Main Street Kent Announces Video Contest

is sponsoring a video contest to show why downtown Kent is a fun place to visit.

Submissions are encouraged to include footage of shops and restaurants from downtown. They should also incorporate the Main Street Kent slogan, "Everyone's downtown," as well as the Main Street Kent logo, which is available here.

Each submission should be no more than three minutes in length. Videos should be posted on the Main Street Kent Facebook page by Sept. 30 in order to be entered into the contest.

The contest is part of a larger advertising campaign to bring people downtown, said , co-president of Main Street Kent.

"We just felt like having a video that was exciting, and hopefully a little viral in the end, would be a way to kind of promote our downtown as a great place to shop, eat, play and come to," she said. 

The prize for the first place video is $500, and runner-up prizes may be awarded in the amount of $50.

"Our hope is that we can use more than one of them, but we're really looking for something creative to showcase what Kent has to offer," said , marketing and promotions coordinator for Main Street Kent.

The board members of Main Street Kent will judge the submissions, and the criteria for a winning video is open-ended.

"I didn't want to pigeon-hole anyone in because I wanted to see what kind of exciting ideas people came up with," Sahr said.

Malarcik said she hopes to see something "funky."

"I would like to see some people really kind of think outside the box and really come up with something that shows how cool Kent is but not in just a traditional way," she said.

The winning video or videos will be used on the Main Street Kent website, but they may also appear on a YouTube channel, in other online marketing or as a TV spot. 

"I really hope we can get some strong video that we can use for at least a year or so," Sahr said. "I'm hoping that we can use it as part of our advertising plan for the downtown Kent area."