Discover Madison Wisconsin: Outdoor Adventures, Lakes, and Local Flavor with Destination Madison

Rob Gard - Destination Madison

Howard Fox: [00:00:00] Hello everyone. This is Howard Fox, and welcome back for another episode of the Outdoor Adventure Series, the podcast that celebrates individuals and families, businesses and organizations that seek out and promote the exploration stewardship. Conservation, access and enjoyment of the outdoors.

Rob Gard is our guest today. Rob is the director and public. Uh, 3, 2, 1. Rob is the Director of Communication and Public Affairs for Destination Madison. Now, destination Madison is dedicated to creating economic impact through tourism. Rob, it's pleasure to have you on the podcast. Welcome.

Rob Gard: Thank you, Howard. I am thrilled to be here today.

Howard Fox: Fantastic. Now I know the answer to this. It's quite possible. Some of my guests, uh, who are listening may not know, but where is Destination [00:01:00] Madison located?

Rob Gard: We are in Madison, Wisconsin, which doubles up as the state capital and as the home of the University of Wisconsin. So you have probably heard of Wisconsin Bachelor that they've had success in a number of sports, uh, through the years and. We are known for kind of being a vibrant, urban, uh, community in the midst of the upper Midwest.

Howard Fox: Okay. Now, I, I have to share with you in, in the spirit of full disclosure, I grew up in Michigan. Uh, I did not go to one of the two schools there that, uh, you, uh, your fellow Wisconsin Badger rights or are familiar with, but, uh, I, I do root for one of those teams, but I, I, you know, after. Preparing for this podcast episode, I'm thinking, uh, Madison, Wisconsin could be my next place to live, but, uh, we'll get there in a second.

Uh, first off, if, if you would, as a director of Communications and Public [00:02:00] Affairs for an organization like Destination Madison, for our listeners, what does that mean? What, what is the kind of the breadth of your, your act activities day to day, week to week?

Rob Gard: So the overall work of Destination Madison is to attract people to visit Madison, or hopefully in your case, move here, uh, by the end of this episode. But it. What that does is it helps, uh, fuel our local hospitality industry, uh, and the tourism economy behind it. So our work, and my work in particular on a daily basis is to share the stories of Madison with people who might be interested in coming here to hold a meeting or an event.

To bring a sporting event here or a tournament, and also for people to plan leisure visits. So we look at a number of offerings that we have here locally, and we get the opportunity to amplify those offerings. So an individual [00:03:00] business that may do something really interesting or unique for visitors doesn't necessarily have the reach to connect with those visitors.

We can do that. The same thing when it comes to holding meetings and events. Madison might not be on the top tier list for, um, an event planner, but our sales team is out there saying, here is why you need to choose, uh, this great city. So a lot of that daily work is spreading the good word of Madison out there, showing people what they will experience here, and then hopefully closing the loop between raising awareness and getting them actually in the city.

Howard Fox: Excellent, excellent. Now, I, I'm curious, uh, and I'm, I love your background. Uh, you've got these bodies of water. I, I was able to go out to my go-to, uh, social site to find my photo and, uh, I, I can't speak to what lake it is, but I have to also admit, Rob, I have been to Madison twice, [00:04:00] and as you, uh. Uh, I don't know what the word would be, but you, you, you, you didn't say, well, Howard, that's just total loss there.

But I, I never knew there were bodies of water in Madison. I think I just didn't go far enough. And it, it's just like. Oh my, I mean, it looks like you're surrounded by water and that's, that opens up so many kinds of outdoor activities, whether it's along the water or in the water. And, uh, what, how is that, uh, type of situation where Madison is located, how has that really helped to market and brand Madison as a destination for.

Organizations, uh uh, of a variety of interest.

Rob Gard: We do have five lakes that surround Madison. And as you can see in the background behind me, two of them compress the landmass into a narrow isus. If you remember something from junior high [00:05:00] school geography, uh, that isus is a narrow strip of land between two bodies of water. And we're one of the few cities in the world that are actually centered on an isus.

And what that does is it gives people easy access to the outdoors. We have. Not only the access to the water that you see behind me right from downtown. So if you're down here for a meeting, um, or if you're down here just for leisure travel, you can certainly get out in the water and do some kayaking or stand up paddle boarding or plenty of places to rent that type of equipment.

Or feeling a little more adventurous in the winter, getting out in the ice and doing some skating or some ice fishing. But what this does is we are. Pretty tightly connected to a vast bike system. Madison's one of five platinum rated bike cities in the us So the best of the best in terms of the number of bike [00:06:00] roadways, bike paths, and the, uh, how they are linked together and linked throughout the community.

