Rural Tourism Conference Program

2018
Rural
Tourism
Conference
October 22 – 24
GADSDEN,
ALABAMA
Hosted by:

Welcome to Gadsden & Etowah County!
We are so excited to be able to share the beauty of our city and county
with our friends in rural tourism from Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee!
The AL/MS/TN Rural Tourism Conference is always one of our favorite
conferences of the year, because of the people and the unique towns they
represent, and this year it comes to us. Yay!
Look forward to two good days of learning, networking, eating, drinking,
and having FUN in the Greater Gadsden Area!
— Hugh A. Stump III, Executive Director, Greater Gadsden Area Tourism
Monday – October 22, 2018
1:00 pm Board buses at Holiday Inn Express Gadsden
Noccalula Falls Park Tour
Optional Hike to Waterfall
View Public Art and Murals
4:00 pm Return to Holiday Inn Express
5:45 pm Board Buses to reception at Back Forty Beer Company
8:00 pm Return to Holiday Inn Express
Tuesday – October 23, 2018
8:15 am Board buses to Pitman Theatre – Downtown Gadsden
8:45-9:15 am Welcome
Mayor Sherman Guyton
Grey Brennan, Alabama Tourism Department
9:15–10:00 am “Reaching Millennials”
Neville Bhada, CEO, Tourism Skills Group
10–10:15 am Exhibitor Introduction
Who We Are and What We Do
Exhibitors (3 minutes each)
10:15–10:45 am Break
Visit Exhibitors’ Booths
10:45–11:30 am “Events – Recruiting and Retaining Volunteers”
Amy Doherty, Events Manager, City of Suwanee
2018 Alabama • Mississippi • Tennessee Rural Tourism Conference

11:30am–1:15 pm Lunch — Catered by Local Joes
1:15–2:00 pm “Team Building”
Dr. Bruce Pieper, CEO, Emerge2LEAD, LLC
2–2:15 pm STS Marketing College Experience — Tina Robbins
2:15–2:45 pm Break — Frios Gourmet Pops
Visit Exhibitors’ Booths
2:45–3:30 pm “Social Media Strategy”
Randa Simpson Hovater, Media Relations Manager, Visit Florence
3:30 pm Load buses to return to Holiday Inn
5:30 pm Load buses and depart Holiday Inn for downtown Gadsden
6–7:00 pm Reception at Gadsden Museum of Art
7:00 pm Dinner (on your own) in historic downtown Gadsden
8:30 pm Load buses to return to Holiday Inn
Wednesday – October 24, 2018
8:15 am Board buses to Pitman Theatre
8:45–9:30 am Downtown Gadsden/Main Street
Kay Moore, Executive Director, Downtown Gadsden, Inc.
9:30–10:15 am “Are Your Communications Half Closed or Half Open?”
Brian Blank, Director of Marketing, Kentucky Department
of Fish and Wildlife Resources
10:15–10:45 am Break
Visit Exhibitors’ Booths
Wine & Cheese Tasting
10:45–11:30 am “Agritourism Panel – Hitting the North Alabama Wine Trail”
Tami Brooks (moderator), Brooks Consulting Services
Janie Coppey, Owner, Wills Creek Winery
Becky Berta, Owner, Jules J. Berta Vineyards
Scott Lee, Owner, Maraella Winery
11:30–11:45 am Wrap-up
David Otto Legacy Award
11:45 am Wine Pull, Silent Auction
12:00 pm Adjournment – load buses back to Holiday Inn
almstnruraltourism.com • facebook.com/almstnruraltourism • greatergadsden.com

SPEAKERS 2018 Rural Tourism Conference
“Reaching Millenials”
Neville Bhada is the founder and CEO of Tourism Skills
Group, a company that focuses on strategic planning,
research and marketing needs of the travel and
tourism, and association industries. Find out more at
tourismskillsgroup.com
Neville Bhada
neville@tourismskillsgroup.com | 770-693-2988
“Events: Recruiting & Retaining Volunteers”
Amy Doherty
Amy Doherty is the events manager for the City of
Suwanee, Georga. Over ten years ago she started as a
part-time employee with 27 events. She now oversees
40 plus events a year. Under her leadership, Suwanee’s
events have won many awards and continue to grow
and diversify each season. Amy has spoken at Southeast
Festivals and Events Association one-day seminars and
annual conferences for several years. She also speaks
each year at the Southeastern Tourism Society’s Marketing
College where she is at TMP graduate addressing the
second year students on the Festivals and Events track.
adoherty@suwanee.com | 770-904-3387
“Team Building & Leadership”
Dr. Bruce Pieper
Dr. Bruce Pieper is a leadership speaker, trainer, and
consultant with Emerge2Lead. For over two decades,
he has provided customized teaching, training and
coaching for those in government, education, churches,
nonprofits, and business & industry. Find out more at
Emerge2Lead.com
Bruce@Emerge2Lead | 256-690-7309
“Social Media Strategy”
Randa Simpson Hovator is the Media Relations Manager
at Visit Florence. Prior to working with the Florence/
Lauderdale Tourism Bureau, Randa was the Relational
Marketing Specialist and Graphic Designer for a web
design firm in Birmingham.
Randa Simpson
Hovator
randa@visitflorenceal.com | 256-740-4141‬
2018 Alabama • Mississippi • Tennessee Rural Tourism Conference

