ARDA hires ‘Nish Correspondent and uses social media to market Antigonish

ARDA has hired a ‘Nish Correspondent for the summer as part of a social media project to help market Antigonish.

Dan Hindmarsh, a fourth year student at St. Francis Xavier University, will be taking in a much as possible from now until the end of August capturing footage for videos that will be posted online.

Hindmarsh will be creating short videos what will be used on a new Antigonish web site, YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter. The videos will focus on Antigonish’s anchor events such as the Highland Games, Evolve, and the IWK 250 at Riverside International Speedway as well as its beaches, hiking trails, restaurants, businesses, etc.

“It’s my first summer in Antigonish so I’m seeing and experiencing things for the first time,” says Hindmarsh. “I took in as much as possible during Highland Games week and at the IWK 250 and had so much fun. There is so much to do here in the summer.”

Nova Scotia tourism is based around six core experiences: seacoast, outdoor, culture, cuisine, heritage, and urban. These experiences represent Nova Scotia, as well as Antigonish, and all of its uniqueness and strengths. Each video will be centered on either a particular event or one of these core experiences.

“Since it’s my first summer in Antigonish we thought it would be cool to make a kind of travel diary,” says Hindmarsh. “With each video there will also be a blog detailing my experience and the people I met a long the way. I’ve only been at this a couple of weeks but I’ve had some incredible experiences already.”

“The way people research, plan, and take their trips/vacations had changed,” says ARDA’s Executive Director Gerry Grant. “Everything is done online and people want to experience something new. Antigonish does not have a strong web presence in regards to tourism. The goal of this project is to use the internet and in particular social media to promote our area.”

This is an opportunity for Antigonish to be a leader in utilizing social media to promote the area and what is has to offer. Social media is instant, current, cost effective, and easy to manage; tourism destinations and operators can not ignore its popularity.

“There are two phases to this project,” says Grant. “The first was to hire our ‘Nish Correspondent and spend the summer collecting footage, interviews, etc. The next step will be to develop a new website and launch it early next year. The website will provide people who Google Antgionish with videos, a blog, maps, and links to a Facebook and Twitter account to increase their awareness of Antigonish.”

Join the Facebook group, Dan in the ‘Nish, and follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/Dan_in_the_Nish for regular updates. Also, make sure you keep an eye out for him this summer. You never know where he might be!