By Eric Trent
Entering as a wildcard, in Outside Magazine’s “Best Town 2015” online competition, Port Angeles took down five competitors before finally falling to a giant, Chattanooga, Tennessee in the championship round.
Starting with 64 teams in an NCAA March Madness style bracket, participants voted on their favorite towns, finally narrowing it down to two towns, with Chattanooga ousting Port Angeles to take home the honors.
Placing second in this competition was no small feat, as Port Angeles, with a population of 19,000, routinely faced larger cities in the competition, including Chattanooga, whose population is 170,000.
“I think Port Angeles will benefit because they’re in a great group of wonderful cities all around the United States,” Olympic Peninsula Visitor’s Bureau Executive Director, Marsha Massey, said. “So they’re visible by virtue of who they’re with. It really shines a light on the whole area.”
This is a really important audience because the readers of Outside Magazine tend to skew young, they tend to skew towards being athletic and outdoors-oriented, so they like what we have to offer,” Massey added.
Falling short of winning, Port Angeles and the Olympic Peninsula should still reap some benefits from the free, national advertisement.
“An endorsement, from a publication or an outside source like this, goes a lot further than paid ads,” Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce Executive Director, Russ Veenema, said. “If we can get this notoriety, it will really open the eyes of a lot of people.”
“What’s been really nice with this is, I think, it’s been a bonding tool for the residents and the locals. Finally we’re all on the same page, working on the same project, and trying to accomplish one end goal,” Veenema added.
“It’s creating some really positive energy in the town after, in my opinion, there’s been a lot of negative energy in this town, the past year. So this is good,” Veenema concluded.
Downtown controversies include: http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20141026/NEWS/310269967
http://portocallpublishing.com/2014/08/22/city-nixes-contract-with-chamber-of-commerce/
