March 23rd, 2010 by Sylke Neal-Finnegan
Video Series is First of its Kind to be Used to Promote Tourism
With an innovative, bold new Web video campaign, Washington County, Oregon, is now allowing visitors to create their own vacation adventures with an unprecedented series of videos on the popular video sharing website YouTube.
These “Create Your Adventure” videos allow viewers to discover the many gems of Washington County. Adventurers are given the choice of three tracks, which viewers can tailor to their own interests. Each series ends with a scenic drive along the Vineyard & Valley Scenic Tour Route, which highlights Washington County’s rolling backcountry roads, farm stands and wineries.
Golf is one of several relaxing pursuits on the Create Your Adventure journey.
Each track offers nine adventures, with a total of 27 possible vacation itineraries:
- Relax: highlighting attractions such as shopping, golf, hiking, a day at the spa, and a night out on the town, among other activities
- Escape: highlighting pursuits such as disc golf, hot air balloon rides, a visit to a farmers’ market and saké tasting, among other activities
- Explore: highlighting outdoorsy attractions, such as bird watching, hiking, biking and kayaking, among other activities
“Washington County truly is a hidden gem,” said Ruthie Reinert, president and CEO of the Washington County Visitors Association (WCVA). “As a destination marketing organization, we saw a need to create a tool that provided a sample of all the ways a visitor can have an authentic travel experience in Washington County.”
Birding is one of the adventures explorers can choose
The videos were modeled after the popular “Choose Your Own Adventure” books, which were popular among school-aged children in the 1980s and ‘90s, and allowed readers to choose what happened next in the story.
“Destinations typically tell you what to do and where to go,” said Martin Stoll, CEO of Portland-based GoSeeTell Network, the production company behind the interactive “Create Your Adventure” videos. “Washington County is letting its visitors choose their own destiny. Visitors drive the story and decide where they’ll go and what they’ll do. It’s an exciting breakthrough in the often pre-packaged tourism marketing industry.”
The interactive video project, which was a joint partnership between the WCVA and the GoSeeTell Network, is the first of its kind in the tourism industry. It uses a YouTube technology, which links multiple video clips with an interactivity button that causes the next video to play. This is the first time this Web video technology is being used for tourism.
Tags: Biking, birding, Create your own Adventure, cycling, escape, explore, Golf, hiking, Interactive videos, kayaking, Nature, Oregon, outdoor, relax, sake, sport, videos, vineyard and valley, washington county, washington county oregon, wine tasting, YouTube
Posted in WCVA News | No Comments »
June 16th, 2009 by Sunyi
The results are in! The Washington County Visitors Association proudly announces the results of the inaugural photography contest. It was a difficult decision, as the WCVA staff reviewed submissions based on the following criteria:
- Originality
- Technical Excellence
- Composition
- Overall Impact
- Artistic Merit
- Relevance to Tourism
Thanks to all those who submited photos to our contest. And keep an eye out…you may just see one of YOUR Washington County photos in an advertisement or in our next Visitors Guide.
And the winners are (drum roll, please):
Grand prize: Swallow Squabble
Grand Prize Winner ($1,000) by ‘bescoles’, Barbara Scoles
Second Prize (x2): Henry Hagg Lake, Winter Sunrise
Second Prize ($500) by ‘moontan2008’, Bob Streicher
Second Prize: Springhill Rd, Harvest, Gaston
Second Prize ($500) by ‘mlaphoto’, Mary Lane Anderson
Third Prize (x4): Red Carpet
Third Prize ($250) by ‘Bobshots’, Larry Andreasen
Third Prize: Train Bridge
Third Prize ($250) by ‘kevinpastores’, Kevin Pastores
Third Prize: Jenkins-Estate, Cooper Mtn.
Third Prize ($250) by ‘yankeecam’, Bob Wayt
Third Prize: Scotch Church
Third Prize - ($250) 'scott.mcdonald1962', Scott McDonald
Tags: birding, Jenkins-Estate, Scotch Church, tourism, Tualatin, washington county oregon, WCVA
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April 28th, 2009 by Julia Adam
Original art by Andy Everson produced for International Migratory Bird Day
Get ready to celebrate International Migratory Bird Day! On Saturday, May 16th, the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge will host its Migratory Songbird Festival for its 13th year. The full slate of events commences with early morning bird walks at 6:30am and 8:30am, each of which will last approximately 2 hours and cover 2 miles; meet at the Wildlife Center for these complimentary perambulations. If you would rather sleep in on your Saturday morning, then you can choose to arrive for the Guided Nature Walks at 10:30am, 12pm, 12:30pm or 1pm; these walks will also begin from the Wildlife Center and will last one hour. Live music, presentations, arts, crafts and photography exhibits, and a native plant sale will round out the schedule. Continuous activities will run from 10am to 2:30pm. Parking will be available at Home Depot, with a free shuttle running from 9:45am to 3pm.
Tags: activities, art, birding, birds, Events, festivals, guided walks, music, photography, songbird festival
Posted in Arts & Culture, Events, Family Fun, Nature, Seasonal Fun | No Comments »
April 15th, 2009 by Julia Adam
The Tweet of Dweams is Jackson Bottom Wetlands Preserve’s annual birdhouse building contest and fundraising auction. The auction will be held on Saturday, May 2 at the Preserve beginning at 6:30pm. If you have an item to donate or would like to reserve a ticket ($35.00 pp), please contact Karen Newton via email at karenn@ci.hillsboro.or.us. All proceeds support activities for children, families, individuals, and wildlife habitat improvements.
2008 Grand Prize Winner; photo by Jason Kinch Photographic
Tags: Arts & Culture, birding, Events, fundraiser, Hillsboro, Jackson Bottom, Tweet of Dweams
Posted in Arts & Culture, Events, Seasonal Fun | No Comments »