Katie Tranel - Janesville Area CVB

Howard Fox [00:00:06 - 00:01:11]

Hello everyone. This is Howard Fox and welcome back for another episode of the Outdoor Adventure Series podcast. Today's episode was facilitated by Travel Wisconsin, who along with Destination Madison hosted the 2026 Outdoor Writers Association of America's annual conference. During today's episode, we hope to share with you why Wisconsin and communities like Janesville are the perfect destination for family vacations, couples getaways, outdoor adventures, meetings, conferences, conventions, and I will add great food. Caitlin Trammell is our guest today. Katie is the director of digital strategy and public relations for the Janesville Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. She and her team promote the Janesville area to active family adventurers in northern Illinois, southern Wisconsin, eastern Iowa, and southern Minnesota. Katie, it's so great to see you again.

Howard Fox [00:01:11 - 00:01:11]

How are you doing?

Katie Tranel [00:01:12 - 00:01:15]

Hi, Howard. I'm great. I'm so happy to be here. How are you?

Howard Fox [00:01:16 - 00:01:55]

I am doing good. I, I've had a cup of coffee. I sat outside, took a wonderful shot of the, of a hummingbird at the feeder. And my, my neighbor has a feeder and I'm I sit outside and I have my coffee and I just like listening for the birds. And we, like you guys, we are maybe not as extensive as in Wisconsin, but we're on the southern flyway when the, as the birds begin migrating down south for the winter. I keep having to remember, remember it's gonna be winter soon. I mean, we, we just got below 90 degrees here in, in here in Boulder City. the Las Vegas Valley.

Howard Fox [00:01:55 - 00:02:04]

So I was very happy, but just sitting outside relaxing, a cup of coffee, listening for the birds. Life is good. Life is good. How about you?

Katie Tranel [00:02:04 - 00:02:26]

Yeah, I started my morning very similarly. I was— today's a little overcast and was a little rainy this morning. So I sat out on my front porch with the windows open and my coffee and same thing. Our temperatures might be a little different. It's really starting to feel like fall in Wisconsin now. So I think we were sitting at like I think today is going to be like 70-ish degrees. So, oh wow.

Howard Fox [00:02:27 - 00:02:27]

Yeah.

Katie Tranel [00:02:27 - 00:02:32]

Really my favorite time of year, favorite season in Wisconsin. If I had to pick one.

Howard Fox [00:02:32 - 00:03:09]

I, I think I would agree with you. I love the, the, the fall season, the changing of the colors. It's starting to cool down. What I don't like is usually in the fall I get a really bad cold because one day or in the morning it's, it's cool. You're like, sitting out on the porch. I would love to be doing that, by the way. And that's why I need to bring more of the outdoors in the Outdoor Adventure Series. So just saying, but just being able to do that in the springtime when, back in the Midwest, when the cardinals would begin chirping and their songs, you knew spring was coming.

Howard Fox [00:03:09 - 00:03:33]

So those 2 bookends of the year are like my absolute favorite is the end of the— starting of the fall season and starting of the spring. So makes me long back for the Midwest. So thanks for that memory. So you and I were at the conference a couple of weeks ago in Madison, which I had a fantastic time. How was your experience there?

Katie Tranel [00:03:34 - 00:04:07]

Oh, I had an incredible time. It was my very first time attending OWAA and have it so close to home in Madison. was incredible. So yeah, I got to hop in my car and just drive the 40 minutes and it was great to see so many people fall in love with Madison and with our state, especially with the pre-tours and the post-tours of the conference. But I, yeah, I, I did the speed networking and had like just such a great time talking with writers and photographers from all over the country.

Howard Fox [00:04:07 - 00:04:08]

And podcasters.

Katie Tranel [00:04:08 - 00:04:24]

Yes. And podcasters. Yes. We got to meet in person before this. Which was incredible. That was amazing. So yeah, just like so many great creators in, in that organization. And it was just awesome to put like a face to some of the names that you had been seeing.

Katie Tranel [00:04:24 - 00:04:25]

So yeah.

