Getting on the map

Representatives from MapToons — the Bohemia-based company that creates colorful cartoon maps — will be in Island Park for the next few weeks, collecting information from local businesses to create the village's first-ever cartoon business guide.

The Island Park Chamber of Commerce is teaming up with the company for the project. Each business that buys advertising space on the map will also receive a one-year membership with the chamber.

Chamber President Barbra Rubin believes the map is a great way to promote local businesses for several reasons. First, she said, it is colorful and eye-catching. Plus, businesses have several creative ways to advertise on the map, whether through miniature billboards or cartoon building renderings. For communities on the water, businesses can be even more creative, and choose to put their contact information on a cartoon boat or hot air balloon, for example. “It's kind of like a 'Where's Waldo' of Island Park,” Rubin said.

Each business that decides to advertise on the map will receive a large laminated map to display in the office, plus smaller foldable maps, complete with a local business directory, to hand out to village residents and visitors. Rubin noted that this gives local businesses a hand-to-hand promotional tool, and helps cross-promote other businesses on the map. She also hopes the included chamber membership will help local businesses network and better support each other, which she said is beneficial to the entire community.

In addition to working through a tough economy, Rubin said Island Park businesses also struggle to get people to stop in their community. Too often, she said, commuters pass through Island Park on their way to Long Beach. Rubin would like to get those people to stop and spend some time in the community, and believes the map will be a good way to get the word out about all the village has to offer. “I think the world should know about us, and I would like to spread the word,” Rubin said.