So we have 240 miles of bike paths, and from downtown you can rent, uh, an e-bike. We have, uh, an all e-bike, bike share system. Jump on one of those trails and you're riding around a lake for 13 miles or you're kind of riding around the lake for just a little bit and you're shooting off into some state forest land or some wetlands to watch bird migrations, which are really, um, active at this time of year.

So a lot of our outdoor activities do spring from that landscape, which surrounds the Madison area.

Howard Fox: Okay. How far back has Destination Madison been? Involved in the, the attraction of tourism. And before you answer that, one thing that was not lost on me last year, I was [00:07:00] interviewing a lot of desk, a lot of, uh. Participants who were sponsoring a, uh, a conference that I was attending, the Outdoor Writers Association of Americas.

They like had to call the A field Fest and up in the Appalachian area of Tennessee, which had been known for its mining and coal of coal, et cetera, energy, and is that industry. Started to diminish, tourism started to take on a life of its own. And so I'm curious, just given the, the nature and where Madison is situated, has tourism always been an active component, uh, to attract new residents or visitors for conferences?

Or is this something that really maybe took on a life of its own in the last 10, 15 years?

Rob Gard: The answer is yes and yes. So it is been an evolution, uh, destination. Madison, as an organization, [00:08:00] has been around for about 53 years. And initially it was to draw in more of those meetings and events, um, into the, uh, hotel areas, um, that we have. So conference, you know, conference rooms and conference meeting spaces, uh, in hotels and what. Transpired with that is you can see, um, maybe over my shoulder here,

Howard Fox: Okay.

Rob Gard: called manna terrace area. I'm looking at myself in reverse. It's very funky, but, uh, over my, as you're facing the screen over, I guess, the. Right shoulder. Um, the lake closest to us, there is a, uh, conference and convention center that was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in the 1920s and thirties.

He's a local boy, a well-known architect. You know, if you know, almost, if you know any architect in America, that's probably the one that you know.

Howard Fox: heard of Frank Lloyd Wright.

Rob Gard: Uh, and yeah, he is, [00:09:00] um, a number of properties around here, including a couple of UNESCO World Heritage sites, but he designed our conference center in the early, uh, 1930s, revised it in the forties and the fifties up until the time of his death really.

And they finally, the city finally built the convention center in the nineties, and that really focused the work that we do for meetings and events. Um, it gave us a really cool. Um, convention space that connects that urban core with the outdoors. It, it literally juts out over the water. And so that has been huge and was a big driver for a long time.

We were probably 50 to 60% or more meetings and events attendees, uh, for quite a while. And the pandemic hit and Madison was very assertive with its caution, uh, for. For health reasons and, um, really took its time to make sure that things were safe here to bring visitors back in. So it took a little while [00:10:00] to build that meeting and event, uh, business back up.

But in the meantime, we, we doubled our efforts into the leisure space, reaching out to people within good drive market distance. So Chicago, certainly Minneapolis, some other big Midwestern markets. Uh, and what we had to offer during those early days of the pandemic when people were really focused on social distancing is this great outdoor, uh, offerings that we have.

So, 14 state parks within an hour's drive of Madison and all that water access, the, the biking, the hiking, and. We saw that shift so that now we're probably 50 50, uh, leisure and meetings and events, if not skewing a little bit more on that leisure. Once people got here and saw how easy it was to experience Madison as a leisure escape and a leisure destination, they came back here, told their friends about it, posted about it on social media, raised interest of other folks, and we've been really strong, uh, in the leisure space in the last [00:11:00] five years or so.

Howard Fox: Okay. Within the leisure space, would you characterize Madison as a a long weekend kind of destination, or are folks gonna come here, come to Madison and spend a week, two weeks, and just kind of enjoy everything the city has to, the air surrounding area has to.

Rob Gard: Two types of travelers I think, that come to the Madison area. One is that long weekend or maybe a midweek escape for three or four days, and we feel you can get a really good taste of what we have to offer in that Friday to Sunday or Thursday to Sunday or Tuesday to Saturday morning, uh, whatever it might be.

Um, what we see with the longer term visitors is Madison is a huge. Home base really for exploring a, a good chunk of the rest of Wisconsin. So you can come and stay in Madison for a week and again, have that [00:12:00] great Madison experience for a few days, and then venture out to go to the Driftless region of Wisconsin for hiking or fly fishing.

Uh, you can get up to a. The Wisconsin Dells area, if you're into water parks for your kids, head over to Lake Michigan and do some boating out there, or fishing or diving. So using Madison as a central location really allows you to get out and experience the rest of central and South Central Wisconsin.

And a, a good week or even 10 days here would be perfect for that.