Howard Fox [00:04:25 - 00:05:01]

Good. Well, I'm really glad that you had a great time and it was a positive experience for you. And I have to say one thing, being 40 minutes away from a venue that— and just go back home and sleep in your own bed is actually Pretty sweet. The hotels, one hotel after another can get very old. As a former road warrior myself, I do have to, I have to admit something in, in the spirit of full disclosure. I spent, well, I grew up in the Midwest, in the Detroit suburbs, and I'll always be a Detroit fan. So it's against the law to root for any other sports team.

Katie Tranel [00:05:02 - 00:05:02]

Understood.

Howard Fox [00:05:02 - 00:05:31]

Other than a Detroit team, because it's, it's stamped on the back of our, our birth certificates. But I lived in Chicago the, the next half of my life at the time. And I had been up to Milwaukee. I'd been to Madison a couple of times. I'll admit I never knew there were lakes around Madison, but that's a whole other story. I think I just went there to eat and drink and that was it. But as I was going north, it never dawned on me. I never knew I was passing Janesville.

Katie Tranel [00:05:32 - 00:06:03]

Yeah. Yeah. And that's like one of the things I love most about our city too, is just our, like our location. It's incredible. Like, like we talked about Madison, from Milwaukee we're about like an hour 15, and from like to downtown Chicago I think it's about 2 hours. So yeah, it's— I think, yeah, it's an incredible location. And but I think we've had more like a mid-sized city too for Wisconsin. We have about 67-ish thousand residents.

Howard Fox [00:06:03 - 00:06:03]

Mm-hmm.

Katie Tranel [00:06:03 - 00:06:16]

So I love like The, uh, like kind of small town-ish feel, but like we have so many amenities too, but then we're also so close to these major cities, which I love. Yeah.

Howard Fox [00:06:16 - 00:06:33]

Very nice. Now, again, in the spirit of full disclosure, I don't know the answer to this. I have taken the train up to Milwaukee and, but I don't know, can I get to Janesville by train or do I have to drive? If I was coming from Chicago?

Katie Tranel [00:06:34 - 00:07:00]

Yeah, that's a great question. I, not by train. However, we are the home of the Van Gelder bus line. So we do have a bus that goes directly from, I believe it, there's a downtown stop that will come directly to Janesville and end in Madison too. So there's also an O'Hare stop. So I per— I love that as well. But yeah, so mainly bus or driving.

Howard Fox [00:07:01 - 00:07:09]

Okay. Would it be closer for you to then to get to O'Hare Airport or to Milwaukee's? Well, you have Madison's airport where— Yeah.

Katie Tranel [00:07:10 - 00:07:13]

Yeah. Madison's is definitely closest and their airport is so nice.

Howard Fox [00:07:14 - 00:07:46]

It was a very nice— I like small airports. When I grew up, not grew up, when I first moved to Chicago, Midway Airport is the one I would fly into and out of a lot to go back to. Detroit, and it was small at the time, but then it just got— I mean, it's probably the same size I would imagine as, say, the Madison Airport. But when you go to those big airports like O'Hare or Milwaukee and Mitchell Airport or Las Vegas, it's just— I get my 10,000 steps in Las Vegas whenever I go there.

Katie Tranel [00:07:46 - 00:07:46]

Yeah.

Howard Fox [00:07:47 - 00:08:12]

So let's talk about Janesville now. Well, first, before we do that, Your role as the director of digital strategy and public relations. Tell us a little bit about what that role entails. I mean, let's go a little deeper. I think the, the, the role itself is kind of self-explanatory, but what does it mean for you and being a part of this Destination Convention and Visitors Bureau?

Katie Tranel [00:08:13 - 00:08:40]

Yeah. So our office is small but mighty. We have 6 full-time staff members and 1 part-time. So yeah, you mentioned earlier, I'm the director, director of digital strategy and public relations. And so that means I'm kind of like, I have a count— a marketing counterpart. So my role handles everything communications-wise. So I manage all of our social media accounts. I create our digital newsletters.

