Experience the MRV: Help Shape a New Seasonal Promotion

MRV Winter Experience Challenge
Business discussion and planning draft

Help us create a winter social media campaign that brings people into local businesses, celebrates the Valley, and gives the Chamber’s social media presence a fresh start. We are seeking ideas, participating businesses, sponsors, and a small team to turn this concept into a workable January launch.

The idea

From early January through March 31, 2027, invite visitors and locals to discover approximately 25 MRV experiences, photograph their visits, and create short reels showing what they found. The proposed mix is 17 business experiences and 8 scenic, outdoor, or community discoveries. A proposed $1,000 cash drawing and donated prizes would encourage participation.

The campaign would culminate in a drawing and celebration at an existing popular spring event, with the event and timing still to be identified. Brian Wray of Inklings Children’s Books helped spark the original experience passport conversation; this draft develops it into a social media campaign.

What we want to accomplish

• Grow an engaged audience for the MRV Chamber’s social channels and give people a continuing reason to follow.
• Generate visits to participating businesses and introduce people to places they might otherwise miss.
• Create a steady flow of participant stories and photos the Chamber and partners can share with permission.
• Celebrate outdoor recreation and explain how to enjoy and care for our recreational access points.

A proposed way to participate

Publish a checklist of 25 photo missions. Participants collect their own photos and turn them into reels, identifying each location on screen and crediting the businesses or makers in the caption. A sample reel and simple instructions would make it easier to join.

One option is a reel for each five completed experiences, creating activity throughout the season. Milestones at 5, 15, and 25 experiences could provide drawing entries or recognition. Requiring all 25 would create a bigger challenge but could limit participation by shorter-stay visitors. This is a key decision for the planning group.

Social media would be the campaign’s public home. A short form collecting the reel link and completed missions could support entry verification. Required follows, tags, public posting, milestone rewards, and any alternative entry route remain subject to platform and drawing-rule review.

Built to return each season

If winter works, refresh the missions for spring, summer, and fall. Birding, local food and beer outings, makers, and uncrowded scenery could give the quieter shoulder seasons their own appeal.

Photo missions to start the conversation

Proposed partners and prompts only. Participation, names, winter hours, permission to photograph, and appropriate access must be confirmed. Businesses should help shape their own mission. We want to encourage visitation and spending without requiring a purchase.

	Business or discovery	Possible photo mission
1	American Flatbread	Photograph today’s menu dedication.
2	Metals and Petals and All Things Bright & Beautiful	Discover a sculpture garden detail; confirm the site name and winter access.
3	VT Artisan’s Studio	Feature a Vermont artist’s work with permission and credit.
4	Blockhouse Studio	Find pottery that catches your eye and identify its maker.
5	Mad River Glen or Sugarbush	Photograph the mountain from an approved visitor area.
6	Warren Store	Capture a detail that tells its country-store story.
7	Pitcher Inn	Find a distinctive exterior or approved interior detail.
8	Inklings Children’s Books	Show a bookseller’s winter reading recommendation.
9	KS Coffee	Capture a coffee discovery and a distinctive shop detail.
10	1824 House	Join a designated barn gathering or watch party.
11	Lawson’s Finest Liquids	Discover the taproom setting with a free participation option.
12	von Trapp Farmstead	Learn the story of a farm-made product.
13	Artisans’ Gallery	Find a Vermont-made creation and credit the maker.
14	Mad River Taste Place	Discover a Vermont producer you did not know.
15	Mad River Barn	Capture an approved cozy corner or designated music event.
16	The Hyde Away	Find a detail that conveys its mountain-inn character.
17	Business nominated by participants	Invite another distinctive shop, maker, or gathering place.
18	A covered bridge	Find a favorite architectural detail from a safe location.
19	Illuminated MRV stars	Capture the Valley’s winter glow.
20	Snowy winter recreation	Share a Nordic, alpine, or snowshoe outing.
21	One of the three MRV libraries	Photograph a welcoming detail with staff permission.
22	Warren Village	Capture a winter village scene.
23	A designated Mad River Path segment	Discover an open route suitable for winter use.
24	Welcome Center and Recreation Hub	Find a Valley landmark on the relief map.
25	A designated scenic viewpoint	Capture a view with safe, legal public access.

Which stops are missing? Which feel truly distinctive? Identify free ways to complete missions and accessible alternatives. Decide whether one photo can count toward more than one mission, especially in Warren Village.

From conversation to launch

Funding and shared responsibilities

A starting goal of 10 businesses or sponsors contributing $100 each would fund the proposed $1,000 cash grand prize. Keeping the campaign focused on participant-created reels and existing social media channels would keep direct costs low. Donated gift certificates, products, and experiences could add prizes and give participating businesses additional exposure.

To extend the campaign’s reach, the Chamber could commit a modest promotional budget to boost selected campaign posts and content featuring participating businesses. This would add value to the businesses’ contributions while helping attract new followers to the Chamber’s social channels. The amount and approach would be agreed upon before launch.

Sponsors without visitor-facing locations could support scenic or community photo missions. Participating partners would receive campaign recognition, opportunities to be featured in Chamber content, and a brief end-of-season results summary.

Eric would coordinate the Chamber’s involvement, with a small group of participating business owners helping shape the experience list, recruit partners, and keep the campaign active. Before launch, we would agree on who handles posting, participant questions, entry verification, and the drawing so the workload remains manageable and shared.

Proposed schedule

When	Work to complete
November 2026	Gather feedback; recruit a small planning team; choose the lead platform and participation model.
By early December	Confirm hosts and sponsors; choose the finale event; set the budget and assign operational roles.
December	Review platform and drawing rules; confirm free entry arrangements; build the checklist, form, sample reel, and partner materials.
Early January 2027	Launch with coordinated posts from the Chamber and partners.
January through March	Feature missions and participant reels weekly; monitor entries and business feedback; run any approved smaller drawings.
March 31 and spring finale	Close entries March 31; verify submissions; hold the drawing at the selected event on a published date.
April	Review participation, follower growth, business value, and staff time before deciding on a spring edition.

Decisions to make together

Choose the campaign name and primary platform. Decide whether entry begins at five experiences or requires all 25, how repeat reels earn credit, and how to include private accounts. Set the weekly workload and a realistic limit on submissions. Confirm official rules, photo permissions, artist credits, privacy, free participation, and seasonal access before publishing entry requirements.

Measure starting and ending follower counts, reach beyond existing followers, unique participants, completed business missions, partner feedback, and staff hours. Agree on realistic targets once the current account baseline is recorded.

Add your ideas and help make it happen

What experience would you offer or nominate? Would you contribute $100, donate a prize, or help with planning, reels, or entry review? Which existing spring event should host the drawing? What would make participation worthwhile for your business?

Send ideas or express interest to Eric Friedman at [email protected]. At the first planning conversation, aim to leave with a small team, named task owners, a recruitment target, and a date for the next decision meeting.