A project initiated by the Parry Sound Muskoka Community Network (PMCN), local Chambers of Commerce and The Network will bring free Wi-Fi access to downtown Huntsville, but only if enough businesses are willing to get involved.
The Town Crier is set to launch in both Gravenhurst and Bracebridge this summer for a 15-month pilot. The group would like to include Huntsville in that pilot, but it needs 25 local businesses to get on board as advertisers – for a reduced fee – to make it happen.
Here’s how it would work:
Twenty-five hotspots would be installed in businesses along Main Street, from Lorne Street to Fairy Avenue. The cost of the installation and the equipment – approximately $900 per business – would be borne by PMCN. The hotspot would link to the host business’s existing internet connection (a minimum 20 mbps download speed and unlimited data plan are required) and hotspot zones will overlap to cover the length of Main Street in downtown Huntsville. Businesses that choose to host a hotspot can also become advertisers on the network.
Twenty-five businesses from anywhere in Huntsville or beyond can sign up as an advertiser for $400 for the duration of the 15-month pilot, from June 2017 through the end of August 2018. The regular cost for a campaign of that length would be $1600 per business but PMCN has received a grant to offset 75 per cent of that cost during the pilot.
“Four hundred dollars will give (businesses) five unique digital ad campaigns over that period of time and a minimum of four prime-time ad spots per month,” said Stuart Morley, Executive Director at PMCN.
Like radio ads, it will give you so many ads per week and you can pick a slot in which you wish to get your message out. This campaign will have many times in which you are getting your message out through two summers and a winter.Stuart Morley, Executive Director, Parry Sound Muskoka Community Network (PMCN)
Visitors who choose to use the Wi-Fi service must agree to see an ad once per hour on their device while using the service before they receive access. They sign in once via Facebook and then are automatically logged in to the network whenever they are within range of the service.
The messages they see won’t be random, however. They are targeted at specific customers based on demographics, time of day, and location. A message could be ‘come to our shop in the next hour for a free ice cream’, or ‘show this ad at checkout for a discount’, or ‘join us at Town Hall for an information session’. Whatever the message, it will come from a local business or organization and will be targeted specifically at residents and visitors who are currently in town.
Scott Ovell, Community Development Officer for the Town of Huntsville, thinks it’s a good thing. “It’s a new and creative way to try to get wireless hotspots into downtowns and ultimately into other nodes in the community. If you are a business without a presence in a downtown, by signing up as an advertiser, for a very reasonable price you get an excellent opportunity to enhance your presence and get your message out there.”
He noted that this service would complement the free Wi-Fi already provided downtown by the Huntsville Lake of Bays Chamber of Commerce.
Everyone is connected these days. The more wireless-friendly and fibre-friendly your community is, the more attractive it is to visitors. If people can go downtown and have access to the internet, even if it’s just checking emails while having coffee, it enhances their experience. With economic development, everyone starts out as a tourist at some point and easy access to technology shines a positive light on your community.
Scott Ovell, Community Development Officer for the Town of Huntsville
It isn’t an experience that’s available everywhere, though. “Most downtowns don’t have this because the set up costs are so high,” said Morley. “We really want this to be a three-town pilot but Huntsville won’t be included if we don’t have enough advertisers by April 15.”
Click the links below to learn more. For more information about the program or to become an advertiser or a hotspot location, contact Graham Porter at The Network at [email protected] or 705-242-2848.
Links:
Town Crier FAQ
Town Crier one-pager for advertisers
Town Crier one-pager for locations
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