At the NEK Collaborative Summit the following items were selected from a list of action steps to be completed as a “priority” in their respective economic areas:
Tourism:
- Enhance internal organization of tourism related businesses and organizations to include NEKTTA and the Chambers.
- Establish a method to capture data from tourism businesses to help validate and/or establish the value of tourism to the region and individual communities.
- Identify the key target markets for the NEK
- Identify a clear brand identity for the region and eliminate the projection of multiple messages, etc through marketing.
- Engage in action to further the development of the hospitality workforce in the region.
At this time I am asking any individuals who would like to assist me in the efforts to either plan or execute this work in the months ahead to email me directly at: Director@travelthekingdom.com. You may wish to be involved to consult or you may wish to be involved to help take action – either way participation is as valuable as it is appreciated.
The photo on the masthead of our web site was produced by one of the earlier LSC students to work on our web site from photos I took at the Collaborative’s Education Forum. The forum was one of the early ones in a year-long series held primarily in 2009.
The masthead includes two photos spliced together. The person sitting on the left side of the table at the meeting appears in the masthead under “Northeast.” She is looking to her left. Those on the right side of the table, looking to their right, are in the middle of the masthead.
The overall photo could be said to be of two not-quite-equal-sized groups, focused in differing directions. I stay involved in this organization to help open channels of communication across those divides.
Who can add & edit Blog’s contents?
Any current procedures are not set in stone. This organization is attempting to create some channels for communication among residents and others with an interest in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom. You are reading one post on the main web site’s blog.
There is also a Forum area, where discussions can be better organized by topic and question/thread. We are new to setting up accounts and granting permissions, so pardons if we stumble a bit getting things in place. Accounts and access levels apply to both the Forum and Blog. We believe these channels could be a productive way to talk about influences in our lives. I (Sigurd) see these as a way to hold a region-wide, onging, virtual “town meeting.”
As I write in past-mid March, you can submit material to me and/or Gloria Bruce (also a board member) to have content approved. Once you’ve had something approved, we’ll look at giving you “author” privileges, meaning you could add and edit your own postings directly, whenever you wish.
If there are “techies” or others out there who’d like to contribute towards making these tools more useful, please get in touch. So far, we’ve had minimal funding and the efforts of volunteers to get as far as we have.
Signed, Sigurd Andersen
