May 17, 2018 –The Oklahoma Travel Industry Association (OTIA) awarded the Chisholm Trail 150thPartnership with three of the state’s highest honors given in the Oklahoma tourism industry during the RedBud Awards Ceremony on Tuesday, May 15 in Oklahoma City.
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The partnership, comprised of Visit Enid, the Cherokee Strip Regional Heritage Center in Enid, the Chisholm Trail Heritage Center in Duncan and the Oklahoma Historical Society (OHS), won the RedBud Award for Outstanding Media Coverage and earned Merit Awards (category runner-up) for Best Partnership, and Best Tri-Fold or Single Sheet Brochure or Publication.
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The idea to form a Chisholm Trail partnership came from a 2013 discussion between Stacy Cramer Moore, director of the Chisholm Trail Heritage Center, Andi Holland, director of the Cherokee Strip Regional Heritage Center in Enid, and Visit Enid director Marcy Jarrett. Realizing that one collaborative effort would go much farther than each individual city attempting its own Chisholm Trail marketing, they reached out to the Oklahoma Historical Society (OHS), Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department (OTRD) and communities along the trail in Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas.
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The partnership resulted in the website “ChisholmTrail150.org,” which became the point of contact for eventc celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Chisholm Trail. A Facebook page, “Chisholm Trail 150thCelebration in 2017,” was established as well as rack cards with a cohesive Chisholm Trail design for Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas.
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Chisholm Trail 150th Anniversary media coverage included articles worldwide in publications includingAmerican Cowboy, Cowboys & Indians, True West, Group Tour Leader and AAA magazines in Europe and America. Travel writers from France, Ireland, England, Germany and more traveled to Oklahoma to experience the Chisholm Trail and wrote stories about their experience. Many stories appeared in local and regional outlets as well.
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“We knew that no one organization had the resources or funding to reach the amount of people we were able to reach,” Jarrett said. “Thank you to the seven Oklahoma tourism organizations that shared the vision of bringing more visitors to their communities and to our state using the historic Chisholm Trail and its 150th anniversary.”
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The RedBud Awards recognize Oklahoma’s top tourism attractions, events, programs and organizations for outstanding efforts to serve and promote Oklahoma’s tourism industry. Competition entries must have been produced, published, broadcast or held in 2017. All entries were evaluated by a slate of tourism professionals on specific criteria including customer service and experience, marketing effectiveness, media relations, variety of audiences reached, value, and overall creativity.
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(From left) Visit Enid director Marcy Jarrett, Chisholm Trail Heritage Center director Stacy Cramer Moore, former Cherokee Strip Regional Heritage Center director Andi Holland, Visit Enid communications coordinator Rob Houston and Oklahoma Historical Society director for historical sites Kathy Dickson pose with the three Red Bud Awards earned by the Chisholm Trail 150th Anniversary Partnership.
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Oklahoma Lt. Governor Todd Lamb (far left) and Jenifer Reynolds (far right) present one of three Red Bud Awards to the Chisholm Trail 150th Anniversary Partnership. Accepting the award are Visit Enid director Marcy Jarrett, Oklahoma Historical Society director for historical sites Kathy Dickson, former Cherokee Strip Regional Heritage Center director Andi Holland, Chisholm Trail Heritage Center director Stacy Cramer Moore and Visit Enid communications coordinator Rob Houston.
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Chisholm Trail 150 Partnership claims three Red Bud Awards
