REEDSPORT — The Reedsport Main Street Program was the recipient of the state’s 2019 “Best Downtown Image Campaign” award during the Oregon Main Street Conference, thanks to its #TuesdaysOnTheTown social media campaign.
The Reedsport Main Street Program was awarded 2019’s Best Downtown Image Campaign for highlighting the stories of downtown Reedsport’s busines…
The Facebook campaign promoted businesses on Main Street by interviewing owners about their lives, the story behind their business and coming to Reedsport, and what being a main street business means to them. The Reedsport Main Street Program compiled the interviews in a narrative format on Facebook with the pilot post reaching 3,900 people with over 1,600 engagements. According to Emily Bradley, with the Reedsport Main Street Program, this made it the most interacted post in the page’s history.
Bradley recalled they were going through the list of categories for the program and came across the entry for a downtown image campaign. She said the category was the one to really jump out as something to go for.
“We were able to show we had the numbers to be award-worthy,” she said, adding that they were nominated for another award, for best economic vitality, but lost to another community’s program.
The hashtag began as a way to get to know the downtown business owners and start forming a familiar bond with them. Bradley said she has other interviews from #TuesdaysOnTheTown ready to go, and plans to conduct more in the near future. With the Reedsport Centennial celebrations wrapping up over the next few months, she hopes to post more soon.
The Oregon Main Street Program stated that it’s incredible what the state’s communities are able to do. A number of other Oregon towns were represented, with several of them winning awards for their own Main Street Program.
“The award winners serve as an inspiration to communities across our Network and reflect some of the highest level of revitalization success,” said Sheri Stuart, state coordinator for Oregon Main Street. “We are so inspired to see how our historic downtowns across Oregon are coming to life through the creativity, passion, and plain hard work of community members.”
Originally published by the Umpqua Post