Last week, I attended a conference to help expand my skills in the Colorado tourism department – the SOCO Tourism Summit. Since I work for the City of Cripple Creek and manage my own Colorado travel blog, this was the perfect place to gather with my other peers in the tourism industry. I learned about how we can improve efforts to promote the state.
This year’s summit took place almost entirely on a Gray Line bus. We were transported between three towns that are doing well with their community collaborations and economic developments. We got to chat with new and old faces and listen to incredible talks. Community reps told us their success secrets, we saw amazing places, and, of course, ate delicious food.
This is the first year the SOCO Tourism Summit was held almost entirely on a bus. The journey was amazing and I can’t wait to see what is in store for next year.
First Stop: Koshare Museum
The SOCO Tourism Summit started in La Junta, Colorado where we gathered at the Koshare (Ko-Shar-EE) Museum. We had a pleasant evening reconnecting with one another, enjoying delicious wine from the Abbey Winery, and snacking.
Shortly after getting together at the museum, we were delighted with a short performance by the Koshare dancers. A group of young adults who are of Native American descent or have Native American blood within them.
All of the dancers were responsible for making their colorful attire and represented dance styles from the Kiowa, Navajo, and Sioux.
The performance took place in the kiva gathering area in the museum, which is inspired by the Anasazi. 620 telephone pole logs, weighing over 40 tons is used as the roof of the kiva. To be fully amazed by the structure, I recommend making the trip to La Junta to visit the museum for yourself.
Visiting Walsenburg To Learn About Outdoor Recreation
The next day, we all hopped on a bus and took a trip down to Lathrop State Park in Walsenburg. There, we talked about outdoor recreation development and learned from the Colorado Tourism Office, techniques for effective PR. It was a good chance for me to make a few connections with people about my blog. That was something I was incredibly grateful for.
The bus ride was lively with a lecture from Colorado Parks and Wildlife. They told us about the state animals that are native to the shortgrass prairie of the Canyons and Plains region. We also picked up Mother Jones, a lady very knowledgable in the coal mining history of the region and how it affected many in both positive and negative ways.
We were within range of the beautiful Spanish Peaks, also know as Wahatoya, or two breasts, because that is quite literally what the Wahatoya looks like.
After the talks at Lathrop State Park, we took a nice leisurely walk up to the golf course to have lunch and enjoy the tastes of the local restaurants. The weather was gorgeous with the mountains in the backdrop.
The City of Trinidad & Their Methods for Development
After lunch, we made our way to the City of Trinidad from Walsenburg to see what they are doing with their community and the exciting things the city has to offer.
On our way, Mother Jones educated us on the Ludlow Massacre. When we arrived in Trinidad, we settled in at the newly reopened A.R. Mitchell Museum, a gorgeous building decorated with the art of A.R Mitchell.
Members of the Trinidad Community spent some time telling the group about the amazing developments the city has going on. They spoke about the Space to Create project, which is set to break ground in just a few weeks. This initiative will be providing new housing opportunities for people to work and live in the area. Rather than build a whole new structure, they are renovating an existing structure right on the main street of Trinidad.
To successfully complete the project, the City of Trinidad raised $19 million. Obviously, we can’t wait to see what it will look like in its completion.
Experiencing Trinidad’s Trolley Tours & Dinner
After hearing the wonderful progressions Trinidad is making, we took a trolley tour of Trinidad to learn about building renovations in the works. After that, we saw the giant Space to Create project, and learned about some of the historical buildings that still exist in the city.
We then shared dinner with some of the best restaurants in town. That included bakeries, bbq restaurants, vegan restaurants, pizza parlors, and more.
Toward the end of the evening, and for most of the trip, they did drawings for prizes.
At the end of the dinner, we all hopped back on the bus and took the Santa Fe Trail back to La Junta to conclude our day on the bus. Along the way, there was narration of the small towns and the stories of people who took the trails back in the day. It was amazing to hear about how people took the trail and narrated their journeys with such elaborate poetry.
It wasn’t long before we were back in La Junta.
The Last Day
We ended the SOCO Tourism Summit with some words from Cathy Ritter, Director of the Colorado Tourism Office. She told us about the tourism office’s initiatives and goals for the year. With Governor Polis as such strong support of things happening in our tourism world, it was nice to hear her words.
They talked about programs that get us involved with leadership programs and even programs that help communities come together for the common good, a program known as CRAFT.
Another program they talked about was the Colorado Concierge program. It is free for those who wanted to be educated on being knowledgable about the local attractions and events in our areas. You even get a fancy little pin for completing the class.
My Review of the SOCO Tourism Summit
The SOCO Tourism Summit was really enjoyable and informative. I absolutely love the Colorado Tourism community and find its members to be enthusiastic and motivated to make Colorado it’s greatest. There are three major benefits to joining this summit:
- It brings useful information necessary for knowing the Colorado Tourism Industry.
- It’s a great way to network with others in the industry and build strong relationships.
- You get to see different towns’ individual cultures and adapt things that work for them to your own marketing efforts.
On top of this, the SOCO Tourism Summit was very reasonably priced compared to some other summits and training I’ve attended. But don’t let the price fool you into thinking there isn’t much to this experience. It’s an incredibly valuable journey.
I was able to talk with a lot of new people about what I can do to be better in my community. I was also able to learn how to foster healthy progress so that we can attract more people to visit our rural communities. The CTO, as always, provided A LOT of useful information for people really looking to further their tourism efforts in their community.
You can never go wrong with networking. At these kinds of conferences, you’ll find an incredibly supportive group of people enthusiastic about Colorado. You also learn SO MUCH that you probably didn’t know about Colorado.
I think this conference is valuable for anyone who wants to be a positive ambassador for the state of Colorado and their community. I also think by being more knowledgable and helpful to one another, we have more opportunities to grow together.
If you went to the SOCO Tourism Summit, what did you think of the conference? Leave your comments below!
