Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1909-09-16
TOWN INF PROVING TIPS
Suggestions by the Winner of a
Boosting Contest.
GET A PUBLICITY COMMITTEE.
Washington Man Advises the Organi-
cation Of One at Once-The Power OF
Printers Ink-NoveI and Sensational
Schemes Not Favored.

! Schemes Not Favored.
| The Washington Post has been car
| rying on a contest for the best writ
! ten plan for boosting the Capital City,
The award was given to Mr.. Louis
| Reilly of Washington, and as his ideas
may be made to apply in part to other
cities and towns they are herewith
reproduced in part:
J. Publicity Committee.-The first
thing to do is to organize a publicity
! committee, chosen from among such
| citizens as the members Of the cham
! Der of commerce and the board of
! trade ard having for object the pro-
motion of the development of the city.
| 2 Ways and Means.-As soon as
| this committee has a local habitation,
q name and a clerk it should hustle
| to take up a collection. 1t should call
! on all bankers, real estate dealers, no.
| tel keepers, railroad men, merchants,
etc, to contribute to a publicity fund
g. Bureau of Information.-The com
| mittee should next proceed to gather
! data concerning eligible manufacture
| ing sites. shipping facilities, freight
charges, factory help, rate of taxation,
water and all other matters concern
ing which persons contemplating NOV
ing to this city would like to know.
! f. Wanted, a Writer.-An expert
writer should be employed to set forth
the advantages Of Washington. His
style should be clear, vivid, terse. He
should do his best to write up the
city in a story cut to the quick.
s. The Folder.-There is no advocate
| so powerful as printers ink. 1t is
magnetic and convincing. Its elo-
quence lasts. 1t says just what is
wanted to be said. 1t goes every
where. 1t repeats its argument over
and over again. Night is the same as
day to it, and all seasons are summer.
1t is everlastingly ION the job" The
chief agent Of the publicity committee
in advertising the city must be a fold
er. This pamphlet should be artistic
ally printed on paper Of fair quality.
6. Sewing the Seed.-The publicity
committee will take hold of the boom
| it will do the most good. Copies of it
should be placed in the Union station,
in hotels, on steamboats,, etc. 1t could
| be mailed to boards of trade and to
members of the manufacturers aSSO-
| Citations. 1t could be put on sale at
cost or at a trife above cost and so
be widely distributed, yet not exhaust
~f he
Z. Advertising an ADVERTISEMENTS
'spot light ad. of that folder should
| be inserted in some of the leading
trade journals, especially in the or
| gans of those industries that could be
proftably carried on in this neighbor-
hood. By this means news of the
folder will spread in shops, factories
and mills; thereby business men who
| are looking for a new site for their
enterprises will be attracted hither to
prospect the promised land.
s. The Leaf1et.-For the sake of econ
| omy and convenience a tract should be
prepared to prevent the wasting of the
folder by injudicious distribution and
| also to still further advertise it. This
leafet should have on one side sum-
! mary of the most striking advantage
! of Washington as a commercial center
! and on the other a brief list Of its
! charms as a place Of residence.
The Ieafet should end with the state
ment that the folder, giving fuller de-
tails. could be had for (0 cents at pub
Iicity headquarters and that the COM
mittee would be glad to give any ad-
ditional information desired. This
! leafet should be put in all letters writ
ten by Washingtonians to outsiders.
O. Excursions and Conventions.-The
publicity committee will make a sys-
| tematic endeavor to bring excursions
and conventions hither from every city
! in the whole country.
TO- Celebrations. - The committee
should devise attractions to draw
crowds and to give folk at distance
an extra reason for making a trip to
! Washington 1t should celebrate the
| anniversaries of the most memorable
events in the history of the capital,
hold a semiannual fair, have a home
! coming week, etc.
II. A Great Hall.-The publicity
committee will continue to agitate the
question of building here a great con-
vent1on hall.
II. Other Means.-No pentup Utica
will confine the activities Of the pub
! Iicity committee. The foregoing ways
of booming the city will be its funda-
mental reliance, but it will at sea-
| sonable times utilize other feasible
methods to achieve the same purpose.
Novel and sensational schemes are
not wanted. They are not effective.
| They are not business. They do not
produce results. They will not attract
permanent residents nor add to the
number of our commercial enterprises.
/ But indeed, there is no need for freak
| plans. The city's advantages are too
| actual for buncombe or claptrap.
What is required is the most eff1ca-
cious way to make them known.
The city. the committee and the
folder are a trio sure to triumph. In
the last analysis the committees the
thing. 1t is the living force behind
| the wheels of the boom" 1t is the
alpha and the omega of the movement.
On the industry, intelligence, enthusI-
asm and perseverance of its members
| will the success of any plan to ad-
vance the progress Of the city depend.
If the right sort of men are chosen
| the work will be well done
Captain (spinning a yarn)-I was for
eight whole days prisoner among the
| cannibalS