Print, Distribute and Celebrate!

Congrats, your child-friendly city map is ready for printing! We have outlined some considerations for map printing, distributing and celebrating:

Printing

The number of maps you print will depend on your budget, contributing sponsors, community size, and the demand for the maps that you anticipate. Growing Up Boulder printed 5,000 first edition maps, and they were scooped up by local and visiting families alike. Demand was high for our maps, and we ran out in a relatively short time. It was a great problem to have, and we learned a lesson. Consequently, the number of maps we print each year has steadily increased, and the number of sponsors who support our map has increased right along with it. 

Distributing

Once you have your maps in hand, it's time to distribute them into your community. This is a proud and exciting moment! We recommend that you create a map distribution spreadsheet to track map distribution to your partners and student groups, sponsors and funders, city departments and other businesses. The maps will go quickly, so think strategically about who you give maps to and how many. Your sponsors and partners will want maps, and you'll want to think about how you can get them into the hands of children and their families.

One of GUB's values is equity. So, each year we distribute a map to every student attending Boulder Valley School District, prekindergarten through 5th grades. In addition, our partners at the Visitor’s Bureau (Chamber) distribute maps to local businesses and stock our maps in kiosks along our pedestrian shopping mall in the center of town. Finally, GUB gives maps to any location highlighted on the map that has a place to display them for young people and their families (eg. museums, rec centers, pools, fun centers, park ranger cottages). These three distribution actions help raise the awareness of the maps' existence and support all families to know about and access child-friendly places in our city.

Celebrating! 🥳

 We recommend that you celebrate the publishing of your first edition CFC map in some way--be it large or small. A press release and communication through social media channels is a good start. We organized an event at the Jewish Community Center (JCC) where family-friendly organizations first set up table activities for kids to participate in. Afterwards, a popular singing duo performed a concert for kids. Hundreds attended and our local paper covered the event. The event created a wonderful opportunity to 1) bring awareness to our organization's mission in elevating youth voices and 2) celebrate the first edition of our map in a fun, meaningful way. Local businesses donated snacks and the JCC donated their space and resources. Whatever you decide to do, be sure to celebrate. You've invested your heart and energy into the project, and the community will recognize your accomplishment and want to support you. Children and their families are going to be overjoyed about the map's existence!