Visit Greater Grand Forks earns North Dakota Tourism’s Telegraph Award

GRAND FORKS — A low-cost initiative that has gotten massive leads to serving to promote Grand Forks occasions and actions has caught the eye of a whole bunch of hundreds of viewers, in addition to the state Division of Tourism and Advertising and marketing.

Go to Better Grand Forks on Wednesday obtained the statewide Telegraph Award for Advertising and marketing Know-how throughout a recognition and awards luncheon on the Alerus Middle. The award — given to the native entity for its “5 in 5” marketing campaign — was introduced by North Dakota Division of Commerce Tourism and Advertising and marketing Director Sara Otte Coleman and Vacation spot Advertising and marketing Affiliation of North Dakota President Julie Obrigewitsch. It got here on the fruits of the annual North Dakota Journey Trade Convention.

“It’s wonderful,” stated Julie Rygg, government director of Go to Better Grand Forks. “This can be a low-cost initiative and now we’ve got nicely over 300,000 video views. Now, individuals are contacting us and asking ‘hey, have you considered interviewing this particular person?’ Or they’re saying ‘I wish to be interviewed.’”

“5 in 5” started in late 2019 as a approach to shortly, simply and cheaply push out movies for social media consumption. Rygg, who accepted the award on stage together with a crew of collaborators, stated the intent of the video collection was to be “quick and candy” and to work alongside her group’s “Merely Grand” marketing campaign, which has been in place since 2002.

The “5 in 5” initiative is meant to “actually spotlight the merely grand issues happening locally,” she stated.

Typically, that has included interviewing occasion organizers, enterprise house owners, the mayors of Grand Forks and East Grand Forks, group administrators and so forth.

The concept is to advertise “something that’s about one thing {that a} customer and residents are inquisitive about,” Rygg stated. “We do focus lots on occasions — they are surely our sights.”

The Telegraph Award, in accordance with the Division of Commerce, is given to a “tourism particular person or entity with inventive use of social media platforms, web sites, functions or data-driven client advertising that has resulted in elevated consciousness, picture and visitation.”

With 54 whole movies to date and upwards of 340,000 Fb views, “5 in 5” clearly has checked most, if not all, of these packing containers.

“The price is low and the outcomes are excessive and that, in fact — as entrepreneurs with low budgets in a number of circumstances — is what we’re on the lookout for,” Otte Coleman stated as she introduced the award. “Our winner has already gained success past expectations and the curiosity continues to develop.”

Rygg, whereas accepting the award, pushed reward towards her employees, saying “I’m so lucky to work with such a terrific crew of individuals.”

Different awards introduced throughout Wednesday’s luncheon included:

• Sakakawea Award for a Behind-the-Scenes Tourism Worker: Joel Walters, Dickinson Conference and Guests Bureau.
• Heritage Award for a Entrance-line Tourism Worker: Al Michels, Scenic Theater, Lisbon.
• Flint Firestarter Award for a Tourism Growth Venture: Broadway Sq., downtown Fargo.
• Trailblazer Award for Tourism Innovation: North Dakota Native Tourism Alliance.
• The Wade Westin Award for Advertising and marketing: North Dakota Nation Fest, New Salem.
• Legend Award for Journey & Tourism Trade Management: Charley Johnson, Fargo-Moorhead CVB.