SPEAKER_00 0:00

Brown County didn't become one of Indiana's most visited communities by accident. It was on purpose. Today we're going to talk about what it takes to build a four season demand in a one-season town. It's going to be exciting. This is WePlural Community on Purpose. Well, good morning, friends, and welcome back to WePlural Community on Purpose. And I am so excited for today's interviews. I have two gentlemen here with us at the beautiful Brown County Visitors Center who are so qualified to talk about tourism and all the nuances about tourism. And so I'm excited to get into this conversation, gentlemen. This is Matt Rust and Brian Tadlock. And Matt, start off by just introducing yourself and give us a little bit about your background and your love for tourism.

SPEAKER_02 1:02

So uh thank you, Lisa. Thanks for uh being here. And and uh I um uh I'm the executive director for uh tourism here in uh Brown County, Nashville, Indiana, and uh the Brown County Convention and Visitors Bureau. Uh I uh came from Anderson about a year ago in 2025 and uh did uh tourism in Madison County for about five years, and uh before that worked in uh radio and communications and broadcasting over the years, and then uh found myself uh in tourism after I left uh radio there in Anderson and Madison County. And um, so uh yeah, I did radio and and uh broadcasting for uh 16 years at Anderson University, part of uh WQME, uh the radio station there at uh AU. Before that, worked in uh radio in Indianapolis, worked for a recording studio at one point, started at Q95 uh right out of college.

SPEAKER_00 2:03

Everybody knows Q95, the infamous Bob and those were some great, great years and some great memories.

SPEAKER_02 2:10

And uh um, but yeah, in fact, at least I know you're gonna share about this, but that's how we met was years ago. I mean, that's probably been what 15?

SPEAKER_00 2:21

Uh you know how fast time goes, but it might even be 20.

SPEAKER_02 2:24

15, 20 years ago that we that we met, and here we are today in Brown County together.

SPEAKER_00 2:30

So I love it. We've come full circle.

SPEAKER_02 2:33

Yes, we have.

SPEAKER_00 2:34

All right. Well, thanks for being here, Matt. Thank you. Thanks. And Brian, you have a diverse background, a man of many, many hats, and realized that we both got to Brown County about 10 years ago, full time. So I didn't realize you had been here that long, but you're so busy, that's probably why I haven't seen you. Maybe just flashes of you running around the town doing all the things you do. But share with us a little bit about how you engage with this community.

SPEAKER_01 3:00

Well, sure, and and welcome, Lisa, and and we're so excited to have you here uh to do this. And um, as you mentioned, I've have been here the last uh 10 years in Brown County, um business owner, community volunteer, and uh just so pleased for the last two years to be the chairman of the Brown County Convention and Visitors Bureau and uh helping to uh uh with Matt and what he does on a daily basis. But uh so most importantly of all, um spending the last uh I would say past few years and uh months uh helping to shape how we uh as a tourism industry are giving back to the community. And I think that that is the most important thing that we're doing right now. Um so I'm really, really excited to be able to talk about that with you today.

SPEAKER_00 3:54

Yeah, thank you so much. I loved one thing you said, and and for you guys at out there, I send a guest prep questionnaire out for all the guests to kind of send information back to me before we sit down. But I loved how you talked about volunteer governance. That was the first time I'd really kind of heard that term in that way. And what I've come to realize about Brown County, that's one of the ways it's unique, is all the volunteerism and that happens here. It is it's incredible. And so thank you for your leadership on the board. And what would you have people know about the board that supports Matt and the staff here at the visitor center that maybe even our own residents don't know about what goes on and the importance of it and that volunteer governance? Could you speak to that?

SPEAKER_01 4:50

Sure. I think the most important thing that we do on a daily basis is provide the overall strategic view of tourism within Brown County, how we market it, how we utilize analytics and data to say this is the best place for our dollars to go. And uh the board itself is such a diverse group of business owners, residents, and uh tourism stakeholders uh that we have throughout the entire county. And those diverse backgrounds really allow us to shape how we're best reinvesting the dollars back into the community. But I think one of the most recent things that I've discovered as we have gone through the volunteer governance piece is how messy sometimes that collaborative piece can go. Um, we have over a hundred different nonprofits here in Brown County, um, all with their own boards, diverse opinions, diverse ideas. And, you know, sometimes when you try to bring something new and different to them, you can hit some roadblocks. But that's why it's just so important to be able to have the ability to go in and talk with them and get to know them. And I think that that has really fostered some great relationships as we have been able to kind of reach out back to the community and say, this is really what we have the capacity to provide you with, and helping you not only with your business, but other nonprofits in the community as well. Um, and really kind of making them and allowing them to see what the power of tourism can do.

