The Art of Southern Hospitality: Rachel Whitten’s Guide to CVB Partnerships

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Welcome to the Event Pro show, your ultimate guide to the world of corporate

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events. Whether you're a corporate event planner, experiential marketing

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pro, producer, technician, or anyone involved in creating exceptional

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events, this podcast is your go to resource for valuable insights,

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expert tips, and inspiring stories from the industry's leading professionals.

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Well, thanks for joining us on this episode of the Event Pro Show. I have

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a fantastic guest today. Rachel's been a friend of mine for years now,

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and I really like what she's doing. She always brings a ton of energy

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to literally any product or project that she's a part of

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and, and I'm glad she's here today. And Rachel, I'm just going to do your

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bio here because I like it. Is that okay? Did I send it to you

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or did you write it? Yeah, you sent it.

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This is, this is totally stuff that you're saying for me to

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say about you. So. So let's get it.

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Let's get into it. Okay. So Rachel is the Vice President of Sales and Services

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for the Greenville Pitt County Convention and Visitors Bureau. And

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she's been in that role since July 23rd after

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serving as director since 2019. With over

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two and a half decades of experience in management, sales, marketing and event planning, Rachel

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has a proven track record of leading successful projects and building

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key relationships within the tourism and hospitality industry.

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She's passionate about making life easier for conference, convention and

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meeting planners who choose to host their events in Greenville Pitt

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County, North Carolina. Outside of work, she enjoys hiking easy

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to moderate trails. You know that. Playing with her

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two little dogs and spending quality time with her family and friends. Rachel

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recently took up pickleball, further enriching her diverse

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array of leisure activities. It turns out it's every bit as

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addictive as everyone says. Welcome to the show, Rachel Whitten. Rachel, thanks for

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being here. Yeah, thanks for having me. So you noted easy

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to moderate trails. I think I don't want to breeze. Over that

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because I accidentally ended up on a difficult one one time and. They'Re no

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joke, right? Oh, my God. Yeah. I questioned my life choices a

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lot. So this was in September of 23.

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I decided to do one North Carolina state park hike

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per month for 12 consecutive months was a goal I set.

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Cool. So I did. But I started with the ones that were physically

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closest to me. And I live in Greenville, North Carolina, which is on the

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eastern part of the state. So over here, the state park trails are

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relatively flat also. Yeah. So then I slowly progressed

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to the west, which was probably the best way to go about it. So that

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you do kind of train a little bit. You're warming into it. Yeah. And I

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mean, you know, once a month isn't going to do anything for you. But I

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also treadmill with incline in the garage to, you

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know, not try not to die. Right. But yeah, I accidentally

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ended up on Mount Mitchell's trail,

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which, I mean, there's a really, really long one. And then I did like a

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two mile one. I think maybe it was even the one and a quarter mile

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one. But it was directly up into the moon. And so

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it. There was a couple in front of me that were two couples

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in front of me that were a little bit older. And so I was like,

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I got this right. Like, yeah, they. I think I can handle this.

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And I asked the lady in the little restaurant, this says it's a

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moderate. It said moderate on the maps leading into the trail. It was

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not until you were in the middle of the trail contemplating your death that

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it said that it was difficult somewhere it switched.

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But yeah. And then get to the top, talk to the old people that were

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in front of me. And I was like, hey, we ready to go back down?

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Because I didn't want to be alone as it was raining and I was the

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only person other than them. And they're like, we're going to walk the street back

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down. Because you could also drive to the very top. Oh, that's kind

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of. They took the cheap route down. Yeah. And on the way back,

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you know, I was like, it's gotta be. It's downhill. I could do anything downhill.

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We can go slow. It's fine. Right in. At some point it's

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like spooky. It occurs to me that I. There's nobody around.

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I forgot that the beginning of the trail was downhill

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and then it was the uphill. So I went downhill. But then the last thing

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I had to do was go back up some and I

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literally stopped and started calculating math. I was like, okay, the restaurant

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closes at 7. If my car is still in the parking

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lot, surely someone will come for me. Right. When

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do they send out the rescue part? Helicopters. Correct. With that little

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bed that dangles that you get on and they pull you out of the woods.

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Correct. Now shout out to the Milkina State parks marketing

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guy, Josh Copenhaver, who had given me a whistle.

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So I was like, okay. Also if I need to, I can blow this whistle

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and hopefully that will help as well. You had your safety whistle ready to

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go. Yeah, but I would not intentionally, I don't think pick

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difficult trails at this juncture in life.

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I love it. Yeah. I enjoy the easy to moderate,

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you know, which my. One of my friends was like, yeah, but if

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you, if you don't die every once in a while, are you like really living?

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Like, if you don't almost die every once in a while, are you even really

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living? Right. Yeah, I get that it's not

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adrenaline is like jumping out of an airplane, but like on the.

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Those trails, some of those, you're just like, I'm just gonna die right here. I'm

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just gonna sit down and die. And I don't have any adrenaline about it, but

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I'm just pondering death. Doesn't sound too bad, you know? Yeah,

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yeah, yeah. Okay. I get better than this.

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That being said, hiking in North Carolina is fantastic. Yes, it is. We are

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very lucky. Pay attention to the trails. Well, and again,

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all trails is what you need to pay attention to. The notes. Yeah. Which is

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what I started doing after that hike. Read the reviews. Yeah. People,

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People are pretty honest. That map be lying. Yeah. The reviews

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is where it's at. These

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are, these are good life tips for living in the Carolinas, by the way.

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All right. I'm going to get into events here. You, you

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work in a great community, bringing business

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into your town. Convention visitor type business.

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But before I get there, what's the first event? This is a question

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I like to ask everybody because everybody has such a unique answer to this, but

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what's the first event that you can remember attending? Like way back,

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like as a child, the earliest memory of doing some sort of

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an event. My family hosted a Christmas Eve

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party every year of my life until I

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was 30 something. And it, I think it start. I mean,

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it started before my parents, the house that they built in 1980 for the

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two children that they had before they realized that I was the third one

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that was on the way is the same house that they live in. So

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for 45 years they lived in this house. But this party started

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before that house. And it was literally just, I think if I remember because again,

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I was not around. It was just a couple neighbors and their families would get

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together on Christmas Eve after the Christmas Eve service at church,

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which was like 5:30 to 7. And then it

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just evolved. They moved, it evolved into like block party.

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So there'd be 100 or so people in and out of the house

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throughout that night. And it was a tradition for the whole neighborhood. Like a lot

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of the, you know, kids in the neighborhood remember growing up going to this Christmas

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Eve party. Yeah. And it had. My mom made

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Eggnog, like from scratch. There was fruit punch, there was

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candies that she made from scratch. Chocolate covered cherries, chocolate covered coconut

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balls. A shrimp mousse, which is the only recipe

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that is a secret. Right. Family

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secret recipe. And shrimp moose. Sounds really crazy. It

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is really delicious on a trisket. And then meats and cheeses. And

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my dad made a bar in the kitchen and he would be bartending and then

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they also had the beer in the washing machine.

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Pro tip. You can just do the rent cycle. Right? And

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just like. That is a pro tip. Oh yeah, that's a good one. Pretty

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insulated as well. So, yeah, so it was just a good time.

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And this in the, you know, the lead up to it is we sit every.

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All the trays where everything's going to go, where it has to go on the

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table and just everything that could possibly be

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done ahead was done before we went to church at 5:30. Right. And

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then we would sit in the balcony of church. Dad sing in the church choir.

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Still does. And then he would see us like 10

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minutes before 7, just like scurry out to get to the house.

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And it was like dog Flight of the

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bumblebee. Yeah. To get everything situated and set up before people got

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to the house. So that's. That's the earliest one I

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remember being a part of and attending was that one every year

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for sure. Yeah. That's completely unique that like

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someone, you know, everybody has their version of like their first

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event. You're the first person that it's. It was at my house. It's

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a. It's still going. It's a. It's a holiday festival at my

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house. My parents, to the point where when they stopped having it,

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my mom had to send out a. You're not invited because we're not having the

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party invitation. Oh no. The whole town mourns.

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Yeah. We. And we were sitting there waiting for people to show up too. Just

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that didn't get the message. But it was like, ho, ho, ho, Christmas party had

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to go just

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so people wouldn't, you know, show up there.

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Well, when, you know, fast forwarding from that, I know that

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I think one of our first conversations years ago when I met you,

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we talked about your career path and you know, it's

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like most of us, it has. It was just a journey for

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you. But when was the first time you remember wanting to be involved

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in events or conventions or you know, bringing

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tourism in that. When did you start seeing

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that as like a valid career choice?

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So it was never something that I was working

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towards. But the way life does, everything I

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did prepared me to, to do it. Like I, when I

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worked, okay. In high school, as soon as I could get a worker's permit, I

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got a worker's permit. I wanted the money, the, my own, you know, funds

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to do, you know, what with. Oh yeah. So I got a

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worker's permit and I worked at a putt putt place and I did the birthday

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parties there because that's what they made all the rookies do. And I dressed in

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the like alligator mascot, which I thought would be a fun

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time until I realized you can't talk. Oh no.

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This was a trick. All of you. You tricked me, right?

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That's tough for you, huh? Yeah. And actually before that,

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I was able to work for two weeks over Christmas at a drugstore.

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Like, I don't know if you had a experience as a growing up or whatever,

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where there's a drugstore with a lunch counter, like a soda shop lunch counter.

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This is like a classic, like vintage

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Main Street USA kind of experience. Yeah, no,

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I, I, I've never lived in a town like that. The town my dad grew

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up in is like that. And it's done this whole revitalization

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too for like the brick, you know, Main street and all that and those types

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of things. I wish they would bring it back. It was called

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Woolard's and it had so the pharmacy, the little retail

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shop and then the lunch counter. And so they hired me as a,

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I guess I was 14. You had to be 14 to get a worker's permit

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in the state. Freshly 14 too, because my birthday was in

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September. Right. And so they hired me to

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be the assistant to the lady whose full time job is running this lunch counter.

