MANITOULIN—The free map of Manitoulin Island produced by The Manitoulin Expositor proved so popular that the first printing of 15,000 copies flew out the door with alarming speed—so much so that folks here decided a second printed was definitely called for.
“No, I wasn’t,” said Manitoulin Publishing Co. president and Expositor editor Alicia McCutcheon when asked if she was surprised by the popularity of the new map. “We had been hearing from all quarters that there was a definite need for such a map, so we decided it was a project that we should take on.”
Although there are plenty of maps of the Island around, putting one together for Manitoulin that is contemporary and gives a nod to tradition had its own challenges. The map was designed by Dick Maloney and the Expositor’s own production manager Dave Patterson, who noted that some names have changed over the years and others provide their own challenges.
“There was one destination called Eagle’s Nest which was problematic,” said Mr. Patterson. “We had to take it off because so many visitors were going down the road and looking for an actual eagle’s nest. It was surprising, some days there would be 20 people down there looking for the eagle’s nest.”
Other roads have seen their names change in the years between the printing of various maps of the region. “We tried to make it as up-to-date and accurate as possible,” said Mr. Patterson, “but we have had a couple of calls from people pointing out where they believe we have gone off the path.” Those minor adjustments, once verified, will be incorporated into the next edition.
The Manitoulin Expositor map is free of charge, but because of the high demand the paper has had to put some restrictions on the number being given out. Resorts and other businesses were given a few pads of 50 from the first printing, while individuals were limited to single maps.
“We went through the first batch in the first week,” said Joyce O’Connor of Red Lodge who dropped by to pick up more from the second printing. “I saw that the new batch was in and thought we better get down here to get some while they last,” she laughed.
For any publication, a printing of 30,000 is pretty impressive. But why is there no advertising or cost to the map?
“We thought we would just make it part of our contribution to Manitoulin tourism,” said Ms. McCutcheon. “We produce 57,000 copies of ‘This is Manitoulin’ that are distributed through locations across the province every spring. It has been in existence since the 1960s. We also have ‘Manitoulin’s Magazine,’ with a circulation of 30,000.
“We distribute ‘Manitoulin’s Magazine’ locally and it is very popular,” Mr. Patterson added. “We have the same map printed inside ‘Manitoulin’s Magazine’ as well.”
Both ‘This is Manitoulin’ and ‘Manitoulin Magazine’ are also “free,” but are financed through paid advertising from local businesses, tourism operators and municipalities. Years of experience and a professional design team have helped make those two publications become highly successful avenues for advertisers and local event organizers to get their message out.
“We decided that putting advertising on the map would have cluttered it up quite a bit and we would have had to sacrifice information that would have been useful for visitors to have,” said Ms. McCutcheon. “The map was important enough that we decided to go ahead with it as our contribution. A rising tide raises all boats, so when our clients prosper, we do too. It is important to everyone that tourism on Manitoulin thrives.”