Howard Fox: Okay, now I, I wanna talk about, if we can, a little bit about the local partnerships, but before. We do that. I am curious because prior to us getting on a call and, and me asking, Hey guys, I'd love to have, uh, produce a podcast episode with you. Uh, I produced an episode with, uh, visit, uh, Beloit and also, uh, up in, uh, Manitowoc.

And [00:13:00] I'm curious if, as. To really attract people to Wisconsin. Are you in some way partnering with them as well as like, look guys, everything you have is within an arms hug away and you do a little this, a little of that, or is it is outside of that day trip, say to Lake Michigan? Everything you're, you're marketing and partner, your partners are in, within your one to two hours, uh, driving distance.

Rob Gard: So. Destination Madison itself. We market all of Dane County, so, which is the county that we're located in. And some outlying areas, particularly when you head over to the Driftless region or head over into, uh, green County in near Monroe, where you get some of the great cheese making, uh, that exists. Um, so we will talk about and promote that.

But then we have great partners with the Wisconsin Department of Tourism. Uh, [00:14:00] there. Called Travel Wisconsin. And they are a great resource for us and for destinations throughout the state. Uh, they do a, a wonderful job of helping us partner together and sharing that story. So we're very good at referring people to other destinations, uh, in Wisconsin and vice versa, if there's something else that visitors want to experience while they're here.

So it's a little, little bit of both. Um, what what's wonderful about all of us, uh, in this space in Wisconsin is we genuinely get along and enjoy supporting each other's work. So it's a non-competitive space, which only benefits the visitor

Howard Fox: Sure. Well it's kind of like Canada in a way. Everybody in Canada is nice to each other, so you guys are close enough to Canada and and, and you've got a reputation for being really nice. So, but I don't think I shared with you, I, um, I, before I lived in Las Vegas, I was in Chicago and, and obviously there's, there's [00:15:00] competition there, but, uh, but you, when you go over, uh, the border into Wisconsin, except for the state.

Police officers who are always looking for the Illinois plates. Everybody's just incredibly nice, which I, I truly appreciate that. Along with good beer and, uh, good cheese. Uh, as far as more local partners, uh, how are you? Interacting with say, like the Ho Chunk Nation, because here we have, you know, the Native Americans, first peoples here in the upper Midwest.

Uh, how has their impact being felt, say in some of the tourism, uh, kinds of activities that, that are being promoted?

Rob Gard: The HoChunk Nation has been here for thousands of years and evidence of their occupation and um, basically. Creating the land that we know. Uh, today goes back all, you know, thousands of years. We have archeological evidence on, uh, [00:16:00] the lake. That's way at the top of my head is called Lake Mendota. And there is evidence of a couple of, uh, HoChunk villages there that go back several thousand years.

And in the last three or four years, two complete dugout canoes have been pulled from the. Lake bottom one was, I wanna say 800 years old. The other was 1200 years old and still had some of their, uh, fishing net weights in them and some other, uh, fishing equipment in there. So HoChunk is Madison, is Dane County.

Uh, deja is what they call this area. So we are very respectful of that. And, um. Work to honor that legacy. So we have worked with local whole chunk officials when we prepare things on our website, for example, about the history of the effigy mounds that are throughout the Madison area. And these are basically, um, dirt created [00:17:00] mounds that are in the shape of.

Bears and turtles and fish and water, spirits and geese and things that were really important to HoChunk people. Uh, they were sacred places that, uh, were here and they're found throughout state parks, local parks, sometimes in, in the middle of the city. The University of Wisconsin has a walking tour that you can do of their effigy mounds.

So when we talk about that, rather than just have us. Use our perspective on it. We reached out to HoChunk, uh, members and said, how would you like us to talk about this? What can we do that respects your traditions and your culture when we do this? And that is seen through a lot of our work with, uh, HoChunk.

And we really think people who visit here get to experience that in a, in a. Indirect or maybe even just a subconscious way because so many people here understand the, um, importance of this [00:18:00] being the heart of the Ho Chung Nation.

Howard Fox: Okay. In addition to the HoChunk Nation, what are examples of some of the other partners that. Are called upon, say by Destination Madison, to help support, say a conference or some major event that's gonna be coming into this, uh, geographic area.

Rob Gard: All starts with what you just finished on geographic area. We are not a community that has a conference center that has a 25 story hotel attached to it, and. All your activities are indoors between your room and the conference facilities of that center. Typically, if we do. Conference at Manona Terrace, we might use two or three or four different hotels downtown, but they're all within walking distance and having that partnership between multiple hotels to host a conference [00:19:00] is huge.

