The LaSalle County Tourism Committee spent the bulk of its Oct. 17, 2025 meeting reviewing draft promotional videos, approving a plan for seasonal short-form reels, and discussing an MPP (Matching Promotional Partnership) grant application that LaSalle County will submit to support next year’s advertising.

Kate, representing the Heritage Corridor marketing effort, told the committee that LaSalle County will apply for an MPP grant for fiscal year 2026 and that the county plans to request $100,000 in advertising funds; the state would match half of the requested amount if the application is approved. Kate said the funds would be used for creative work, video management and design, digital/TV placements via Effect TV (Comcast) and a print placement in Midwest Living. The committee confirmed the MPP application deadline is Nov. 3, 2025, and that FY26 funds must be used by June 30, 2026. LaSalle County is the applicant; Heritage Corridor staff are assisting with materials and placements.

On marketing creative, committee members gave detailed, itemized feedback to the vendor drafts. The committee instructed the editor to remove repeated rooftop shots and reduce how many exterior shots of the same building appear; switch one voiceover from a female to a male voice for the blacksmith segment; slow down copy delivery and caption speed in several clips; choose milder, slower-tempo background music for some pieces; correct pronunciations and proper names; standardize caption font/size/style across videos; and replace a low-resolution logo file to avoid pixelation on scaled shots. Committee members identified specific clips (e.g., the video referencing “Starved Rock Lodge” should use the term “lodge,” not “hotel,” and the opening water-tower shot should be removed) and asked staff to relay a consolidated list of edits to the vendor.

The committee approved a seasonal video plan developed by staff and contractor Matthew Klein: four short (about 20-second) social reels, each targeted to a different visitor segment (spring: friends/getaway; summer: families; fall: couples; winter: groups of friends), plus one longer composite film that assembles footage from all seasons. The plan calls for filming to begin immediately (some fall footage to be shot this season) so that seasonal assets are available for the coming year.

Staff also presented digital and distribution metrics for September: Facebook gained 21 new followers, recorded 2,602 page views and reached 13,041 users; Instagram added 13 followers with 127 content interactions and reached 10,715 accounts; website analytics showed 5,902 new users and 7,237 page views. Physical visitor-guide distribution tallies showed about 374 distributed and 176 remaining in inventory after a recent fulfillment push.

Committee members offered staff support for the MPP application (one member offered to draft a support letter) and requested that the list of video edits be consolidated and forwarded to the vendor. No formal votes were taken on the creative edits or production plan; the MPP application will be filed by LaSalle County before the Nov. 3 deadline.

Quotes from the meeting illustrate the tenor of the review: "It was the AI voice — it had weird inflection," one committee member said of an earlier draft; another said, "We want mellow, not as fast music," when discussing background tracks.

Next steps include finalizing and submitting the MPP application, consolidating vendor edits, and beginning seasonal filming as scheduled.