By Gerald Fraas
In 2013, the Order of the Arrow had 171,211 members. It's expected that around 10,000 Arrowmen will attend NOAC 2015. This means that less than 6% of Arrowmen are expected to attend NOAC 2015. Keeping the remaining 94% in mind, four regional ArrowTour delegations will bring our national centennial experience to Scouts, Arrowmen, and communities around the country. This interactive, high energy event will celebrate the centuries of service that make up the Order's rich history while also building momentum for the road ahead.
The ArrowTour promotional campaign, including the logo, has been designed by many youth Arrowmen providing leadership to ArrowTour. The look and feel of ArrowTour has been entrusted to youth section chiefs in the Marketing & PR committee. The Marketing & PR committee will build excitement in the Scouting community in the months leading up to ArrowTour and will share updates from each of the regional delegations throughout the event.
Each of the four region ArrowTour Marketing & PR ArrowTour Vice Chiefs (ATVC) have been hard at work, leading teams in the development of an important piece of the ArrowTour marketing program.
ATVC Mitchell Heisler, of the Northeast Region, developed the ArrowTour Rollout Campaign, which will introduce ArrowTour to the Scouting community at the Boy Scouts of America National Annual Meeting.
Heisler says, "Having the opportunity to develop the vision for the initial release of ArrowTour was truly a privilege. I'm excited to showcase all the hard work that has been put into developing ArrowTour and to energize both our Order and the Scouting community about this phenomenal program."
ATVC Patrick Burtchaell, of the Southern Region, led the development of the soon-to-be-released ArrowTour Rollout web application, which uses geolocation features to support the ArrowTour Rollout Campaign.
Burtchaell says, "Building the ArrowTour Rollout site was one of the most complex projects that my team has encountered. I know we are very excited to see everyone use it over the next few months!"
ATVC Alex Derr, of the Central Region, developed a comprehensive lodge marketing plan for ArrowTour. When launched in the fall, this initiative will put promotional materials and campaign resources directly in the hands of lodge leaders throughout the country.
Derr says, "Lodges across the nation will play an integral role in helping get the word out about ArrowTour. I'm thrilled that all Arrowmen will have the opportunity to help make our national centennial experience a success!"
ATVC Ricky Colon, of the Western Region, is heading up media development for ArrowTour. His team is responsible for many of the visual items that will build the look of ArrowTour.
Colon said, "I'm excited to see the launch of the complete ArrowTour website and all of the visual materials this year. Every Arrowman, whether at an ArrowTour stop next summer or at the National Order of the Arrow Conference, needs to see this cool program in action."