With the desire to be more “cutting edge” and appeal to the more tech friendly citizens in town, BG Convention and Visitors Bureau has created a new home website, an events website and an app.

GoBGOHIO.com is the community events calendar and interactive map, which can also be downloaded as an app on the App Store and Google Play. VisitBGOHIO.org is the new convention and visitors Bureau website.

The app and website is not only for community events, but also provides information about local businesses.

To help create the calendar, interactive map and app, Executive Director of BG Convention and Visitors Bureau Chambers said the bureau selected ten key partners.

These partners are the Wood County Library, Wood County Park District, the Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Bowling Green Chamber of Commerce, the Bowling Green Economic Development, Bowling Green City Schools, Bowling Green Parks and Recreation, First Federal Bank, Bowling Green State University and the city of Bowling Green.

All local businesses and organizations can post their events on the calendar for free.

However, members of GoBGOHIO.com are able to add a photo, link to their website, post deals on the calendar, add business listings and add promotional articles to the newsroom.

As part of an introductory offer, $100 memberships are available and are good from the date of purchase throughout 2017. After this intro membership expires, members will pay $100 a year.

“We really do look at this as a gift to the community,” Chambers said.

Any business in town is eligible to participate including retail, restaurants, attractions, churches, banks, doctor offices, insurance companies, clubs and organizations.

“If someone downloads the app, you’re going to be one of the premier businesses on it,” Chambers said. “It will link them to your website and take them to your door with the map. It’s going to promote your business first and foremost.”

A launch party for the new technology was hosted on April 7 at the Four Corners Center downtown.

During the event, Chambers thanked her student interns for helping in the creation of the websites.

Emily Wilhelm, convention and visitors bureau intern, said she helped by inputting information and pictures into the website.

“I think it’s important that we did this because it’s all in one spot,” Wilhelm said. “For people who don’t know anything about Bowling Green, if they type in Bowling Green, Ohio, this will come up. They will see everything they can do, everything they can eat, every place they can stay. It’s just one convenient location for everything.”

Candace Roane, convention and visitors bureau marketing intern, said she helped with the creation of the bureau’s new home website, VisitBGOhio.org, from the ground up.

After meeting with Martini Creative to learn how the website would operate, Roane said she worked with other staff to develop different marketing strategies for the website.

“From there we looked at different marketing perspectives to make the website as easy to interact with as possible,” Roane said.

Chambers said she thinks the new website will be accessible for everyone, while she anticipates the app being used primarily by millennials.

“I think it will definitely make us more cutting-edge because I think that a lot of people see BG as an older community, but I don’t think they see all that goes into making BG what it is,” Roane said.

Roane said she thinks students at the University will learn about the map by word of mouth.

Chambers said that the community would learn of the app in a similar way as businesses see the benefit of becoming members.

“It’s an education process,” Chambers said. “We are going to have to pound the pavement and educate the community that every single business should be a member.”

Mayor Richard Edwards spoke at the event saying, “This is a very happy occasion and I want to thank Wendy because I know how hard you work.”

The event also celebrated the convention and visitors bureau as a whole, being an independent department for ten years now.

Before becoming its own entity, the convention and visitors bureau was part of the chamber of commerce.

“It’s humbling, but I think they see the value of the convention and visitors bureau and what we have brought to the table,” Chambers said about all the individuals and businesses at the launch party in support of the bureau.

A drawing also took place at the event, where winners were given GoBGOhio tote bags, t-shirts and mugs.