Katie Tranel [00:08:40 - 00:09:01]

I write blogs. I do media releases and pitches to writers and, and local media and things. Let's see what else. I also handle like our content creator and influencer program visits and yeah. Yeah. So a lot of stuff like that. A lot of stuff digitally online.

Howard Fox [00:09:01 - 00:09:07]

All right. So if I wanted to do more podcasting with you, you're my go-to. You'd be my go-to.

Katie Tranel [00:09:07 - 00:09:31]

Yeah, we actually, we have my, our executive director does a weekly like podcast video and we have a really great, like, yeah. where she talks about like all the events coming up in Janesville and the surrounding area for that week. And we have a really great local partner called Drywater Productions who helps us with those. And they, they travel to different spots around the city and the area and, and talk about things coming up.

Howard Fox [00:09:32 - 00:10:07]

That is absolutely fantastic. I can't tell you how many destinations and chambers of commerce, because I work with chambers of commerce as well. That they rely solely on the written media. And I get that, but being able to go around town, talk about the events that are coming up and getting that produced and out there, that is absolutely wonderful because I wish more destinations, more chambers would do just that because it exponentially grows your reach.

Katie Tranel [00:10:08 - 00:10:14]

Yeah. And we use them, we post them on our YouTube channel and on our social media too. So. Yeah, it's really great.

Howard Fox [00:10:15 - 00:10:23]

Okay. Now, are you just curious, professional curiosity, are you also posting the audios out onto the podcast platforms?

Katie Tranel [00:10:24 - 00:10:26]

No, that's a great point. We are not.

Howard Fox [00:10:27 - 00:10:27]

You should.

Katie Tranel [00:10:27 - 00:10:34]

Howard, we might need to talk more about this. That's a great point. I guess we've never, we've never explored something like that.

Howard Fox [00:10:34 - 00:10:34]

Yeah.

Katie Tranel [00:10:35 - 00:10:35]

Yeah.

Howard Fox [00:10:35 - 00:11:08]

Well, let's talk business later. Let's learn more about Okay. So I'm curious then with Janesville, you've got the CVB, small but mighty. What are the types of events that you're looking to attract as a convention and visitors bureau? Because you don't often see that connection. So what is it like here for you in Janesville trying to attract and bring people in? for that convention experience as well?

Katie Tranel [00:11:09 - 00:12:00]

Yeah. So this, this podcast interview is actually perfect timing because this weekend we're actually celebrating the 1-year anniversary of our Woodmen Sports and Convention Center opening last September. So it's been 1 full year and that's been a huge development for our, for our visitors bureau. So we work really closely with the team at the Woodmen Center. Which I'll just say really quickly is I can't quite remember the full square footage, but it's kind of like a 3-part space where it has a, I know the convention center space is about 26,000 square feet. And then it has a full-time ice hockey rink that can fit 1,500 people. And then a multi-use arena or like a multi-use arena, multi-purpose space that can be a hockey rink, convention space.

Howard Fox [00:12:00 - 00:12:01]

Okay.

Katie Tranel [00:12:01 - 00:12:15]

court. So to answer your question, the addition of this facility has really kind of broadened the events that we're looking to attract. So it's opened the door to a lot of sporting events.

Howard Fox [00:12:15 - 00:12:15]

Okay.

Katie Tranel [00:12:16 - 00:12:20]

We're actually attracting a lot of martial arts events, which is very cool.

Howard Fox [00:12:21 - 00:12:21]

Okay.

Katie Tranel [00:12:21 - 00:12:36]

Boxing, like MMA, wrestling, some really cool sports like that that we weren't able to host before. Lots of hockey, some soccer, basketball. Pickleball is a huge one.

Howard Fox [00:12:37 - 00:12:49]

So yeah, hopefully Janesville has a, has a great population of orthopedic surgeons because if pickleball is, is, is ramping up, you got to have those orthopedic surgeons as well.

Katie Tranel [00:12:49 - 00:13:03]

So yeah, it's just like, we've got the Woodman Center, like that's covering like indoor pickleball, like especially over the winter, but we've got some really incredible outdoor courts too, in Hyde Park, which I think is where that photo might be from.

