ST. PAUL 鈥� In the words of Visit Bemidji鈥檚 Executive Director Josh Peterson, the return of the Visit Bemidji booth to the Minnesota State Fair on Thursday, Aug. 25, is an "everything Bemidji one-stop shop."
Fairgoers couldn鈥檛 get enough of Visit Bemidji鈥檚 booth during last year's fair. Lucky for them, Peterson and the visitor bureau鈥檚 assistant director, Brady Laudon, have been leading the charge in bringing a chance for this year鈥檚 attendees to get the up north Bemidji experience 鈥� even from 230 miles away.
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The booth will be set up along the back wall of the Education building at the state fair, which runs through Labor Day, Sept. 6.
鈥淏efore the fair was even over last year, we got invited back (by the fair organizers). It鈥檚 really tough to get into the state fair so once you鈥檙e there you have to prove that you belong,鈥� Peterson said. 鈥淲e worked hard to make sure we proved ourselves and it ended up being very successful for us, so we upped our game this year.鈥�
Returning to the booth is an interactive green screen experience where fairgoers will have the opportunity to select a whole slew of Bemidji-themed backgrounds from a kiosk.
Whether it鈥檚 posing with a walleye, playing hockey with the Bemidji State Beavers or taking a picture with Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox, participants can then send their images to their phones, email or post them to any social media they choose.
鈥�(The green screen) was a huge draw last year and one of the things that put us over the top to get us into the fair,鈥� Peterson said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e added a few more bells and whistles this year on the kiosk and will continue using that in years to come.鈥�
Obtaining the contact information of users from the kiosk will allow Visit Bemidji to have a wider reach in sending out promotional materials about upcoming events and activities throughout the year.
鈥淥ur job is to put 鈥榟eads in beds鈥� and market and promote Bemidji, our tourism has been strong the past three years and it's only getting stronger,鈥� Peterson added.
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Peterson and Laudon packed up their blue ox horns and Paul Bunyan mustaches and departed to the Twin Cities over the weekend, which was followed by several days of unloading boxes and setting up the booth in preparation for the fair.
Visit Bemidji also has even more promotional items to give out at its booth this year. With 12,000 buffalo plaid reusable tote bags, 8,000 Babe the Blue Ox hats, 10,000 temporary tattoos and the Bemidji Lakes Area Guide magazines to give away, Peterson hopes to bring more exposure to the town and inspire folks to plan future excursions to the Bemidji area.
A new addition to the booth this year is a 10-by-16-foot video wall, displaying footage of the well-known locations and events in the Bemidji area like the Red, White and Boom fireworks, the Dragon Boat Festival and the First City of Lights, to name a few.
Although they鈥檝e had plenty of practice running the kiosk and the interactive green screen technology last year as fairgoers swarmed their booth, this year Peterson and Laudon hope to keep up with the new technological changes with the kiosk and video wall as they suspect even more people will attend.
鈥淲e鈥檝e never done anything like this, some of the technology is a little above our heads,鈥� Peterson laughed. 鈥淏ut we have great partnerships with a number of Bemidji businesses to help us succeed. They want us to set Bemidji apart from everyone else just as much as we do because it鈥檚 good for all the businesses here if more people visit.鈥�
Peterson added that they couldn鈥檛 have made this possible without , who has been helping Visit Bemidji stand out above all others at the fair.
鈥淭he state fair is all about partnerships, and we wouldn鈥檛 have been able to do it without everyone from Greater Bemidji, the Chamber of Commerce, Parks and Recreation, Paul Bunyan Communications, myBemidji, Bemidji State University and Northwest Technical College,鈥� Peterson left off. 鈥淲e鈥檙e the only northern Minnesota presence down there, we just try and bundle everything Bemidji into a one-stop shop, so if we can incorporate everyone it鈥檚 a win-win.鈥�
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