The Hawk
Well-Known Forumite
With the publicity that James Billington @mayorofstafford has been getting for Stafford, I wondered if there was any interest in developing this further.
With some of the negative publicity the town has had regarding the hospital and the University, it has been great to see someone championing Stafford in such a positive way.
With some significant developments happening in the town, now seems as good as time as any to promote the town and surrounding area.
It seems we have a number of organisations promoting the town (Tourism Bureau, Town Centre Partnership, Gatehouse Theatre, Shire Hall, Ancient High House etc. etc.), but there doesn't seem to be anybody that has brought everything together and really shouted about Stafford from the rooftops.
So what is the answer?
Well I think that depends on if there is any interest from others. My thoughts are around getting a group of people together to share thoughts and ideas and develop them. I think we'd need a website designer / developer on board (to create and maintain a Stafford Is Awesome website), local businesses to support the project and enthusiastic Staffordians to help make the project successful.
I was thinking along these lines:
Well that's down to everyone involved, but my vision is a really positive website, supported by key figures (e.g. @mayorofstafford) and social media to encourage businesses to promote the town even more, encourage locals to use the town more, encourage visitors to come to the town both for events (e.g. Cheese & Ale Festival) and as a base to sample the local attractions (plus those slightly further afield). Also, this could then be used to promote the town more positively for new businesses to establish themselves in Stafford. I'd also like to see things like the Stafford Card developed, so that it actually benefits people to visit the town more frequently. As a group we would also be able to support places like the Shire Hall even more and put pressure on the County Council to retain and further develop it as an art gallery.
At the end of the day, it's our town, I would hope that enough of us would like to contribute something positive to improving the town, so that Stafford really is the jewel in the crown.
#staffordisawesome
Well, what do you think?
With some of the negative publicity the town has had regarding the hospital and the University, it has been great to see someone championing Stafford in such a positive way.
With some significant developments happening in the town, now seems as good as time as any to promote the town and surrounding area.
It seems we have a number of organisations promoting the town (Tourism Bureau, Town Centre Partnership, Gatehouse Theatre, Shire Hall, Ancient High House etc. etc.), but there doesn't seem to be anybody that has brought everything together and really shouted about Stafford from the rooftops.
So what is the answer?
Well I think that depends on if there is any interest from others. My thoughts are around getting a group of people together to share thoughts and ideas and develop them. I think we'd need a website designer / developer on board (to create and maintain a Stafford Is Awesome website), local businesses to support the project and enthusiastic Staffordians to help make the project successful.
I was thinking along these lines:
- See if there was any interest on here. If so:
- Organise a get together to share ideas (maybe a town centre venue would host that).
- See if we have got enough ideas and people to make it happen.
- Look to develop those ideas.
Well that's down to everyone involved, but my vision is a really positive website, supported by key figures (e.g. @mayorofstafford) and social media to encourage businesses to promote the town even more, encourage locals to use the town more, encourage visitors to come to the town both for events (e.g. Cheese & Ale Festival) and as a base to sample the local attractions (plus those slightly further afield). Also, this could then be used to promote the town more positively for new businesses to establish themselves in Stafford. I'd also like to see things like the Stafford Card developed, so that it actually benefits people to visit the town more frequently. As a group we would also be able to support places like the Shire Hall even more and put pressure on the County Council to retain and further develop it as an art gallery.
At the end of the day, it's our town, I would hope that enough of us would like to contribute something positive to improving the town, so that Stafford really is the jewel in the crown.
#staffordisawesome
Well, what do you think?
