I'd like to ask you a question about the place where you live.
If I came to visit you, what would be my first impression of your town or city? Would it make me want to live there? What about shop or invest there? Retire there?
It's very difficult, isn't it? In our business, I think perhaps we make assumptions about this every day but wouldn't it be great to really know what visitors first impressions truly are?
Yesterday, I was part of a volunteer visiting team who made an incognito, "secret shopper" style visit to Huntsville; an Ontario town located about two hours north of us. We did this as part of a First Impressions Community Exchange initiative offered as a tool to municipalities by the Provincial government. The visiting team from Huntsville have already come and gone from their visit to Collingwood some time ago.
An excerpt from the Ministry website explains that this program was started in Wisconsin over 15 years ago. It goes on to say, "First Impressions Community Exchange is a structured process that reveals the first impression a community conveys to outsiders, including tourists, potential investors and retirees. It offers a fresh perspective on the community's appearance, services and infrastructure and helps communities learn about their strengths and shortcomings. The knowledge gained through a First Impressions Community Exchange can be the basis for positive community action, focused on downtown revitalization, tourism development, investment attraction, quality service improvement, or broader community strategic planning efforts."
I think this is a fantastic initiative and it's great to see that our community has chosen to participate in such a worthwhile project. It will be enlightening to hear the report from the Huntsville group about their first impressions of our area. If your community has not been part of an exchange, maybe now would be a good time.
My ever on-the-ball assistant Chris just handed me this perfect quote from Rabbie Burns...
"O wad some power the giftie gie us To see oursel's as ithers see us!
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