A videographer from a Rochester, N.Y., firm spent three days recently with Altoona officials shooting a promotional package to enhance the city's Web site.
The "community video showcase" created by CGI Communications Inc. will appear in November or December, featuring a welcome message and other video segments illustrating quality of life, education, business and industry, economic development, railroad heritage, health care, arts and entertainment, and parks and recreation in the city.
The free video package will show what Altoona has to offer to prospective visitors and those who would consider moving here.
CGI makes money from sponsor organizations, which work to create ad videos accessible to viewers who click showcase topics connected with the organization's mission.
The Altoona Area School District will help sponsor the education segment.
"We felt we can't afford not to," district spokesman Tom Bradley said.
Some competing school organizations may have a presence on the showcase, and the district wants more than the "few seconds" it will get as part of the city's educational segment, Bradley said.
He envisions the district's sponsor video highlighting curricular offerings such as advanced placement English, extra-curricular activities such as the marching band and facilities such as Mansion Park, the fieldhouse and the new junior high school.
The clip could help sway families moving to the area to buy a home in the district, rather than a nearby district such as Hollidaysburg, he said.
It also could help to convince parents to send their kids to Altoona, when they might otherwise send them to private school - especially parents moving from a big city whose public schools could have a poor reputation for academics and safety, he said.
The district can send the clip directly to inquiring families to complement its usual print packet.
The two-year sponsorship will cost the district $4,700, Bradley said.
Justin Freeman, the videographer who shot the city package, spent more than an hour Wednesday at Altoona Regional Health System, Altoona Hospital Campus, shooting footage for the health care segment. Freeman even got on top of the hospital tower to collect footage for the welcome segment.
It was worth the half-hour wait for a security escort, he said.
From 14 stories up, he shot several angles, getting mountains, neighborhood housing patterns, downtown buildings, landmarks such as Gospel Hill and features including rail lines and highways.
He said it provided him an opportunity to set the scene and give viewers a general idea of the regional terrain and how the city lies within it.
The Pennsylvania League of Cities and Municipalities recommended the video showcase to city officials.
"It's almost like a visitor's bureau Web site," said Jean Pugh, director of group business programs for the league.
CGI updates the showcases periodically and has begun to incorporate live streaming video, she said.
About 85 communities in Pennsylvania have them or are developing them, including Johnstown, Allentown, Bethlehem and Wilkes-Barre, she said.
Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 949-7038.