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But the holidays is especially busy and so they hire me, 14 year

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old to help her. And it was, I mean, this

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was my section. I would take the order, short order, cook, make the order,

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serve it, you know what I mean? That's hard work for like cents.

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Yeah. And there was also like the, the old delegation that would

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come in for just coffee in the morning. Every town

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has that delegation, by the way. And it was apparently

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my mom's mom, my grandmother died when I was three, but

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apparently I was her bestie. Like she took me everywhere with her, including

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she was the old lady at the coffee shop, you know what I mean? Out

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there getting coffee in the morning. Yep. So a lot of these men that I'm

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serving and women in the coffee rush all

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remember me from like then, you know. Yeah. Which is

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crazy. But I remember getting a check for that two weeks

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for, like. Or maybe it was one week for, like,

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$200. And I was like, oh,

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amazing. I mean, at 14, come on. Yeah.

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And my tips were like, you know, a cup full of change.

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But, yeah, so did that. And then I worked at the Putt Putt place. And

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then, like, a sports bar opened, and I worked there as a hostess until.

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And I wanted to be a server so bad, but again, I was, like, super

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young at this point. I was 16. I could drive. And everybody else there, it

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was their careers, you know what I mean? They were waiting the tables and stuff.

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And so then there was one time that a server called out and I got

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to wait tables. It was amazing. And so I then

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became a server most of the time. And when I graduated from high

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school, the ownership gave me a scholarship in

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the name of the franchise owner's wife, right?

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For $150, they're like, this.

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This you can get again every summer that you come back

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and work. Thank you for that.

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Probably not coming back here for the summer,

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but it was a great experience. And then came to college, and I.

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My parents, who have been married since 1968 and were high school

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sweethearts, I have to say that, because it would sound like they're living different

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houses when I tell this story. So as I'm in college,

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my mom goes. And I was very. I'm very blessed and very

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lucky to have had parents that paid for my school, um, and actually gave me

226
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a stipend to live off of on top of that, Right? And so my mom

227
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said, listen, Rachel, we, you know, we just want you to have

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no excuse to fail in college. So if you need money,

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you just let us know if you need extra money, and we'll, you know, see

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what we can. And my dad said, rachel, don't

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call me and ask for money unless you have a job.

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And I was like, please, I believe

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that my dad will give me money if I need money, if.

234
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Whatever his stipulations are. So I was looking for a place to

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work, and I had a friend who gave me some really wise advice. It's actually

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a best friend of my sisters. And he said, if you want something or need

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something, work somewhere that sells it, okay? Because then you

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get the best deals. You get the insider scoop, like, that's the best move. And

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I was like, yeah, that's a good tip. Yeah. And so I was like, I

240
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like movies. I like going to the movie theater, you know, So

241
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I go to the. To the. I Guess it was a car mic, maybe then

242
00:14:46,980 --> 00:14:50,740
in town and apply to work there. And then on my way back

243
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to the. To park off campus and walk to my dorm room,

244
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I passed the Hilton. And it had a restaurant named

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Christine's. And Christine's, somebody had told me, was

246
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the nicest restaurant in town. Now, I had no concept of fine dining at this

247
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point, at this juncture. Like, I worked at a sports bar, you know. Right.

248
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And so I go in and like, just casually as I drive past,

249
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I was like, well, you know, I can wait tables. I'll apply there too. And

250
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so I go in and ask if I can see a menu and if they're

251
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hiring. And it was like, this is

252
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1999. Eight. Back in the

253
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1900s, right? In the 1900s, right. Yeah. And

254
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the salad was like $12 or something. And I was like, yes, I

255
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would like to work here where the cost a lot, because then the tip is

256
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a lot. Yeah. And so I applied and they hired me

257
00:15:41,230 --> 00:15:45,020
a little bait and switch. They hired me to work breakfast and

258
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lunch, which, though it was in the same restaurant as Christine's, sort of in

259
00:15:48,780 --> 00:15:52,460
the bar area. It was like Hilton breakfast and lunch, not Christine's

260
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dinner. Got it. That makes sense. So it was like, I'm a college kid and

261
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I gotta be here every Saturday and Sunday at

262
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5am to set up this lunch buffet, a breakfast

263
00:16:03,700 --> 00:16:07,540
buffet, and then serve it. And then I'm home at noon, and I

264
00:16:07,540 --> 00:16:10,220
would just sleep from noon to 8 and then go out because I'm a college

265
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kid and then not go back to sleep. So I was getting eight hours. It

266
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was just not the normal. So again,

267
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we're setting up serving, doing the whole turnkey service here. I didn't cook the

268
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food in that scenario and breakfast. And then I also

269
00:16:24,770 --> 00:16:28,570
had stacked my school schedule, so I only had class Monday, Wednesday, Friday. So Tuesday,

270
00:16:28,570 --> 00:16:32,250
Thursday, I did the lunch. But it was not at all the

271
00:16:32,250 --> 00:16:36,010
caliber of they had crumb scrapers is the caliber of fine

272
00:16:36,010 --> 00:16:39,780
dine and Christine. Plus, you know, and then the summer,

273
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I did not do summer school, and the parents

274
00:16:43,460 --> 00:16:47,060
paying me money only worked if I was in school. So I had to get

275
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a nanny job that paid my bills. But I didn't want to lose the benefits

276
00:16:50,300 --> 00:16:53,940
that I have now discovered you get when you work for a hotel that is

277
00:16:53,940 --> 00:16:57,780
a chain where I can travel anywhere and I can get Hilton discount rates

278
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and stuff like that. So I transferred to the banquet department

279
00:17:02,300 --> 00:17:05,420
and then kind of worked my way, never went back to the restaurant and did

280
00:17:05,710 --> 00:17:09,310
banquet server to buffet person. To bartender. And then they expanded the

281
00:17:09,310 --> 00:17:13,150
ballroom at the Hilton and added, like, banquet captains.

282
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Yeah, and they asked me to be the banquet captain, and so I did that.

283
00:17:16,750 --> 00:17:20,590
And I was managing a team of 50 college kids

284
00:17:20,830 --> 00:17:24,550
doing events for a thousand or so. And

285
00:17:24,550 --> 00:17:28,270
then my senior year of college, and I graduated In December

286
00:17:28,430 --> 00:17:32,220
of 02, May of 02, the convention center,

287
00:17:32,220 --> 00:17:36,060
which is attached to the Hilton, open. And it was. It's a

288
00:17:36,060 --> 00:17:39,660
public private partnership. So the building is owned by the city, but it's operated by

289
00:17:39,660 --> 00:17:43,420
the same company that owned the Hilton. Yeah, and they had a catering contract.

290
00:17:43,900 --> 00:17:47,660
So for that last six months, we managed the catering, or I was, you

291
00:17:47,660 --> 00:17:50,580
know, part of the leadership team that managed the catering for the convention center in

292
00:17:50,580 --> 00:17:54,140
its first six months. You basically open the convention center? Yeah,

293
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the food and beverage part. And then in December, when I graduated,

294
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I honestly had no intention of staying in Greenville,

295
00:18:02,300 --> 00:18:05,780
but they asked me to interview for an inside sales position at the

296
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convention center. And I did it for the interview experience, if I'm

297
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honest. And at the time, there was three people that worked there.

298
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Blair and Kurt and Nick. And Nick was like,

299
00:18:16,620 --> 00:18:19,340
marketing, or he was coming in as marketing. I didn't know he worked there then,

300
00:18:19,420 --> 00:18:22,540
but it was like, Blair was marketing, and Kurt was operations.

301
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And so I interviewed with both of them, Kurt and Blair. And I remember Blair

302
00:18:27,900 --> 00:18:31,660
asking me, like, why did you want to interview for this? A lot of people

303
00:18:31,660 --> 00:18:34,940
graduate and leave Greenville. Not the case now.

304
00:18:35,100 --> 00:18:38,540
Spoiler alert. Why do you want to stay?

305
00:18:38,780 --> 00:18:42,540
And I was like, it's not that I want to stay

306
00:18:42,540 --> 00:18:45,300
or don't want to stay. It's that I understand this might be an opportunity for

307
00:18:45,300 --> 00:18:48,700
me. And then Nick came in, and Nick Glennon,

308
00:18:49,020 --> 00:18:52,610
he's passed since now, but, man, he was a

309
00:18:52,610 --> 00:18:56,290
mentor and a half. And he. He

310
00:18:56,290 --> 00:19:00,050
was like, you know, Irishman by, you

311
00:19:00,050 --> 00:19:03,810
know, lineage, but American. And then

312
00:19:03,810 --> 00:19:06,490
he says red hair, and he had the goatee, and he was like a surfer

313
00:19:06,490 --> 00:19:10,170
guy. He wore, like, a suit with a bow tie and Chuck Taylors every day.

314
00:19:10,410 --> 00:19:13,690
Yeah, poet, but also marketing genius.

315
00:19:14,010 --> 00:19:17,740
And so when this third person is now interviewing me, and I was

316
00:19:17,740 --> 00:19:20,580
like, yeah. And he's like, well, you'd be working for me. And I was like,

317
00:19:20,660 --> 00:19:23,780
sold. Like, absolutely sold.

318
00:19:24,900 --> 00:19:28,140
And so I did. I worked for him for a year in the inside sales

319
00:19:28,140 --> 00:19:31,580
of the convention center. Again, it wasn't a goal. Like, I didn't even know

320
00:19:31,580 --> 00:19:35,260
hospitality was a field, so to

321
00:19:35,260 --> 00:19:38,660
speak, until I was working in banquets. And everybody else on the banquet staff was

322
00:19:39,140 --> 00:19:42,940
in hospitality leadership program in East Carolina. I Was in business school

323
00:19:42,940 --> 00:19:46,790
at East Carolina. Technically I went to do sports medicine. But then

324
00:19:46,790 --> 00:19:49,190
they were like, you got to do laundry or all that. And I was like,

325
00:19:49,190 --> 00:19:52,790
nah. Oh, you can find me in the business school if you need me.

