Some winning pictures could be used to help promote city tourism
The City of Cedar Park Travel and Tourism Department is encouraging residents and visitors to participate in a monthly Instagram contest beginning May 20 with a chance for their picture to appear in the city's new visitors brochure.
To enter, participants must take a photo of their experience in Cedar Park. Once the photo has been modified using the Instagram phone application, they must use the tag "#MyCedarParkFun" in the caption and add "Cedar Park" as the location. The contest will run through October.
Tourism Services Manager Katie Krampitz said she embraced the idea for the contest after learning about it through other cities that have implemented similar contests.
"We tweaked it to what we thought might work for us," Krampitz said. "We wanted a really simple hashtag that people would remember and that isn't hard to spell."
Each month, the three pictures with the most "likes"will be shown to a panel of judges who will then rank the pictures based on quality and creativity. The winner's first name and last initial will be posted on the website. Monthly prizes include items such as Cedar Park Fun koozies and bags.
In the first week of October, a monthly winner will be chosen to be the grand prize winner. The winning picture will appear on the cover of new Cedar Park visitors guide, while the runners-ups' pictures may appear on the inside of the brochure. Krampitz said the city may also use the photos on its social media websites and to advertise different activities throughout the city.
Cedar Park gathered statistics from local hotels as well as the Cedar Park Center and Austin Steam Train to attain a better understanding of the demographic that attends events and visits attractions throughout the city each year. Krampitz said she hopes the contest will work as a marketing tool to promote tourism in Cedar Park and engage the community through the interactive nature of the contest, all while helping the city save money.
"We're always trying to think of ways to cut costs, and having to buy stock photos is a huge cost that we can cut by getting engagement from our users," Krampitz said. "The pictures should show what their Cedar Park fun looks like, what they like and what they like to do."
The contest rules are outlined on the Cedar Park Tourism Services website CedarParkFun.com, including entry instructions and information regarding the city's rights to the photos once a person enters them into the contest.
