by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
“We kept hearing people say that there’s nothing to do in Jacksonville, but we knew what they actually meant was there wasn’t any place they could go to find out about everything that’s going on.”
That’s how Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville Deputy Director Amy Crane described the beginning of the process that led to the creation of experiencejax.com, the Web site launched last November by the arts organization.
“Before we launched this site, the Cultural Council had produced a printed calendar for 30 years. We uploaded a PDF file to the council’s Web site so people could print a copy at home,” said Crane.
Since its first days online, traffic to the site has increased to about 100 hits each day.
“That may not seem like a lot, but it’s a big improvement,” added Crane. “Now we’re getting the number of hits in a week that it used to take several months to get.”
The number of times people visit experiencejax.com is likely to increase dramatically later this month when the site joins the Visit Jacksonville Web site as part of phase two of the new-and-improved visitjacksonville.com. In fact, the Cultural Council’s new calendar site was funded with a $10,000 contribution from Visit Jacksonville. It has been incubating as a site aimed primarily at local residents since November and is now ready to go online as part of Jacksonville’s world-wide business and leisure tourism marketing plan.
Other aspects of the second phase of Visit Jacksonville’s Internet upgrades include a blog site where locals can share their experiences, such as their favorite restaurants or night spots.
“The trend for sophisticated travelers these days is they want to know everything about their destination that the locals know. Input from residents can provide that access,” said Lyndsay Rossman, director of corporate communications for Visit Jacksonville. “They can provide information about places that are off the beaten path, like neighborhood delis, for instance.
“It’s a way to create a virtual community and that appeals to the new generation of travelers who research potential destinations on the Internet.”
One of the first decisions made when experiencejax.com was designed was that it would include the entire range of cultural activities found in Jacksonville. That includes everything from the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra and the FCCJ Artist Series to the DJ in the Dive Bar on Bay Street this weekend.
“We have to get away from stereotypes,” said Cultural Council Community Services Manager Susan Demato, who also is in charge of experiencejax.com. “Symphony-goers also go to clubs. The symphony might go on stage at 7 p.m., but the club scene doesn’t really begin until 11 p.m. We also include sports events that were never before on the Cultural Council’s radar.”
Bonnie Senteno, who works in the Marketing Department at Downtown Vision Inc. (DVI) and also manages the organization’s Web site, www.downtownjacksonville.org, agreed the target market for any given event is often larger today than it has ever been.
“Arts and culture are very multi-layered these days,” said Senteno. “I’ll go to the movies at the Museum of Contemporary Art with my grandmother and then we’ll go to Burrito Gallery afterwards. It started out just the two of us, but now my friends and her friends are joining us.”
Collecting a wide range of data goes beyond just copying what’s on the venues’ calendars.
“It’s all about networking and putting forth a proactive effort. People can e-mail or call and tell me about an event, or even the rumor of an event, and I’ll track it down,” said Senteno.
Experiencejax.com also includes information from a wide variety of sources, and that has led to a consistently long list of things to do all over town — something Visit Jacksonville can use to its advantage when selling Jacksonville as a destination for business or for pleasure. Being able to narrow the list by type of event or region of town where it’s taking place is another feature.
Wednesday morning the site listed a total of 280 events for the month of April, with 127 of them happening Downtown and 59 free of charge.
“With resources declining, we know we need to do a better job with less money to work with. We’re proud we were able to create this new asset,” said Crane, who added that in addition to meeting the needs of Visit Jacksonville’s tourism marketing effort, “We are connecting the community with Jacksonville’s wonderfully diverse cultural offerings.”
Photo by Max Marbut