NEWS INFORMATION FROM

THE OFFICE OF MAYOR STEPHEN R. REED
City of Harrisburg
King City Government Center
Harrisburg, PA 17101-1678
Telephone: 255.3040

FOR IMMEDIATE USE
16 September 2002

COUNTY ATTRACTIONS TO CONDUCT CROSS-PROMOTION CAMPAIGN; EFFORT TO FEATURE HERSHEY BEARS, HARRISBURG SENATORS & THE NATIONAL CIVIL WAR MUSEUM

Harrisburg, PA—A unique new cross-promotion campaign that highlights Central Pennsylvania’s top sports and entertainment attractions will be undertaken by the HERSHEY Bears, Harrisburg Senators and The National Civil War Museum, Mayor Stephen R. Reed and Hershey Entertainment & Resorts Company (HE&R) Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer Scott Newkam today announced. The innovative new regional partnership was first proposed by John Payne, Chairman of the Dauphin County Board of Commissioners.

Reed said the distinctive new campaign will feature an array of marketing initiatives and promotional activities that highlight each of the three partners’ midstate attractions. Each partner will conduct activities within their respective venues that promotes the other partners, with special give-aways, theme nights, charitable events, autograph sessions and much more.It is the first time that the three regional attractions have worked together to cross promote one another.

“This is an exciting initiative that really provides mutual benefit to everyone concerned,” said HERSHEY Entertainment and Resorts Company Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer Scott Newkam. “We are delighted to join with the City of Harrisburg in this effort and look forward to doing some very creative things that help draw attention and patronage to all of Dauphin County’s outstanding attractions.”

Mayor Reed echoed the same theme, noting that “the Harrisburg Senators and The National Civil War Museum are thrilled to join in this innovative promotional campaign, marking the first time in the region’s history that its biggest attractions have joined together to co-promote one another. This effort is a benefit for the whole region’s tourism-based economy.

“Our special acknowledgement is extended to John Payne, Chairman of the Dauphin County Board of Commissioners, who first conceived the idea and then proposed it to both HE&R and the City of Harrisburg,” said Mayor Reed. “His leadership and ability to bring all the participating parties together was an integral factor in the establishment of the campaign.”

Reed and Newkam said the partners will undertake an array of cross-promotional initiatives, including trivia games, autograph sessions, promotional nights, ticket giveaways, videoboard exposures, mascot exchanges, joint charitable events, movie clips, theme nights, children’s programs and much more. Most of the new initiatives have no additional costs as they are based on activities that are already being conducted by the three partners on an individual basis.

Some specific plans include the display of a Civil War infantry charge on the GIANT Center’s videoboard during Bears games, Bears’ Hockey Players’ autograph sessions at both The NCWM and at Riverside Stadium, exhibit stands at each others’ events, ticket giveaways, first pitches and puck drops featuring Bears, Senators and Civil War Re-Enactors, and much, much more.

“You have to wonder why we never did it before,” said Dauphin County Commission Chairman John Payne, “having three of the largest attractions in the midstate, which collectively draw at least three-quarters of a million visitors a year. It’s probably fair to say that there are thousands of people here in the mid-state who consider themselves fans of both the Bears and the Senators, and have an interest in the Civil War. So why not promote all three to each other’s respective audiences?”

Payne, Reed and Newkam all noted that the foundation for the mutual marketing effort was first established in 2000 when HE&R, the City, and the State Farm Show Complex all signed an historic agreement that pledged the entities to work together on enhancing the midstate’s tourism, entertainment and recreation efforts and opportunities, while avoiding duplicative or competing events, activities and operational policies.

Reed, Payne and Newkam were joined at today’s announcement by Todd Pagliarulo, Vice President of Sports and Entertainment for HE&R, George E. Hicks, Chief Executive Officer of the National Civil War Museum, Todd Vander Woude, General Manager of the Harrisburg Senators and Vikki Hultquist, Director of Event Marketing and Sports Entertainment for HE&R.

Also joining in today’s announcement at The National Civil War Museum, and making her first public midstate appearance was Janis Schmees, the recently hired President and Chief Executive Officer of the PA Capital Region Visitors Bureau, the newly merged regional tourism and convention promotion agency that serves Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Lebanon and Perry Counties.

Schmees, who began her new duties in the midstate last week, was most recently Director of Marketing for the Detroit Convention and Visitors Bureau, where she played a key role in attracting such major events as the Super Bowl and the Democratic National Convention to the Motor City.

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