Parkes Community Hotair Balloon

Get on Board and become part of a Magic Experience and support this awesome Promotion for Parkes!

Ever wondered what the fascination with hotair Balloons is?

The peaceful flying, their size and the magestic “sailing through the air” – attracts nearly everyone.

Have you ever seen or flown in a Hotair Balloon? Then you know what I am talking about.

If not, keep reading on and I will give you some vital information so you can appreciate the opportunity presented to you today.

Parkes is known as a great place to live, work and play.

With the Elvis-, Abba- & Irish-Festivals, The Dish and its strategic location along main travel routes – the region attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors each year.

The town as a whole has created a brand image around its location in the Central West, some of the key attractions and the overall welcoming nature.

Tourism operators and business owners rely on this brand image to attract visitors to town. With numerous tourism and local government awards, good public awareness and publicity has been achieved outside the region.

This project is about giving Parkes another unique attraction that takes the Parkes Brand well outside the shire’s boundaries.

The Parkes Community Hotair Balloon

This is a project – too big for a single person or club. And this is why I want to bring the Parkes Community together so that the Parkes Region and its residents can benefit from this Hotair Ballooning and Advertisement opportunity.

In a nutshell

– Design and purchase a Parkes branded Hotair Balloon (Envelope).

– It will be regularly flown around the country and in the region at special events.

– Registered, insured, maintained, professionally operated and flown by carefully selected, experienced, private and commercially licensed pilots.

– All people working ON this campaign are doing so in their spare time as volounteers.

The Parkes Community Hotair Balloon will act as a “people and media magnet” wherever it flies. Hotair Balloons just do that.

Hotair Balloons can be seen for up to 20 km and where Hotair Balloons fly, people stop, watch, gather, bring lots of cameras and take photos – followed by  social media posts and conversation. And whats in all of those photos – THE PARKES BRAND.

The Parkes Community Hotair Balloon will represent our dynamic town. Its existence will be living proof of Parkes’ vibrant and welcoming spirit.

The Parkes Balloon will be a standout promotion at events and general media (print and TV) love to include those gentle giants in their reporting – which give plenty of excellent and FREE “airtime (coverage)”.

When flown “at home” it serves the community by bringing joy to locals and visitors already in town.

Balloon operations are expected to bring passengers to town from surrounding areas such as Dubbo, Wellington, Orange, Bathurst, Cowra and Young – and of course from further away.

Visitors from other areas travelling through Parkes will put Parkes on their plan and interrupt their journey to participate in a flight and potentially stay a few days to do so.

The Parkes Hotair Balloon will have its own Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts and website  – so that sponsors can associate and link themselves to the Balloon, Passengers and events.

for more details: http://www.parkesballoon.com.au 

HOW does THIS Crowdfunding Campaign work

This is an all or nothing campaign. If you support our campaign, no funds will be taken from your credit card until we reach our target.

We look forward to receiving your support for the community. We chose this approach because we don’t want to take money without being able to deliver the outcome.

Should we get very close to $ Figure towards the End of the Campaign – we will come back and ask for a little extra so that we can make it over the line. That is where EVERYONE can contribute more than $ – by sharing the project link and CALL FOR ACTION via the social media and channels they know.

If we exceed the target – we can afford more than just the Ballon Envelope, which will allow the Balloon to be flown more often and more independently from the other resources listed at the bottom of this page.

Please also be aware that most of the rewards also COST money – e.g. a Balloon Flight consumes about 50% of the funds you contribute. Therefore the $ number we are aiming for includes a lot of retention to operate the Balloon so that we can GIVE BACK to the contributors. Contributions for Sponsoring also have a production element – e.g. the screen printing of the advertising message and incorporation into the Baloon Envelope.

AND: All of people working on this campaign are volounteers who work for FREE.

So what is in it for you?

As a business, tourism operator, club or pub ….

Expect more visitors coming to town

Associate your business with the Parkes Balloon by displaying Parkes Balloon accessories (e.g. caps and shirts) and promoting balloon flights.

Become a Sponsor with your business or product displayed on the Balloon / Basket which will feature in photos, social media, TV and Press.

Receive vouchers for Balloon Flights which you can use yourself or give to employees, family, customers, friends or as prizes for raffles.

As an individual you will:

Directly benefit, depending on donation value, you will receive one of many gifts – ranging from accessories to Balloon Flights / Experiences).

You can also use the Balloon Flight vouchers for yourself or give them to family, friends, donate them to your club as prizes for raffles or anything else you wish to do with them.

The Vouchers are valid for flights in all areas where the Parkes Balloon flies and will also be accepted by associated Pilots / Operators (a time limit may apply).

That means that the flights can happen in other regions up and down the East-Coast. We also have an affiliation with other balloons and pilots and the vouchers will be valid for flights with them.

A few facts about Hotair Balloons in Marketing

With a surface area upwards of a 200 sheet poster and a lifespan of up to ten years, a hot air balloon has a CPM of up to TEN times less than any other traditional media type. A branded public relations hot air balloon, traveling through the sky or tethered at a location, catches the attention of over 90% of the people who see it.

Statistics show about 95% of people that see the hot air balloon, mention the experience to friends and loved ones, thereby creating “word of mouth” advertising.

Wherever one finds a hot air balloon, there are hundreds if not thousands of cameras.

Spread by casual contact, hot air balloons are an airborne social media content generator that also creates an emotional connection. 

A Google research study commissioned by Hot Air Marketing showed that after only one interaction with a hot air balloon – as high as 40% of respondents stated they Tweeted, posted, and/or emailed a photo of the encounter to friends, family and co-workers. 80% stated they still had branded hot air balloon collateral years after meeting the pilot of the hot air balloon and his or her team.

A few facts about Hotair Ballooning

Anyone can BUY a Hotair Balloon – to FLY IT however, there is much more required.

The Parkes Balloon will be professionally managed and operated:

That includes the registration with CASA the Australian regulator.

Further needed and provided as part of each Balloon Flight is:

– basket

– gas bottles

– burners

– inflation fan

– flight instruments

– towing trailer

– towing vehicle

– ground crew

– retrieval driver

– trained and approved pilots

– insurances

– operations management

– passenger management

– ongoing maintenance

– propane gas

– travel organisations

– sponsor relations

– event organisation

and much much more.

DISCLAIMER:

The 3D images and depicted artwork are drafts / concepts only at this stage. The use of Elvis Festival and Parkes Logos are curtesy of Parkes Shire Council and use of any propriatery / copyright protected artwork will require approval by the respective owners.

Some Images / Photos are public domain and others are used curtesy of their copyright owners. 

Commercial Operations, where applicable, shall be conducted by Balloon Joy Flights  AOC NSW436280-11 or any other licenced commerical ballooning operation.

Any private operation, where applicable, shall be conducted in strict compliance with relevant CASA and BFA legislation.