Howard Fox [00:13:04 - 00:13:04]

Okay.

Katie Tranel [00:13:04 - 00:13:07]

I still can't quite tell, but I love it. Okay.

Howard Fox [00:13:08 - 00:13:15]

I'll put a, I'll go back into Canva where I got the photo from and I'll, I'll have that in the show notes for this episode. Yeah.

Katie Tranel [00:13:15 - 00:13:23]

I was so intrigued to know. Uh, but yeah, so a lot of, a lot of sporting meetings and conventions are the events we're looking for.

Howard Fox [00:13:23 - 00:13:53]

So just curious then with the sporting events, Are you— are these being pulled in from like junior college and collegiate or like high school? A lot of these high schools have their tournaments and they're— they need a place to come into, have a place to stay. And, and then you go, they spend all weekend doing these events. Is that where the— is that the type of sporting events or are they just— are, are they outside of the education? Part of the world?

Katie Tranel [00:13:54 - 00:14:08]

I would say it's a good mix of both. We are attracting a good amount of youth sports, so like high school and under, I would say. There was like a big— we had a big dance competition, gymnastics, cheerleading, so some really cool like events like that.

Howard Fox [00:14:09 - 00:14:10]

Okay. But yeah. Okay.

Katie Tranel [00:14:11 - 00:14:35]

And it's also the home to— the Woodman Center is also the home to the R. Janesville Jets hockey team, which I believe is a tier 2 like junior league team. So it's all like High school age and like college-ish age players that come from all over the country to play here in Janesville and to eventually like move on to professional hockey or college hockey too.

Howard Fox [00:14:36 - 00:14:36]

Oh yeah.

Katie Tranel [00:14:37 - 00:14:38]

Yeah. And we have local colleges play there.

Howard Fox [00:14:39 - 00:14:39]

Yeah.

Katie Tranel [00:14:39 - 00:14:40]

I could go on and on.

Howard Fox [00:14:41 - 00:15:18]

Okay. So as visitors are coming into the southern Wisconsin area into Janesville, Even like my fellow peers from the OWAA, okay, we're writers, but they write about hunting, fishing, biking, stand-up paddleboarding, kayaking, et cetera, et cetera. As visitors are coming into Janesville and they're not necessarily going to those facilities to do the events that you just described, what else are they going to experience when they come to visit Janesville?

Katie Tranel [00:15:18 - 00:15:30]

Yeah, that's a great question. And like, where to begin? I would say our— one of my favorite outdoor attractions in Janesville is our Rotary Botanical Gardens.

Howard Fox [00:15:30 - 00:15:30]

Mm-hmm.

Katie Tranel [00:15:31 - 00:16:03]

Uh, it's a 20-acre public botanic garden in town, and it actually started out as like, it was pretty much like a dirt patch, and then someone like built this beautiful garden that's been around for years. So That's a pretty incredible place for like native plants, birdwatching, photography, things like that. I also would be remiss to not mention our, just our trail system in general. We have more than 30 miles of trails in Gainesville.

Howard Fox [00:16:03 - 00:16:03]

Oh wow.

Katie Tranel [00:16:04 - 00:16:20]

And the majority, majority of them are paved, which is really, really cool. So it's great for walking, biking, rollerblading. And yeah, and that kind of interconnects with the Ice Age Trail, which you might remember from the outdoor—

Howard Fox [00:16:20 - 00:16:25]

I was going to ask, so that means you're most likely you're on part of the Ice Age Trail.

Katie Tranel [00:16:26 - 00:16:40]

Yeah. So we're actually the southernmost point of the Ice Age Trail and we have the most miles within city limits. So it's a really great spot for people to come and knock out a big portion of the trail. of this 1,000-mile trail.

Howard Fox [00:16:40 - 00:17:14]

Okay. Okay. Now, when I was at the conference, I did my pre-tour. I went bike riding because I wanted— I had never been on an e-bike before, and I, I, I would, I would like to get on a bike again here in, in Nevada now that the weather's cooling down. It's a good time. But the, but the Ice Age Trail, that was one of my other God, if I could have just spent an extra day, I would've gone on the, uh, the Ice Age Trail excursion. Now, were you a part of one of the pre or post tours?

