Destination Roadmapping

Send us Fan Mail We’ve all experienced it. The meeting ends. Everyone nods. “Great discussion.” Chairs slide back. And then the real conversation starts, in the hallway, in the parking lot. In this episode of Destination Roadmapping , we’re unpacking “the meeting after the meeting," why it happens, what it signals about your team dynamics, and how it quietly undermines your tourism plans and...

Send us Fan Mail Tourism seasons rarely unfold exactly the way we expect. Gas prices shift, travel habits change, weather refuses to cooperate, and sometimes a random 12-second video sends visitors somewhere you never saw coming. In this episode of Destination Roadmapping , we revisit the idea from Episode 20, the “What If” plan for events and apply it to an entire tourism season. Because just lik...

Send us Fan Mail Most small-town events are incredibly organized. But they’re organized for the committee, not the crowd. If your layout makes sense to the board but confuses first-timers  If vendors are placed based on history instead of flow  If guests need a volunteer just to figure out where to start You may have designed an insider event. In this episode, we break down: The difference between...

Send us Fan Mail If someone pulled into your town at 3:00 p.m. on a Friday, no wedding, no meeting, no relatives to visit, would they stay 24 hours? Or would they quietly keep driving? In this episode, we’re walking through a simple but revealing diagnostic: the 24-Hour Visitor Test. Because there’s a difference between attracting visitors and structuring your community to hold them overnight and...

Send us Fan Mail Ever leave a meeting uncertain if anything actually got decided? You’re not alone. In small towns, meetings are where vision, risk, nostalgia, and practicality all collide, and without clear purpose and defined roles, they spin. Same conversation. Different month. In this episode, we break down:  • Why looping meetings are actually unclear expectations  • How role confusion quietl...

Send us Fan Mail Not every struggling event crashes. Some just quietly fade away. Attendance dips slightly.  Sponsors still sign, but ask more questions.  Volunteers respond a little slower.  Energy feels softer. Nothing breaks badly enough to force a decision.  So it stays on the calendar. In this episode, we unpack the difference between a failing event and a fading one, and why fading is actual...

Send us Fan Mail Your town isn’t falling behind.  It’s overwhelmed. In this episode, we unpack a truth most small-town leaders quietly carry but rarely say out loud: overwhelm is not a failure of effort, it’s a failure of clarity. When the same handful of people are carrying the operational load, the emotional load, and the political load all at once, it’s no wonder progress feels slippery. The pr...

Send us Fan Mail When something goes sideways at an event (and it always will) why does everyone freeze? A line backs up. A performer is late. A guest asks a simple question. Staff look at volunteers. Volunteers look at staff. Someone says, “Let me check with…,” and five minutes later the problem is still standing there, arms crossed. In this episode, Vicky digs into the real reason staff and volu...

Send us Fan Mail Vendors make a decision about your event long before the last attendee leaves and it quietly determines your event’s quality, revenue, and reputation. In this episode, we unpack the vendor experience nobody talks about: load-in chaos, unclear communication, uneven enforcement, poor sales flow, and the tiny frictions that add up to “never again.” Vendors rarely complain. They just...

Send us Fan Mail “We don’t have the budget.” It’s one of the most common phrases in community planning. In this episode, I unpack The Budget Mirage : the idea that a lack of money is usually standing in for something else, unclear priorities, fuzzy outcomes, or discomfort making a visible choice. This conversation isn’t about finding more funding.  It’s about spending with intention. We’ll talk ab...

Send us Fan Mail Every event ends with a crash. Not the bad kind, the adrenaline kind. When the last guest leaves and the radios go quiet, there’s a letdown that most teams rush past or ignore. In this episode, Vicky breaks down the post-event hangover as a real, predictable phase, one that starts with adrenaline dropping and evolves into clarity, reflection, and smarter decisions. You’ll learn ho...

Send us Fan Mail January has a reputation problem. Too many destinations treat January like a dead zone: quiet, unimportant, or something to simply get through until spring. But that thinking quietly undermines momentum for the rest of the year. In this episode of Destination Roadmapping , we unpack the most common January tourism myths, from “no one travels in January” to “nothing we do now reall...