SPEAKER_02 6:34

And that's something that may that's something new to them too. They're not used to someone reaching out. So, you know, us, the CVB reaching out. Uh, maybe it was there at some point in the past and and now it's back. And so they're sometimes they're a little surprised. Well, you know, who are you and how much is this going to cost, you know, going to cost me?

SPEAKER_00 6:53

That's the first question. Yeah. Yeah. Or what you're seeing resonate on their face as you walk through the door. And I have seen you out and about in the community, Matt. And that is so refreshing. And so I'm sure it, you know, as we go through seasons and stages and changes that people are uh maybe a little reticent at first, but I know that you quickly win them over because you have that winning some personality. And I was so glad you got hired. And I know that was a lengthy process to bring you here as uh just life circumstances and circumstances for our county, but what did you see in Brown County that made you interested in becoming a resident and uh work here?

SPEAKER_02 7:36

So uh I uh visited Brown County as a child, as a kid growing up. Um, I know in your questions that you sent us, uh, you know, one of the things I shared was uh I grew up on a farm all my life, loved that. Uh we raised pumpkins in the fall. We did that for 50 years. It was kind of my mom's project, and and my dad continued that on uh after uh we lost my my mom. And and so yeah, 50 years is that's a long time. And and so kind of the reward when we were done selling the pumpkins is we would come and visit Nashville and Brown County for two or three days and with my mom and my aunt. And I remember so many memories doing that as a child. And uh so that's kind of how it started uh coming to Brown County. And then uh when I met my wife Melissa, her family had a tradition of coming every summer to stay and uh at the state park in one of the family cabins, and so had had that connection again with with Melissa, and so within our family, you know. So, and and I hear this story. It's it's a story that's repeated by so many that come and and visit vacation here, and then they may eventually retire here and and live here. So they they visit and they love it so much that they want to come and live here, and that that's that's huge for a community. When you can draw people to visit, but when you can draw them to come and and live here, uh that's that's amazing. So uh, but yeah, that's uh kind of how my Brown County story started was coming as a child and then getting married with my wife and and now uh with work and and we live here.

SPEAKER_00 9:20

So and that's really all three of our stories.

SPEAKER_02 9:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:23

When we when we boil it down, because we've been here full time 10 years, you've been here full time 10 years. So um what do you guys hear is like the impression? What do people feel when they come to Brown County? What contributes to our uniqueness? Because we are unique.

SPEAKER_01 9:42

Very, very yeah. I think it's just quite easily just to be an hour north of here and see flat land and then come down here to this. Shocking and yes, the stunning vistas, the overlooks, the cliffs, the ravines, all those things that all of us who live here now take for granted is magical for someone who comes here once a year who lives in the suburbs of Marion County. So I think that that is the biggest thing that you hear from everyone is a chance for them to get out and hike and unplug, unwind. It's all those great taglines that you hear, but people are really experiencing them in real time when they come here.

SPEAKER_00 10:27

Yeah. Love that. And you know, my heart uh for the Chris Kindle market that we do in December that you guys have supported was to create reasons for people to come back. So, how do we do that uh as as a community? How do we um get past our leaves? Because we have a lot of leave viewers.

SPEAKER_01 10:49

So are you saying that fall is important, Lisa?

SPEAKER_00 10:52

Fall is critical, you all, to this community. So come on down and join the massive crowds. It's really fun. But we do that event in December. And so, what's the vision to make people understand that this county is beautiful year-round. Year-round four seasons. I love hiking at the state park in the winter. It's it's a whole different experience than in the summer. And then I don't also have to worry about any those guys. So, um, which I've never seen, by the way, but I know they're there ready to torture.

SPEAKER_02 11:27

They're hibernating in the winter.

