Officials want to promote tourism, make area a destination spot
By Dave Fidlin
Correspondent
In an effort to promote tourism and engage with residents, Village of Waterford officials are moving forward on a plan to launch a social media platform in the months ahead.
Trustee Andrew Ewert suggested the project, dubbed Waterford as a Destination, at a Village Board meeting Monday.
“It’s another way of engaging with the citizens,” Ewert said. “I think it would be very beneficial if we engage with the public in this fashion. This is where it’s going.”
Village President Jim Schneider said he recently began exploring how social media works, noting he joined Facebook in December.
“It’s like a whole new world,” Schneider said as he has begun interacting with people on the popular site.
Trustee Jerry Filut pointed out other municipalities have ramped up social media efforts in recent years. Many of surrounding communities, for instance, have a Facebook page. Some, including the City of Burlington, have department-specific pages.
“Maybe it’s time we get into the 21st Century,” Filut said.
While the theory behind Waterford as a Destination was overwhelmingly supported during this week’s discussion, concerns over the logistics were raised.
“I think it’s a great idea, but my concern is staff time,” Trustee Don Houston said.
Houston questioned if someone on staff was going to have to respond to residents’ questions on the platform throughout the day and how much time such an effort would consume.
Since Waterford as a Destination would be a sanctioned municipal site, Village Administrator Rebecca Ewald said protocol would have to be set on how it is overseen. She suggested rolling it into the village’s larger communications plan.
Ewert said he was amenable to planting the seed in the Waterford as a Destination platform, which will likely be a page on Facebook.
“I have no problem creating it and handing it off,” Ewert said. “I’ll give advice, but I don’t want to step on any toes.”
Barb Messick, the village’s administrative analyst, will likely be the staff liaison ultimately in charge of Waterford as a Destination. Messick handles many of the village’s other communications efforts, including the routine updates to the municipal website.
“Facebook is a great tool to send more people to the village’s website,” Messick said. “I don’t think Facebook would be a huge time constraint, once it’s set up.”
While much of this week’s discussion concentrated on resident engagement, Ewert said Waterford as a Destination, by virtue of its name, could also have a tourism component.
“It’s all about how you manage it and market it,” Ewert said. “If you want to talk about making Waterford a destination, you have the tools available.”
In addition to touting the village’s natural amenities, including the Fox River, the platform could shine an additional spotlight on the various special events held in the community throughout the year.
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