Having those partnerships with restaurants, we have people at those conferences is huge. They are able to. Better staff. Um, when we have a big conference in here, uh, maybe offer some specials, things of that sort. And what this does for attendees is you really feel like you're part of the community. Um, if not.

Almost as if you own part of downtown during your time here, because you're so, you know, everywhere you look, you see your fellow attendees walking into different restaurants or walking from hotel to hotel. So it's, it is really a sense of not only Madison community, but conference attendee community. So that's the conference experience.

And then we have wonderful partners beyond that who can offer. Real deep dives into Madison. So one of our great partners is Madison Boats, which has sites, uh, three different lakes here in Wisconsin or here in Madison, where you can rent a kayak or a canoe or a standup paddle board, or [00:20:00] one of our lakes, lake Wingrow, which is a motorless.

Uh, vehicle lake or, um, you can even rent like a gigantic rubber duck and paddle around with that. It's, it's a lot of fun. So they'll offer opportunities for attendees to experience that, or, we have one of our great local g Shops for Imagination, which is nationally known for it's. Uh, support and, uh, cheerleading for Wisconsin artisanal cheeses.

They might hold a cheese board making experience for attendees so they can learn how to build cheese boards. So these partnerships really amplify the experience that people have when they come here for a conference. And we hope people feel so connected and so at home that they'll come back with some family members, some friends tell everybody about it.

Really make Madison part of a tradition for them that extends well beyond that first conference, uh, exposure.

Howard Fox: I love it. I love it. Uh, speaking of this, the, the, the broad range of activities and, and, and experiences in Wisconsin. [00:21:00] I would love if you would take a couple minutes to help us navigate, uh, your website and just kind of give some of those highlights if you're okay with that.

Rob Gard: Absolutely.

Howard Fox: Excellent. All right. This is, uh, hopefully technology itself will work and, uh, all right, so the miracle of technology.

I, we should be seeing, uh, your website.

Rob Gard: It's right there.

Howard Fox: Excellent. I love it when it comes, the plan comes together, so, uh, take us on a tour, Rob

Rob Gard: one thing before we dive into the website is you can scroll down just a touch. Um, what I would like to bring up to everyone listening to this or watching this is that my Madison Iconic Eats experience, it's one of several trails that we have developed here that really showcase Madison's, uh, offerings to visitors.

In this particular case, we have, um, a self created. TikTok called Madison [00:22:00] Iconic Eats, which two of my colleagues, um, are local and regional celebrities for their, uh, exposure of local restaurants. And this trail allows visitors to go out and experience these really cool restaurants and win prizes along the way.

Um, couple of quick side notes on our food scene. Is we have the largest farmer's market in the country that is producers only. So every Saturday from April through November, we get up to 20 to 25,000 people walking around the state capital, which is in the center of the isus, uh, going to 150 to 200 different vendors to pick up items that were either grown.

By them or that are made by them. You know, things like honey or, uh, cheese curds, um, or great seasonal produce. And having access to that great food really elevates our restaurants. They're my colleagues, uh, Ashley and Hannah down there in that, uh, bottom [00:23:00] frame, kind of enjoying some food and waving. Uh, there's Hannah, there's Ashley.

And what, um, what this does for our restaurants is it helps. Solidify that relationship between our agricultural, uh, surroundings and our urban food and, uh, cuisine, uh, savviness. So a lot of wonderful chefs, a number who have moved back here from, uh, New York, Philadelphia, la, San Francisco. People who have been in.

Top restaurants around the country are now cooking here, and we have a number of James Beard Award winners. We were featured on the TV show, top Chef last year, so Madison Iconic Eat really celebrates that culinary. Experience. A couple of the other trails that we have are the Madison on Tap, which takes people through, uh, craft brew breweries and, uh, distilleries.

We have Madison by bike, which enhances people's. [00:24:00] Experience along those bike trails we talked about,

Howard Fox: Okay.

Rob Gard: um, telling them here's a good park to stop at, or a good store or a good restaurant. And with each of these trails, people again can, uh, win prizes when they check in at enough places. One of the other new ones we have is the, uh, Frank Lloyd Wright Trail,

Howard Fox: Okay. Okay. You know, I, I, I'm curious too, as far as like the, the trails and the, uh, the iconic eats and how is, and, and I know we're, we're, we're. Officially into the fall season. We, we don't have fall colors here in Las Vegas, but, uh, how are, how is Madison kind of gearing up for the fall season and what, what are some of the, the trails and whether it's food and experience that people will be able to enjoy?

Rob Gard: If you go up, I'll, I'll talk about it and walk you through it. If you go up to the search, uh, icon, uh, just underneath the menu, screw right there, you go next to the menu there and just press, uh, type in fall [00:25:00] and we'll see what comes up. Um, we do a lot of. Uh, content creation around fall that helps people, um, not only figure out what to do on their own, but also how to.

