Carson City man starts crowd sourcing page to help promote USA Today reader poll

A longtime local man who recently developed a Facebook page for sharing Carson City photos wants to kick it up a notch with a USA Today poll running now that is asking readers to pick the 10 best travel worthy state capitals to visit.

Joe Reinbolt of Carson City has developed a crowd sourcing page where people can contribute money to spread the word in social media about the USA Today poll that runs now through Jan. 5. Half the money collected from his Go Fund Me page will be spent on promoting the campaign and the other half of any contribution goes to the Make a Wish Foundation, he said. All contributions will be posted and made public on his community Facebook page here.

“Winning this poll means hometown pride, national prestige and certainly major tourism dollars. Together we can win this campaign and show the world what we’ve always known, that Carson City is No. 1,” he said in a news release.

Now through Jan. 5, 2015, readers can pick their favorite state capital city destination by casting a vote. Each week USA Today online asks readers to help pick the "10 Best" in a single category which can range from food, lodging and destinations to travel gear and things to do. Travel experts select the 20 top nominees and then readers like you make the final selections.

Go here to vote.

The news release from Reinbolt is below.

Long time Carson City resident Joe Reinbolt has created a new community Facebook page at www.facebook.com/carsoncitypix. He created the page to promote Carson City and surrounding areas, and to advocate for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Since the page was created on November 7th, 2014 it has received over 500 likes and over 50,000 photo views.

“I lived in Carson City my whole life except for the 5 years I worked in Walt Disney World (1999-2004). As a pool bartender, I met and interacted with many Make A Wish Kids. My experience profoundly endeared me to the “Make-A Wish” cause. After returning home on Nevada Day, 2004, I had a heightened sense of appreciation for Carson City and her amazing back yard. I’ve hiked and walked over 25,000 miles in the last 10 years and took many thousands of photos.

As I was nearing my 10th anniversary of returning home, I began the enormous task of organizing my massive photo hoard. While I am not a professional photographer, I did come across many gems that I felt needed to be shared. Carson City Pix was born.”

Last week I became aware of the USA Today nationwide month long poll looking for the best travel-worthy state capital. We were in third place the first time I voted. I decided that was not good enough and realized I could employ my online and social marketing skills acquired during my 8 year tenure as the technology manager for Carson Lanes to boost our ranking. By the next day Carson City was in first place. I believe this ignited a fire under our neighbors to the north, Boise Idaho, and by the next day they had taken the coveted top position.

I decided that with some community support, I could again return us to the top. I created a “Promote the Vote” donation page at http://www.gofundme.com/itab98. Suggested donation is $5 for individuals and $25 for businesses. Half of the net proceeds will be used to fund online marketing activities to promote the vote, and the other 50 percent will be donated to our area Make-A-Wish Kids. All receipts will be posted on www.facebook.com/carsoncitypix. I’m donating my efforts as a “Labor of Love.”

“Winning this poll means hometown pride, national prestige and certainly major tourism dollars. Together we can win this campaign and show the world what we’ve always known, that Carson City is #1!!”

The USA Today is conducting a nationwide month long poll looking for the best travel-worthy state capital. Voters can vote once per day until January 5th, 2015. Carson City is one of 20 nominees picked by the editors and is currently in third place behind Boise, Idaho and Juneau, Alaska. No signups or email addresses are required to vote. This is the link to vote: http://www.10best.com/awards/travel/best-travel-worthy-state-capital/.