Send us Fan Mail A new year or a new season doesn’t magically reset anything. Most communities walk straight into January carrying the same meetings, the same tired events, and the same frustrations they were juggling the month before. And adding more goals on top of that rarely fixes the real problem. In this episode of Destination Roadmapping , we’re talking about what it actually means to creat...

Send us Fan Mail Most visitors don’t fall in love with a destination because of one big attraction. They fall in love because of how a place feels, because of how it makes them feel In this episode of Destination Roadmapping , we’re talking about the small, intentional moments that quietly shape a visitor’s experience, the moments that help people relax, linger, and leave feeling better than when...

Send us Fan Mail Most tourism and event websites don’t fail because they’re ugly or outdated. They fail because they make people work too hard to decide. In this episode of Destination Roadmapping , we’re taking a tough-love look at what your website is actually doing when visitors land on it and why “looking good” isn’t the same as working. Visitors aren’t browsing your website. They’re deciding...

Send us Fan Mail Nothing derails an event faster than discovering another organization has scheduled their big event on your exact date. Sometimes it’s innocent. Sometimes it’s political. Sometimes it’s a whole thing. In this episode of Destination Roadmapping , we’re tackling event conflicts head-on. What causes them, what to do the moment they happen, and how to prevent them from ever happening...

Send us Fan Mail It doesn’t matter how polished your event is. Every festival, tournament, parade, or downtown weekend has one thing in common: the unpredictable. From sudden storms to fainting visitors, lost kids, or full evacuations, every community faces “What if?” moments. But the difference between chaos and calm isn’t luck. It’s preparation. In this episode, we walk through the crisis plan e...

Send us Fan Mail It’s Thanksgiving week in the States, and there’s no better time to talk about something every community thinks it’s doing well, but many are quietly struggling with: gratitude. In this episode, Vicky digs into The Gratitude Gap, the difference between appreciation that’s genuine and heartfelt and the kind that’s done out of obligation, routine, or “checking the box.” You’ll learn...

Send us Fan Mail Since it's my birthday this week, I thought we should take a look at how communities do and don't celebrate THEIR birthdays.  In today’s episode of Destination Roadmapping, we’re digging into why your community’s birthday is one of the easiest, most joyful, and most overlooked ways to build connection and energy downtown. You’ll learn: ~ Why your town’s founding date is...

Send us Fan Mail You don’t need a convention center or a six-figure budget to compete in the meetings market. You just need to know who you’re built for — and how to prove it. In Part 2 of Can Your Small Town host Conferences and Meetings? Vicky digs into the next layer: how to find the right groups , partner smart , promote wisely , and turn small wins into repeat business . Learn where to look f...

Send us Fan Mail Small towns can host mighty gatherings, no convention center required. In this episode of Destination Roadmapping™, Vicky shares how rural communities can attract smaller conferences, retreats, and meetings by leaning into authenticity, walkability, and hospitality. Learn how to pitch what makes your town different, build your small-town conference kit, and turn your size into you...

Send us Fan Mail Micromanagement is fear in disguise, and it’s quietly killing your community’s creativity. In this episode of Destination Roadmapping , Vicky unpacks the truth behind overcontrol: it doesn’t protect quality, it limits capacity. You’ll hear real stories from small towns where good intentions turned into bottlenecks, and how they rebuilt trust, speed, and momentum. The reality is: I...

Send us Fan Mail Your town doesn’t have a volunteer shortage, it has a volunteer retention problem.  In this episode of Destination Roadmapping , we’re cracking open one of the most painful but fixable community event issues: the revolving door of volunteers. We’ll dig into why people quit. It isn't because they don’t care, it's because the experience didn’t feel worth it. You’ll learn h...

Send us Fan Mail If your event or visitor experience looks good on paper but falls flat in person, it might be missing the magic ingredient — sensory design. In this episode of Destination Roadmapping, Vicky Soderberg breaks down why the most unforgettable experiences don’t just look great — they feel great, sound right, smell inviting, taste amazing, and touch the heart. You’ll learn:  👀 How to...

Send us Fan Mail QR codes aren’t the enemy. But when they lead to broken links, cluttered homepages, or pages that make visitors pinch and zoom until they give up? That’s not innovation—that’s aggravation. In this episode of Destination Roadmapping, Vicky Soderberg—your tough-love tourism coach and event resuscitator—dives into why the problem isn’t the code itself, but what’s behind it. You’ll he...