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Tourism director reports FreeRide cost about $68,000 and says event delivered major social-media reach
Summary
Tourism Director Reba told the advisory panel the FreeRide event’s accounting shows roughly $68,000 in borough-paid expense and that the event generated about 2.2 million Instagram views in a two-week window; she said external contributions reduced the borough’s net outlay and that she is awaiting any new funding requests from the event organizer.
Tourism Director Reba reported to the advisory panel that the FreeRide event came in under earlier budget asks and produced substantial online exposure.
“Our actual cost that we paid was $68,000,” Reba said, adding that outside contributions helped reduce the borough’s net expense and that some unused funds were returned to borough accounts. She described the event as “a joyful experience” and told the panel it yielded unusually high social-media engagement, citing “2,200,000 views within this 2 week period” on Instagram.
Panel members asked for more detail on social platforms and accounting. One member noted the borough had contributed $75,000 toward the event and asked how additional donations had been applied; Reba confirmed the $68,000 figure reflects the borough’s outlay after external contributions and said she believed about $7,000 was returned to borough accounts.
Reba also said she had not yet analyzed TikTok or YouTube metrics but would add that to her follow-up work. She said FreeRide staff had expressed interest in returning and had already asked about next year’s ferry schedule, but that the tourism office had not yet received a formal request for additional borough funding.
The panel did not take formal fiscal action at the meeting; members thanked Reba for the report and asked staff to include the event accounting in the packet for the next assembly meeting if any further funding requests arrive.
