THE ROANOKE REGION OF VIRGINIA

ROANOKE, Va. (January 14, 2010) – The Roanoke Regional Partnership today launched RoanokeOutside.com – the most comprehensive and interactive resource to learn about and explore the Roanoke, Virginia region’s outdoors.
The new site (www.RoanokeOutside.com) -- the first of its kind dedicated to the Roanoke, Virginia region -- was developed with hundreds of suggestions from area residents who shared their favorite hiking and biking trails, fishing holes, camping spots, kid activities, gear shops, as well as features they wanted to see on the site. Others employed GPS-equipped phones to map out trails and wrote descriptions of outdoor activities.


RoanokeOutside.com covers the greater Roanoke, Virginia area that stretches from Douthat State Park to Smith Mountain Lake between the James River and New River. The site includes an event calendar, suggested itineraries, list of guides, gear rentals, maps, photos, videos, message boards, blogs, gear reviews, cabin rentals, classifieds, and other features to help make getting outside easy, educational and sustainable.

“With the help of outdoor enthusiasts from throughout our region, we have dedicated more than a year to develop the leading source of information about all things outside to properly leverage the Roanoke, Virginia region’s greatest asset – the outdoors,” said Beth Doughty, executive director of the Roanoke Regional Partnership. “Making the outdoors an important part of our region’s narrative and economy starts with a dynamic Web site that catalogues our natural resources and makes it easier for people all over the world to learn about and enjoy what we have to offer.”

It was made possible thanks to a $25,000 grant from the Virginia Tourism Corporation’s Virginia Is for Lovers Marketing Leverage Program.

Much like RoanokeOutside.com was developed with the help of the region’s residents, the site will continue to be a conduit of connectivity using interactive blogs, discussion groups and social media outreach using Twitter and Facebook.

“The Roanoke, Virginia region is one of the best spots anywhere for outdoor recreation, and RoanokeOutside.com tells that story in a way we’ve never been able to do before,” said Pete Eshelman, director of outdoor branding for the Roanoke Regional Partnership. “It provides an interactive platform to continue to share tips and connect with people passionate about the outdoors or those simply wanting to take the first steps toward getting outside for fun and exercise.”

Businesses, colleges urged to link to RoanokeOutside.com

To help spread the word about the site and increase global exposure, the Roanoke Regional Partnership is asking businesses, colleges and other organizations in the region to add a link to www.RoanokeOutside.com from their home pages.

“Our new site is an ideal way to show young professionals that the Roanoke, Virginia region is an ideal place to start and build their careers,” Eshelman says. “Having a comprehensive site like ours makes it easy for young professionals to research the region as a place they want to live.”

RoanokeOutside.com also is a great way for employers to showcase the region’s assets to employees, potential recruits and other web visitors. “A link to RoanokeOutside.com shows that a company, college or other organization cares about the outdoors and its impact on economic development in the region,” Eshelman says.


ABOUT THE ROANOKE REGIONAL PARTNERSHIP
The Roanoke Regional Partnership was founded in 1983 as a regional economic development organization for the greater Roanoke area that includes Alleghany, Botetourt, Franklin, and Roanoke counties plus the cities of Roanoke and Salem and the town of Vinton. Its program of work includes image building, asset development, and business recruitment. The Partnership has been involved in business locations and expansions that have created more than 13,600 jobs and $1.3 billion in investment in real estate and equipment. To learn more, please visit www.Roanoke.org.