January 26, 2012 - Posted by Don Kirkman — 

A Snowbird Ambassador Program?  It might not be what you think!
 
We all know that Northwest Florida is a great tourism destination.  Millions of visitors come each year because of the stunningly beautiful beaches and wonderful quality of life.  Among those visitors are tens of thousands of “snowbirds” who take up residence during the winter months—the Panhandle’s off season—many of whom come year after year and become part of the Northwest Florida community.  We greatly appreciate the contributions that these visitors, who generally hail from colder Northern and Midwestern U.S. and Canadian destinations, make to our regional economy and culture.
 
This year, however, we are inaugurating a new marketing initiative that targets snowbirds for a different purpose.  The goal of the new Ambassadors Program is to engage these visitors to Northwest Florida to help spread the word about the region as an outstanding business location.  Our snowbird visitors already know and love the Panhandle, and they are ideally positioned to promote the business attributes of our region when they return to their home communities.
 
With the assistance of a U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration grant, Florida’s Great Northwest has launched a multi-faceted marketing campaign touting Northwest Florida as “The Southeast’s Business Location Solution” to visiting snowbirds.  As a precursor to the campaign, FGNW organized lunch meetings throughout the Panhandle Gulf Coast with representatives of Chambers of Commerce, tourism development agencies, and local economic development organizations to discuss the snowbird ambassador concept. 
 
Initially, we encountered confusion about what we were attempting to do.  Naturally, many jumped to the conclusion that we were attempting to recruit more snowbirds to the Panhandle.  While that is a noble aspiration, we explained that our purpose was different, and that the tourism organizations and Chambers of Commerce were already doing an outstanding job of marketing Northwest Florida as a snowbird destination.  Instead, our goal was to deputize these visitors as economic development ambassadors as part of our regional economic diversification strategy.
 
After we explained our ambitions, we received strong support from our Chamber, tourism and economic development colleagues, as well as from the leaders of the region’s numerous snowbird associations.  The only pushback we received was that the initiative didn’t go far enough—that we should be targeting the millions of tourists who visit Northwest Florida annually.  Like the snowbird community, they know the region and don’t need to be educated about it or sold on it.  Many want to work or retire here. Perhaps with the assistance of the tourism development organizations and Chambers we will be able to reach this much larger audience in the future, but with limited resources our initial focus is on the snowbird community.
 
In addition to a dedicated page on the FGNW website, www.FloridasGreatNorthwest.com, FGNW has promoted the Ambassador Program in publications targeting the snowbird community, including the Gulf Coast Snowbirds magazine and CSA News, the official publication of the Canadian Snowbird Association.  FGNW has also exhibited or will exhibit at snowbird meetings and conventions throughout the Northwest Florida Gulf Coast, directly reaching more than 4,000 attendees.  Finally, representatives of FGNW have spoken or will speak to several additional groups of snowbird guests during the 2012 snowbird season.
 
These interactions with snowbird visitors have helped FGNW establish a database of contacts with whom we will regularly follow-up regarding business activities in the Panhandle, reminding our new Ambassadors of the advantages of locating businesses here.  The campaign has already generated positive publicity for Northwest Florida and FGNW, and the hope is to cultivate project leads by enlisting our snowbird visitors to refer companies that might be expansion or relocation candidates.
 
These visitors come year after year to Northwest Florida because they love our region of the state, and we appreciate their many contributions.  They are ideal economic development advocates for our region when they head “back home” and interact with local business leaders in their local communities.
 
I invite your comments and suggestions about our new Florida’s Great Northwest Ambassadors program and how we can maximize its reach and effectiveness.  Please feel to email me at dkirkman@fgnw.org.  Thanks for your consideration and feedback.
 
Don Kirkman
President