The Columbus Area Visitors Center has unveiled a new, expanded events calendar online at columbus.in.us/calendar/.
Organizers said the effort partly is a way to better serve organizations, agencies and groups scheduling events, plus offering entertainment and other options to residents and visitors. Erin Hawkins, the center’s director of marketing, mentioned that the decision to broaden the calendar’s scope came from a basic concept.
“We had been hearing feedback from the community that people really needed a centralized location for information about what’s going on in town,” Hawkins said.
Currently, the calendar, which includes Bartholomew County and nearby arts, sports, fundraisers, school events, family events and more, features nearly 800 gatherings, according to Hawkins. A drop down filter allows users to look at only a specific category if they wish.
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Nearby events include those at the Brown County Music Center in Nashville, for example.
Hawkins said one way the calendar is used is for various groups and non-profits to “make sure they don’t step on one another’s events” on the same date. To help boost publicity about the listings, a Visitors Center electronic button has been added to participating agencies’ websites so web surfers can become more accustomed to the calendar’s content.
“And of course, at the visitors center, our central mission always has been to attract people to come to Bartholomew County to do things,” Hawkins said.
The calendar is only available online on the visitors center website.
So, while some events such as the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce’s annual meeting won’t be of interest to out-of-towners, concerts and other programs have proven to of interest to some visitors.
Don Nissen, the center’s director of information resources, has coordinated the look of the listings and implemented the calendar’s filter. Photos and graphics are added so that they “are appealing and consistent when viewed as a pinboard, an agenda, or as a monthly calendar.”
Robin Gray, the center’s operations manager, has been responsible for populating the calendar with an increasing number of events, Nissen said.
But Hawkins and Nissen emphasized what they see as one of the most important aspects of the listings.
“A community calendar is only as good as what the community puts into it,” Hawkins said, referring to a link for people to submit their own items for posting. “But we do try to keep our eyes and ears open as much as we can and add any events that we hear about.”
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The Columbus Area Visitors Center calendar can be found at columbus.in.us/calendar/.
Organizers can add their events and happenings to the listings by clicking on the "submit an event" link at the bottom of the web page.
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