Promoting Your Park
Maintaining Your Park
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YOU BUILT IT; WILL THEY COME?
Promoting Your Park Project
Whether your new project is meant for residents, or if it’s part of a strategy to draw visitors to your community, people need to know about it and how to find it!
In some cases, a project might be years in development and residents are eager to start using it. In this case, having a newsletter email list of those already interested and engaged can help you promote and generate excitement for your project.
Post updates on your website or on social media as your plans progress. If it fits in your budget, plan a public event when your project is complete and ready to use! This might also be an opportunity to highlight the project, and your community, in a local newspaper.
Events are a terrific way to bring an engaged group out to a park, whether it’s a festival or trade fair, or an exploration event co-hosted with another organization. For example, if you have added amenities to your conservation area for cross country skiers and winter hikers, hosting an event with your Nordic ski club is a great way to get the word out. They can bring out their members and having a festive element might bring out some newbies to the sport as well.
Finding Your Way
If your project benefits from visitor traffic or is intended as an attraction to bring in travelers, an essential part of the planning will be wayfinding signs and online information to guide users.
While your website and online maps are useful tools for someone searching for something specific, there is a user group that you might miss: the accidental visitor. In this case, ensure that your community’s visitor centre has updated information on the location, parking, any user fees, and why the park project should be a point of interest on a traveler’s journey through the region.
Additionally, implementing good road signs to direct street and highway traffic to a new publicly accessible park or conservation area benefits both residents and travelers.
Finally, for those seeking things to do in your community, creating a map location on Google and Apple maps can help. When you create the entry, make sure that you include images of the park, a description of activities, parking and accessibility information, and nearby amenities that travelers and residents can also enjoy.
Once they have found the right spot, your wayfinding signs can pick up the rest! Use information signs at parking spots to provide information about the park or trail network, and ensure that trailhead signs are clear and easy to spot from common access points. Your users will thank you for the guidance!
Learning As You Go
There are several benefits to investing in an interpretive or information centre for your park, and a few expenses to consider, too. Setting up an information centre does not need to be an expensive undertaking. Look for opportunities in the community to integrate an interpretive centre, signage, or an information hub into an existing building.
For a conservation area, an interpretive centre can be an important focus point for education efforts, providing spaces for schools to offer outdoor programs, and also handy ways to provide amenities to park visitors.
Interpretive centres don’t require staff, though having someone available to answer questions and provide a welcome presence for visitors can be a good seasonal investment. In lieu of daily staff, interpretive signage with QR codes that link to relevant and current information is a good alternative.
If you don’t have the resources or need to have a centre for information in your park or conservation area, is there an opportunity to have a program coordinator who can take the education out to the public?
Depending on your needs, having staff that interact with visitors touring the park, trails, or conservation areas can enhance the experience. Having someone out in the park who is available to answer questions has the added benefit of someone who can report problems in the park to maintenance staff, and to naturally discourage undesired uses within the park.
Wakamow Valley Authority manages a diverse conservation area through the Moose Jaw River Valley, a region with a great deal of history. The archeological history, the area’s development history, and information about the area’s native species are housed in a staffed office in the park. The information centre introduces the park, and the friendly staff can answer any visitor questions. The office is located in an events centre that is also available for private bookings. By using some of the administrative office space for park information, staff can help welcome visitors to the area and teach them about the rich history of this conservation area.
CHECKLIST ITEM
Develop a strategy for promoting your new project to both existing and engaged users, and to new visitors. Ensure users can access the information they need both online and in person to enjoy their visit!
Pavillion and Arena, Wakamow Valley, Moose Jaw