Experience deeper things within Madison. So there are a number of events that happen. Um, even just on a weekend basis. You could have an apple orchard or pumpkin patch, which has some fun events. Those are some great family events. Uh, there are different fall festivals or football games that happen. Um, it's when you, if you've experienced our bike trails in the summer, when you come back in the fall, it's a totally different experience. And so. A lot of, uh, really interesting options for people, uh, here and all that's found on the website. So we start looking into and reaching out to partners and just doing our own research months ahead of time. Um, one of my, um, how do I put. Uh, pet peeves [00:26:00] that my colleagues call me out on is, um, whenever I say, Hey, it's only June, why are we talking about fall?

Let's enjoy summer. Um, but we have to get on top of it because so much happens. It takes a while to produce this, uh, content for folks. So, and the same thing if you did winter. If you did spring, if you. Hiking if you did accessible activities. That search bar takes you to everything from blogs, uh, to, if we've had media in here, um, potentially some of the stories that they have done.

And it's really a gateway. Uh, the website's a wonderful gateway into curating and creating your own Madison experience. And even if that's too much work, you can just type in itineraries and you'll get a list of suggested itineraries of what to do if you have. Uh, three days a week.

Howard Fox: Hopefully I spelled it right. I don't think I did I or Aries.

Rob Gard: Yeah.

Howard Fox: All right. [00:27:00] Let's see what we come up with.

Rob Gard: And it might be already. There we

Howard Fox: Oh, I am. I'm already there. I was worried I wasn't spelling correctly. All right. Excellent. Mm-hmm.

Rob Gard: So, yep. And some of these itineraries you're seeing here, we have a number of really cool, uh, surrounding communities, uh, just outside of Madison that have their own vibe and their own, uh, restaurants and activities. This is creating some of that, um, for you there. And some of these itineraries have come together from some content creators and journalists we've had in town.

So whatever you're in the mood for, uh. It's pretty much found on our website and if it's not found on our website, we are quick to respond to questions to help curate your own unique Madison experience.

Howard Fox: Excellent. Now there, I would imagine there is gonna be a place here. I, I probably passed it when I first came on. If folks want to be on like a mailing list or the, well, here's your inspiration guide. Uh,

Rob Gard: And then to the left [00:28:00] of that, if you go down, scroll down to the left of that Inspire, inspire your inbox, get monthly updates and more. So you can click on that to sign up for, uh, all the leisure news or, um. What, whatever you're interested in, whatever you're interested in. So, um, whenever something comes up that is appropriate for us to send to you, we don't overwhelm you with it, but we give you what you need to know to come here.

Howard Fox: I love it. By the way, it's not lost on me. It's 71 degrees with partly sunny skies in Madison, and I do appreciate that. I love, one thing I, I do miss about the fall is, well, here in Las Vegas is one good apple cider. 'cause I ferment my apple cider. So it's a probiotic. Uh. Uh, 'cause you gotta watch that sugar, but it is, I love the fall colors.

And you, I mean, I love Las Vegas this time of the year. 'cause it's, I mean, we're like 92 degrees today, which is, it's a cold front. It's come in. Uh, but I miss those 71. [00:29:00] Degree fall days when you're just getting ready to wear your sweaters. Um, no, this is wonderful and I I appreciate you, uh, taking the time to share it, uh, with us.

And, and by the way, I love the video. I was watching this, uh, uh, a couple times just to get the feel. And what I really love is just, it's how accessible this, the, the city is, and that to me is absolutely wonderful. Now, I'm gonna, anything else you wanna share before we head back to just you and I chatting?

Rob Gard: Just with that last, uh, mention, what, what you can see in this video as well is once you are downtown, you really don't need a car to get around. So a lot of what you're seeing in that video is within walking distance of your hotel. And I think that's unique. You know, it's, um, stressful to travel to get to a vacation.

And then once you're in market, you. I don't wanna add to that stress by having to navigate, uh, busy streets or narrow streets or anything like that. Um, not that we have overly busy streets or overly narrow, but still you just don't wanna spend time in a car [00:30:00] after you spend time in a plane already or in a car.

And once you're here, you don't need that. You can walk, um,

Howard Fox: Okay.

Rob Gard: rent an e-bike. It's just easy to get around once you're here in Madison.

Howard Fox: Excellent. Well, let me, uh, I'm gonna stop sharing it, which brings up a question, uh, about being a very walkable city. Uh, when I first moved to Chicago, I, I moved from the south and I moved up there. I didn't have a car. And I love the fact that you said it's a walkable city. How urban or urban is Madison in terms of a city?