326
00:19:54,390 --> 00:19:57,430
So I was in school for marketing. And then these kids in banquets are like,

327
00:19:57,590 --> 00:20:01,310
hey, yeah, we're in the hospitality program. And I was like, what were they

328
00:20:01,310 --> 00:20:05,030
teaching you? How to be hospitable. Like, what, what is it? Get a degree and

329
00:20:05,030 --> 00:20:08,830
being nice to people in your. In your home. Exactly. I was

330
00:20:08,830 --> 00:20:12,580
like, I don't. What. That's a real thing. Which now I understand.

331
00:20:12,660 --> 00:20:16,340
Obviously it's. It's a business degree in a

332
00:20:16,340 --> 00:20:19,300
selected field and like. And it opens a lot of doors to a lot of

333
00:20:19,300 --> 00:20:22,980
different great career paths. So again, it wasn't ever.

334
00:20:23,140 --> 00:20:26,020
It's just kind of where my path led and I followed it. So I go

335
00:20:26,020 --> 00:20:29,620
to the convention center and then I did leave

336
00:20:29,620 --> 00:20:33,380
there and do a short stint for an apartment leasing firm

337
00:20:34,180 --> 00:20:37,950
that will call Sketchy Inc. Like, I'm trying to remember

338
00:20:37,950 --> 00:20:41,590
how the job posting, maybe it was on like a monster.com

339
00:20:41,590 --> 00:20:45,036
or like a. I can't remember if that existed in 2003.

340
00:20:45,224 --> 00:20:49,030
4. Yeah, I think so. Yeah. But it was still,

341
00:20:49,350 --> 00:20:53,030
in retrospect, a slightly sketchy link.

342
00:20:53,110 --> 00:20:56,870
Right? Yeah. So they, I remember going to like a staples to do a

343
00:20:57,110 --> 00:21:00,750
video interview and then they give me a

344
00:21:00,750 --> 00:21:03,430
job. I get to get a job as a leasing expert

345
00:21:05,460 --> 00:21:08,700
for an apartment leasing firm. And so we go to Atlanta for one week for

346
00:21:08,700 --> 00:21:12,540
training. And then again I'm an

347
00:21:12,540 --> 00:21:15,700
expert. And so they would send you, they teach you like really

348
00:21:15,700 --> 00:21:19,060
aggressive, borderline sleazy sales

349
00:21:19,060 --> 00:21:22,900
techniques. Right. Which are good to have, but you don't

350
00:21:22,900 --> 00:21:26,660
want to use them, you know, and then they would

351
00:21:26,660 --> 00:21:30,420
like you go on assignment for like 60 days. Could be anywhere in

352
00:21:30,420 --> 00:21:34,140
the country. Right. So this is real appealing to my 23, 4 year

353
00:21:34,140 --> 00:21:37,340
old self. Like I don't have any ties, you know, and I love to go

354
00:21:37,340 --> 00:21:40,220
live somewhere for 60 days. You come back to your home base for a week

355
00:21:40,220 --> 00:21:44,020
and then go live somewhere else for 60 days. Oh, wow, that's. Yeah. And you

356
00:21:44,020 --> 00:21:47,380
take over all marketing and leasing for that property. So I mean,

357
00:21:47,860 --> 00:21:51,660
it was a good experience, I'll say that. I mean it was

358
00:21:51,660 --> 00:21:54,700
a good experience, but it was a very short lived. So I live. They sent

359
00:21:54,700 --> 00:21:57,910
me to Pennsylvania and I lived outside Philly

360
00:21:58,390 --> 00:22:02,070
in Malvern, Pennsylvania for a couple months. And

361
00:22:02,070 --> 00:22:05,030
so the process is you overlap the person that was there before you,

362
00:22:05,830 --> 00:22:08,870
which is strategic, that they

363
00:22:09,510 --> 00:22:12,790
only leave you there for 60 days, right? So whatever you've said to these people,

364
00:22:12,790 --> 00:22:16,270
you're no longer around, right? And so you

365
00:22:16,270 --> 00:22:19,110
overlap for two days. You have a 48 hour packet you had to do where

366
00:22:19,110 --> 00:22:22,830
you had to do like market surveys and go to the competitors

367
00:22:22,830 --> 00:22:26,380
and like develop a marketing plan. So again like that was a

368
00:22:26,380 --> 00:22:30,060
cool learning

369
00:22:30,060 --> 00:22:32,660
experience of how to approach a market when you got it, when you're doing a

370
00:22:32,660 --> 00:22:36,340
new business thing, right, like you're right company, how to, how to go do a

371
00:22:36,340 --> 00:22:39,620
comp set basically and create a marketing plan around it.

372
00:22:40,180 --> 00:22:42,860
And then we just took over leasing and they give us a place to live

373
00:22:42,860 --> 00:22:46,660
and they gave us furnished apartment and rental car

374
00:22:46,900 --> 00:22:49,740
and all that stuff. And we would just work six days a week. You get

375
00:22:49,740 --> 00:22:53,190
one day off. And so I lived outside of Philly

376
00:22:53,430 --> 00:22:56,150
was great on my one day's off, like day off. I went into the city

377
00:22:56,150 --> 00:22:59,350
one day. I went into Amish country one day. That was really cool.

378
00:23:00,630 --> 00:23:04,310
But yeah. And so then I lived also in the middle of Louisiana was my

379
00:23:04,310 --> 00:23:07,270
next assignment. And I lived in

380
00:23:07,270 --> 00:23:10,310
Pineville, Louisiana, which is in the middle of the boot,

381
00:23:11,750 --> 00:23:15,190
and did that there. And then that was the end of that adventure.

382
00:23:15,670 --> 00:23:19,420
And the City hotel and Bistro, which was, and it's now the Holiday Inn

383
00:23:19,420 --> 00:23:22,980
in Greenville is on the same campus as the

384
00:23:22,980 --> 00:23:26,660
convention center in the Hilton and also the Hampton. And so I

385
00:23:26,660 --> 00:23:29,980
knew them from working at the convention center. I worked with the, the two hotel

386
00:23:29,980 --> 00:23:33,460
properties that were there at the time. And they needed an assistant food and beverage

387
00:23:33,460 --> 00:23:37,300
director. And they called and were like, hey, we wrote

388
00:23:37,300 --> 00:23:40,580
this job description with you in mind and it's on

389
00:23:40,580 --> 00:23:44,380
hcareers.com Would you be interested in being assistant food and beverage director?

390
00:23:44,380 --> 00:23:46,520
And I was like, turns out I would.

391
00:23:48,120 --> 00:23:51,880
And so that got me back into hospitality, right? And so I worked at there

392
00:23:51,960 --> 00:23:55,640
at the Sea Hotel and Bistro five years total, I think.

393
00:23:55,720 --> 00:23:58,560
And I was assistant food and beverage for two and then food and beverage director

394
00:23:58,560 --> 00:24:02,160
for three and

395
00:24:02,160 --> 00:24:05,720
then left again in the hospitality industry because an opportunity to work for

396
00:24:05,720 --> 00:24:08,920
a beverage wholesaler opened up

397
00:24:09,560 --> 00:24:13,360
for a beer distributor. Coastal Beverage. Shout out Coastal

398
00:24:13,360 --> 00:24:17,040
Beverage to get all your Miller Coors supplies, which I think it's called something

399
00:24:17,040 --> 00:24:20,200
else now. Not Miller Coors, but you know, those are the brands you know and

400
00:24:20,200 --> 00:24:23,960
love. Corona Modelo. Get some. Anyway, you're

401
00:24:23,960 --> 00:24:27,760
still repping them. Do what? You're still repping them. I can't help

402
00:24:27,760 --> 00:24:31,160
it. They say that if you're friends with somebody for seven years, it's for life,

403
00:24:31,320 --> 00:24:34,680
you know. Yeah, I work for Seven years. So like you're not going to catch

404
00:24:34,680 --> 00:24:36,680
me with a Bud Light in my hand.

405
00:24:38,840 --> 00:24:42,360
Sacrilege. Great. You're betraying somebody. Yeah.

406
00:24:42,360 --> 00:24:45,120
Can't. Yeah, it feels, it feels I can't do it,

407
00:24:46,560 --> 00:24:50,240
but. So worked there for seven years. Left there as the on premise area

408
00:24:50,240 --> 00:24:53,640
manager. So I managed the sales team that sold to all the bars and

409
00:24:53,640 --> 00:24:56,640
restaurants in 15 counties that our service center

410
00:24:57,520 --> 00:25:00,880
serviced. And I did like our marketing special events for that service center

411
00:25:01,840 --> 00:25:04,320
as well for most of the time in that role.

412
00:25:06,010 --> 00:25:09,770
And then left and went to privately

413
00:25:09,770 --> 00:25:12,970
owned corporate. Right. So the hammock source shout out again

414
00:25:13,690 --> 00:25:17,490
to the world's largest hammock manufacturer right here in Greenville, Pitt county. Just in case

415
00:25:17,490 --> 00:25:20,410
you didn't. There's a lot going on. Yeah, yeah.

416
00:25:21,130 --> 00:25:24,650
So Hatteras Hammocks, Nag's Head Hammocks, Paulie's Island

417
00:25:24,650 --> 00:25:28,410
Hammocks Furniture are their big name brands

418
00:25:28,890 --> 00:25:32,530
that are all hand, you know, high end handcrafted right here in

419
00:25:32,530 --> 00:25:35,870
Pitt County Hammocks. And then they also do overseas manufacturing

420
00:25:36,590 --> 00:25:40,390
for big name box retailers for more cost effective

421
00:25:40,390 --> 00:25:44,110
hammocks. So got you. Yeah. Bed Bath Beyond, Sam's kind of white

422
00:25:44,110 --> 00:25:47,950
label stuff. Absolutely. Which is crazy to go into like a Target

423
00:25:47,950 --> 00:25:51,750
and be like, this is made in, you know, Greenville, North Carolina. Yeah,

424
00:25:51,750 --> 00:25:54,910
yeah. Or shipped to and you know, distributed from.