SPEAKER_00 11:28

They're hibernating in the winter, which is why I love it. I feel so free. But so, what is our how do we go about planning for the future to to have more year-round offerings to to help people understand that we really are viable in all four seasons?

SPEAKER_01 11:45

I think it's critical while people are here for their usual once-a-year visit that we as a bureau take into account that there are activities and events going on through all four seasons because they do, I mean, they happen. Right. Um, you know, a winter hiking series and biking events. In November, we do the hilly half. I mean, so there are things going on throughout those different seasons, and we've got to do, it's gotta, it has to be a critical part of our mission to be able to promote those events for our businesses. Um, I think there's a lot of times that we get so caught up in overnight visitation that we don't sometimes see that our businesses are not necessarily caring about that, but it's not mission critical to their daily life. And I think that that has been something that we have been shifting to and doing a lot differently here in the last um uh many months is to say, what can we do to help our businesses drive their events or their special offerings? I think um the most recent example I can think of is with Naughty Dog Books. Naughty Dog Books wanted to bring in an author and wanted some promotional help with that. And and that was something that we were more than happy to do. And it's led to a sold-out event for them. And it has led to three more bookings of additional authors coming this fall. So those are things that we need to continue focus on. And part of that outreach, you know, that Matt talked about, I think is so critical and allowing them to know, you know, it's not all about putting a head in the bed. That's nice, but that's not what it's all about.

SPEAKER_02 13:33

And I would say, Lisa, with with like with, for example, the Naughty Dog again that Brian mentioned, there's so much collaboration going on there, not only with you know, with us teaming up with Naughty Dog, but Salt Creek uh golf retreat just outside of uh Nashville in 46. Um, that was the location for the event. Um they have places to stay there. They have you know the 19th hole where you can eat. So having all of that in one location and and uh and then working with Naughty Dog, and they're going to be hosting other events with Salt Creek. So it's it's uh building that relationship between Naughty Dog and Salt Creek and us and others. Uh collaboration is so important in this business and in any business. And uh I mean, even collaborating with the town of Nashville and our town manager, and you know, uh, so there's so many important pieces that uh are a part of what we uh we do every day. And I'll give you another example, Lisa, is is what you uh brought uh because we were out of them this morning. Uh your save the date cards for the Chris Kendall market. We have those here at the visitor center. We have them at our location at the Village Green. These are cards that are letting people know hey, there's this event the first weekend of December for three days. I almost said two days, but now it's three days. Two and a half, two and a half, uh almost three days, uh, that it's coming up in December. So someone that's new here that's visiting, that has no, you know, knows nothing about uh Nashville, our events, they see this card and they're like, oh, what's this? And so then we can say, well, this is a an event that kicks off the month of December for us. Still a very busy month, and you should come back. And so that's drawing them back for that that next visit.

SPEAKER_00 15:21

Well, I love that. And collaboration was at my heart for that event. And I will tell you, the 19th hole is coming, you know, into the market to sponsor the Steinholding competition this year. And so how and and they're very open to that and they want that. Typically, I would say we had a period of in our history where we were very siloed. And this is not atypical. This is very typical, I think, of small rural communities or even larger communities where you just kind of operate as a silo. But I think for our future, how do we gain that buy-in? And and I I guess I was hoping that Chris Kendall would model bringing in the Rotary Club, the Lions Club, 19th hole, you know, having all those things. This year, Columbus Kids Comments is coming to host the family zone. And I love that. It makes my heart so happy. So, how do we get people here that have been part of history but now are kind of part of our what we want, the vision we're casting for the future? How do we get that buy-in?

SPEAKER_01 16:25

I'm gonna get a little bit nerdy on my response to that, which I think is fun. But then I want definitely want Matt to be able to talk about the the softball tournament partnership that he put together because that's a huge deal too. But I think um recently our visitors commission, which allocates our innkeepers tax, did us a huge uh favor and granted us some access to great analytic information. And that analytic information has really allowed us to see what our visitors are doing while they're here. And uh a lot of that has allowed us to be able to go to uh the Parks and Rec Board, the Fair Board, the Historical Society, and say, you have people who are here and we have these great assets that can help you generate revenue for your additional capital projects or for just routine maintenance. And so allow us to help you utilize that asset. And I think that that is the biggest and most collaborative step that we've been able to take. Chris Kendall Market, for example, who would have ever known without that analytic information how many people were mingling around on a Friday because they saw something going on. And so I think that that is important to be able to go to an event organizer and give them the hard data and metrics to justify taking a leap of faith and doing something a little bit more. Because that leap of faith can be scary. That leap of faith can be costly. And it's good to know that you have a partner behind you that will help support that. And that is what I think a lot of these different partners that we've collaborated a lot more with recently have were lacking, is just the ability to know what is out there for them.