I can come, I can, I can live there, work there and play. I'm just curious about that. I.

Rob Gard: It's the fastest growing city, uh, in Wisconsin and has been for a number of years. So we are rapidly, uh, out. Pacing projections from, you know, a decade ago ago, two decades ago, because it does have that great quality of life. [00:31:00] And one of the things, a couple of things that are driving that are the tech industry.

Uh, we have the tech and the biotech industry. We have some very strong employers who are here. Um, it's a hot bed for, uh, gen Z and millennials to come. We have, you know, pretty much every. Um, main tech, uh, large tech company you can think of has some kind of presence here. Also, really good gaming presence.

So people create, uh, a lot of video games here. Um, but if you're familiar, uh, with something from your doctor or your, um, medical system called MyChart, which is a, uh. App you can get on your phone that helps your doctors and talk to each other and communicate to you what is going on with your health. Uh, the company that invented that and manages it is called Epic Systems, and they're located here in Madison.

Um, and I think they have, uh, probably don't quote me on this, but at this point I wanna say maybe 12 or 13,000, uh, employees. [00:32:00] And this is actually worth a visit in and of, in and of itself. But their campus, which is in Verona, just outside of Madison. I don't know how to describe it. Um, it's like, uh, Disneyland meets, Google meets, uh, a literary fantasy. Um, there are buildings. One building is like a castle. One building is like, uh, two 20,000 leagues under the sea. Another is like Alice in Wonderland, like from the outside physical design to all the decor, uh, within it, uh, the Alice in Wonderland one, you have, you have to take a slide that takes you through an upside down world.

I mean, it's really. Just something to behold and they offer, uh, public, uh, tours of that. So, uh, yeah, just a lot of, a lot of really cool things, um, for people to do if, if they do wanna move here. A lot of good job options, but that also capture the vibe and the energy of Madison.

Howard Fox: I love it. I love it. You know, I, I didn't ask you at the onset of our, uh, chat today. How long have you [00:33:00] been in Madison?

Rob Gard: I have been with Destination Madison for about eight years. Originally I am from Beloit, which you have, uh, featured previously. Um, and like you, I was, I was away. I moved back here from, uh, Los Angeles, um, in 2017, and that was in LA for about 20 years before coming back.

Howard Fox: okay. Very good. Very good. So, I am curious, since you are a, uh, uh, a say a long time resident of Madison, you've seen a lot of changes in in eight years. Uh, what's a day out with friends or family look like for you?

Rob Gard: I day out with family and friends. I like to be active. Um, and it's easy, accessible, active activities here. So, you know, I would say. Uh, getting up early and maybe doing a kayak over on Lake Gra uh, would be a great way to start the day. Then walking down Monroe Street where you [00:34:00] have great restaurants for breakfast or some pastries.

Uh, certainly if they're here on a Saturday, I take them to that Farmer's market. Because as much as you can tell people about how big it is and how great everything the produce is and the other offerings, uh, are at the market, until people get there, they really can't comprehend it. So that would be a must.

And that just takes us to like 10:00 AM or 11. Um, from there, you know, if it is a great, again, a Saturday, maybe we pop over to see a woman's volleyball game at the University of Wisconsin or a football game. But then, uh, in the evening, it's a combination of entertainment and food. Uh, there's wonderful restaurants here.

I was unsure of what would happen moving here from a, like a culinary haven like Los Angeles, like what does Madison have to offer? And just wonderful, wonderful restaurants. So taken to a really unique restaurant. Um, and then maybe top it off with some live jazz at a place called Cafe Coda. Or go. Here are some.

Uh, comedy from a [00:35:00] famous nationally known comedian down at Comedy on State. A lot of well-known comedians like to test out their material here in Madison, so you'll see people who routinely sell out 5,000 seat arenas just doing some comedy in front of a hundred people. And, uh, that's a really unique and, and interactive experience.

Howard Fox: Very good. Now, two, two more foodie kinds of questions. 'cause I think I shared with you, I am a foodie. What is, what is one food that if I'm gonna come to Madison and I, and I can't leave without. Having it, and maybe you don't have to name names 'cause I'm sure multiple people have it, but what, what is that?

Must have food that I, that I need to sample when I come visit Madison.

Rob Gard: I'll give you two, and they're. Very different directions, but still have some really good Midwestern roots. Um, you can't get away from Madison without trying some fried cheese curds.

Howard Fox: I knew you were gonna say that.

Rob Gard: doctor [00:36:00] approves. If your doctor says, yep, you're fine with, with the, and with the dairy, go for it. Um, you, you can't, you know, drop a nickel without hitting a restaurant that has a cheese curd.

