Putting Whitefish, Montana on the Global Map
| May 8, 2008 |  View for printing |
For city dwellers in need of a break from frenetic urban life, Montana seems like a grandiose getaway. Perhaps they’ve seen the movie “A River Runs Through It” or are familiar with John Steinback’s “Travels With Charley.”
But the question is: How many of these people can actually point to Montana on a map?
Jan Metzmaker says a startling amount can’t, as she has found out during her stint as director of the Whitefish Convention and Visitors Bureau. Her mission is to make sure more people can at least point to Whitefish, raising another question: How do you market a city?
“Someone in Chicago doesn’t just wake up and say I’m going to Whitefish today,” Metzmaker said. “Somewhere you have to plant that seed.”
Metzmaker and Lisa Jones, who operates the public relations arm of the WCVB, are planting seeds all across the nation, using a persistent marketing approach and revamped Web site at http://www.whitefishvisit.com. Through their efforts, feature articles about Whitefish and WCVB’s members have appeared in a wide range of publications, including the New York Times, National Geographic Adventure and dozens of others.
This year, with a $300,000 operating budget, the WCVB is poised for its biggest year yet. Public relations people for Oprah Winfrey, after reading a story about Whitefish in Women’s Health magazine, contacted Jones on Friday about featuring the little Northwest Montana town on an Oprah show.
“Publicity breeds publicity is very true,” Jones said.
Full Story: http://www.flatheadbeacon.com/articl ... e_map/3396/
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