20 Years 20TH
!
Edition
in the Making
Kevin, Jolene & Brandon Kisilevich waiting for the Vegreville Country Fair Parade to begin. (2001)
By Caroline Barlott
It was 1996 and married couple, Kevin and Jolene Kisilevich were on the cusp of starting their own marketing business, The Marketer. Jolene was a graphic designer and Kevin was a marketing graduate. They had the skills to receive their first contract — creating the Vegreville Kinsmen Telephone Directory — but they didn't have an important piece of equipment. “We had no money back then, so I said to Kevin: “How are we even going to do this project? We don't even have a computer,” says Jolene. “And you know how we did it? We rented the program and we rented the computer until we could afford to buy one,” says Kevin with a confident laugh. Determination is a consistent theme for the couple, who have been dedicated to furthering tourism in the eastern part of the province for the last two decades. In the beginning, the young couple also ran Berryland, a u-pick strawberry farm, while growing grain and raising cattle. One year, more than 10 bus loads of tourists came to the farm. Agri-tourism was starting to gain traction in the province and people were curious to see how their food was being grown. But the Kisilevichs were interested in being part of tourism in a different way. In 1998, they were planning on developing a travel guide and came across a group getting into tourism. The group was called Kalyna Country, which became the name of the travel guide for many years. Running both the berry farm and the marketing business created a workload that was unsustainable so they had to make a decision. In 2005, the couple solely focused their attention on their growing marketing business, while raising two boys, Brandon and Cody.
“To put us in a regular job would be like putting a tiger in a cage,” says Kevin. Clearly, the freedom to be creative, innovative and flexible makes a big difference in what they do. Jolene and Kevin are also quick to point out that it's not just them working on the publication — for many years, team members, Wanda Magnan and Eugene Dmytriw, other tourism staff, local photographers, and several family members, have also helped them. Kevin and Jolene are motivated by the testimonials from readers and advertisers, who compliment the magazine, or say it’s made their business grow. Every year, people call and say the Go East Guide is the best travel guide in Alberta and suggest that the couple make one for West of Edmonton. Kevin chuckles and says, “Thanks, but our hands are full right now.” Travel has always been the couple’s passion, and they have a long history of travelling in their area. They started travelling close to home shortly after they got married, spending a lot of time camping at area lakes and campgrounds. Over time, they graduated from a tent trailer to an RV trailer and now have their own campsite at Bear Ridge Campground north of Myrnam, along the North Saskatchewan River.
Jolene and her dad, Victor Didechko with Brandon golfing at the Wainwright Golf Club. (2008)
In 2012, major changes happened, and the Go East Regional Tourism Organization (Go East RTO) was formed and became the umbrella organization for tourism in the region. Kevin and Jolene developed the brand (Go East of Edmonton), and launched it with the 2013 travel guide issue. The launch was a great success as was the name change. It was called “awesome” by readers and advertisers alike. Kevin and Jolene look at its production like a way of life rather than just a job; the work requires a large amount of commitment. It means constantly keeping updated with what is happening in the region, promoting events and attractions weekly, travelling to visit each of the places that are featured in the Go East of Edmonton Travel Guide, and using social media on a daily basis including weekends. Every year, Kevin and Jolene have to contact over 50 communities and hundreds of businesses to collect all of the information for the magazine. It takes six months with staff to put this magazine together, and that 2
means a solid month, prior to printing, of Jolene and Kevin working evenings and weekends and plenty of overtime with multiple edits and proofs of each page. In the early years, files could not be sent by email so the couple would drive them in for printing or proofing at the printing press. They have experienced snow falls so intense that they couldn't leave the farm and temperatures cold enough to freeze their pipes; but they have always delivered the magazine on time for spring. “People ask us why do we work so hard, why don't we just get a nine to five job? says Jolene. “We are wired differently, it’s like we were meant to do this.”
In more recent years, the couple have extended their research into the United States – all on road trips. While on their travels, they collect travel guides and have found great ideas south of the border
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