E'town meets the iPhone

Apple iPhone users now can take a piece of Elizabethtown with them wherever they go.

The Elizabethtown Tourism and Convention Bureau launched a free iPhone application Friday available exclusively on the iTunes App Store that encapsulates many of the aspects of the organization’s website, said Executive Director Sherry Murphy.

Murphy said the most appealing resource available through the application is the easy accessibility of the city’s full event schedule, replicated from the tourism website. It also includes an interactive menu where users can locate attractions, restaurants, hotels and city landmarks and view maps of destination points. The application is also accessible through Apple iPads and iPod Touches.

“The app gives us a powerful tool to connect with our visitors and to provide event information to the general public instantly,” Murphy said in a statement.  “It lets us use the latest technology to promote our wonderful community with its many opportunities to explore, play and learn.”

Janna Clark, sports and sales director for ETCB, demonstrated the user capability of the application Wednesday morning as she downloaded the feature to her own iPhone.

“It’s cool, man,” she said.

The application was designed by Red Pixel Studios of Owensboro and cost ETCB roughly $1,200 to launch. Murphy said ETCB chose the firm because it provided the features desired at a reasonable price.

“We developed infoApp as a framework to produce customized, branded apps for a wide variety of customers,” said Jason Kyle, vice president of Red Pixel Studios, in a statement. “It’s an extremely flexible and robust system that enables us to quickly and inexpensively develop personalized apps for tourism destinations, restaurants or nearly any organization.”

The application also includes Facebook updates, a glimpse into the history of the city and the Elizabethtown Sports Park and biographical information about the tourism bureau.

Murphy said the application is basic in its design but it serves the organization well as a condensed version of the Tour E’town website, which was redesigned last year. Murphy said the tourism bureau is trying to capture the latest in technology to market the city, such as molding the website to ensure it was compatible with mobile phones.

In the pipeline is the launch of an Elizabethtown Sports Park application, but Murphy said she expects it to be a more expansive application with a heftier price tag, upwards of $7,500 to $10,000 to create.

Clark said the application has not been designed yet, but it will serve a similar role as the current iPhone application, updating residents and interested outside parties on all the happenings surrounding the park once it is open, such as upcoming attractions and a full sports schedule. 

Murphy said the sports park application, once finished, will be compatible with all smart phones, a move made by ETCB to market the application to a larger audience.

Marty Finley can be reached at (270) 505-1762 or mfinley@thenewsenterprise.com.

In other news:

• The Elizabethtown Tourism Commission approved $8,800 in design changes for the Elizabethtown Sports Park that will be paid to Lexington-based m2d Design Group, which designed the park. The design changes are needed after Nolin RECC approached the city about concerns with powering the park under the current design, said Elizabethtown Planning Director Ed Poppe. Poppe estimates the design changes will bring additional costs resulting in change orders to contracts signed with electrician and sports lighting contractors hired by the city. But Poppe said the changes could create a long-term cost savings by changing from three-phase transformers to single-phase transformers, reducing the park’s energy usage. Chairman Jim Long was the lone dissenter for the design changes, expressing frustration with Nolin RECC for failing to note the needed changes months ago. Long pressed for overall cost estimates, but Poppe said it would be impossible to ascertain until the design changes are completed. “I’ve got a real problem not knowing what the cost is going to be,” Long said. In a follow-up interview Wednesday, Long said he had spoken with Nolin representatives about his concerns and learned the cooperative had been making the recommendation for roughly a year, but the changes had not been acted upon until now.
• The commission also approved $2,500 in support of the second annual Cruisin’ the Heartland, sponsored by the Hardin County Chamber of Commerce and Comcast. The event is scheduled for July 29 and 30 and could feature as many as 1,200 cars on display in downtown Elizabethtown, said Hardin County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Brad Richardson. More than 900 cars appeared in last year’s event. Richardson had originally asked for $5,000.
• The commission awarded $2,500 to the Via Colori Italian Street Painting Festival, which will take place Sept. 10 on the Public Square and North Main Street in Elizabethtown. Sarah Vaughn, special events coordinator for the Advocacy and Support Center in Elizabethtown, requested $6,100 for advertising and said she wants to see the event grow to a large arts festival that extends throughout the city.
• Also, the commission tentatively approved $2,500 for Squonk Opera’s “Hardin County: The Opera” on Oct. 21 at the Hardin County Schools Performing Arts Center at John Hardin High School. The contribution is contingent on organizers submitting a formal application requesting funding.