SPEAKER_00 18:25

Well, so many of these events I know in our community and other communities are dependent on grants. And if you don't know how many people are attending your event and you say, we don't sell tickets because it's free, you know. So I am super stoked about those analytics that you're going to be able to provide because not only does that help us as a community understand kind of the composition of uh that event and how where people are are heading, but for grant writing, that's critical. And so many of those 110 not-for-profits in this community are very dependent on grants. And so, wow, that is exciting. I'm very excited about that. So you wanted Matt to Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 19:08

So uh uh this softball tournament um was uh in July. It was uh right after the 4th of July. I think it was July 6th through the 10th in Columbus over at uh Sara Land uh was kind of the hub, the main location there in Columbus on the east side. But Misty, the uh Misty, who's the executive director of uh Visit Columbus, reached out um and uh early last uh in 2025, shortly after I started and said, hey, we've got this softball tournament that's coming up in in 2026, and and uh we'd like to uh work with you guys, collaborate again with you guys, team up. And um uh I mean it was anywhere from eight to ten thousand softball family, I mean people and these play uh teams and families and grandma and grandpa, aunts and uncles, everybody coming from all over the country. I I think uh there was uh some folks that we talked to from Alaska and Arizona, Colorado, that were all uh coming to uh Indiana to Columbus for this softball tournament. So Misty said, um let's work together. So, which I I am so about um just again, that connection with uh, you know, we're not only promoting us, Brown County and Nashville, but we're we should also be talking about our our our neighboring counties like Columbus, Bartholomew County, and Franklin, uh um uh Bloomington. Uh I mean, just uh so important, you know, they're national champions uh now for football. I mean, what a you know, and they're right down 15, you know, 15, 20 minutes.

SPEAKER_00 20:46

And someone has season tickets.

SPEAKER_02 20:48

And a big fan here, yes.

SPEAKER_00 20:50

Very, very jealous.

SPEAKER_02 20:52

So, but just having those relationships prior to my landing here in Brown County and knowing Misty and knowing Mike and Bloomington and and the others, uh, and that that ended up that week uh just ended up being such a success, not only for for Columbus, but for Brown County. I mean, the number of people that that stayed in Brown County during that softball tournament that week because of the relationship that we uh built with Visit Columbus to help them out with more rooms. And I mean, people needed something to do during the downtimes between the softball games. So what a great place to come find something to do or come and stay here uh um between the games.

SPEAKER_00 21:36

Uh that's so exciting. And so where my head goes, Matt, is if you know, as we you guys work together to even grow that event, we have that beautiful sports complex on State Road 46. And every time I drive by and see that not being used, I'm like, oh my gosh, that is such a beautiful place. And it belongs to our school. But I have collaborated with them on events over there, and they're more than happy to work with us or Deer Run.

SPEAKER_02 22:00

Park and Brian might want to share more about the work that that's you know absolutely there's there's ball diamonds out there uh that um yeah they need more ball diamonds, they need more uh ball fields to play for this softball. And it's something that's exciting will be growing even into the future.

SPEAKER_00 22:16

So yeah, that's exciting.

SPEAKER_02 22:17

That's just one example. There could be, you know, even more.

SPEAKER_00 22:20

So and you mentioned our neighbors, and um, you know, I don't know if people know this, but in 2012, Brown County was given the designation of uh, you know, being a an arts road, you know, part of Arts Road 46. And um I love that because I say we're kind of the heart of Arts Road 46 because we sit in the middle of Columbus and Bloomington, Monroe, and Bartholomew counties. And so, you know, we're kind of at the heart of Arts Road 46. And I just think that's such a fun fact to work with.

