WESTFIELD — Nina Prenosil recently fell back in love with her hometown.
The recent University of Massachusetts Amherst graduate created @DiscoverWestfield on Instagram out of boredom over the summer.
The account, which is dedicated to exploring and rediscovering businesses and events in Westfield, has amassed over 1,000 followers and Prenosil earns revenue for some of her posts.
She hopes that the account will help other people fall in love with the city too.
“I think a lot of people give Westfield a lot of flak,” she told me in a recent interview at Café Zernó on Elm Street, one of the businesses she’s featured on her page. “I feel like people should give it a second chance. That’s what I did.”
Westfield is home to nearly 41,000 people, according to the U.S. Census. It’s also a college town — or a “mini Amherst,” Prenosil described. Students make up about 10% of the community.
“I think we have a nice little downtown. It has (the) potential to be even better,” she said.
Prenosil said growing up she had a “more negative outlook” on Westfield. “I think that’s a common trend,” she said. After college, Prenosil moved home.
“I relearned my appreciation for Westfield,” she said. “I … got to take the time to sit down and look at how much there is to offer.”
Westfield’s downtown can be broken up into two pieces, she explained. Elm Street is the city’s hub for local mom- and-pop shops. Perpendicular, East Main Street is all about big, commercialized businesses, she said.
Eight months have passed since Prenosil launched the Instagram account. Her posts include summertime events in the city, new cafés and restaurants and small business shoutouts.
She also tries to keep her followers engaged with her posts of local pets and giveaways. At the beginning of the year, when the account hit 1,000 followers, Prenosil partnered with Circuit Coffee, a coffee roaster and specialty coffee shop on Elm Street. The winner received a $30 gift card to the cafe.
Prenosil has a background in journalism and public relations, and she learned how to do social media marketing and outreach while at UMass Amherst.
In addition to the roughly five to 10 hours she spends a week on developing posts for the Instagram account, Prenosil works a full-time job as the undergraduate research conference coordinator and events assistant at the honors college at her alma mater. She also has an unpaid intern, whom she brought on at the start of the new year.
The 23-year-old said she’s heard a lot of positive feedback from followers and from close friends and family.
“Seeing engagement from users has been so nice to see, because people are like, ‘Wow, I didn’t know about this spot, and I checked it out because of this account,’” she said. “That really … is motivating, and makes me realize, it’s making a difference in (a) way.”
Prenosil’s goal this year is growth. She wants the page to reach 3,000 followers, and she wants to develop a more formalized approach for reaching out to businesses.
“I’m dreaming big,” she said.