Uh, they are everywhere. Everybody has their own unique take. Um, you know. 50 different restaurants might have beer battered cheese curds, and they use 50 different local beers. Um, there's some temporal ones, there's vodka battered ones. There's all kinds of interesting sauces that are served with it. So anywhere you go, uh, try cheese curds at least once.

I know somebody who came here and had cheese curds for nine meals, like breakfast, lunch, dinner every time to try 'em out. Little, little excessive for me, but if it's your thing, go for it. The other thing that we are. Known for, which is a little, um, interesting, a little odd, uh, in a good way is we discovered we have a preponderance of restaurants that do their own unique, uh, takes on deviled eggs.

So, uh, a lot of different places, and this has been going back for years and we just kind of [00:37:00] as Devil Eggs started to get more on the national, um, radar. We looked at it and we said, holy cow, we have. Dozens of restaurants to do their own unique devil eggs. So that's something to pay attention to as well.

And I'll add in the third, just anything you see that has a farm next to the, uh, the meal. So you might get a, a steak that tells you where the, the beef came from, and it tells you where the, uh. Side dish vegetables came from because you know you're eating something that was really grown and raised just a few miles outside of, uh, Madison.

Howard Fox: I love it, and I, whenever you mention the, the farmer's market or the farms, by the way, I, it's like, I, I'm just getting goosebumps because, you know, not so much in Michigan where I was born and raised, but in Chicago where I lived for almost half my life, I was. Every Saturday morning at seven o'clock, I would open up the, the farmer's market and, you know, down on [00:38:00] Division Street and it just, you know, no matter what the weather was, I was there and I just, I just love farmer's markets and just the food walking through, people watching, taking pictures of the, of the greats, uh, selection of fruits and vegetables.

Cheese. One more important question. I am a huge coffee. Themed. Okay. That's a good word. I love my coffee. Where's a good place to get a cup of coffee that's freshly roasted in Madison?

Rob Gard: Lots of places. Um, again, we just have that great culture. Uh, right downtown off the Capital Square, um, there is a place called Wonder State Coffee that does stuff. Uh, Ancora Bakery just around the corner from there. Wonderful coffee, uh, TiVo and Barix, just around the corner from those two places. So a lot of wonderful options for your fresh morning coffee, which you can then take down to the Lakeside and watch the, uh, the ducks and the fishermen and just kind of start your day [00:39:00] off with a little bit of nature and a little caffeine.

Howard Fox: Excellent. I love it. Well, something to look forward to. Speaking of, something to look forward to, Rob. Um. One, and again, I to be a little opportunistic, uh, I am a member, as I had shared a little earlier of the Outdoor Writers Association of America, and I am very aware there was an announcement made very recently at our 2025 annual conference.

Can you speak a little bit to that?

Rob Gard: So Outdoor Writers Association of Americas will kick off. Its 100th year next year, and they're kicking that off with their conference in Madison in August of 2026. And I think one of the things that sold the organization on Madison as a location. Was the access to all varieties of outdoor offerings. So you and I talked mainly about Madison, the city, and kind of all the great things to do with just a, uh, dabbling of the outdoors.

Um, you can flip that [00:40:00] around and dive deep in the outdoors. We, like I said, we have 14 state parks around us. Uh, lots of great fisheries. Um, in fact, the lake, uh. Lake Man, which is where the Frank Lloyd Wright Convention Center is, is one of the great muskie fisheries, uh, in all of Wisconsin. Um, like Wingra, every march you have like a, I guess you call it the running of the muskies, where you see these huge fish jump up over a dam to go, um, lay their eggs.

In Lake Wingra, you have fly fishing in the Driftless region, you have mountain biking, a a number of, uh, locations just outside of Madison, hiking, camping, rock climbing, you name it. And I think that is what really intrigued, uh, OWAA about the opportunity to come to Madison, and also the fact that we are deeply, deeply rooted in America's environmental movement.

So John Muir, um, founder of the National Park System, um, or at least the [00:41:00] inspiration behind the founding of a national park system. Went to school at University of Wisconsin, grew up, uh, just outside of Madison. Leopold, who was basically the, uh, intellectual and, and scientific mind behind the conservation movement of the, uh, mid 20th to late 20th century.

Uh, same thing just outside of Madison. Went to school here and lived in Madison through much of his life. And, uh, Gaylord Nelson, former Wisconsin Senator and Governor. Is the person who founded Earth Day. So we have a very deep connection with the environment, uh, in Madison and I, I think that was one of the big appeals as well.

Howard Fox: Excellent and also. Uh, just a, a quick, uh, shout out as I was going through the website, just the, also the embracing the folks with, uh, disability. So you're, your, the accessibility of all these resources for folks that might have some physical, uh, uh, challenges. I mean, you've definitely embraced, uh, their inclusion.