SPEAKER_02 22:56

Funny you should mention that because that's that's something that they want to begin talking about again and and uh putting that back on the map.

SPEAKER_00 23:02

So that's exciting.

SPEAKER_02 23:04

Literally.

SPEAKER_01 23:05

And Lisa, I think a uh you know, a recent partnership that we've um entered into with Indiana University, the School of Rural Engagement. Yeah, they have a program called Sustaining Hoosier Communities.

SPEAKER_00 23:17

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 23:17

And Brown County is the 26-27 partner for that. And uh arts is at the heart of a lot of the projects that they have planned out to do. And I think that that'll be really uh great to see us build that back in. And the Arts and Entertainment Commission has done a great job of really reigniting a lot of community passion behind um a lot of that and making arts fun. Um and I don't think, you know, necessarily, you know, sometimes you may get the idea that it's all about a bunch of fine art and pictures, but there's so much more to Brown County than than all of that. And uh we are an artist colony, first and foremost. That's how, you know, Nashville was started. And um, and it's been a much more collaborative effort, I believe, between uh the convention and visitors, bureau, and the arts and entertainment commission to really try and and expand that as much as possible.

SPEAKER_00 24:12

And I get to sit on that commission, Brian, and we do have fun. And we're having a 250th uh event at our sweet little Pioneer Village. We have this preserved Pioneer Village that's right in the heart of Brown County, you guys, so right in the heart of Nashville. And Rich and I were over there this week hanging up bunting on all the cabins and this the blacksmithy and uh the unique two-sided barn that's you know, that was a very unusual style of barns that were built in the day that we preserved. And so uh we're gonna have this going back in time, backstory what was it called? Backs backstories and brush strokes.

SPEAKER_02 24:53

Yep, yep. September next month.

SPEAKER_00 24:55

Yeah, next month, September 12th. And we're all gonna be dressed in, you know, pioneer. And so it is fun. And I love that you brought that up. And I wanted to go back to something that I know is a big part of your time, and that's that quality of life committee that was formed. Could you speak to that? Because what I want to do through this podcast is help other communities maybe think about their volunteer governance. And could we talk about the quality of life group that you uh kind of spearhead and how that came together and what the purpose is?

SPEAKER_01 25:29

The biggest reason why it came together was that Brown County uh took the step to raise the innkeepers' tax from 5% to 8%, and that is the tax that we collect on overnight stays. That tax is very specific to where we can only use it for tourism development. But we as a community came together and said, okay, well, we have more money, but how can we, as a tourist industry, give back to our community and make it so that our residents can benefit from this tax that they don't pay? And then we have all of these projects. We always have all these projects, and we face a lot of the same issues that small rural communities do everywhere. We have great ideas, we have all of these great uh places like the Pioneer Village, but we don't ever have any money to do anything with it. And for the first time ever, this really gives us a means to have the money to do something with it. The Pioneer Village is a great venue that allows us to use it as a tourist facility. Um, and I will say that later this month we have a chinking and a logging expert coming to say what do we need to do to repair some of these items in the Pioneer Village? And we can use that tourism money to repair them because it's infrastructure we need for our for a tourist development. Um the Pioneer Village is great for our local community, but it also gives a great hub for a tourist to go to learn about what it was like you know, back in the pioneer days. And I think that those two great items meshing together is really what the quality of life team is all about. Once again, how do we use the tremendous assets that Brown County owns to not only drive tourism, but also help protect it for our locals as well? And I think that is the biggest thing.

SPEAKER_00 27:32

Because as we were overhanging up banners, it was something that I wanted desperately to come and talk to you about. Like, how do we find the funding to preserve some of these buildings that are showing some wear and tear? They're late 1800, you know, structures. Uh, and so maybe far back, more far back than that, I don't know, but I know a couple of them are the later 1800s. So that's so exciting. Yes. And I'm really thankful because what that tells me about this community is that they want to be good stewards of our tourism dollars because we recognize the importance. Okay, so there is an elephant in the room that we have to address, um, and and and not in a negative way, but that there are some people in the community that have been here a long time and they don't want us to grow our tourism. And so, what do you think we can say to the people who are like, we we don't want that, we don't want to become a Gatlinburg, we don't want to become a pigeon forge, and nor do we. That's not what any of us, you know, because that's not who we are. But how do we bring the naysayers along and and and make them understand that this is a good thing for not only tourists, but our residents?