425
00:25:56,110 --> 00:25:59,710
So worked for them managing a brand and then was moved into a

426
00:25:59,710 --> 00:26:03,550
marketing manager position to manage all the marketing for all those brands,

427
00:26:04,110 --> 00:26:07,550
which was a lot of fun. Had a really fun marketing team

428
00:26:08,190 --> 00:26:11,950
of designers, photographers and it was just a neat

429
00:26:11,950 --> 00:26:15,790
experience to work in this manufacturing warehouse, corporate office, you know what I

430
00:26:15,790 --> 00:26:18,030
mean, where we're all like right here under this, under this roof.

431
00:26:19,470 --> 00:26:23,150
And then they outsourced the entire marketing department,

432
00:26:24,110 --> 00:26:27,870
which included myself. So there was a summer where I just

433
00:26:28,250 --> 00:26:31,930
took off. Like I was, you know,

434
00:26:32,090 --> 00:26:34,650
laid off from there. And I was like, when am I ever going to be

435
00:26:34,650 --> 00:26:37,530
able to just like have a summer again? Never.

436
00:26:38,330 --> 00:26:41,610
So I had that my 80s movie montage Summer

437
00:26:42,010 --> 00:26:45,690
of like helping some friends with projects around town. There was one

438
00:26:45,930 --> 00:26:49,730
memory, my friend Ryan, who owns the Dickinson Avenue Farmers and Makers

439
00:26:49,730 --> 00:26:53,530
Market, Come get all your local goodies. And he,

440
00:26:53,610 --> 00:26:57,460
his building was built in 1914 and so this was, he was

441
00:26:58,260 --> 00:27:00,780
getting it ready to put the market in it at this time. And so I

442
00:27:00,780 --> 00:27:04,420
just remember standing in the middle of this building, super

443
00:27:04,420 --> 00:27:08,180
hot in rain boots and like shorts and tank

444
00:27:08,180 --> 00:27:12,020
top with my headphones on, listening to like Scandal

445
00:27:13,460 --> 00:27:17,260
and a pressure washer. These wall, these brick walls. And I was like,

446
00:27:17,260 --> 00:27:21,060
I am 100% in an 80s movie montage.

447
00:27:21,060 --> 00:27:24,820
Like, right now? Right

448
00:27:24,820 --> 00:27:28,100
now? Yeah, right this minute. Where are the cameras?

449
00:27:29,300 --> 00:27:31,780
And then that fall, I went to work for an IT firm,

450
00:27:34,580 --> 00:27:38,100
which was sort of a bait and switch. They're a great IT firm. And they

451
00:27:38,100 --> 00:27:41,700
hired me under the premise of, we're gonna. We know you haven't sold

452
00:27:42,980 --> 00:27:46,500
cyber security things, but we want to teach you. And I was like, yeah, I'm

453
00:27:46,500 --> 00:27:50,050
here to learn something new. But then they also were

454
00:27:50,050 --> 00:27:53,690
launching a digital marketing division at the same time. And

455
00:27:53,690 --> 00:27:57,170
so as I started, they were like, while we teach you this, we're going to

456
00:27:57,170 --> 00:28:00,530
put you in this digital marketing space because you kind of already have experience in

457
00:28:00,530 --> 00:28:04,290
that. That realm. So

458
00:28:04,929 --> 00:28:08,290
there I go into this, into this world, thinking, I'm gonna do that while learning

459
00:28:08,290 --> 00:28:12,090
about the cyber security networking stuff. But

460
00:28:12,090 --> 00:28:15,410
that kind of took all the time. So I was figuring that out, trying to

461
00:28:15,410 --> 00:28:18,690
figure out how to launch it, what the market was, how to go about

462
00:28:19,250 --> 00:28:22,970
pricing, selling and all that, kind of working with the ownership on that. And

463
00:28:22,970 --> 00:28:26,210
I'm not a job jumper. I know that I look really young, and it sounds

464
00:28:26,210 --> 00:28:29,490
like I just went through a whole lot of work history, but there was, like,

465
00:28:29,570 --> 00:28:32,690
chunks of time spent at these places. You were there. You were there for a

466
00:28:32,690 --> 00:28:36,130
while. Yeah. And I was committed to this. This

467
00:28:36,290 --> 00:28:39,730
gig and getting it done. But then when the third person called me and said,

468
00:28:39,730 --> 00:28:43,570
why haven't you applied for this director of sales job at the

469
00:28:43,570 --> 00:28:47,140
convention visitors bureau, like it was meant for you, I was like, okay,

470
00:28:47,140 --> 00:28:50,940
God, like I hear you, right? And so I applied, and it's

471
00:28:50,940 --> 00:28:54,580
exactly where I'm supposed to be. And, you know, it. All of that long history

472
00:28:54,580 --> 00:28:58,180
that I just vomited out to you makes me a really

473
00:28:58,180 --> 00:29:01,740
good fit for this job. Just because I've kind of seen the aspects of it.

474
00:29:02,060 --> 00:29:04,540
No, I. I don't think. I think that it's.

475
00:29:05,820 --> 00:29:09,580
So many people have similar stories where, where they

476
00:29:09,580 --> 00:29:12,940
end up and they're finding a lot of joy and where they work, a lot

477
00:29:12,940 --> 00:29:16,380
of satisfaction where they work. It wasn't like this direct. Pat

478
00:29:16,840 --> 00:29:20,520
started at the very beginning position and obvious position in

479
00:29:20,520 --> 00:29:24,360
this career path. It was a lot of other things. But I bet

480
00:29:24,360 --> 00:29:27,560
every day in your job now, you're pulling from experience,

481
00:29:27,880 --> 00:29:31,080
from all these different things you just mentioned, and

482
00:29:31,480 --> 00:29:35,160
it's just unique to you. I, you know,

483
00:29:35,160 --> 00:29:38,840
I would like to say that I wish. I wish I'd started at this city

484
00:29:38,840 --> 00:29:41,960
government job when I was 20 something, you know what I mean? Because I'd be

485
00:29:41,960 --> 00:29:45,660
approaching, like, retirement time Right. But I

486
00:29:45,660 --> 00:29:49,380
wouldn't be as good, you know, because I don't have the experience to pull from

487
00:29:49,460 --> 00:29:53,100
or to teach my team from. You know what I mean? Yeah. Being able to

488
00:29:53,100 --> 00:29:56,860
share some of that experience, we'll call it wisdom, trial

489
00:29:56,860 --> 00:30:00,660
and error with them, is, is helpful to them grow

490
00:30:00,660 --> 00:30:04,100
their growth and our office in general. Yes,

491
00:30:04,420 --> 00:30:08,060
yeah, yeah, I'm a big fan of that. You're right. You would have been

492
00:30:08,060 --> 00:30:11,860
more one dimensional instead of having a three dimensional experience background

493
00:30:11,860 --> 00:30:15,240
to pull from and I love that. So now

494
00:30:16,680 --> 00:30:20,520
director of sales is where you started. So I guess

495
00:30:20,520 --> 00:30:23,800
that was 19 and then

496
00:30:24,200 --> 00:30:27,960
your title now though is not director of sales, right? Correct. I

497
00:30:27,960 --> 00:30:30,560
became vice president of sales July of

498
00:30:30,560 --> 00:30:32,440
23.

499
00:30:34,600 --> 00:30:38,360
Yes, July. Gotcha, gotcha. Which is nice. Now

500
00:30:38,360 --> 00:30:42,010
I, in addition to doing the sales for everything except

501
00:30:42,010 --> 00:30:45,330
sports, I manage our director of sports sales, Synedra,

502
00:30:46,370 --> 00:30:50,090
who you know, kills that market. And then we also have Josh on our team

503
00:30:50,090 --> 00:30:53,570
who is our sales and services assistant that just came on board in

504
00:30:53,570 --> 00:30:57,410
August and I don't know how we survive without him now.

505
00:30:57,810 --> 00:31:01,410
Right. He's our local boots on the ground. So as you know,

506
00:31:01,410 --> 00:31:04,850
Synedra and I work with the groups until they're officially booked

507
00:31:05,090 --> 00:31:08,570
and then we introduce them to Josh and get that relationship going so that he

508
00:31:08,570 --> 00:31:12,270
can help them from books to execution and a little bit

509
00:31:12,270 --> 00:31:16,070
after to make sure that they need, everything they need locally is taken care of

510
00:31:16,070 --> 00:31:19,510
and that the experience goes smoothly for them. For sure.

511
00:31:19,750 --> 00:31:23,350
I love it when you hire somebody and it, it's

512
00:31:23,430 --> 00:31:27,150
really quickly. It's very apparent that they kill at their job and you're like,

513
00:31:27,150 --> 00:31:30,470
how did we ever do this without them? I love that. That's a great, that's

514
00:31:30,470 --> 00:31:34,110
a great experience. But right, right now you work for, it would

515
00:31:34,110 --> 00:31:37,590
be fair to say you work for a mid market cvb.

516
00:31:37,670 --> 00:31:41,210
And so would you agree that that's kind of a fair term?

517
00:31:41,290 --> 00:31:44,890
It's, it's not, you know, it's, it's not the first that comes to mind on

518
00:31:44,970 --> 00:31:48,170
large market, but there's a lot to be said for mid market

519
00:31:49,370 --> 00:31:53,050
convention visitor bureaus. So what are the advantages

520
00:31:53,050 --> 00:31:56,610
of bringing an event to a smaller metro area? Just from your

521
00:31:56,610 --> 00:32:00,330
perspective to ours, you. Get me and Josh, but

522
00:32:00,490 --> 00:32:02,490
right there, done. Mic drop.

