Like any town, Camp Verde can feel small, like you’ve seen everything it has to offer.
Yet there’s only so far your feet and your eyes can lead you. At the intersection of community and technology, town officials are hoping to provide an opportunity to discover Camp Verde’s known and not-so-known assets.
“We’re the first city or town in the Verde Valley to have one,” Camp Verde Economic Development Director Steve Ayers said of the just-launched Visit Camp Verde app. “It’s patterned right after the visitcampverde.com website and accessible there.”
The process of accessing this technology is simple. Just follow these instructions:
- Pull out your smartphone or tablet.
- For Android devices, access the Google Play site. For iOS devices, visit the Apple App Store.
- Search “visitcampverde.”
- Download the app to your device.
- Or, perhaps even simpler, you may click on the link at the bottom of the visitcampverde.com site.
With access to the app, users are able to find and interface with town and surrounding area attractions, including heritage and archaeology sites, outdoor opportunities, curiosities, events, shopping, dining and lodging options.
“What was really nice is that the app was developed in partnership with the Verde Valley Archaeology Center” Ayers said, adding that VVAC Executive Director Ken Zoll made short work of the app for the town. “He finished it up last week and we couldn’t be happier.”
It cost a couple thousand dollars — “which is absolutely a steal when it comes to an app,” Ayers said. “We were just fortunate to have someone like Ken around to help us …. It shows why these partnerships are so important to us.”
According to Ayers, Zoll will be available to update the app as developments and events occur.
The development marks a moment when Camp Verde becomes more tech-savvy about conveying information — a shift toward not only using technology such as apps to attract interest in the town but to show how open municipal government can be.
“Town Manager Russ Martin is committed to this whole idea of transparent government,” Ayers said. “It’s not just about apps. We’ll be delving more into social media in the near future. There’s great technology out there for us to use.”