SPEAKER_01 28:51

I think the majority of people who uh come here are transplants, like all three of us who have moved here or started out as tourists and found some kind of benefit in the fact that hey, we want to live here. But we have to think about why we want to live here.

unknown 29:09

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 29:09

Do we want to live here for the great hiking trails? Do we want to live here for the restaurants and small town small shops that we have? Those are the types of those are the types of reasons why we want to live here. But the important thing to think about is without tourism, we would not have those amended amenities. We would not be one of the top 10 mountain biking destinations in the entire country without tourism. We would not have all these amazing shops and restaurants in Nashville without tourism. We would not have the tremendous um hiking trails and things like that without tourism. And we're very lucky in the fact that the state of Indiana decided to name Brown County State Park Brown County State Park. Uh because it uh it it leads it leads, it makes it very easy to find and and and recognizable. So I think that those are the those are the things that I would ask someone who doesn't necessarily uh enjoy coming into Nashville on an October day. I think most of us who live here avoid Nashville like the plague in October. And um, I mean it's okay to say and let everybody else enjoy it. Everybody else enjoy it, and we can enjoy it at other times. Right. But I mean that those those are the types of things I I would ask someone to think about is is why did you decide that you wanted to live here? And um then would you be able to have that amenity without tourism leading the charge for it? And so uh that's the delicate item that we have to be able to convey. And a lot of it has taken a lot of effort um to go out to a lot of the nonprofits and be able to say to explain all this to them. But also at the same time, you have tremendous capital projects on your back burner. Well, how can tourism help pay for that? And I think you fund. Yes, and I think that has been the most welcoming and opening thing that I have found as I've gone as as I have gone to visit boards and things like that, is that it has just been it's um it's a messy process. Bureaucracy never works as fast as you want it to. Um and it's everywhere. It's everywhere. It's every county.

SPEAKER_00 31:35

So and and you do have the responsibility, Matt, for you know, telling our story loud and proud to tourism. But I'm wondering also, do you guys have any strategies or do you talk about then how do we also tell our story loud and proud to our residents?

SPEAKER_02 31:52

Yeah, and I think, you know, I I think one example, uh getting back to your this previous question about I think one example would be the Christmas lights that we did last last uh November, December and through January. But uh just that project, uh, we we lit up Van Buren uh for Christmas with lights. And and this year we're going to do uh even more the side streets. But you know, that was a bit challenging, uh just telling people, you know, we'd like to put lights on your buildings, and and thanks to the our commission, the CBC uh paid for that for the community. We're gonna do that again this this year, and even more lights. But it it's hard to it's hard to explain to them, okay, picture this in your mind, but then once they see it, once they saw it, once we turn them on, it just and we had so many beautiful. We had so many comments. Um and then uh you know, I I think I think the the the music center, uh the Brown County Music Center, and and uh another asset for us here, hard truth uh as well. But playhouse. The playhouse. So many. There's so many. Um you know, like the music center and the playhouse both, they're so dependent again on the volunteers to make uh make what they do there happen. It's a small staff, uh, but then the rest happens with the volunteers. And that's again, so such an important piece to Brown County is how many people get involved in our in our volunteers. And we're always looking for you know more. All these organizations are looking for more volunteers. But yeah, the story is is it's always gonna be um uh a fun one to share and talk about. But it's also it can also be difficult at times when uh there are people that are not so connected to Nashville downtown, but maybe farther out in the county. And so and like I said, it's it happen all counties, I think, deal with with these uh questions and issues. Challenges challenges. Yeah, yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 34:02

Um do you work with our school system much in trying to get some of our stories out?

SPEAKER_02 34:08

So yes. Uh in fact, I'm uh I'm uh diving into uh the ambassadors program. It'll be, I think, the this is the fourth uh cohort that that starts tomorrow uh on Friday, and and I was asked to be a part of that. And so I'm excited to uh be a part of that uh next uh group. And you know, that that was one thing. Even even before I um uh arrived here in in uh Nashville in Brown County, I I connected with uh with Emily, our our superintendent of schools, and uh through some other things, but tourism connected as well. But uh I mean, even when, you know, for something that as simple as, hey, I've got two motor coaches that are that are coming Friday, and we need a place to park them, and there's nowhere downtown. Can can I take up a couple spots at the high school parking lot for a couple hours? So it's just it's stuff like that.

