By JAMES BELL
Hays Post
Development of the Hays Chamber’s 2023 Community Guide is underway, with a deadline for entry of Nov. 21.
Set for release during the chamber’s annual awards banquet, the 12,000 printed booklets will help Ellis County residents and visitors find the many unique events and locations in the area.
“It has anything from retail to restaurants, many of our nonprofits are actually featured in there as well,” said Hays Chamber President and CEO Sarah Wasinger. “We think western Kansas is very unique and special. … We also have things that we can explore, like the Sternberg Museum, or the fact that we have a pretty wonderful environment for things like our waterpark, and tennis courts and pickleball courts. All the fun things.”
She said the guide can be a great tool to explore all that Hays and Ellis County have to offer.
“People visiting from out of town use this as a wonderful tool,” Wasinger said, “but we think it's a great tool for people who even live here.”
She said when she first joined the chamber four years ago, she was surprised by the entries in the guide — even as a lifelong Hays resident.
“You can even re-explore and reconnect with your own community just by looking at this publication,” Wasinger said. “And I think that's what makes it special too.”
As a literal guide to attractions and happenings, she said it can also serve as a tool to highlight life in Ellis County.
“It's meant to be kind of a multi-blended publication where we even put it in recruitment packets for businesses that are recruiting,” Wasinger said. “They can actually connect with our chamber and request those packets, we put them together, and then they can hand them out to people who are looking at moving into Hays and Ellis County.”
“We really feel like we have a compelling story to tell as a community and the nice thing about this piece is it covers our diversity and our range,” she continued.
For those area businesses and organizations looking to be included in this year’s guide, Wasinger said there are several options available.
“We actually have some very affordable ways for them to kind of become a part of this piece,” she said.
“We have different features that are going to be three inches by three inches in size, and our businesses can actually participate with that for as little as $250.”
The pricing of inclusion from there depends on the level of Chamber membership and placement size.
“If they would like to find out kind of where they rank with their discount and level of membership, we do have those flyers currently on the website, they can kind of start looking at that piece, and then call us or visit us in person, or we'd be happy to come to your location,” Wasinger said.
The chamber can also help with designing the spot.
“Our team, of course, does a lot of the design work,” Wasinger said. “And then our friends at the Hays Convention and Visitor's Bureau, Melissa Dixon and Brandon Cooley help us do some photography, as well as some of the writing for that and great things happen when people collaborate.”
“It's definitely something that I look forward to, kind of stretching my creative muscle and really getting into it,” said Hays Chamber Vice President of Marketing and Communications Mariah Legleiter.
Wasinger said the business or organization shares its creative vision and the spot can be designed from there.
Along with the printed booklets, she said the guide is also used online.
“If you've got an ad in the publication, you'll have your ad linked to your direct location for your website, or Facebook, depending on how your business wants to do that,” Wasinger said. “And then our friends at Grow Hays, the Hays Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Downtown Development Corporation, all four of our organizations actually had this linked to this publication too, directly on our website.”
“So, it's not just those 12,000 impressions,” she continued. “We think it's probably closer to something like maybe even 20,000 by the time you look at all the different traffic that is going to those locations in those sites.”
For more information about the Hays Chamber’s Community Guides, visit the Hays Chamber’s website hayschamber.com