So I, I, [00:42:00] I appreciate that as well. Uh, I think it's gonna be a great conference. I have already. Blocked out the time and, and I'm, I'm very happy it, it kind of overlaps a weekend so I can take a little of the first, the front, the front end, a little of the back end and enjoy everything that Madison has to offer before we head out.

One last, uh, question Rob is. When have you known that? Like, wow, I've got the, this, I get to do this work. When, when has it really hit home for you? I mean, you've been around and doing the work for eight years. What was, what was that one moment that comes to your mind, like, wow, I get to do this. I.

Rob Gard: I think early on, uh, when I just first started and looked into, well, what is there to talk about when I reach out to journalists? To get them excited about writing, uh, stories, um, about Madison. And everywhere I looked there was a story and it was a different type of [00:43:00] story for a different type of outlet and a different type of audience.

And there is just, it's only grown. The city continues to grow, physically continues to grow inter culturally and um, in just so many ways. And I think just knowing that. Anywhere I looked, I could find that story to share that, uh, business who was doing something, you know, that was true to their heart or, you know, finding someplace that people could connect with themselves and with nature, it's all right here and I, I've definitely not, um.

How about taken that for granted? Uh, since then, and I have a lot of colleagues in this industry who are a lot of wonderful destinations, but you know, their story ends seasonally or their, uh, story ends with just a couple of, um, key themes. And our story never ends here in Madison.

Howard Fox: I love it. I love it. Rob, before we head out, uh, just a reminder for our listeners, where are the best places to go to learn about, uh, Madison, Wisconsin?

Rob Gard: Let's start at our [00:44:00] website. Visit madison.com. And do that search that Howard walked you through a little bit and find out what kind of Madison, uh, you're interested in. Uh, wonderful place to start. Uh, and also our event calendar, which we didn't get to on the website, but it's probably the most visited spot in our website.

And at any point, any, you know, three day weekend, there's 40 to 60 to 80 events that could be listed. Um, you know, everything from a small, little, uh. A gallery opening to a huge festival, but that would be a great place to look as well to help shape your Madison experience.

Howard Fox: Excellent. And we'll also provide, uh, the back links to the website, uh, on our show notes as well as the social sites face. The typical Facebooks, the Instagram. YouTubes and, uh, and LinkedIns as well. So, Rob, it has been a pleasure to have you on the podcast. Uh, uh, thank you for agreeing to it. I know I originally sent, uh, the email to your executive director and, and [00:45:00] her executive assistant, and I'm.

Glad, uh, you were like, yeah, let's do this. And it's, I hope you enjoyed today's episode. I know I did. And it, I have to say, Madison, it's, it's, it's definitely, uh, entered my top, uh, let's say five list. But I love the, you know, Madison, is that five year, five year that, uh, four season destination and as a foodie and just, uh, outdoor, uh, you know, enthusiast, I think you've got a, you've got a great location there.

So been great to hear about it today. So thank you.

Rob Gard: Thank you for the opportunity, Howard. We look forward to welcoming you in person next year.

Howard Fox: Sounds like a plan. Listen, stay in a line. We're gonna do a very quick close, and you and I can have a final chat. Okay? All right folks. We have just been chatting with Rob Guard, the Director of Communications and Public Affairs for Destination Madison. So, uh, I tell you, I'm just looking at. Rob's photo, my photo, all that water that, that beautiful land.

And how can you not enjoy this [00:46:00] community and everything it has to offer between the outdoor experiences at the state parks, the local experiences, the food, just, uh. You know, make making, uh, de, uh, Madison, Wisconsin a destination, whether it's a, uh, long weekend, an extended stay, or perhaps like me, you're always looking for your next place to live.

Uh, what a wonderful, uh, overview and do check out their website. Lots of great happenings there. And as Robert shared, uh, as is typical in most, uh, destination websites, check out that event calendar. Uh, check out the various trails that are available, uh, for you to enjoy and experience what, uh, Madison has to offer.

And of course, go out and visit their website@visitmadison.com. We're gonna provide the back link to it as well as to all of their social sites. Ask for us. You can find us on our website, outdoor adventure series.com. We're also on Facebook and LinkedIn on our outdoor adventure series [00:47:00] pages. And, uh, we're also gonna have, have the episode, the video of the episode up on our YouTube page, and of course, you can listen to the audio wherever you get your podcast from.

Alright, folks, until next time, wherever you are, whatever you're doing, go out there. Have a fantastic day, and we look forward to having you join us. And a future episode of the Outdoor Adventure Series Podcast. Take care now.