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Create Your Own Adventures With New Interactive Videos

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
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Reality Superstars Visit Washington County, Oregon, for a Two-Day Celebrity Benefit and Golf Tournament

September 1st, 2009 by Sylke Neal-Finnegan

Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club, located in North Plains, Ore., has hosted various tournaments, including professional, amateur and charity games.

Washington County, Oregon, will be in the spotlight September 13-14, as stars from various cable television reality series join the Roloff Family, stars of the TLC series “Little People Big World,” for the Amy Roloff Charity Foundation’s first ever charity golf benefit and tournament.

Along with the Roloff family, special celebrity guests* scheduled to attend include:

• Crew from “Time Bandit” from the Discovery Channel’s series Deadliest Catch
• Cast of TLC’s “Orange County Choppers”
• JM Browning and other stars from the History Channel’s series “Ax Men”
• Alex Eusebio, a contestant from season five of “Top Chef,” which airs on Bravo
• AC Green, three-time National Basketball Association (NBA) champion
• Michael Harper, former NBA player and Portland Trailblazer

*Celebrity appearances are subject to change

The event launches with a “tee-off” dinner and auction at Roloff Farms, followed by a golf scramble and dinner the following day at Pumpkin Ridge’s Ghost Creek golf course. All proceeds will benefit the Dwarf Athletic Association of America (DAAA) and local organization Bridge Meadows.

The Roloff Family owns and operates the Roloff Family Farm, located in Helvetia, Ore. The series, “Little People, Big World” debuted March 2006 on Discovery Network’s TLC, and the fifth season is scheduled to premiere this fall. The farm, which has gained national attention since the reality series started airing, is open to the public each October for its annual pumpkin patch and harvest festivities.

For additional information about the Amy Roloff Charity Foundation’s charity golf benefit, visit www.amyroloffcharityfoundation.org.

Tags: Golf, Helvetia, North Plains, Pumpkin Ridge, Roloff Farms, washington county
Posted in Events, Golf | No Comments »