523
00:32:04,730 --> 00:32:08,330
In general, you know, you get more attention, you get more attention to detail.

524
00:32:08,970 --> 00:32:11,610
When you are in a mid sized market, it's typically like you are the thing

525
00:32:11,610 --> 00:32:15,130
happening. Right, right. Like it's not like one of three, four or five different

526
00:32:15,130 --> 00:32:18,650
things. You, you are the thing. We

527
00:32:18,650 --> 00:32:21,930
size wise as far as space and overnight guest rooms. You know, our

528
00:32:22,330 --> 00:32:26,010
exhibit hall is 30,000 square feet in the one big box with

529
00:32:26,010 --> 00:32:28,170
another 60,000 flexible

530
00:32:29,690 --> 00:32:33,250
and the rooms like a little over 400 sleeping rooms on that same campus. All

531
00:32:33,250 --> 00:32:36,900
walkable. Right. There's only about 10, 11

532
00:32:37,380 --> 00:32:41,220
places in our state that can do that. Right, right. So we

533
00:32:41,220 --> 00:32:44,980
enjoy more than anything else getting to show off to the state association

534
00:32:44,980 --> 00:32:48,260
groups that come that, you know, rotate around the state when they get to us.

535
00:32:50,420 --> 00:32:54,220
You know, you get the special attention. You get a little bit more from

536
00:32:54,220 --> 00:32:57,620
your CVB when you don't have a beach or mountains outside

537
00:32:58,340 --> 00:33:02,080
to draw people. You know what I mean? So we do work a little harder

538
00:33:02,080 --> 00:33:05,880
and we do a little bit more services than people necessarily

539
00:33:05,880 --> 00:33:09,600
do it in in bigger tier one cities.

540
00:33:10,000 --> 00:33:13,680
Right, right. I would say it's the one on one southern

541
00:33:13,680 --> 00:33:17,200
hospitality service that you get can't be beat when you

542
00:33:17,520 --> 00:33:21,280
choose to host your events in Greenville Pitt county, which is huge.

543
00:33:21,440 --> 00:33:25,280
Which is huge. So on that note, if I'm

544
00:33:25,280 --> 00:33:28,890
an event planner, how can I get the most out of working with

545
00:33:28,970 --> 00:33:32,810
a cvb? Just in general? Definitely start there

546
00:33:32,810 --> 00:33:36,090
first. You know, if I've learned anything in this is before I travel anywhere,

547
00:33:36,490 --> 00:33:39,690
work personal, I'm going to reach out to the CVB and just see

548
00:33:40,250 --> 00:33:43,890
because the range of services that CVBs and TDAs

549
00:33:43,890 --> 00:33:47,290
and DMOs, all the acronyms for the same kind of

550
00:33:47,770 --> 00:33:51,370
office for sure do, are going to be different in every city. So you don't

551
00:33:51,370 --> 00:33:54,870
know until you ask, like what can you do or how, how can I use

552
00:33:54,870 --> 00:33:58,350
you to help me? Because you know, every CVB wants you to come,

553
00:33:58,590 --> 00:34:02,110
wants you to have a good time, wants your attendees to make memories

554
00:34:02,190 --> 00:34:04,510
in the city outside of the meeting space.

555
00:34:05,870 --> 00:34:09,630
So start there would be my number one tip. And keep

556
00:34:09,630 --> 00:34:12,150
them in the loop. Like as you're going through your planning and as you're doing

557
00:34:12,150 --> 00:34:15,830
whatever, keep them in the loop, lean on them. Don't worry about Google

558
00:34:15,830 --> 00:34:19,640
ChatGPT. Like that's your chat GPT for the city. Right. Like you're

559
00:34:19,640 --> 00:34:23,320
sitting, if you will. So just

560
00:34:23,320 --> 00:34:25,720
lean on them, lean on them and ask them the questions they know off top.

561
00:34:25,720 --> 00:34:29,240
It's like when you travel to any city and you stop at the bar,

562
00:34:29,320 --> 00:34:31,840
you know what I mean? Even if you're not drinking alcohol, you can just sit

563
00:34:31,840 --> 00:34:34,440
at the bar and talk to the bartender for five minutes and learn more about

564
00:34:35,080 --> 00:34:38,280
what's going on than if you googled for three hours.

565
00:34:38,440 --> 00:34:42,160
Yes, they know the lowdown of what's going on. So

566
00:34:42,160 --> 00:34:45,920
you're talking about Something fundamentally that I

567
00:34:45,920 --> 00:34:49,400
think if you grew up only doing Google searches, you might not know.

568
00:34:51,080 --> 00:34:54,920
But there is something to talking to

569
00:34:54,920 --> 00:34:58,280
a local that you'll get a

570
00:34:58,280 --> 00:35:01,160
richer set of advice

571
00:35:01,800 --> 00:35:05,480
than just looking at how many stars and you know,

572
00:35:05,880 --> 00:35:09,680
an AI generated list, for example. There's some

573
00:35:09,680 --> 00:35:13,450
parts of the world I would, you know, go anywhere in the world,

574
00:35:13,450 --> 00:35:17,090
but there are some countries that I would probably prefer to be

575
00:35:17,090 --> 00:35:20,570
with a local. Yeah, that, that it would just kind of

576
00:35:20,570 --> 00:35:24,410
circumvent some mistakes that I know that I would just be bound to make if

577
00:35:24,410 --> 00:35:27,690
I was just doing Google searches or you know, depending just on

578
00:35:27,690 --> 00:35:31,410
computers. And I kind of see that as CVP's like you want to

579
00:35:31,410 --> 00:35:34,970
first of all, save time. Second of all, every. Everything

580
00:35:34,970 --> 00:35:38,520
you do through them is going to be a home run. And if something

581
00:35:38,600 --> 00:35:42,440
like, yeah, they have great marketing but it really isn't a great experience, you know,

582
00:35:42,440 --> 00:35:46,240
that's valuable advice. You know, avoiding something is just

583
00:35:46,240 --> 00:35:50,000
as valuable as doing it something that they recommended well. Because

584
00:35:50,000 --> 00:35:53,040
a lot of times too like your reviews can be bought to certain level. Right.

585
00:35:53,040 --> 00:35:56,880
Like right. In some way, shape or form. This

586
00:35:56,880 --> 00:36:00,640
is a manufactured, you know, review system here. But when

587
00:36:00,640 --> 00:36:04,470
you're talking to someone that grew up there or really knows the area and

588
00:36:04,470 --> 00:36:07,950
they're just going to tell you they don't have any stake in it either way.

589
00:36:08,750 --> 00:36:12,510
So I love that. On that note, do you have an

590
00:36:12,510 --> 00:36:16,070
example of when you've seen when a

591
00:36:16,070 --> 00:36:19,790
planner and a CDV partner delivered something amazing.

592
00:36:20,350 --> 00:36:23,870
A planner came in, they did this and then there's just great experience

593
00:36:23,950 --> 00:36:27,670
that happened. Yes, the one that comes to

594
00:36:27,670 --> 00:36:30,600
mind because also it's probably the most recent in

595
00:36:31,400 --> 00:36:35,240
this role. We, and we did it twice.

596
00:36:36,280 --> 00:36:39,800
So the statewide tourism conference visit nc, right.

597
00:36:41,160 --> 00:36:44,800
When they come to your city and you're chosen to host that event, you know,

598
00:36:44,800 --> 00:36:48,640
it's all your peers. So much like NPI and a nc,

599
00:36:48,640 --> 00:36:52,400
you know, you're showing off for the planner delegation and the suppliers just get

600
00:36:52,400 --> 00:36:56,130
to reap the benefits. But in that conference

601
00:36:56,130 --> 00:36:59,650
is the marketing and CEOs and executives from

602
00:37:00,290 --> 00:37:03,930
all of the tourism. All the visits, everybody, all the

603
00:37:03,930 --> 00:37:07,170
visits, all the discoveries, all the adventures. So

604
00:37:07,810 --> 00:37:11,530
we, you know, there's a lot of investment on our side, but also we

605
00:37:11,530 --> 00:37:13,970
get to kind of help steer what the cool, the cool things are going to

606
00:37:13,970 --> 00:37:16,610
be. So it was an opening reception that we did for them

607
00:37:17,970 --> 00:37:21,650
and it was a party on Pitt Street. Okay. So Pitt street, our county

608
00:37:21,650 --> 00:37:25,170
is Pitt County. We also have Pitt street, which is where Pitt Street Brewing is

609
00:37:25,170 --> 00:37:28,980
one of our breweries. That we have that's also on our brewing Q

610
00:37:28,980 --> 00:37:32,820
trail. Look it up. Love it. And we. They

611
00:37:32,820 --> 00:37:35,940
have a pretty big facility. And then the street out front is literally like a

612
00:37:35,940 --> 00:37:39,580
block long. But there's also a Luna Pizza is right there,

613
00:37:39,580 --> 00:37:43,020
which is a classic, like Neapolitan

614
00:37:43,020 --> 00:37:46,860
style pizza. And they have some pastas and meatballs. The owner actually

615
00:37:46,860 --> 00:37:50,620
was an ECU professor who retired

616
00:37:50,860 --> 00:37:54,620
and went to Italy to learn how to make like authentic

617
00:37:54,860 --> 00:37:58,140
Italian dishes and then came back and opened up Luna Pizza. Right.

618
00:37:59,740 --> 00:38:03,340
Ford and Shep is another farm to table restaurant that's right across Pitt street from

619
00:38:03,340 --> 00:38:06,940
the brewery. And so we blocked off the street and we

620
00:38:06,940 --> 00:38:10,300
had, you know, we made beverage tokens that were our brand

621
00:38:10,540 --> 00:38:14,220
because, you know, responsibility first. We're giving you two if you choose to

622
00:38:14,220 --> 00:38:17,260
purchase. After that, we also provide transportation.