SPEAKER_00 35:06

But that's so important.

SPEAKER_02 35:08

Yes. Because when you have a motorcoach, when you have a motor coach show up with 50 people that they have to unload downtown, they can't stay parked in downtown on Van Buren. They have to move and think, you know, our town, our town of Nashville Police Department would appreciate that too. But it's just, you know, having that relationship with Emily to get permission to do it. We don't just say we've got to have permission. And then that makes the bus driver happy. That makes the town of Nashville Police Department happy. And and uh so yeah, uh, and I think uh I know one thing Carol Brown uh working there is uh now working with some of our merchants that are looking for uh people to fill positions, uh employment, and and and building that relationships with our with our downtown merchants if they're looking for students or people to work in the shops, because that's can be very difficult. Uh you know, all of us are struggling with finding people to uh work in these uh positions and jobs, and but having that connection now with Carol so that she can get the word out to the students that uh hey, these places are looking for people to work and be great, it it's a great, great thing for students.

SPEAKER_00 36:22

Well, and that's how we're gonna have kiddos stay here. Yeah. Right? If we can engage them at earlier ages. I know the the playhouse does a two-week camp for the littles, and you know, that's one way for them to get introduced to the playhouse, but also to the value of the playhouse, you know, and what it brings to the community.

SPEAKER_02 36:42

And the show that was just uh You're a good man Charlie Brown, that was just uh last weekend, the weekend before last, there were so many students from uh Brown County schools that were involved with that as well.

SPEAKER_00 36:53

Yeah, which I love. So yeah, this is all very exciting, but it's it's also day-to-day challenges, aren't there?

SPEAKER_02 37:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 37:01

I mean, there's a lot of work to be done, but I love the work that you know I've seen being done here over the last 10 years and just like the quality of life coming to fruition to make sure our stewardship is sound and that's just getting started. The quality of life is just getting started, but it's already been so effective, right? Yeah. I mean, it's it's helped out in so many ways. So um I have a little thing that I attach to the show called the We Plural Promise. Okay. So it's what I want to leave our subscribers with. Uh so I want you to be thinking about what would the we plural promise be from your vantage points? It could be um uh call to action, it could be however you see the we plural promise. So I I want you to think about that because we're gonna end with that. But I want to give you the opportunity. Is there anything you would want to speak to based on some of the conversation we had today or questions that I sent you early on that I didn't ask you that you were excited to answer? Um, because I want you to be able to share anything that's on your heart and mind before we conclude for today.

SPEAKER_01 38:15

Lisa, I guess I have one thing, and this can really go to the to the replural promise as well, is that I think tourism is not the enemy. And that um the tourism industry is committed to giving back to Brown County. We understand the true challenges that tourism can bring, but also the great amenities that it can also bring to Brown County.

SPEAKER_00 38:39

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 38:40

And I think that the biggest thing that we need to be able to do is be communicative of what we're doing out there and uh not necessarily giving ourselves a pat on the back for getting this done or getting that done or getting this across the finish line, but um being able to answer the critical questions of why tourism matters to Brown County, but also at the same time, how can the resident benefit from the visitor coming here? And uh I think that as we shift a lot more with what our branding and messaging can be, I think we can do a lot better job with that and a lot more effort in doing that.

SPEAKER_00 39:28

And to that point, Brian, I would throw in transparency. Um, I think that's so important, you know, inviting people to come to those meetings to hear, to see the numbers, say we'll open our books at any time. Anytime. You know, because when when we're not transparent, and sometimes not by intention, but we're just busy people, you know, then it becomes like, well, how are you spending those dollars? Or why are you giving, you know, this to that? And so I love that. Um, and I love that that's gonna be part of the ongoing messaging because I think that's really critical. And staying transparent.

