Discover hundreds of weekly events by subscribing to the Visit Gainesville, Alachua County "What's Good" event guide. Considered by subscribers to be the region's premier source of information on the hundreds of events and attractions that make Alachua County a great destination, "What's Good" is timely and easy to navigate, creating opportunities for visitors and residents to choose from a variety of arts, nature, cultural and sporting events to incorporate into their weekend and travel plans.
The "What's Good" weekly event guide, created and distributed by Visit Gainesville, Alachua County, showcases hundreds of tourism-generating events and attractions by compiling, curating, and promoting activities with the purpose of attracting tourists and developing local ambassadors, capitalizing on the opportunity to be the premiere, comprehensive, trusted source for destination and event information across a multi-segmented consumer interest base, including cultural arts, music, dining, nature-based, and sporting opportunities.
The "What's Good" event guide positions the Gainesville/Alachua County market as a robust oasis for events, festivals, and cultural opportunities for residents and visitors and is a resource for brand amplification and awareness on behalf of local venues and event producers to develop their audience participation through the creation of awareness of the multitude of options for visitors of all ages and interests, and to expand the distribution of event and attraction information to a broad base through the statewide advertising and marketing campaign inspiring participation with the "What's Good" event guide.
Alachua County is a premiere destination for award-winning cultural arts, the highest caliber museums and institutions of higher learning, and sports; affiliated destination brand messaging including the area as a hub of innovation, creativity, and excellence; and growth of message reach and communication through increased sign-ups for the event guide email and visits to the VisitGainesville.com website.
The What's Good event guide began in the spring of 2019, when the Visit Gainesville, Alachua County marketing team created a calendar of events by compiling and aggregating event information from local producers and developing a resource list of currently available sources for harvesting data. Initial beta tests of the weekly event guide were launched and distributed to stakeholders as the team solicited feedback and worked behind the scenes on the style guide, collateral, graphics, layout, and distribution plan.
Since its launch in early summer 2019, the "What's Good" guide has been leveraged to strategically defined distribution channels which now include weekly emails to 17,000+ addresses with an average open rate of over 40%; promotion on social media; the What's Good website pages; weekly radio announcements in regional and statewide public radio campaigns; creation of QR code cards and coasters for sign-ups; a weekly print version; signage; banners and outreach at events; and branded promotional items.
In 2020, Visit Gainesville, Alachua County's "What's Good" weekly event guide received the state's highest honor, the "Henry Award," in the category of Consumer Resource Communications at the Visit Florida Flagler Award ceremony.
Named for Henry Flagler, the Flagler Awards recognize outstanding tourism marketing in Florida and honors individuals and organizations that help maintain and improve Florida's position as one of the world's most popular travel destinations. A panel of 11 judges evaluated and scored nearly 200 entries submitted in 18 categories. The highest-scoring entry in each category receives the coveted Henry Award.
Alachua County Commissioner and Chair of the Tourist Development Council Marihelen Wheeler has said, "Whether visiting to attend an event, attraction, dine out, shop, or all of the above, visitors are an important economic driver for our County. The What's Good event guide is an invaluable tool to attract these visitors."
There are multiple ways to access the What's Good event guide every week, including the email newsletter, a self-hosted blog on the VisitGainesville.com website, Visit Gainesville social media accounts, and a printable PDF version which is downloadable from the email version as well as available in-person at the Visit Gainesville, Alachua County office at 33 North Main Street in downtown Gainesville.
What's Good is distributed weekly to over 17,000 email subscribers and available online at
VisitGainesville.com and on social media.