Versailles & the Darke County Vistors Bureau Partnership

VAPPA, The Versailles Chamber of Commerce, and the Village of Versailles have identified the unmet need to promote Versailles, including downtown Versailles.  The ultimate goal of this effort is to increase visitors to the village and attendance at community events with the support of our businesses and community groups.

The three organizations above have agreed to partner in this common goal by entering into an agreement with the Darke County Visitors Bureau (DCVB) to provide specific services to the village of Versailles.

Services

• Coordinate a calendar of community events.

§ Sip and Shop, FareFest, MusicFest, and more.

• Enhancement of Community Events.

§ Add value to events by layering in additional activities such as recruiting food trucks for the Hometown Holiday or connecting businesses with events.

• Facilitate communication between organizations,      businesses, village, and event sponsors.

§ Improve results through coordination and partnership across businesses and organizations.

§ Example:  Downtown businesses offer entertainment or specials in conjunction with an event held at Heritage Park.

• Promote events

§ Increase visitors frequenting village businesses and attending community events.

§ Ensure promotion illustrates our events are not limited to residents of Versailles.

§ Primarily social media but could include print and other channels

Scope

• Incremental improvement.
• Limited by the collective budget.
• Focus on community events and retail businesses (not manufacturing, transportation, or agriculture).
• Not intended to directly promote individual businesses.
• Support a community event such as Hometown Christmas,      or a collective effort by businesses such as a downtown sale but generally would not promote an individual business.
• Focuses on Organization, Communication, and Promotion.
• Does not include efforts to recruit or retain businesses or make physical improvements to the downtown.
• Encourage organizations to support events within their capacity.

On July 19th at noon and at 5:30 PM there will be an introductory meeting to dialogue about the partnership and share more details. The meeting will be held in the Versailles Performing Arts Theatre. Please use Door #7 on the west side of the school to enter the theatre. We hope you are able to attend one of the meetings. If you are not able to participate and would like more information please contact Aaron Moran, VAPPA Vice President and Versailles Area Chamber of Commerce Trustee at aaron.moran@vtigers.org or 937-621-1810.