Hailing Frequiences

by John Schulte
Last week’s article mentioned the city council meeting and views on
Trek Fest and the downtown revitalization. As a non-resident of
Riverside, but a former resident of Iowa, I do see that the town has an
incredible marketing opportunity that few other towns have, in Iowa or
elsewhere for that matter. Having trek stars at Trek Fests will
definitely get fans to Riverside and they don’t necessarily have to be
from the Original Series either, but what I see is that there is very
little marketing of trek within the town other than the new museum.
There are dozens of trek groups out there, but many are not being
reached. Possibly a sci-fi convention hosted at the Casino would bring
awareness of Riverside and the towns desire to reach out take
advantage of this huge marketing advantage that you have in the
birthplace of Captain James T. Kirk. Reaching out to the world will
bring customers to downtown, not only during Trek Fest, but throughout
the year.
Those of us currently involved with Riverside and your annual
celebration would love to see Riverside grow and capitalize on your
fortunate advantage over other communities. I am convinced that other
groups would also enjoy the friendship we’ve enjoyed over the years,
but reaching them is the time consuming part. Working together, we
can accomplish anything!