Stuart was Eggceptional in Preparing for RAGBRAI

Last week on Rural Resurrection we discussed the importance of dissemination of information BEFORE an event in the post When you get a Chance, Don’t Let it Slip! This week we are pointing out a community that has done just that, and did it well.

The little burb of Stuart, Iowa has 1,700 souls living in the community, or rather “good eggs”. But they didn’t let their small size become a deterrent to providing a first-class experience for Iowa’s annual RAGBRAI event. Although not big enough to host the event as an overnight town, they were given the chance this year to be a “Meeting Town”. Essentially, a Meeting Town is a community roughly half-way down each day’s route where bikers can meet up with support vehicle drivers to have lunch and hang out for a while before moving on.

Stuart didn’t let their chance slip and this was clearly evident early on. Creating an event-specific website for a Meeting Town isn’t entirely the best use of resources, especially for smaller communities. However, the relatively low cost of social media implementation is another thing. Stuart’s Facebook page was eggcellent in getting their egg-based theme out as well as a myriad of other pertinent information.

In the weeks leading up to the event, the Stuart RAGBRAI page was hyperactive to say the least in providing viable information. With often several posts a day, it kept the attention of the followers of their page. It was good information as well. There were posts with maps of the activites. Posts with FAQs about the day’s activities. Information for potential volunteers. Simply put, one of the most informative social media pages of this year’s RAGBRAI event.