Katie Tranel [00:17:15 - 00:17:17]

Yes, we offered a pre-tour.

Howard Fox [00:17:17 - 00:17:19]

Okay. And what was your pre-tour?

Katie Tranel [00:17:20 - 00:17:34]

Oh my gosh, it was great. The Ice Age Trail was part of it. We did actually bike a section of, of the trails, which was really cool. And we also did a hike on it. We have a really popular Ice Age Trail segment called the Devil's Staircase.

Howard Fox [00:17:34 - 00:17:34]

Okay.

Katie Tranel [00:17:35 - 00:18:13]

Which sounds very foreboding and intense, but it's, it's super, it's, it's great. It's, I think it's less than a mile, the segment is, but it's, it's gorgeous. It follows like these, I think it's limestone walls. So it's like, just, it follows these really cool geological features that were caused by like the last glacier. That through. So it's like you've got the river on one side and these limestone walls on the other, and it's just a really cool trail. So we did that as well. Um, but yeah, we went out on Lake Kashkanong on a sunset boat tour.

Katie Tranel [00:18:14 - 00:18:14]

Lots of—

Howard Fox [00:18:14 - 00:18:16]

Oh, I heard about that. I heard about that one.

Katie Tranel [00:18:17 - 00:18:19]

Yeah, it was very cool.

Howard Fox [00:18:19 - 00:18:42]

I will go back to my peers, or maybe you already have, because I imagine there was There was a photographer and somebody doing drones on my tour, but I imagine if you had a photographer at that event, I'd love to put like their photos up on our show notes, maybe just get a sample of those. That'd be kind of cool. Yeah. I'll figure that out with you.

Katie Tranel [00:18:43 - 00:18:43]

Definitely.

Howard Fox [00:18:44 - 00:19:12]

Okay. Excellent. And so really you have, there's all these attractions to come into Janesville. Are you attracting We talked about it earlier, where they're coming from, Northern Illinois, Southern Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota. First off, the waterways behind my picture here, body of water, it's a river. And so I assume there's like canoeing, kayaking, fishing on these rivers as well.

Katie Tranel [00:19:13 - 00:19:43]

Yeah. So we also partner with a couple nearby communities, Edgerton and Milton. And the, I, I should say the broader Edgerton area, which includes some smaller communities. But yeah, our area is, has a handful of both. We've got the Rock River, like you said, behind you. We've got the Yahara River, which is really great for kayaking. And we've got some smaller lakes in like the Milton area called Clear Lake and Stores Lake. Those are also really popular for kayaking and fishing.

Katie Tranel [00:19:43 - 00:19:44]

Very, very much fishing.

Howard Fox [00:19:44 - 00:19:44]

Okay.

Katie Tranel [00:19:45 - 00:19:54]

And then we've also got the, it's called Lake Koshkonong and it's actually one of the biggest lakes in Wisconsin. It's 10,000 acres. It's huge.

Howard Fox [00:19:54 - 00:19:54]

Wow.

Katie Tranel [00:19:55 - 00:20:17]

It's huge, but very shallow. I think it maxes out, I think at like 13 to 15 to 20 feet or something. I'm not quite sure off the top of my head, but very large shallow lake. So that's really popular for boating, fishing. Yeah, some kayaking and we're on the southern half of that. So that filters into the Rock River.

Howard Fox [00:20:17 - 00:20:24]

So. Gotcha. Gotcha. And I would imagine that Janesville is a, is a most definitely a 4-season destination then.

Katie Tranel [00:20:25 - 00:20:47]

Absolutely. Yeah, we are. We have some really great birding in the spring. Fall is like our pumpkin patches and apple orchards. Winter, we have some really great cross-country skiing. We're a fairly flat community. So the cross-country skiing is great, snowshoeing, and we have some snowmobile trails in the county too.

