August 2013 - Parks & Recreation - 57

Wednesday, October 9
Session 151
The New Customer: Marketing in
the Zero Moment of Truth
4:30-5:45 p.m.
Presenters: Ryan
Hegreness, Marketing and Enterprise Development
Manager, and Justin Snasel, Electronic Media Specialist, Arlington Parks and Recreation Department, Arlington, Texas
How does this session address
multi-generational users?
Regardless of their generation, buyers are influenced less by traditional
advertising now and more through
product reviews and comparisons, Internet searches, word-of-mouth and social media. Pew Research Center data
shows significant gains in Internet and
social media use by adults over the age
of 65. According to Google, 88 percent
of consumers research before they buy,
consulting an average of 10 sources.
This is the Zero Moment of Truth.
What is one online marketing tactic you have had success with?
We developed a campaign for less than
$200 to bring customers to our pools,
which improved aquatics revenues, provided feedback on our services, resulted
in 550 opt-ins to our department newsletter and grew our Facebook fan base by
more than 500 likes in less than a week!
What else are participants going to be
able to take away from your session?
Participants will receive a toolbox of digital resources and learn how to spread
their reach by developing partnerships
with local bloggers, growing their email
and text messaging lists, increasing social followers and engagement, turning
customers into brand evangelists and
optimizing their web presence.

Session 206
Forming a Sense of Community by
Creating Advocates
8:00-9:15 a.m.
Presenters: Eric
Legg, Graduate
Assistant
and
Ph.D. student,
University of Utah, Salt Lake City, and
Megan Carney, Sports Programmer, Arlington Department of Parks and Recreation, Virginia
What is the first element of a sense
of community?
A sense of community is comprised
of four general elements, and there
is not a particular order to them, or
necessarily a particular level of importance to them. When discussing
advocacy, however, I would say that
ensuring that community members
have actual influence is the most
important element in both creating
a sense of community and creating
advocates.
What is an example of when you've
been most successful developing
community advocates?
For me, I think the most satisfying
examples are not necessarily the
biggest stories, but rather when you
turn an adversary into an advocate.
In Arlington, we were able to do this
with our local community tennis association. We went from constantly
having to answer letters to the board
to working with them as partners to
improving tennis in Arlington.
What else are participants going to be
able to take away from your session?
Participants will leave with practical ideas and directions to resources
to develop formal partnerships with
community groups.

Session 229
Moving Beyond Customer Satisfaction: Staging Memorable Recreation Experiences
10:45 a.m.-12:00 p.m.
Presenters: Mat
Duerden, Assistant Professor,
and Dr. Patti
Freeman, Professor, Department of Recreation Management, Brigham Young
University, Provo, Utah
What do you mean by a memorable
recreation experience?
These are experiences that engage
people in ways that allow them to be
co-producers rather than just passive
participants. When people feel that
they are part of the experience and
when they are able to make decisions about what's happening, when
all their senses are involved, they are
more likely to have a memorable experience.
What is one of the principles you
are going to discuss?
Staging memorable experiences
means more than simply satisfying
people; it means providing them with
the opportunity to make meaningful
memories.
What else are participants going to be
able to take away from your session?
I will discuss the importance of theming experiences, and designing and
staging them in a way that all elements
of the experience are tied together with
a common idea or purpose.

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