Philip Spensley, Chair of the Northfield Arts and Culture Commission, discusses increasing access of visitor-generating organizations to tourism promotion resources while Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Kathy Feldbrugge jots down some thoughts at yesterday’s tourism discussion. Also attending the meeting were Michelle Egeness of the Convention and Visitors Bureau, Victor Summa of the Economic Development Authority, Ross Currier of the NDDC, and Hayes Scriven of the Northfield Historical Society.

The meeting grew out of an NDDC Monthly Forum that focused on tourism. After hearing about the experiences and accomplishments of the Chamber, the CVB, the Defeat of Jesse James Days Committee and the Historical Society, audience members encouraged the groups to seek and exploit more opportunities for collaboration.

Topics discussed included The Message and supporting themes, target markets and prepared packages, leveraging lodging from existing assets, and constantly and consistently coordinating calendars. Of particular interest to me was the brainstorming of tourism assets; we quickly moved from the familiar to the completely unexpected.

Everyone seemed energized for the session and we all came out of it with action steps. I do believe that Hayes offered to host the next one.