Howard Fox [00:20:47 - 00:21:24]

Oh, very nice. Very nice. I, I'm like, literally, as I'm listening to you kicking myself in the butt because I could have taken a bus ride or driven for a long weekend up to visit you guys. And it's like, seeing, and by the way, I'm always looking for my next place to live. So you, as I was listening to you, as I'm reviewing the website in preparation for today's episode, I'm thinking, this is, yeah, I could see myself here. I love that. Speaking of website, I would love if you could take us on a little tour of the website just to share some of those highlights, if you're open to doing that.

Katie Tranel [00:21:25 - 00:21:25]

Absolutely.

Howard Fox [00:21:26 - 00:21:43]

All right. So now this is in the spirit of make— I rebooted my computer, so hopefully technology is going to work. Okay. Looks like it's going to do it. Okay. So now, Katie, we should be seeing your website.

Katie Tranel [00:21:44 - 00:21:44]

Yes.

Howard Fox [00:21:45 - 00:21:47]

All right. So take us on a little tour. Yeah.

Katie Tranel [00:21:48 - 00:21:55]

So, oh gosh, I have to say like that for the photos that are kind of filtering through, that last one that just changed was our farmer's market.

Howard Fox [00:21:55 - 00:21:57]

I love farmer's markets, by the way.

Katie Tranel [00:21:58 - 00:22:13]

I know we were talking about the Dane County one earlier and I just have to plug Janesville's. 'Cause it's incredible. It is. It usually has like, it's every week on Saturdays, May through October, the outdoor one is. It continues on in the winter as well, but—

Howard Fox [00:22:14 - 00:22:14]

Oh, nice.

Katie Tranel [00:22:15 - 00:22:31]

75 to like 80 vendors every single week. And I think what's really unique about ours, which I love to talk about, is that it spans both sides of the Rock River. So it's this huge area, like right in the heart of our downtown called the Town Square.

Howard Fox [00:22:31 - 00:22:32]

Yeah.

Katie Tranel [00:22:32 - 00:22:41]

And there's music and all these vendors, and there's usually some kind of activity every single week. But another thing I love about it is that it's dog-friendly. So—

Howard Fox [00:22:42 - 00:22:42]

Oh, nice.

Katie Tranel [00:22:43 - 00:23:01]

It's really, really popular for people to bring their families and pets too. And yeah, it's incredible. And it's also producer-only. So everything that is sold there is baked, created, grown by I love people.

Howard Fox [00:23:01 - 00:23:21]

So I love that. And when I was, I woke up early Saturday morning to go to the farmer's market around the, the, the Capitol Square in Madison. It's like, oh, it's so good to be at a farmer's, a real good farmer's market again. And I love, like you just shared, it's all homegrown stuff, home produced.

Katie Tranel [00:23:22 - 00:23:31]

Yeah, exactly where it's coming from. The honey's local. And the cheese is local. The produce is local. The art's local. It's very cool.

Howard Fox [00:23:31 - 00:23:40]

Very nice. Very nice. Okay. So where, where I did notice as I was starting to scroll down, you do have a visitor's guide.

Katie Tranel [00:23:41 - 00:24:10]

We do. Yeah. So yeah. And, and like you see there, you can download a digital copy on our website, or you can request a printed guide be sent to you right on the homepage there. But yeah, if you want to open it up, you're more than welcome to. Kind of how we do our guides is it's actually an evergreen guide. So we print them as we run out, which I think is very like environmentally friendly. So we're not like, if we have extras, we're not, we use up everything we print basically.

Howard Fox [00:24:10 - 00:24:20]

Sure. Oh no, I totally got it. There we go. Yeah. So it's like 30-some pages. I was on it the other day. That's why I started. Here we're at page 36.

Howard Fox [00:24:20 - 00:24:32]

So let me just go. Oh, you've got your ads, got great photos, destination activities, beer. Yes. And I like the fact you've got some QR codes there. Good. Yeah.

