Youngstown Live Promotes Area with Photo Contest
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – With hopes to engage the Mahoning Valley’s photographers and capture the area’s best attractions, the Mahoning County Convention and Visitors Bureau has partnered with YM Camera to host a photo contest.
With user-generated content being a popular trend in tourism marketing, bureau Executive Director Linda Macala says the contest will be a great way to give the Mahoning County and Youngstown more exposure and an excellent addition to the 2019 Youngstown Travel Guide.
“People can relate to pictures taken by friends or acquaintances, or just a photo showing people actually enjoying themselves doing something,” she says. “Instead of a posed photo outside a building, how about a photo inside [the building] of them actually doing something? I think it’s easier to relate to something like that.”
There are four categories in the contest: attractions, golf, wineries, and outdoor recreation. The categories were chosen based on the most popular areas of activity in the Mahoning Valley.
“The goal of this is to get some of these photos to use in our 2019 travel guide. The guide is divided into sections that highlight attractions. Those four things are what we are asked about the most when we go to trade shows,” she says. “We feature them in the guide as well as in some supplemental brochures. So we wanted to start with those.”
The bureau, also known as Youngstown Live, attends trade shows to promote Youngstown as a great weekend destination and to show people everything the area has to offer.
“The contest will give us great materials to use and highlight everything there is to see and do in the area,” Macala says.
Robert Yankush, vice president of YM Camera in Boardman, is happy to partner with Youngstown Live for the contest. A retail camera store that offers rental options and has recently added an education department to their company, Yankush says they are excited to be giving back to the community.
“As a business since 1951, we are passionate about our local photography and proud of it. The 2019 Travel Guide will be a great look at attractions and will showcase great work,” he says, adding that he believes that the contest will bring more awareness to the great attractions and restaurants in the area. It will also encourage local photographers to take pride in the travel guide and Youngstown, he says.
Pictures must be taken in Mahoning County and high-resolution images are preferred. There is no limit on the number of submissions.
The contest runs from through Oct. 8 and prizes – a $50 YM Camera gift card and a T-shirt – will be awarded to the winning entry in each category. Contest guidelines and a submission form are available here.
Pictured: Linda Macala, executive director of the Mahoning County Convention & Visitors Bureau, says the four categories of the photo contest are based on the requests the agency most frequently receives.
Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