623
00:38:18,700 --> 00:38:21,960
But we gave them the two branded tokens so they could turn them in either

624
00:38:21,960 --> 00:38:25,520
at Pitt street for any beverages. We also had Sup

625
00:38:25,520 --> 00:38:29,360
Crushes on the street. So Sup Dogs is also a staple in our community.

626
00:38:29,520 --> 00:38:33,360
It was like the number one college bar in America for three out of

627
00:38:33,360 --> 00:38:37,160
four years. What is up? Dogs? Yeah, like, sup

628
00:38:37,160 --> 00:38:39,840
dog? Yeah. Oh, Sup? Okay, got it.

629
00:38:41,360 --> 00:38:45,000
So hot dog, hamburger joint. But they have amazing fresh squeezed

630
00:38:45,000 --> 00:38:48,610
juice drinks called crushes. Okay. So it's like fresh

631
00:38:48,610 --> 00:38:52,250
squeezed orange or grapefruit where the ogs. And it's mixed with

632
00:38:52,250 --> 00:38:56,090
like flavored vodka, triple sec, sprite. At one point, I

633
00:38:56,090 --> 00:38:59,690
think they sold more oranges than anybody in the state,

634
00:38:59,770 --> 00:39:03,529
including grocery stores. Go college students. Yeah,

635
00:39:04,010 --> 00:39:07,730
well, and also, you know, their parents and friends and me and me and my

636
00:39:07,730 --> 00:39:11,450
friends, because it feels like a fresh, you know, delicious, tasty

637
00:39:11,450 --> 00:39:14,570
beverage. It sounds fantastic. It is amazing. You have to come visit.

638
00:39:15,390 --> 00:39:19,230
Well, so since then too, they have now owned

639
00:39:19,230 --> 00:39:22,950
a distillery across the street from them, which

640
00:39:22,950 --> 00:39:26,510
is crushed distilling to make their own vodka. Now, like, they were using Smirnoff or

641
00:39:26,510 --> 00:39:30,230
whoever. So now they make their own vodka across the street. Smart. Yeah, very smart.

642
00:39:30,230 --> 00:39:33,510
And it's delicious and it's tasty. And they give proceeds back to our nil for

643
00:39:33,510 --> 00:39:37,070
our sports and like, huge community partners. So when I reached out to Brett, the

644
00:39:37,070 --> 00:39:40,750
owner of Sup Dogs, and I was like, hey, we're hosting all the statewide

645
00:39:40,750 --> 00:39:44,540
tourism people. We're having this reception on Pitt Street. We

646
00:39:44,540 --> 00:39:48,340
want to serve crushes because it's part of our culture at this point. Would

647
00:39:48,340 --> 00:39:50,980
you. Can you come and set up? And he was like, absolutely. You know what

648
00:39:50,980 --> 00:39:54,740
I mean? So we had. Those were kind of your beverages. We also had The

649
00:39:54,740 --> 00:39:57,700
Dickinson Avenue Farmers and Makers Market opens up to the back there.

650
00:39:59,620 --> 00:40:01,700
So they came out and did

651
00:40:03,220 --> 00:40:07,020
some simply natural ice cream cups and beverages. Non alcoholic beverages

652
00:40:07,020 --> 00:40:10,700
there. We also. It was on St. Patrick's Day, so we had a little

653
00:40:10,700 --> 00:40:14,140
Celtic local band set up. We had four different

654
00:40:14,780 --> 00:40:18,580
food areas, which were like a chef's bite, you know

655
00:40:18,580 --> 00:40:21,300
what I mean? So we had a chef's bite from Port and Ship, a chef's

656
00:40:21,300 --> 00:40:24,740
bite from Chef Luke, who owns Native Fine diner

657
00:40:24,740 --> 00:40:28,340
downtown Julep inside the Hilton. And then Luna

658
00:40:28,340 --> 00:40:32,100
Pizza. Just cranking out pizzas. And the brewery also

659
00:40:32,100 --> 00:40:35,620
did a collab brew that was like, they made it just for the conference. We

660
00:40:35,620 --> 00:40:39,320
had labels printed on their cans. Also,

661
00:40:39,320 --> 00:40:43,160
I tried to do compostable trash. People,

662
00:40:43,480 --> 00:40:45,640
I've learned, will never put

663
00:40:47,240 --> 00:40:50,760
the right thing in the right trash can. Yeah, they just won't. They won't. That's

664
00:40:50,760 --> 00:40:53,960
a tough one. Pictured it, but we tried. And I would try it again

665
00:40:55,160 --> 00:40:58,600
just because we should. But anyway, so it was a street festival

666
00:40:58,920 --> 00:41:02,680
that was a hint of St Patrick's Day. A

667
00:41:02,760 --> 00:41:06,380
lot of dashes of our Greenville local favorites.

668
00:41:07,500 --> 00:41:11,180
A lot of prayer and vibing that the weather

669
00:41:11,180 --> 00:41:15,020
was gonna hold out. All right. Because the whole thing depends on outdoor.

670
00:41:15,340 --> 00:41:19,100
Yeah. Why we would choose to do that, I don't know. Like,

671
00:41:19,100 --> 00:41:22,580
and when the Visit NC team came, made a PowerPoint, like, here's the

672
00:41:22,580 --> 00:41:26,340
options for places. We can have this reception. Daddy

673
00:41:26,340 --> 00:41:30,060
Ficklin Stadium. We can do the town bank tower that overlooks the stadium

674
00:41:30,060 --> 00:41:33,190
and have the same kind of food, like, Taste of Rainbow stuff.

675
00:41:33,750 --> 00:41:36,470
We could do it at the state Theater and have, like, a band

676
00:41:37,350 --> 00:41:40,310
and some other options. And then I was like, and then there's a street party.

677
00:41:40,870 --> 00:41:44,590
And I was like, I'm going to, without emotion, go through

678
00:41:44,590 --> 00:41:48,390
all of these options so that I don't lean into the one like I want.

679
00:41:48,710 --> 00:41:52,470
Right, Right. Which was the street party. Because also, like, if you pick something that's

680
00:41:52,470 --> 00:41:55,870
indoor and want to take that weather pressure off of me, I'm here for it,

681
00:41:55,870 --> 00:41:59,550
you know? Right. But no, they chose that one. And the weather

682
00:41:59,550 --> 00:42:03,250
was perfect. And they went amazing. We had, again, the bus station

683
00:42:03,250 --> 00:42:06,970
is right there, our Greenville area transportation center. So we were able to bus and

684
00:42:06,970 --> 00:42:10,810
use the lighting and the infrastructure there and

685
00:42:10,810 --> 00:42:14,530
ran those buses for hours after the event ended. And it was just

686
00:42:14,530 --> 00:42:18,370
perfect and amazing. So much so that then in

687
00:42:18,370 --> 00:42:21,810
the fall, the North Carolina or

688
00:42:22,130 --> 00:42:25,410
American Planning association of North Carolina.

689
00:42:26,050 --> 00:42:29,850
So city planners. Right. Or having their annual here in

690
00:42:29,850 --> 00:42:33,570
town. Because again, we're on the circuit of the association annuals.

691
00:42:34,450 --> 00:42:38,130
And so we like to also compete, you know, against we want to be,

692
00:42:39,010 --> 00:42:42,730
because. Why not? Yeah. So same thing with them. They were like,

693
00:42:42,730 --> 00:42:46,570
we have opening reception. What are your thoughts? Make a PowerPoint. Here's all

694
00:42:46,570 --> 00:42:50,370
the different options. What are you thinking? And they

695
00:42:50,370 --> 00:42:53,420
chose this party on pit street again. I was like, cool.

696
00:42:54,220 --> 00:42:57,300
And so they're like, we just don't know if we have the capacity to do

697
00:42:57,300 --> 00:42:59,460
it. And I was like, well, you get. You get me. Like, you get me

698
00:42:59,460 --> 00:43:01,820
to plan and execute it if you pay. I just need to know what the

699
00:43:01,820 --> 00:43:04,660
budget is. You know what I mean? And I will plan and execute it for

700
00:43:04,660 --> 00:43:08,140
you. And we did. And hallelujah.

701
00:43:08,220 --> 00:43:11,740
Again, the weather. The weather held out again. Yes, it was amazing.

702
00:43:12,940 --> 00:43:16,620
So again, that one was good. And my favorite part of it

703
00:43:17,260 --> 00:43:20,790
was, you know, we had a. The big committee playing in the conference, right?

704
00:43:21,430 --> 00:43:25,070
25 deep. And then I was like, can I have a subcommittee? Because

705
00:43:25,070 --> 00:43:28,830
I'm not trying to give updates to this group of 25

706
00:43:28,830 --> 00:43:32,630
and manage input. No, I need a subcommittee, you know, and so I

707
00:43:32,630 --> 00:43:36,390
had, like, five people on the subcommittee to get the business done, right? And

708
00:43:36,390 --> 00:43:40,190
then just report back to the big. And so one

709
00:43:40,190 --> 00:43:44,030
of the guys that was on the subcommittee who, you know, the

710
00:43:44,030 --> 00:43:46,820
vibe from him the whole time was kind of just like, I don't. I can't

711
00:43:46,820 --> 00:43:50,540
tell if he actually wants to be here or, like, what. What his.

712
00:43:50,540 --> 00:43:54,220
His. His demeanor here is, but, you know,

713
00:43:54,220 --> 00:43:57,060
helpful as he can be and whatever. And so then at some point in the

714
00:43:57,060 --> 00:44:00,620
middle of the reception where I'm, like, walking through with my walkie talkie on, and

715
00:44:00,620 --> 00:44:04,020
I'm like, okay, things are going. Things are going. And he came up and he

716
00:44:04,020 --> 00:44:07,580
was like, rachel. And I've never seen this man with this much

717
00:44:07,580 --> 00:44:11,300
enthusiasm in the whole time leading up to this. And I was like,

718
00:44:11,300 --> 00:44:14,570
oh, God. And he was like, this is incredible. I really. Honestly, I didn't think

719
00:44:14,570 --> 00:44:18,250
you could do it. Honestly, I didn't see how it would work.

