Small Town Community Calendars That Work: Key Players and Considerations for Longterm Success
Top Challenges
In small communities, where resources are scarce and staff members often juggle multiple responsibilities, the task of maintaining a community calendar can be overwhelming.
This challenge is compounded by the lack of communication between community partners and local businesses. Anyone promoting an event is required to post the same information into numerous calendars, including individual websites and social media platforms.
Repetitively searching for local events to include in your community calendar doesn't just steal time that could be spent on more impactful community-building activities, it's also a morale killer.
Another significant challenge is event scheduling collisions, where two organizations unknowingly schedule events for the same day and time, leading to a split in potential attendees and reducing the impact of both events.
These challenges highlight the need for a more streamlined, collaborative approach to community event planning and promotion.
Key Community Partners
Communities vary but there are certain organizations that are found in nearly all communities. Each of these "community partners" work to improve the quality of life in their own way and most host and promote events.
More than that, they generally want to support one another but that support is often limited to the theoretical because they're all busy with their own projects.
In our community calendar how-to and webinar we explained that starting with these key players is the best way to build momentum for a community calendar.
- Main Street Associations: Special shopping nights, arts and crafts activities, parades and historically significant annual events
- Chambers of Commerce: ribbons cuttings, golf tournaments, awards banquets and other networking events
- Tourism Boards and Economic Development: Festivals, business fairs.
- Libraries and Schools: Reading programs, educational workshops, kid-friendly exhibits and activities
- Parks & Recreation: Seasonal outdoor activities, sports leagues
- Arts Organizations and Theaters: Gallery openings, community theater productions
- Senior Centers and Community Centers: Social gatherings, fitness classes
- Museums: Exhibitions, historical tours
- Service Organizations: Rotary Club, Lyons Club, Kiwanis Club and more
Wouldn't it be nice to simply have a calendar that features events from these community partners?
This should be the default and it should happen automatically - our self-updating local community events calendar software ensures local collaboration is automated freeing you and your partners to spend more time on high-impact projects.
Plus, you can use this initial momentum to expand and include local businesses and nonprofits along with their fundraisers, live music, and numerous other activities.
Simplifying the Process with Automation
The goal isn't to achieve perfection overnight but to make continuous improvements while saving time.
Automation is key in this process, and Locable's Local Connections™ tools are specifically designed to address these challenges. When you dramatically simplify participation between key community partners a self-sustaining community calendar becomes possible.
Snowballing Participation
You'll never get everyone to participate in anything however incorporating local businesses and nonprofits in your calendar gets far easier when you show them how to save time and eliminate repetitive busy work.
It's about demonstrating the value to busy business owners, highlighting the benefits of increased visibility and connectivity.
Jayme from GoAugusta notes that while "getting the community on board takes time," sustained engagement comes from seeing tangible benefits, such as integration with Google Business Profile and the ability to add events to their own websites for free.
This automated content then becomes the fuel for your social media and email marketing efforts, with Express Email Newsletters this can be done under 5-minutes.
Benefits for All
Locable significantly reduces the effort required from all participants while making local information and activities more available to locals and visitors.
Now, partners can automatically display a calendar that reflects their events and their connections. Businesses can promote their events and support others on their websites too, creating a network of mutual support.
This system allows everyone to be part of the solution, automatically highlighting what they love about their community for free.
Small Communities, Big Impact
For small communities, creating a comprehensive community calendar is about more than just listing events; it's about fostering connections and showcasing the vibrancy of local life.
With Locable's automation tools and the collective effort of key community players, the calendar becomes a powerful tool that enhances community engagement while freeing up staff to focus on more rewarding activities.
