New Haven Arts Council (CT)

Cultural Guide to Downtown

The Arts, Entertainment & Tourism Cluster Committee settled on this “pocket directory” project as a means of broadly disseminating information to make the arts accessible to residents of New Haven “ring towns” and visitors to the city from farther away. A volunteer committee worked on organizing the logistics and distribution plan, and compiled and fact-checked listings. Individual arts organizations loaned photos, and Cheney & Company provided design and production services through a special arrangement with the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce.

Within seven months of printing in summer 2003, the organizers of the guide distributed more than 65,000 copies to a broad audience of regional residents, tourists and other visitors to New Haven. At INFO New Haven, Downtown’s major visitor center, the guides quickly became one of the region’s most popular resources and a powerful tool to illustrate New Haven’s rich and growing roster of cultural assets. The guide, which is available in every participating cultural venue, is now a common cross-promotional tool that allows one institution to help visitors discover other attractions in New Haven. Further, the guide has become part of the City’s collateral materials used to recruit and promote new business to the city, including biotech companies and real estate developers interested in locations with a high quality of life.

Thanks to new funding, an updated printing of 100,000 was completed in the following year.

Award: Public Relations Society of America, Silver