Turning Pink to Green

If you live in or near Greene County, you would have to had to live under a pink plastic rock to not have known about Barbie By the Bells. Courtesy of the Greene County Historical Society, this special event happened Thursday-Sunday every week in June on the south side of the square in Jefferson. Over 500 Barbie dolls in their original boxes were on display and organized into categories. Even if Barbie isn’t your thing, this event is worth looking back at, and should be seen as a reminder of what tourism and economic development can look like.

Maybe old books aren’t your thing, or Barbie, or bird watching, or BBQ, or begonias, but guess what, they are someone else’s. They are someone else’s who will travel to be a part of their “thing”; to be a part of that culture and community. They will travel and spend money. Case in point: Upwards of 2000 people visited downtown Jefferson just to walk through the Barbies displays. This is an impressive number, but what might be even more impressive is that 37 states and 6 other countries were represented in those 2000 visitors! That’s nearly 75% of the entire United States represented in visiting our community because of a unique experience we provided.

What can we learn from Barbie By the Bells?

1) Leveraging resources in creative ways that keep the big picture in mind makes more sense than only thinking about the immediate future. For example, the historical society could have sold this donation of Barbies to make some money now, but instead put this event together to make money now (not to mention bring visitors and make money for local businesses), but still have the asset to continue to benefit the organization into the future.

2) A community the size of Jefferson needs to lean into special experiences – for residents and visitors both. Nobody is coming to this community for a Best Buy or Target-type of trip. They come here for the charm and friendly faces, simple way of life, and unique opportunities we can provide. Look for more of these opportunities in the future. Do you have a special event you’d like to see happen and are passionate enough to help get it started? Stop into our office at Thomas Jefferson Gardens - let’s chat.

3) Persistent and creative marketing are key for any and all events and opportunities. Being resourceful in how the message gets to the masses is crucial for success. We can certainly thank Deb McGinn for getting Eric Hanson from KCCI Channel 8 here to do a story about Barbie, which ended up going viral and being aired across the country. Building relationships and staying connected to people is a big part of creative and successful marketing.

4) It takes a few passionate, dedicated people with a strong sense of stick-to-it-ness to try new things and make them go. For Barbie By the Bells these people were named Jan Rosdail-Aegerter, Muriel Lehman, and Sue Richardson. These gals also convinced Deb McGinn to step in and lead the charge on marketing. Thank you, ladies!!! There were a number of other dedicated volunteers who helped support this event – thank you to all. A special shout out to Roger Aegerter for turning his car into the Barbie car; it was a huge hit and a great piece of marketing genius. Emily and Dan Rohner agreed to be Jefferson’s own Barbie and Ken. Thank you to you both for leaning into these roles and being great sports!

Through various conversations around town throughout June, it was fun to that hear pink translated to green for many local businesses and restaurants. The hours when the Barbie display was open are when many businesses had their busiest sales in June.

We need more of this here.

Last weekend’s Porch Fest had over 230 attendees enjoying live music. Should there be more live music events? What are you passionate about and want to see happen here? What will be the next new way people can experience Jefferson? Feel free to drop me a line at director@jeffersonmatters.org with your big ideas.