The Valley now has a single, comprehensive community calendar bringing together several separate calendars under one roof to create one go-to place for people to access everything that is going on in The Valley and for folks to post events and happenings in one central location.
For years Mad River Valley nonprofits, businesses, residents and visitors have discussed creating a single, comprehensive event calendar to serve the community. That calendar is now a reality.
The new, consolidated Mad River Valley Community Calendar is a result of community collaboration between many organizations and individuals, including the Mad River Valley Chamber of Commerce, The Valley Reporter and Open Hearth, and the Mad River Valley Rotary Club.
“While The Valley Reporter and Chamber calendars each had their strengths, it became clear a single source for a comprehensive view of events at local schools, towns, the arts, recreation, businesses and visitor-related events was important to all who love to live, work and play in The Valley. The new combined calendar will be the single source for all that happens in The Valley,” said chamber executive director Eric Friedman.
The calendar appears on both the Mad River Chamber and The Valley Reporter websites. Other businesses and organizations are encouraged to link their own websites to the new calendar. A widget that will allow businesses to link their websites to the calendar is being developed.
“We are excited to be working with the Chamber and other community partners to bring this comprehensive calendar to fruition. We are excited about launching this in print, onlne and via social media and across our collective platforms and venues,” said Lisa Loomis, editor of The Valley Reporter.
All local organizations, businesses, nonprofits and individuals can easily upload events at no cost. The event listings include website links and all pertinent information. With one submission events are listed everywhere.
As The Valley’s most comprehensive event calendar it is the go-to source for event information in The Valley and is valuable on many levels:
- With one submission, events will appear on the Chamber and Valley Reporter websites.
- Inclusion of events encourages easy social media sharing.
- Media outlets like WDEV, Times Argus, Seven Days and others can use the calendar to find stories, populate their calendars and to learn what’s going on in The Valley.
- It's a great way to reach visitors and second-home owners.
- Users can directly link their websites to the calendar to improve relevancy and search engine optimization (SEO).
“The new Mad River Valley Community Calendar is an important asset. All are invited to add and share events, and use it themselves. The hope is it will work to help bring our community together in so many fun and useful ways,” Friedman said, adding that Sugabush and Mad River Glen are working to merge their calendar events with the new combined calendar.
Loomis expresssed gratitude for the partners who worked on making the new calendar a reality, including Fayston resident and Open Hearth board member Rebecca Baruzzi, business consultant and former Valley resident Patrica Floyd, Martha’s Vineyard, and Warren second-home owner and former Chamber board member Jack Sharry.
While the calendar is fully functional, organizers are still working on issues with consistency in listings and format.
