MHC Visitor Guide Wins Marketing Award

The Martinsville-Henry County EDC's Tourism & Film Division and Anstey Hodge Advertising Group are pleased to announce that the 2011 Martinsville-Henry County Visitor Guide was recently selected as the recipient of a MarCom Gold Award. 

The MarCom Awards, presented by the Association for Marketing and Communication Professionals (AMCP), is a creative competition for any individual or company involved in the concept, writing and design of print, visual, audio and web materials and programs. The MHC Visitor Guide was one of more than 6,000 entries from throughout the United States, Canada and several other countries in the 2011 competition. A look at the winners shows a range in size from individual communicators to media conglomerates and Fortune 500 companies.¹

According to a release from the AMCP, "MarCom Awards is administered and judged by the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals. The international organization consists of several thousand creative professionals. The Association oversees awards and recognition programs, provides judges and sets standards for excellence."

The release stated that "Judges are industry professionals who look for companies and individuals whose talent exceeds a high standard of excellence and whose work serves as a benchmark for the industry. Winners were selected from over 200 categories in seven forms of media and communication efforts- marketing, publications, marketing/promotion, public service/pro bono, creativity and electronic/interactive."

"We are honored to receive this award," said Jennifer Doss, Director of Tourism for Martinsville-Henry County. "Our design firm submitted the brochure so we actually did not know we were in the running for this prestigious award until the announcement came that we had won. Our entire staff is thrilled as this award gives all the area tourism businesses represented in the guide a great dose of national recognition."

"We are fortunate to work with Martinsville-Henry County and promote their many tourism attractions. I'm thrilled that the work we have done together has received such recognition," said John Anstey, principal of Anstey Hodge Advertising Group.

The EDC and Anstey Hodge are currently working on an updated Visitor Guide for 2012 which will include updated information on area attractions and lodging with similar design elements to the 2011 guide. New content to appear in the 2012 guide will include dining, shopping, a year-at-a-glance event calendar and a special "Martinsville Insiders' Tips" section featuring travel tips from real Martinsville-Henry County residents.

Copies of the award-winning brochure and information on Martinsville-Henry County attractions and events are available online at www.VisitMartinsville.com and locally at the MHC Visitor Center at 54 West Church Street in Martinsville.

The mission of the Martinsville-Henry County Economic Development Corporation is to create new job opportunities and expand the tax base for the area. The organization strives to support and develop local industry, as well as market Martinsville-Henry County globally as an exceptional place to live, work and play.

The EDC is a public-private partnership between the City of Martinsville, Henry County, the Martinsville-Henry County Chamber of Commerce, the Martinsville-Henry County Chamber's Partnership for Economic Growth (C-PEG) and the Harvest Foundation of the Piedmont.

1. "About International Competition for Marketing & Communication Professionals," http://www.MarComAwards.com, 2011.