2018 Rural Tourism Conference SPEAKERS
“Main Street: Where We Were, Where
We’re Going”
Kay Moore is the director of Downtown Gadsden Inc., a
nonprofit community partnership dedicated to fostering
the economic development of Downtown Gadsden
through a comprehensive process of revitalization
that seeks to protect, enhance and promote its
architecture and historical heritage. Find out more at
downtowngadsden.com
Kay Moore
kay@downtowngadsden.com | 256-547-8696
“Are Your Communications Half Closed
or Half Open?”
Brian Blank, is the Director of Marketing at the Kentucky
Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. Prior to that
he served as the member and marketing director for
the American Sport Fishing Association. Brian has a vast
amount of experience in social networking, community
based marketing, customer tracking, product evaluation,
and customer recruitment and retention.
Brian Blank
purepremium007@gmail.com | 301-606-6679
Tuesday Night Caterer Spotlight
Beautiful Rainbow
Catering Company
is a garden-to-table education program
for adolescents and young adults with
significant cognitive disabilities in the
Gadsden City Schools. The program
operates a cafe open to the public in
the Gadsden Public Library and an
organic garden growing vegetables
year-round. The students learn
academic and transition skills through
instruction in the cafe and garden.
Like us on Facebook @beautifulrainbowcatering
Follow us on Instagram @beautiful_rainbo
almstnruraltourism.com • facebook.com/almstnruraltourism • greatergadsden.com

SPEAKERS 2018 Rural Tourism Conference
“Hit The Trail, The North Alabama Wine Trail”
Tami Brooks is the owner of Brooks Consulting LLC and
Social Focus Marketing Solutions. She writes about
travel and destinations for several print publications and
publishes the travel blog, Tami’s Trippin’. You can find her
on Facebook and Instagram or visit Tamis-Trippin.com
Tami Brooks
tamaraebrooks@gmail.com | 256-557-9436
Jules J. Berta Vineyards
Becky Berta is the owner of the award-winning Jules J.
Berta Vineyards and the Tomato Tomato Pizza Club. She
is the label designer, accountant, marketing director,
website designer, and winemaker and is actively involved
in promoting the North Alabama Wine Trail.
Becky Berta
bertavineyards@hotmail.com | 256-891-5115
Wills Creek Vineyards & Winery
Janie Coppey
Janie Coppey is the co-owner of Wills Creek Vineyards
and Winery in Duck Springs, Alabama. Janie grew up in
Duck Springs on a dairy farm that is now the site of the
winery. Since 2001, she and her husband, Jahn, who grew
up working vineyards in the Rhône valley of Switzerland,
have been making varieties of muscadine wine, fruit wines,
vinifera wines and other specialties.
jrcoppey@aol.com | 256-538-5452
Maraella Winery
Established in 2005 by the Lee Family. Maraella Estate
Farm Vineyard & Winery is the realization of the dream of
a family wine business. We promise the embracement of
the principle to make fine wines. Wines of distinction that
represent the finest varietals.
Scott Lee
scott.lee@lst.com | 256-494-1000
2018 Alabama • Mississippi • Tennessee Rural Tourism Conference

N 6thSt
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S5thSt
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St
Court
N 4thSt
t
S4thSt
S4thSt
S3rdSt
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t
t
S2ndSt
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S1st
St
N 1st
Meighan Blvd
278
Meighan Blvd
431
431
200
Henry St
N 5th St
Locust St
329
N 3rd St
Locust St
N 2nd St
N 7th St
501
124
210
531 529 525 519
515
Broad St
546-A 538 532
504
Broad St
Broad St
Chestnut St
Chestnut St
Chestnut St
S 7th St
S 6th St
438
Short St
Downtown Gadsden Dining
Walnut St
Walnut St
Walnut St
S 6th St
Map not
to scale
200 N 6th Street • Gadsden
( 256-467-4912
Back Forty Beer Co. (200)
Coffee Bar (532)
532 Broad St. • Gadsden
( 256-459-5000
Bay St
Mu-Dear’s Kitchen
906 Forrest Ave • Gadsden
( 256-467-4037
Riverside Dr
Beautiful Rainbow Café
254 College St • Gadsden
( 256-549-4699
Frios Gourmet Pops (546-A)
546A Broad St • Gadsden
( 256-459-4946
Old Havana Cigar Co. (438)
438 Chestnut Street • Gadsden
( 256-444-7291
Blackstone’s Pub & Eatery (525)
525 Broad Street • Gadsden
( 256-543-7473
Gadsden Variety & Deli (422)
422 Broad Street • Gadsden
( 256-547-8871
Rock-N-Roll Sushi (504)
504 Broad Street • Gadsden
( 256-467-3225
Blu. Chop House (538)
538 Broad Street • Gadsden
( 256-438-5588
Gridiron Bar & Grill
201 South 3rd Street • Gadsden
( 256-546-7305
Sugar Moon (210)
210 Locust St • Gadsden
( 256-444-8020
Café 5 (501)
501 Broad Street • Gadsden
( 256-547-1066
Harp & Clover (124)
124 Court Street • Gadsden
( 256-467-4824
The Still
221 S 3rd Street • Gadsden
( 256-312-8764
Chestnut Station
410 Chestnut Street • Gadsden
( 256-546-4229
Jefferson’s (529)
529 Broad Street • Gadsden
( 256-546-4112
Tre Ragazzi’s Italian Café (519)
519 Broad Street • Gadsden
( 256-543-2726
The Choice (531)
531 Broad St • Gadsden
( 256-546-9055
Mater’s Pizza (329)
329 Locust Street • Gadsden
( 256-547-2556
(Map courtesy Downtown
Gadsden Incorporated)
almstnruraltourism.com • facebook.com/almstnruraltourism • greatergadsden.com

SPONSORS