The Erie Canal is a wonderful part of our region, a hidden gem. But therein lies the problem. It does not matter how great the canal system and supporting communities are if no one knows about it. And that is why we are so eager to be part of the Re-imagine the Canals program. We have a three-part plan to raise awareness of the Canal and its resources and to lower the barrier of entry to the Canal system. If people know about the Canal system and feel comfortable using it, we feel they will be more likely to take advantage of what the Erie Canal has to offer.

The first part of our plan is to bring back and modernize the popular Cruising Guide

The Cruising Guide of the New York State Canal System has been a great resource for boaters looking to learn more about the Canal, but with the current version seeing it’s last update more than a decade ago, out of print and virtually unavailable, there now is a tremendous opportunity to provide the valuable information that the cruising guide can provide. To further the goal of increasing recreational boat traffic on the Canal system producing an updated guide is only the first step of this process. The plan to utilize marketing and distribution channels that are now currently available will be instrumental to not only furthering the success of the guide but ultimately the goal of increasing the use of the Canal System

The second part of our plan is to create a tour guide app to make navigating the waterways and the trail system easier.

The basis for our cruising app revolves around the use of a Progressive Web App (PWA) which essentially means a web site that acts like an app on your phone without needing to be re-coded for the phone. It is the best of both worlds. It is easier to update, less expensive to build and easier to maintain.

It would contain an easy-to-use wizard that walks you through initial questions, so it can customize the information for you. For instance, it would ask what you wanted to do? (it would assume boating at first, but later we can add walking or cycling) then it will ask you where you want to start or give you options if you do not know. From there it will give you ideas of where to eat, where to shop, things to do, etc. based on your intended route.

You could search for a specific business or browse a certain area (or the entire canal)

There would be an events calendar where upcoming events could be posted

Location-specific advertising could be added in the future, so businesses could promote themselves to visitors that are most likely to be interested.

In addition, the app could be translated into virtually any language potentially appealing to visitors from around the world!

The third part of our plan is to provide educational resources to children and families to encourage familiarity with all the canal has to offer

Creating an educational program directed towards elementary level students as they learn about the history of NYS and the global importance that the Erie Canal played. Imagine a class of students all using virtual reality technology to experience a trip on the Canal as they travel back 200 years and learn how the Canal transformed NYS to the global leader it is today

As you can see, by bringing back the Canal Guide, creating a digital tour guide, and educating children and families about all the canal has to offer, people will know about the canal and feel more comfortable taking advantage of what the Erie Canal has to offer. This in turn, will benefit the businesses and communities along the Erie Canal.

The Team:

   Led by the marketing committee of Canal NY, a non-profit private sector organization dedicated to the promotion of the Erie Canal since it’s formation in the early 2000’s.

   Canal NY, has a history of promoting the Canal in events such as the World Travel Market London, the NY Times travel show, including the 2018 show this January. Canal NY has participated in the World Canals Conference in Syracuse 2017. Canal NY produces a media event each year in NYC as a way for writers and media personalities within the travel industry to learn about the Canal.

Canal NY’s latest project has been the development of the www.discovertheeriecanal.com web site. Built as the tourism web site for the Erie Canal. The philosophy behind this site is the fact that the communities that surround the canal system are the key to the Canal and its success.

Canal NY has begun to participate in and help promote community festivals such as Seneca Falls Loctoberfest held last Oct. This was the first year for the event, deemed to be a tremendous success and is already planned to go from a 1 day to a multi-day event for 2018.

Future marketing initiatives include development of an online store that would market and sell Erie Canal “swag” t-shirts, hats, mugs etc. In addition, it would link to other businesses along the Canal Corridor who sell similar items.

If selected as a finalist in round 1, Canal NY will once again be teaming up with our partners below and their respective teams of personal to provide the Re-imagine the canals committee with a technically and visually superior product

   Amy Stoddard

• Over 12 years of experience in marketing and design
• Owner of Amyjstoddard.com LLC since 2008
• Resource of multiple developers and designers to grow business through print and digital strategies

Timothy Corey

• Over 20 years of experience in software development
• Taught software development for over 5 years
• Owner of IAmTimCorey.com, a software development training site
• Owner of the software development YouTube channel IAmTimCorey, which has over 17,000 subscribers
• Named a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) by Microsoft
• Named an Intel Software Innovator by Intel
• Certified as a Project Management Professional (PMP) by the Project Management Institute

Canal NY promotes the NYS Canal system in a number of ways including events such as participation in the NY Times Travel Show, 

Canal NY can also be found promoting the Erie Canal at local events throughout the year and throughout the Season such as during last years Locktoberfest in Seneca Falls NY