SPEAKER_02 40:02

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 40:02

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 40:03

We plural, I at least I would say um, I think I'm going to go back to what Brian mentioned earlier about the sustaining Who's Your Communities uh project that's just getting ready to uh uh take off. Well, actually, it's already there are already things happening um and have been happening for the last few months. But yeah, the kickoffs coming up here at the end of the month where they're gonna roll out the project, the first projects that they're uh working with, with uh with IU and Brown County, the professors, the students. So it's it's so exciting. But what what I've loved through this through this project and working with Colleen and and uh IU is how the community has just come out, the residents, uh, because we had listening sessions. And you know, we were we were a little concerned, worried in the beginning as we were planning, you know, setting the dates for these, because the community, Nashville, Brown County, they've already been through so many listening sessions uh as they're looking at these other projects. And the kind of listening session fatigue, I guess, would be. But when we had, you know, we did have one that we had to reschedule because of weather. If we had to, but we had weather. Oh my goodness, yeah, the spring. And uh yeah. But the turnout at these listening sessions and the responses uh was just amazing. And again, this is coming from the residents. And uh, you know, the sustaining Hoosier, it's not all about, it's not all, again, not about tourism. It's about the this is the community, Brown County as a whole. But just it's just been amazing. And the response that we've gotten back from Colleen and her staff and the others that are involved is Brown County, they're they're involved. They're excited about, they're showing up. And I'll say they're showing up more than any of the other, because we're we're county number seven, which I think is ironic because we're also county number seven for the state. But they're they're showing up and responding at these meetings and the ideas that you know IU is collecting, you know, what do you want to do? What are some ideas? The ideas that came in showing up at the meetings via, you know, uh the QR code and the internet, submitting, uh, submitting those has just been amazing. I mean, the kickoff that's coming up next week.

SPEAKER_00 42:29

I have it on my calendar.

SPEAKER_02 42:30

The RSVPs that are that are coming is just tremendous. And so uh I think that's exciting that a community is responding and excited about this. And and this is not something that in 27 will end, 28, they'll, you know, IU is not disappearing. Right. We will be we will be connected to them from here on out. We will be a part of this sustaining who's your community's alumni, and we'll be working together uh for the future.

SPEAKER_00 43:00

So I don't know if you guys even know this, but they have been such a critical partner for me, the Center for Rural Engagement, uh, through the IU School of Music, Jacob School of Music. I had a young man who is mark my words, he will he will be uh directing.

SPEAKER_01 43:19

You were you were mentioned during the luncheon we were. Oh, I was okay well because that professor was there.

SPEAKER_00 43:24

Oh, of Dr. Barker. Yes. Oh, he's phenomenal. But he connected me with this student who's going to be famous. And I told him, I said, Alex, when you're famous, I just want one seat to your concert. But he he wrote the music for uh Some of the Addicts Wake, which is my documentary series I have for communities. Y'all still available to help you fight back against substance use and declining mental health. And so to have this student featured on a film with his original score, and he was still at IU, I mean, that was incredible. And so we paid him, my budget paid him, and and the CRE paid him too. And it was such a fun collaboration. So I would say if you're in or near a university town, yeah, guys, check out their resources, create collaboration and build relationships because they can be so valuable. And I'm very excited to see what comes of this program with sustaining who's your communities. So, hey, I am so honored to live here and work here with you guys, big supporters of this podcast. You guys just being able to use this facility is incredible. And so thank you for joining me today. And um, we'll come back again as we progress and we'll talk about that progress.

SPEAKER_02 44:48

Browncounty.com.

SPEAKER_00 44:50

What else?

SPEAKER_02 44:51

Browncounty.com, all the socials, all the social medias. But yeah, uh, it's all on browncounty.com. You'll find the links and and more information about us and and the events uh coming up here in Brown County.

SPEAKER_00 45:04

Um thank you so much for being here, Brian. Thank you for leading uh our county in in tourism so well as a volunteer and for being a sponsor of this podcast. Matt, you've done so many incredible things in just your year. And you all know that I cannot bring you these interviews without sponsorship. Our Brown County Community Foundation jumped on without hesitation as a sponsor. And the foundation here is so uh responsible for connecting causes with people and people with causes. And so we could not do the work we do in this community without our Brown County Community Foundation. So, to my foundation, folks, I so appreciate you. And until next time, come build with us.