Adaptations of the Program

The notion of using the “secret shopper” approach to evaluating communities has gotten a number of people excited about using this same approach in other settings. Others have chosen to make modifications to the program for use with their own communities.

First Impressions of the U.W. Extension Office – Andy Lewis (2002)  (html web-page version only)

• Community Programs
  • Community Assistance Teams: Increasing Community Readiness for Recruitment of Health Care Providers – Dr. Ken Shannon (shannonk@rcbhsc.wvu.edu), Dept. of Family Medicine, Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center, Morgantown, WV
  • Community Connections: A First Impressions Program for Campuses – Steve Kohlstedt, U.W.-Extension Community Educator & James Schneider, Blue Chip Consulting, modified the program to utilize students to evaluate the U.W. campuses at Richland Center & Platteville. Results were shared with the campus in a Powerpoint format.
  • Community Swap, University of Illinois Extension
  • Designing the Future, Deptment of Design, Housing, and Apparel, college of Design, Univesity of Minnesota, Sherri Gahring
  • Downtowns: Kenosha, Wisconsin & Joliet, Illinois
  • First Impressions Community Exchange,  Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Ontario, Canada (The program has been used by over 150 communities in Ontario since it was first shared in 2005).
  • First Impressions Saskatchewan,  Saskatchewan Economic Development Association (SEDA), Saskatchewan, Canada
  • Ministry of Agrictulture and Rural Development, Alberta, Canada. See their YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-5WQ7lbsFY
  • Community First Impressions, West Virginia University Extension;
    • Tourism First Impressions, West Virginia University Extension
  • First Impressions, Ohio State University Extension

Source: Woodworking at Price County Fair, WI 2008 Exchange Team

• County Fair Programs
  • Word Version of Fair Impressions (1993)
  • Adobe Acrobat Version of Fair Impressions (1993)
  • Revised Word Versions of Fair Impressions (2008)
    • Price County Fair Impressions Report (2008)

• Resort Programs
  • Resort Impressions Manual: Guidelines for Using the First Impressions Program for the Tourism Industry (1997) (Adobe Acrobat pdf file version only)
    • Final Report for Burnett and Washburn Counties (Adobe Acrobat pdf file version only)

• Heritage Tourism Sites Programs
  • Word Version for Heritage Tourism Sites (1995)
  • Word Version for Heritage Tourism Sites (1995)
    • Final Report for Iron County, WI Heritage Tourism Region (1995)

• State Park Programs
  • Word Version of Park Impressions (1995)
  • Adobe Acrobat Version of Park Impressions (1995)