Memorandum 14-095 Alaska: North to the Future Update

Memorandum 14-095

TO:                      Mayor Wythe and Homer City Council          

THROUGH:      Walt Wrede, City Manager                   

FROM:                Katie Koester, Community and Economic Development Coordinator   

DATE:                 June 4, 2014

SUBJECT:         Alaska North to the Future Update  

The purpose of this memo is to update the Mayor and Council on work on the Homer insert for the coffee table book, Alaska North to the Future, Volume V.

The City has 8 pages in the book or approximately 16 images and 2,400 words. With this space it is my goal to tell a story about what a great place Homer is to do business. The story of how beautiful it is and how great it is to visit will be an undercurrent (but not the primary message) of the photos and text that illustrate a creative, accessible, happening town. A town that has the amenities business want (land for development, affordable energy, access by air, road and sea, and an educated workforce) and the quality of life their employees want (quality schools, health care, parks and culture). The pictures must be carefully selected to be eye-catching, scenic and beautiful without coming across as too promotional in nature so   people chose to stop and read the profile. It is a lot to juggle, but I hope to be able to take advantage of the many talented photographers that have submitted their pictures to the Homer Chamber of Commerce annual photo contest. Big thanks to the Chamber for sharing their images with the City. Because I am looking for many very specific images, I may need to contract with a professional photographer for some shots. 

I have a spreadsheet attached with a list of all the images I am hoping to collect, the ones I have contenders for, and the piece of the Homer puzzle they fit in. If you have any pictures that would be a good fit for the book, or know of an aspiring photographer who might and would appreciate the exposure, please pass them along. Pictures need to be high resolution, 300 dots-per-inch. I cannot promise a picture will be published, but the more options to choose from, the better. As you can see from the chart, there are quite a few holes to be filled.

The layout for the book will be similar to the layout of the municipal inserts for the existing volume, a background image, a text box and a couple of images of varying sizes on each two page spread.

The deadline for the City to submit the pictures and text is July 31, 2014. After that, staff and Council will have an opportunity to review the proof before it is published, though I hope to provide Council with a mock up before that deadline. The final book will be ready by winter of 2015.

12,500 copies of the book are published.  The City gets 1 sample copy and can purchase additional copies for just under $30 a book.  We have the option to purchase a printable PDF which consists of our 8 page spread and a cover page for $525, which I recommend doing. This would provide an 8 page brochure for promoting Homer or post online or print. The City will own a PDF copy of the entire book that we will have accessible on our website.

If this advertising is successful, it will drive more traffic to our website. What is the first thing you would do if your interest in Homer Alaska is peaked from a publication? Google it! The City may want to consider investing some time and effort into our web presence to take advantage of the increased traffic.

Enc: Image Chart for Alaska North to the Future Homer Insert