iList Paducah

In the lovely town of Paducah, Ky., event planners had no easy way of knowing if their event plans would conflict with one another. Paducah is simply too small to support, for example, multiple fundraisers on the same night – or even in the same month. Thinking an online community calendar where planners could post their events would do the trick, I partnered with a local graphic designer and launched iList Paducah, Your Invitation to Everything.

Along with listing events, we published fun features including the popular iDate of the Week. I’m proud to report that our iDate column resulted in three iDate weddings and two iDate babies!

The Result

This event planning tool quickly became a great way to promote events to the public and attract more attendance. It wasn’t long before we became part of the local media landscape. We hit more than 1 million views, and we were among the first websites that actually generated advertising revenue – enough to support a growing staff.

We also played a key role in Paducah’s economic development. Time and again, company executives would tell us that they had difficulty hiring job candidates from out-of-state – until those candidates and their family members saw iList Paducah and how vibrant and exciting the community truly is.