ALAMOSA — Now that the San Luis Valley has a brand it’s time to figure out how to best utilize it. The brand, which was chosen by the public in April, is only the first phase of Valley Initiative Partners’ (VIP) “Blueprint 2.0” plan.

A portion of VIP, which is an ad-hoc group of diverse Valley residents, met Thursday for the first time since April to discuss the next steps.

“You adopt a logo because it’s a doable task,” said Adams State University History Department Chair and VIP Chair Ed Crowther, “and then it becomes the trademark for the much more important process: the marketing plan.”

Rather than have the entire VIP group work on the plan, they decided to have a five-to-eight person subcommittee of experts. The subcommittee will work on a survey to collect data for the marketing plan and then report back to VIP.

In order to make the plan as inclusive to the Valley as possible, members discussed that it should go to people involved with every government and industry in the area and use maps to track results.

“Everyone’s going to have input into the marketing plan because it will be very data driven,” said ASU Assistant Marketing Professor and Alamosa City Councilor Liz Thomas Hensley.

San Luis Valley Rural Electric Cooperative Marketing and Economic Development Coordinator Andrea Oaks-Jaramillo was enthusiastic about the idea.

“Having that visual to see if we’re covering the areas not only geographically but also the intended targets of those areas is really going to help us focus and get the research that we need,” Oaks-Jaramillo said.

Rather than just be a simple paper questionnaire the survey will have multiple forms, such as phone calls, to better ensure a 100 percent response rate. Survey takers will also be encouraged to forward it to others to fill possible gaps in the data.

“I’m not going to say we won’t miss somebody, but it won’t be out of lack of effort,” said Thomas Hensley.

The committee will consist of City of Alamosa Executive Administrative Assistant Jolene Webb, ASU Assistant Marketing Professor and Alamosa City Councilor Liz Thomas Hensley, San Luis Valley Rural Electric Cooperative Marketing and Economic Development Coordinator Andrea Oaks-Jaramillo, ASU Title V Graduate Assistant Azarel Madrigal, Valley Courier Publisher Keith Cerny, Valley Publishing Publisher Jennifer Alonzo, SLV Museum Association President Kat Olance and Colorado Gator Farm owner Jay Young.

The next VIP meeting is Aug. 7 at 11 a.m. in the ASU Student Union Building.