720
00:44:18,250 --> 00:44:21,490
I didn't think you could do it. And I was like, I'm gonna. I'm gonna

721
00:44:21,490 --> 00:44:24,610
choose to take that as a compliment. It's kind of a backhanded compliment, but. Okay,

722
00:44:24,610 --> 00:44:28,130
go on. Yeah. You're a planner. Like, and so I think logistically in your mind,

723
00:44:28,130 --> 00:44:31,130
like, you couldn't because you don't do events, right? Like, it's a different kind of

724
00:44:31,130 --> 00:44:34,890
planning. So. And again, shout out to working in

725
00:44:34,890 --> 00:44:38,690
banquets. You know what I mean? Cause that's where run of show and execution.

726
00:44:40,040 --> 00:44:43,800
My foundation is. Right? Yeah. And so it was just that, you know, I was

727
00:44:43,800 --> 00:44:47,600
like, I need some college kids to be volunteering from the planning department to execute

728
00:44:47,600 --> 00:44:50,600
this. They can just come to me and I'll delegate, no problem.

729
00:44:51,480 --> 00:44:55,080
So probably those. That event, which we did twice, was

730
00:44:55,080 --> 00:44:58,880
probably my favorite collab between people

731
00:44:58,880 --> 00:45:02,560
hosting an event in our office, which again, in a, in our

732
00:45:02,560 --> 00:45:05,600
size city. You get that, you know what I mean? It's going to be harder

733
00:45:05,600 --> 00:45:08,960
to get that in a bigger city where you get an event

734
00:45:08,960 --> 00:45:11,840
planner, you know what I mean, to kind of help you.

735
00:45:13,040 --> 00:45:16,320
Yeah, I mean, I, I see it as just such a great

736
00:45:16,320 --> 00:45:20,080
example of how you can partner with a city

737
00:45:20,320 --> 00:45:24,040
to do a great event. And it's, it really has nothing to do with

738
00:45:24,040 --> 00:45:27,840
the size of your city. I mean, it just sounds like a great event, period.

739
00:45:27,920 --> 00:45:31,600
That would have been a great event in any city. Great example of how

740
00:45:31,600 --> 00:45:35,240
that teamwork works, but also highlighting the attention you

741
00:45:35,240 --> 00:45:39,000
get when you're working with maybe a mid market town.

742
00:45:39,480 --> 00:45:43,160
They can do some amazing things. And then all your, you know, your

743
00:45:43,160 --> 00:45:46,520
relationships that made that happen, these are people that your team

744
00:45:46,520 --> 00:45:50,280
knows personally. Pull them all in and you can do it super quick.

745
00:45:50,520 --> 00:45:54,360
It would take an outsider forever to figure that out. And a lot

746
00:45:54,360 --> 00:45:58,040
of trial and error, quite frankly. So super great example.

747
00:45:59,250 --> 00:46:02,970
So you might have answered this before, but when

748
00:46:02,970 --> 00:46:06,730
you're approached by a new client, looking at

749
00:46:06,730 --> 00:46:10,570
you guys, you know, and they want to come and do an event, what

750
00:46:10,570 --> 00:46:14,330
are the first questions that you ask? So if I'm a planner,

751
00:46:14,330 --> 00:46:18,050
you know, how can I be prepared to communicate effectively with a

752
00:46:18,050 --> 00:46:21,730
cvb? First time? Sure. I mean, history is always great.

753
00:46:23,010 --> 00:46:26,860
I want to know everything. Like, I want to know your vision.

754
00:46:26,860 --> 00:46:29,180
I want to know how it's gone in the past. I want to know things

755
00:46:29,180 --> 00:46:32,940
you want to do better, things that work really well, why not keep those,

756
00:46:32,940 --> 00:46:36,620
you know what I mean, type of deal. How much freedom do you

757
00:46:36,620 --> 00:46:40,340
as the planner have to add on and do fun things?

758
00:46:41,060 --> 00:46:44,340
Dates. Dates are important. We,

759
00:46:44,660 --> 00:46:47,700
you know, spring, summer, really great for us

760
00:46:48,340 --> 00:46:52,020
not to put our business out here on the Internet. But fall is a little

761
00:46:52,020 --> 00:46:55,820
bit more difficult because we have ECU football and so we have to work around

762
00:46:55,820 --> 00:46:59,340
that schedule. It's a. Eastern Carolina University is there in your

763
00:46:59,340 --> 00:47:01,780
town. Right? Right in the area. Right.

764
00:47:02,740 --> 00:47:06,460
East Carolina, Yes. Oh, I

765
00:47:06,460 --> 00:47:10,180
apologize. It's okay. East Carolina at all.

766
00:47:13,700 --> 00:47:17,460
Yes. East Carolina University is, is here in Greenville, home of the

767
00:47:17,460 --> 00:47:20,750
Pirates. We also have Pitt Community College, which is like the sixth or seventh

768
00:47:21,230 --> 00:47:23,630
largest in the state. Go Bulldogs.

769
00:47:24,830 --> 00:47:27,870
So, yes, so I want to know everything I want to know

770
00:47:28,910 --> 00:47:32,550
again, the dates, attendance, size, needs kind of

771
00:47:32,550 --> 00:47:35,750
first. Is that right? Like, what space do you need and how many rooms do

772
00:47:35,750 --> 00:47:39,150
you need? Because we can roll in and out. What kind of travel

773
00:47:39,390 --> 00:47:42,430
are people coming from? Are they driving in, are they flying in?

774
00:47:42,990 --> 00:47:46,580
And that kind of stuff. Just to make sure the logistics work is

775
00:47:46,580 --> 00:47:50,380
probably, you know what I need first. What I want to

776
00:47:50,380 --> 00:47:53,540
know first is your feelings on it. Like, I want to hear what your hotels

777
00:47:53,540 --> 00:47:57,220
are. I want to know everything enough that

778
00:47:57,220 --> 00:48:00,580
I can create a clear picture of what your wish is so that I can

779
00:48:00,580 --> 00:48:04,260
help make it so. You know what I mean? Yeah. Yeah. I love

780
00:48:04,260 --> 00:48:08,020
that. I think it's a powerful question. It's. It's. What you're

781
00:48:08,020 --> 00:48:11,780
alluding to there is. What are you trying to avoid this time? What

782
00:48:11,780 --> 00:48:15,440
did you not like about the last experience or whatever? How can we

783
00:48:15,440 --> 00:48:19,200
make this a better experience for you? Yeah. Or what is the best year

784
00:48:19,200 --> 00:48:22,800
you ever had? And why? So I can beat that, too. Right. I think

785
00:48:22,800 --> 00:48:26,160
we're really circling around, Rachel, your competitiveness, which I think

786
00:48:26,560 --> 00:48:30,160
probably makes you good at your job. You didn't ask me about the pickleball,

787
00:48:30,240 --> 00:48:33,400
but I just want to share that I just picked up my first paddle in

788
00:48:33,400 --> 00:48:35,680
January, and I also just placed third in a tournament.

789
00:48:37,280 --> 00:48:41,070
I love it. Are you. So obviously you're paying too much

790
00:48:41,070 --> 00:48:44,870
for the little paddle, right? The. The. They call it a paddle or a club

791
00:48:44,870 --> 00:48:48,630
or. It is a paddle racket as opposed to a racket. Correct.

792
00:48:49,030 --> 00:48:52,550
It's a paddle. And I have a. Just a cheap paddle because I did

793
00:48:53,030 --> 00:48:56,270
when I bought a set. It's like two paddles and two indoor balls and two

794
00:48:56,270 --> 00:49:00,030
outdoor balls. Did you know there was indoor and outdoor? I had

795
00:49:00,030 --> 00:49:03,830
no idea. I have played once, but I didn't know there was indoor. Outdoor.

796
00:49:03,830 --> 00:49:07,680
Yeah, there are. Outdoor has more holes, I assume, so more

797
00:49:07,680 --> 00:49:11,440
air can go less impacted by the air. I don't know. Yeah. You have no

798
00:49:11,440 --> 00:49:14,960
idea, do you? Yeah. So I bought those in December because

799
00:49:15,040 --> 00:49:18,400
much like the hiking goal. Right. I. This year's

800
00:49:18,640 --> 00:49:21,760
goals were, I want to play. I want to pick up a paddle for the

801
00:49:21,760 --> 00:49:25,040
first time and play pickleball 50 times. Five, zero

802
00:49:25,280 --> 00:49:28,960
times. Okay. Where are you right now? Probably like 20.

803
00:49:29,760 --> 00:49:33,530
Okay. That's pretty solid. Yeah. Well, so I did a little tally at

804
00:49:33,530 --> 00:49:36,570
the end of March. No first quarter. Yeah. To see where we were at. Should

805
00:49:36,570 --> 00:49:40,210
be at 12 and a half. And we were like, 16. You're way above. Well,

806
00:49:40,210 --> 00:49:43,810
and that's because, of course you have a tally. I have a sticker

807
00:49:43,810 --> 00:49:45,930
Chart on my fridge.

808
00:49:47,770 --> 00:49:51,570
I love those. I also, I amped it up a lot.

809
00:49:51,570 --> 00:49:54,970
So I also plan to ride my bicycle 50 times this year.

810
00:49:56,490 --> 00:50:00,110
This is a bicycle my sister gave me for my 30th birthday. For those of

811
00:50:00,110 --> 00:50:03,750
you who listen. Really. And we're taking notes. Go ahead and do that math. That

812
00:50:03,750 --> 00:50:07,430
was a quick. Almost 15 years ago. And so

813
00:50:07,430 --> 00:50:11,270
I've ridden that bike less, average less than

814
00:50:11,270 --> 00:50:14,989
once a year in that 15 years. Okay. So it's a relatively new

815
00:50:14,989 --> 00:50:18,670
bike is what you're saying. Yeah, we had to take it to the shop. Okay.

