MONROE - A four-step advertising campaign is under way to get the Monroe Balloon Rally, June 19-20, back on people's calendars.
Matt Urban, spokesperson for Monroe Balloon Rally, Inc., appeared before the Visitors and Promotion Board Wednesday with a request for help with a comprehensive advertising campaign to inform the public the event is going to happen after all.
Board members were eager to assist, voting unanimously for up to $5,500 in funding, pending approval when actual costs are presented to the board.
"The Balloon Rally - we want it back," board member Randy Gobeli said.
The $5,650 advertising proposal includes newspapers reaching southern Wisconsin, northern Illinois and Chicago; Web site banners on local media publications; regional radio station advertising; and the rally's own Web site, www.monroeballoonrally.com.
Gobeli, owner of two motels in Green County, said room reservations fell off after the balloon rally cancellation was announced in February.
The Monroe Chamber of Commerce and Industry voted on Feb. 4 not to hold the annual event because of the financial and volunteer short falls this year.
"People remember the first message, but not always the second," Urban said.
Even local people have said they did not know the rally has been resurrected, he added.
The board's revenue comes from a four percent tax on hotel and motel bills.
Matt Urban, spokesperson for Monroe Balloon Rally, Inc., appeared before the Visitors and Promotion Board Wednesday with a request for help with a comprehensive advertising campaign to inform the public the event is going to happen after all.
Board members were eager to assist, voting unanimously for up to $5,500 in funding, pending approval when actual costs are presented to the board.
"The Balloon Rally - we want it back," board member Randy Gobeli said.
The $5,650 advertising proposal includes newspapers reaching southern Wisconsin, northern Illinois and Chicago; Web site banners on local media publications; regional radio station advertising; and the rally's own Web site, www.monroeballoonrally.com.
Gobeli, owner of two motels in Green County, said room reservations fell off after the balloon rally cancellation was announced in February.
The Monroe Chamber of Commerce and Industry voted on Feb. 4 not to hold the annual event because of the financial and volunteer short falls this year.
"People remember the first message, but not always the second," Urban said.
Even local people have said they did not know the rally has been resurrected, he added.
The board's revenue comes from a four percent tax on hotel and motel bills.