SUCCESS STORY IN MINTO

Town of Minto, Ontario (Harriston & Palmerston)

Minto, Ontario includes the towns of Palmerston and Harriston, each with its own look, feel and downtown core.

WE BEGAN WITH WALKABOUTS

Our small group ‘Walkabouts’ enabled participants to view their streetscapes, public spaces, businesses and cultural assets with fresh eyes. We shared our objective viewpoints as first-time visitors, allowing the group to pinpoint opportunities for effective signage, creative public art, inviting street enhancements and the unique elements that set each town apart to attract visitors!

COMMUNITY PRESENTATION

We also delivered our signature presentations to a full house. Our presentations were filled with visually rich images and relatable examples that could be implemented immediately. With our focus on ‘start with what your have’, both towns were able to run with our actionable suggestions and inexpensive ways to build community.

WHAT HAS HAPPENED SINCE OUR VISIT

Minto has come together to bring their towns to life with the additions of craft markets, new downtown seating and bike racks, creative seasonal displays, street enhancements, pop-up photo booths, programming of public spaces and new events that have brought fresh faces and visitors to town. What’s more, the community has taken ownership of change. The municipality is now playing a supportive role vs always leading the change. The buzz over the new look, feel and excitement in Minto is building on social media, with hashtags: #HarristonRising and #AllAboardPalmerston. Businesses that weren’t active on some social media channels have now seen the niche value and are more active and strategic in content choices.

SUCCESS STORY IN MUSKOKA

Town of Gravenhurst, Ontario

Muskoka Lakes region is a world class summer and tourist destination and home to ‘The Muskoka Wharf’  - a beautiful lakeside community in Gravenhurst, Ontario that features waterfront dining and shops, a Discovery Centre with an impressive display of antique boats and the iconic RMS Segwun Steamship. The Wharf is an iconic 89-acre tourism destination built in 2006 at a cost of $170 million.

WE WERE BROUGHT IN AS KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

We were brought in as keynote speakers, for a highly anticipated, high-energy revitalization and development project Kick-Off Event. Our signature presentations focused on the importance of unique gateway and way-finding signage and examples and themes that would draw visitors to the businesses and events at the Wharf. In addition, we shared dozens of examples of creative public art and placemaking initiatives to layer and fill in the empty spaces and open expanses to connect key landmarks and businesses along a fabulous 2000 foot boardwalk. We presented an array of ‘start right away’ suggestions to build community, to offset the challenges of seasonality and ensure locals and visitors about connected to the happenings at the Wharf all twelve months of the year. The full house at the kick-off event were presented with a doable action plan using creative and effective social media promotions to build excitement and energy, and amplify social word-of-mouth around the stunning natural beauty and unique attractions and events at the Muskoka Wharf.

SUCCESS STORY IN WASHAGO

The Village of Washago, Ontario is a community on the rise! With a small but very enthusiastic group of downtown merchants, the Village has embraced working together to create a streetscape that is inviting and creative in every season. Our presentation focused on capitalizing on their unique geographic location and the natural beauty of two rivers and a lake – all situated in Washago. The addition of an iconic gateway sculpture, featuring upright canoes or kayaks was an ideal theme that got the merchants and tourism stakeholders excited to work towards bringing this type of piece to life. Additional public art suggestions such as paddle-shaped signage, ‘live edge’ planks for public seating or artistic sculptures were also shown, as examples of bringing the feel of cottage life front and centre. Washago was encouraged to go all out with building their strong sense of community and ensuring that every business, park and public space was layered with unique and welcoming elements, colour , creativity and regular events that keep locals and visitors coming to town to be part of the excitement!