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Happiest city

City sitting out ‘happiest town’ vote

Written by Joe Hendricks on . Posted in Anna Maria, Community News, Featured.

ANNA MARIA – The city of Anna Maria will not be assisting in any “get out the vote” efforts regarding Anna Maria being named one of Coastal Living magazine’s Top 10 “America’s Happiest Seaside Towns.”

Anna Maria Commissioners made this decision with a 3-2 vote at their Thursday, Jan. 25, meeting.

Online voting taking place through Feb. 6 at the magazine’s website will determine which of the 10 recently-nominated cities and towns is ranked number one.

The Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) and the Anna Maria Island Chamber of Commerce are promoting the online contest at their Facebook pages and other digital media platforms.

The contest provides national exposure for the 10 named cities. Some view this as a positive for Anna Maria and the Island and others see it as a negative.

Commission’s positions

During Thursday’s meeting, Mayor Dan Murphy said, “The commission needs to decide what level of participation you would like in this event,” and he presented three simple, inexpensive actions that could be taken:

  • A notice could be posted at the city website, with a link to the Coastal Living website;
  • An email blast could be sent to those listed in the city database;
  • Banner signs could be placed at the entrance to the city and at City Pier Park.

“It’s a tremendous amount of free advertising whether we’re first or tenth. I think we should have it on our website,” Commissioner Doug Copeland said, noting the county and the Chamber would be promoting it.

“I can hear a big groan,” Commissioner Nancy Yetter countered. “I don’t think we need to do anything.”

Commissioner Brian Seymour said he supported a website notice but he didn’t think signs were necessary.

“Most people know about it already,” he said.

“I don’t see why we have to do anything more,” Commissioner Carol Carter said, also citing the efforts of the county and the Chamber.

Commissioner Dale Woodland also voted in favor of doing nothing.

“I am disappointed we’re not participating at some level,” Murphy said the following day.

CVB and Chamber efforts

The CVB is promoting the contest through its Instagram, Twitter and Facebook feeds, its electronic newsletter and the CVB website.

“There won’t be any paid marketing initiatives,” Director of Communications Kelly Clark said on Thursday.

“Visitors coming to the area is going to create economic impact, which is going to keep the businesses thriving on the Island. We hope everybody takes the time to vote. We’re excited that Anna Maria has been chosen as one of the happiest seaside towns. One of the things we are most proud of is there’s only two Florida destinations on the list,” Clark said.

The AMI Chamber is promoting the contest on its Facebook page and it’s mentioned in the Chamber’s latest tourism newsletter.

“Our take on this is the city of Anna Maria was already named one of the top 10. We feel that it’s very positive to be named one of the happiest seaside cities and we elected to embrace it. This is a benefit to the businesses of Anna Maria,” said Chamber President Terri Kinder.

Public reaction

“It is my happy place but I don’t want any more visitors,” Carol Marer wrote in response to the Chamber’s Facebook post.

“I don’t want to vote. I don’t want any more people coming to the greatest place on earth,” Norman Joe McNary added.

Opinions were mixed at The Sun’s Facebook page.

“Don’t vote for it. It’ll be overrun,” Connie Cae wrote.

“It is no longer the serene and peaceful Island it used to be,” Sharon Heide wrote.

“Beautiful place to live,” Debby Leigh wrote.

“Love it here. Vacation every day,” Julia Lombardo wrote.

As of Friday evening, Anna Maria ranked fourth in the voting. Traverse City, Mich. was the leading vote-getter, followed by Ocean City, N.J. and Vero Beach – the only other Florida nominee.

The Top 10 also includes Cape Charles, Va., Bluffton, S.C., Cannon Beach, Ore., Cambria, Calif., Bellport, N.Y. and Hampton, N.H.

The final rankings will be posted June 12 and all 10 towns will be featured in the July/August issue of Coastal Living magazine on sale June 15.

Related content

Anna Maria makes Coastal Living’s Top 10

 

Anna Maria Top 10

Anna Maria makes Coastal Living’s Top 10

Written by Joe Hendricks on . Posted in Anna Maria, Community News, Featured.

ANNA MARIA – The city of Anna Maria has been named one of Coastal Living Magazine’s Top 10 America’s Happiest Seaside Towns for 2018, and online voting will determine which city is ranked number 1.

This news was revealed in an email that Coastal Living Senior Editor Tracey Minkin sent to Anna Maria Mayor Dan Murphy, representatives of the Anna Maria Island Chamber of Commerce and the Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau.

“We hope you’re as thrilled to receive this advance notice of your town’s honor as we are to let you know about it,” Minkin’s email said.

Voters may cast their ballots online.

Tuesday’s posting opened a two-week voting period that will produce the final rankings for the Top 10 towns and the seaside town ranked #1 in terms of happiness. Voting will continue until 5 p.m. (EST) on Tuesday, Feb. 6. Throughout the voting period, all 10 towns will be promoted via Coastal Living’s social media platforms.

The final rankings and the naming of America’s Happiest Seaside Town will be released online Tuesday, June 12. All 10 towns, in ranked order, will be featured in Coastal Living’s July/August print issue that goes on sale June 15. The ranked towns will also be featured in an online gallery at the Coastal Living website.

“It’s up to you to get out the vote. We encourage you to share the voting link via social media and spread the word using #CLHappyTown throughout the voting period. Organize voting parties, get the community and partners involved and let your counties and states know they need to back you! Rally residents and visitors to vote for Anna Maria and make it No. 1,” Minkin wrote.

Murphy wants to discuss these efforts with city commissioners at their Thursday, Jan. 25, meeting.

“I’ll present the commission with some options on what we can do with this and the commission can decide the level of participation they wish the city to have,” Murphy said.

One possible form of participation would include posting a link to Coastal Living’s voting page at the city’s website.

Minkin’s email also explained the methodology used to determine the happiest seaside towns.

Coastal Living editors accepted nominations via social media. Coastal Living then collected each town’s rankings on the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index that takes into account the percentage of sunny days, air quality, the healthiness of beaches, commute times, crime ratings, walkability, standard of living and financial well-being of the locals and geographic diversity. Coastal Living editors also assessed each town’s “coastal vibe.”