ED-Central


In This Issue


- Invite Travel Writers and Agents for a Visit
- Move Beyond Clean-Up to Beautify Your Town




The Texas Engineering Extension Service (TEEX), in collaboration with AdventGX Corporation, has developed the Rural Economic and Tourism Development Seminar and is now seeking communities to host the events. The seminar features faculty experts in regional marketing, strategy development and tourism development and is designed to include custom activities that feature the events, attractions and experiences that distinguish the host community and region.

Invite Travel Writers and Agents for a Visit

It’s common practice among large cities and destinations to host events and tours for site selection consultants who help big businesses and associations choose where to hold their next major conference. These events are generally offered at deep discounts or even free in an effort to bring conferences. A similar concept can be applied to small communities and regions by inviting travel writers and agents to visit and get to know about the great offerings. By targeting the people who write about and sell travel to the masses, you’ll open up great opportunities for publicity and promotion and provide them with some fresh ideas. Partner with local attractions and nearby communities to put together a local or regional familiarization tour (known as a FAM tour) and consider seeking guidance from travel writers and travel agents professional associations like the North American Travel Journalists Association and the American Society of Travel Agents.

Move Beyond Clean-Up to Beautify Your Town

To motivate your community to get behind your annual spring clean up effort, consider moving beyond clean-up to a beautification effort. Cleaning is a part of the beautification effort and it has to be done, but if you focus on or extend your plans to include beautifying – planting plants and flowers, painting buildings, installing benches, etc. you may find more people show up to help. It’s more fun to decorate than it is to clean; more rewarding to plant flowers than to pull weeds. Even though it all has to be done, you may find that by including or emphasizing the more satisfying aspects of your effort there are more people there to help get the work done.

Developed for elected officials, community leaders and executives, the Rural Economic and Tourism Development Seminar is both an educational seminar and a planning workshop, designed to provide leaders with the opportunity to network with colleagues from neighboring communities and counties and identify opportunities for collaboration and cooperation that will benefit and encourage regional economic development.

Host communities will establish themselves as the regional hub for economic development and educational seminars and will have the opportunity to showcase their economic and tourism assets. The host community will be featured in all media announcements before, during and following the event. The host community will be asked to cover a portion of the costs associated with the development and production of the seminar.

Benefits to Host Communities

- Showcased to statewide, national and international audiences

- Positioned as the location of choice for future seminars, conferences and workshops

- Positioned as a leader in regional economic development

- Featured in an article in ED-Central, the monthly e-newsletter and library of economic development best practices distributed throughout Texas, the U.S. and internationally

- Featured in press releases, marketing materials and on the conference web site before, during and after the seminar

- Overnight stays and local dollars spent by seminar participants during the event

Responsibilities of Host Communities - Contribute $20,000 in cash, in-kind services and/or corporate sponsorships (in-kind services may include but are not limited to: seminar venue, catered meals, sponsored events and activities; sponsorships must be secured by the host community)

- Provide local on-site seminar coordinator to work with TEEX event manager

- Distribute letters of invitation from local leadership to leadership of other communities and counties in the region

TEEX/AdventGX Responsibilities

- Develop seminar curriculum customized to the host region and community

- Coordinate with local on-site seminar coordinator to select featured activities

- Faculty recruitment

- Pay faculty fees and expenses

- Seminar promotion, registration, logistics

- Seminar materials development and production

To learn more about becoming a host community for the Rural Economic and Tourism Development Seminar, please contact ED-Central at info@ED-Central.com and request instructions for submitting a proposal. For more information about the seminar format and faculty, visit http://www.ed-central.com/retds/ .