Author: The Equity
Published June 14, 2024

Sophie Kuiper Dickson, LJI Reporter

Mansfield’s outdoor adventure basecamp, Aventure Hélianthe, was temporarily transformed into a board room on Thursday evening for non-profit association Pontiac Tourism’s annual general meeting.
About a dozen board members, local politicians, and interested residents gathered at the business’s outdoor bar for a 20-minute presentation of the group’s work over the last year.
The non-profit has as its mandate to promote and stimulate tourism in the Pontiac with the vision that the region becomes a “major tourist destination in regard to outdoor adventure, leisure and culture,” its annual report reads.
The association had $35,201.06 in revenue in 2023, $14,206.95 of which came from the SADC, and another $11,050.00 of which came from the MRC Pontiac by way of its FRR2 funding stream and its budget for partnerships and publicity.
The association’s total general costs for the year were $14,717.95, leaving $24,032.39 in the group‘s bank account as of Dec. 31 2023.
Emma Judd is secretary and board member with the tourism association.
She explained most of the association’s efforts went into setting itself up to take advantage of the $10,000 of free advertising that Google makes available for non-profits.
“For years we’ve been trying to tap into that but you need to have [a functioning website] set up to get that money and make it worthwhile,” Judd said, explaining that the association has been developing its Explore Pontiac website (explorepontiac.ca) so that it can begin to benefit from Google’s offer.
“We’re trying to get the most out of what people are searching for,” Judd said. “It’s all about finding the people who are looking for experiences an hour, two hours, three hours away, and trying to bring those people here.”
Judd said last year was the first the association began using the Google money.
“We are nowhere near the $10,000 that you can access,” Judd said. “We’re not spending that much on advertising, it’s just we don’t have enough content yet to put forward.”
The association’s 2023-2024 costs also included creating a promotional video and paying influencers to generate social media content about the Pontiac.
Judd said last year’s $24,000 surplus will be used getting promotional videos and reels on social media, and building the rest of the website.
An election was held at the meeting for three of the board’s nine seats. Jessica Forgues from the Pontiac Chamber of Commerce and Nancy Lemay from Chalets Prunella both stepped down from their seats, leaving them vacant.
Guillaume Lavoie-Harvey of Aventure Hélianthe was nominated by Mansfield mayor Sandra Armstrong for seat seven, which was previously vacant.
The board’s other members are Robin Judd of Starborn farms, Denis Lebrun of Domaine du Lac Bryson, Emma Judd of Circa B&B, Adam Thompson of Pine Lodge, Dennis Blaedow of Esprit Rafting and Jodi Thompson of Pine Lodge.

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