events

MISSISSIPPI BRIDGES: Nelson WI to Wabasha MN

Commemorate ferry, dike road & multiple bridges crossing the Mississippi in Buffalo County

at Nelson, WI

Sponsored by Buffalo County Historical Society

DRIFTLESS FILM FESTIVAL

Showing of Down By The River: Wisconsin’s Great River Road produced by Discover

Wisconsin

Sponsored by Driftless Film Festival

1st PROJECT OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER PARKWAY, TREMPEALEAU

Luncheon & Rededication Ceremony Of The Wisconsin State Historical Marker:

Mississippi River Parkway, First Project. Event will honor those who worked on behalf of

the Parkway in the past and looking forward toward the future.

Sponsored by Wisconsin Mississippi River Parkway Commission