Read the story http://www.rapidgrowthmedia.com/features/012110whitewater.aspx

We are currently working toward a near term goal of $25,000.00.  The Grand Rapids Downtown Development Authority has
generously promised to provide matching funds.  GRWW will use the money to bring in a river restoration firm that specializes in re engineering dangerous dams and creating safer, healthier and more dynamic urban waterways.  The chosen professionals will give us experienced input as to our existing hydraulics, our river’s potential and plans that would make the best use of our cities most important, albeit under appreciated asset .  We will also be producing a short film based on the results of the engineering survey.  It is our hope that we can actually show you, with todays digital techniques, almost exactly what the new river will look like and behave at different water levels.

This is truely exciting stuff and we hope you will join us by supporting GRWW.  Please donate whatever you can.

All of the teams focused on the requested objectives of increasing Facebook numbers, devising a marketing “Grand Plan” and develpoing further awareness of our whitewater project. Although we don’t know the precise influence of this, it does appear to have been quite significant. Since the fall semester began, GRWW Facebook numbers have more than doubled to 4,000+. During this process, it gave the students opportunities to explain the aims of GRWW to their friends and, in the process, gain a better understanding of those aims for themselves.

Each team performed marketing research to determine which techniques, themes, and media appear to be most effective for spreading the word and adding support. Most teams agreed that Facebook is significant player. But other social media with more sophisticated blogging and fundraising capabilities were proposed that could be significant contributors to the marketing impact.

The teams also felt that the GRWW website and logo needs a facelift, if not a complete overhaul. (We agree!) Along those lines, the students emphasized that these social media require monitoring, maintenance, and timely upgrades in order to stay fresh and effective. A social media internship was suggested and will certainly be a topic at the next board meeting.

In addition to marketing research, the teams were asked to include a “Big Idea”; something that would grab the public interest and invite their involvement. Chip & I, and the other members of the GRWW team thought we had come up with some pretty good ideas on our own, however, these teams amazed us with a bunch of great new ideas that we had never considered. We were caught by “The Wave,” a suggestion that we lead a wave competition at local hockey and baseball games. Audiences would participate in and compete for the ‘best wave’ and a weekly business sponsor would choose the winner.

Overall, this was some GOOOOOD STUFF! We were pretty stoked as we walked back to our cars, talking about all this new, fresh, creative material to explore.

Our sincere thanks to Mr. John Rumery and all the student teams. Feel proud in the knowledge that you are helping to shape a better future for Grand Rapids.

Roger Starring