Web videos will feature Hutchinson

Free advertising is difficult to turn down, and the Hutchinson City Council didn’t Tuesday.

The United States Conference of Mayors is working with a New York firm, CGI, to produce short promotional videos that can be reached from links on member cities’ Web sites. Hutchinson is one of only a handful of Minnesota cities chosen to be given the first opportunity to receive the service.

The service is free to the chosen cities, said Tom Kloss, Hutchinson’s technology director. Other Minnesota cities given the first opportunity to participate are Albert Lea, Coon Rapids, New Ulm, Robbinsdale, St. Louis Park and Stillwater.

The three-year contract approved by the council will provide the city with six 60-second to 90-second videos about Hutchinson. The videos can be on different topics, such as economic development and tourism opportunities. Visitors to the city’s Web site will be able click on a link to CGI’s Hutchinson videos.

CGI benefits by selling similar video advertisements to local businesses. Those ads, either static informational versions or videos, will surround the city’s videos.

(Terry Davis is a staff writer for the Hutchinson Leader. He can be reached at davis@hutchinsonleader.com.)