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Winner to be announced for Fresh Takes video contest

ALPENA — Entrants for this year’s Alpena Convention and Visitors Bureau Fresh Takes video contest have submitted their entries and Friday the winner will be announced at a special viewing of the promotional videos Wednesday at Alpena Civic Theater.

According to CVB President Mary Beth Stutzman there were three entries this year and all of them are high quality and each showcases Alpena and what makes it special.

She said the winning video will be used as a promotional tool to help attract people to Alpena and to see what there is to do while here.

“We gave people who visited here or people who are residents a chance to showcase their experiences here,” Stutzman said. “It is all user-created content that shows off things they love about the community.”

There will be three judges who will view the short films and decide first, second and third place winners. Stutzman said there also will be a people’s choice award for the video most liked on social media.

“The videos are available on our Facebook page and whichever one receives the most shares will be the winner of the people’s choice award,” she said. “We thought it would be interesting to see which one did best on social media, because that is one of the main avenues where people get information now. The shares are also a good way to let people see and learn more about Alpena, who may have never seen or heard about it.”

Stutzman said the videos still will be owned by their creators, but a partnership will allow the CVB to distribute it to those who may want to use it or see it.

“We have permission from the creator to use it and share it without audiences to help people see what life in Alpena is really like or what adventures there are in Alpena to enjoy,” she said.

The event at the theater will begin at 6 p.m. Wednesday and is free to the public. The first episode of the new video series by videographer Zach Irving called Michigan Micro Adventures series will debut at the event. There also will be a gourmet popcorn bar and refreshments.

Irving grew up in Alpena and has returned to create a series of shows that will introduce people to exploring new places across Northeast Michigan.

“They will highlight different things that people can do and how to do them,” she said. “Some of them will be well known and others not so much. It will walk the viewer step by step and show the user how to take a certain adventure.”

Steve Schulwitz can be reached via email at sschulwitz@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5689. Follow Steve on Twitter ss_alpenanews.

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