816
00:50:18,670 --> 00:50:21,310
So I took it in December because I knew that this was gonna be my

817
00:50:21,310 --> 00:50:24,830
goal, to ride it 50 times. Okay. And I mean, like a 10 minute around

818
00:50:24,830 --> 00:50:28,270
the neighborhood counts. Right. We're just trying to get familiar with the bike again. Because

819
00:50:28,430 --> 00:50:31,950
let me tell you something, it's not exactly just like riding a bike.

820
00:50:32,350 --> 00:50:36,110
Right. There are parts you forget. Yeah. And also, you

821
00:50:36,670 --> 00:50:39,710
trust the bike a lot less than you did when you were a kid. And

822
00:50:39,710 --> 00:50:43,550
you wrote it all day, every day. Because falling means a lot more now, though.

823
00:50:44,110 --> 00:50:47,550
You take turns and be, like, parallel to the ground. Yeah. I mean,

824
00:50:47,710 --> 00:50:49,990
now I got to worry about my hips. You know what I mean? Like, am

825
00:50:49,990 --> 00:50:52,420
I going to fall? Is something going to break? I can't be out of commission

826
00:50:52,420 --> 00:50:56,220
because I fell in my neighborhood on a bike. Okay. So

827
00:50:56,220 --> 00:50:59,300
I took the bike from my garage to

828
00:50:59,860 --> 00:51:03,700
the bike shop with all of its dust and spiderwebs. And I

829
00:51:03,700 --> 00:51:06,100
said before I even took it into the shop, I walked in and he's like,

830
00:51:06,100 --> 00:51:09,340
how come help? You know, Greenville Bicycle Shop here, by the way, on Clark Street,

831
00:51:09,340 --> 00:51:13,100
Shout out. And so I go. And I said, hey, first

832
00:51:13,100 --> 00:51:16,700
of all, I just need we listen. I need you to listen and

833
00:51:16,700 --> 00:51:20,500
not judge. And he was like, okay. I was like, I have this

834
00:51:20,500 --> 00:51:24,340
bike in the car. It's a really nice Trek bike, hybrid, fat. You

835
00:51:24,340 --> 00:51:27,860
know, I haven't ridden in many years. I need to get it back up into,

836
00:51:27,860 --> 00:51:31,220
like, fighting shape here. And he was like, okay, so you get it out of

837
00:51:31,220 --> 00:51:33,780
the car and he's like. Puts it on the thing. He's spinning around like. I

838
00:51:33,780 --> 00:51:37,340
think it's probably in pretty good shape. Just needs, like a tune up. He's like,

839
00:51:37,340 --> 00:51:40,660
and this isn't the worst bike that I've ever seen. It has the most

840
00:51:40,660 --> 00:51:44,500
cobwebs I think we've ever had in the shop ever total at one time.

841
00:51:44,720 --> 00:51:48,520
But you're winning. You're winning there. Yeah. So

842
00:51:48,520 --> 00:51:51,680
that's also on the. On the sticker chart.

843
00:51:52,160 --> 00:51:55,880
And I Have not done that as much. Okay. Which

844
00:51:55,880 --> 00:51:59,640
is weird because you can. That's independent. Like, I just. That's just

845
00:51:59,640 --> 00:52:03,320
me going out and doing it. Right. The pickleball. You got to make

846
00:52:03,320 --> 00:52:07,080
an appointment. Yeah. And I got it. And

847
00:52:07,080 --> 00:52:08,960
so I reach out to my group

848
00:52:11,020 --> 00:52:14,860
of friends and say, hey, I'm trying to do

849
00:52:14,860 --> 00:52:17,180
this. Do you want to be on the roster? Right. Like, do you want to

850
00:52:17,180 --> 00:52:19,540
be on the list of people that I reach out to when I need to

851
00:52:19,540 --> 00:52:23,020
pick up a pickleball game this week? And most of my friends were like, yes,

852
00:52:23,020 --> 00:52:26,780
absolutely. None of them ever played either. Right. And so, like, yeah, totally.

853
00:52:26,780 --> 00:52:29,940
And, you know, a good part of them were like, I'm trying to find something

854
00:52:29,940 --> 00:52:33,420
to do that's not drinking. You know what I mean? So. Right. Anyway, so we're

855
00:52:33,420 --> 00:52:36,860
out here. A whole health. Movement, body movement,

856
00:52:36,860 --> 00:52:40,700
movement, body moving, movement of me and my squad, because there's literally

857
00:52:40,700 --> 00:52:44,460
25 of us on this list. And so it became like, I have a group

858
00:52:44,460 --> 00:52:48,060
that plays Tuesday night, and I group that plays Saturday morning. So it's, like, fairly

859
00:52:48,060 --> 00:52:51,780
easy to get those average once a week's in. Right.

860
00:52:52,100 --> 00:52:54,740
At this point, I also put a little.

861
00:52:56,900 --> 00:53:00,500
Half. Half court in my. In my garage. Oh, wow. So

862
00:53:00,740 --> 00:53:04,490
a half court. Do you know what the kitchen is like, the no volley

863
00:53:04,490 --> 00:53:08,210
zone up against? Yeah, yeah, I'm aware of the kitchen. Okay. So I

864
00:53:08,210 --> 00:53:12,010
basically have the kitchen on both sides and,

865
00:53:12,010 --> 00:53:15,730
like, one side left or right of the court. Got it. So you can practice

866
00:53:15,730 --> 00:53:19,409
dinking. Yeah. Is the mood here. Right. And also,

867
00:53:19,409 --> 00:53:21,690
somebody gave me a half court net. So, like, what am I supposed to do?

868
00:53:21,690 --> 00:53:24,810
Not put a court in my garage. You kind of have to. Right?

869
00:53:25,210 --> 00:53:29,050
Yeah. So anyway, I forget this is pickleball

870
00:53:29,050 --> 00:53:32,620
tournament. I don't know. Competitive. That's where we went with this. So

871
00:53:32,620 --> 00:53:36,420
biking, I'm only on, like, eight. The pickleball, I'm on, like, 20. So over this

872
00:53:36,420 --> 00:53:39,820
quarter, we're gonna have to, like, do some adjusting and get on the bike more,

873
00:53:39,820 --> 00:53:43,340
which. It's nicer outside, so it should be. That's true.

874
00:53:43,500 --> 00:53:47,300
It might not have been writing season yet, you know. Now you're getting

875
00:53:47,300 --> 00:53:51,140
into writing season. Exactly. That's fantastic. I'm. I'm a

876
00:53:51,140 --> 00:53:54,900
little like. I'm not hurt, Rachel, that I'm not on, like,

877
00:53:54,900 --> 00:53:58,460
the pickleball list. You know, you didn't even lived here. Consider

878
00:53:58,460 --> 00:54:02,040
it, Sarah. Also. Okay. All right, fine.

879
00:54:02,040 --> 00:54:05,720
We'll be looking out for our invite. Yeah, yeah. And when I'm in. When I'm

880
00:54:05,720 --> 00:54:09,560
in the Charlotte, heck, yeah. Pickleball

881
00:54:10,200 --> 00:54:13,880
pickleball. All right, well, Rachel, this has been a fantastic conversation

882
00:54:14,040 --> 00:54:17,840
and I personally have learned a lot about how CVVs

883
00:54:17,840 --> 00:54:20,920
work because, you know, I run an AV company. I don't think about that a

884
00:54:20,920 --> 00:54:24,360
lot. But that's why I like these conversations. Because I'm like,

885
00:54:24,680 --> 00:54:27,760
selfishly, I'm like, I want to learn about what you do, what's your day to

886
00:54:27,760 --> 00:54:30,880
day look like? But if people want to learn more about you, where should they

887
00:54:30,880 --> 00:54:34,380
go? You can go to my LinkedIn if you would like.

888
00:54:34,700 --> 00:54:38,500
Rachel Whitten probably says CMP on there in this space. This face is

889
00:54:38,500 --> 00:54:42,340
there. We'll drop it in the resources section of the podcast too, so they can

890
00:54:42,340 --> 00:54:46,060
perfect. You can also find me on my socials. I'm very

891
00:54:46,060 --> 00:54:49,420
public in that realm, much to my own detriment sometimes.

892
00:54:49,900 --> 00:54:51,180
And then you can also email me

893
00:54:51,180 --> 00:54:54,820
rachel@visitgreenvillemc.com that's Rachel spelled

894
00:54:54,820 --> 00:54:58,310
the biblical way R A C H E L at visit

895
00:54:58,310 --> 00:55:00,630
greenville nc the

896
00:55:00,630 --> 00:55:04,110
oneontop.com love it.

897
00:55:04,590 --> 00:55:08,310
Okay, thank you so much. It's been a great conversation. We'll have to have you

898
00:55:08,310 --> 00:55:11,870
back on another episode to learn some more about your world.

899
00:55:13,309 --> 00:55:16,830
And thank you for joining us on the Event Pro Show. Be sure to follow

900
00:55:16,830 --> 00:55:20,274
us on your preferred podcast platform or@the

901
00:55:20,506 --> 00:55:24,350
eventproshow.com Join us every week where we put out more

902
00:55:24,350 --> 00:55:28,070
tips and tricks about corporate events and we will see you on the

903
00:55:28,070 --> 00:55:31,150
next one. The Event Pro show is a production of

904
00:55:31,150 --> 00:55:34,910
LEMG video by Nick Barrett, audio

905
00:55:34,910 --> 00:55:38,510
and post production by Prince Thompson. You can learn more about us

906
00:55:38,510 --> 00:55:40,510
at LEMG Live.