Katie Tranel [00:24:32 - 00:24:44]

Yeah. That beer photo I think is for our, our flannel. Is that? Oh, maybe not. I thought it was for Flannel Fest. That's for a local restaurant and bar. That's incredible. They have incredible food.

Howard Fox [00:24:44 - 00:25:00]

Okay. Well, let's, we'll go up. I'm sure more of the, the events are going to be coming up. Downtown Janesville. There's the advertisers, the Botanic Gardens. I would be hanging out here, by the way, just taking photos. Yeah.

Katie Tranel [00:25:01 - 00:25:22]

That's, and speaking of like being a 4-season destination, Rotary Gardens has one of the biggest holiday light shows in the state as well. It's a walkthrough. show in the, in the 20 acres of the gardens, but they string, they've already started stringing lights, by the way, in, in August. They string more than 2 million lights for this light show.

Howard Fox [00:25:23 - 00:25:23]

Okay.

Katie Tranel [00:25:24 - 00:25:24]

It's incredible.

Howard Fox [00:25:25 - 00:25:59]

Very nice. Now, one thing I'm, I'm starting to notice is like the map you've got, it's great that you have this map here. I don't think I've ever seen a map like this. on one of the digital guides before, because it's like, it'd be nice to know as you're seeing, as you're considering coming to the destination, here's the cross streets and here's some major pieces of restaurants and there's your grid. I like that. And then you've got hotels, heads in beds and cash registers staying here. Okay.

Katie Tranel [00:26:01 - 00:26:01]

Very good.

Howard Fox [00:26:02 - 00:26:26]

Got art. Now you've got murals. That's cool. Murals are— it wasn't until I was a part of the OWAA and I was starting to work with a lot of destinations that I realized how important the murals are. I mean, it's just a great— in and of themselves, it's a great way to attract folks to come and visit for a whole weekend and, or a day, you know, spend some money, see the murals, stay if you'd like.

Katie Tranel [00:26:26 - 00:26:42]

Yeah, we have a whole— I'll show this, that to you later, but we have a whole public art trail. Um, map and guide. Yeah, I think we just passed over 30 murals in downtown alone, and that's not mentioning like the sculptures and historical markers and things like that.

Howard Fox [00:26:43 - 00:26:44]

Would that be like on a tour?

Katie Tranel [00:26:46 - 00:26:52]

Oh yeah, I can. So it's actually, if you head to the far right under About.

Howard Fox [00:26:53 - 00:26:53]

Okay.

Katie Tranel [00:26:54 - 00:26:55]

And then there's Resources.

Howard Fox [00:26:56 - 00:27:00]

Resources. I can follow directions.

Katie Tranel [00:27:01 - 00:27:03]

And then we have a whole tab for visitors.

Howard Fox [00:27:04 - 00:27:04]

Okay.

Katie Tranel [00:27:05 - 00:27:20]

And then I, it's probably, I'm trying to remember if it's under guides or maps. Let's try maps first. I do want to show you both sections, but yeah, we have a public art category. So it would be that middle one, the public art trail.

Howard Fox [00:27:21 - 00:27:21]

Yeah.

Katie Tranel [00:27:21 - 00:27:41]

So this one, this one doesn't have all of our newest ones quite yet. I actually had to start doing inserts because we get murals every year through our Art Infusion Festival, which actually just happened. But yeah, this is a start to some of them. You can see our giant cow, Bessie, out on Milton Avenue.

Howard Fox [00:27:42 - 00:27:42]

Okay.

Katie Tranel [00:27:43 - 00:27:54]

She's awesome. Yeah, we have a lot of great sculptures and statues, the historical markers, and of course Very nice.

Howard Fox [00:27:54 - 00:28:00]

Very nice. So where are, what are some other highlights you would like to share while we're here?

Katie Tranel [00:28:01 - 00:28:30]

Yeah, I mean, talking about the outdoors, I did want to show we have, yes, under things to do and recreation, they're largely lists, but there's a lot of information in them. So I really just wanted to show those different categories between like biking, birding, golf courses. And things like that. So kind of gives you a good idea of where things are located. And then you can click on each individual one below to, yeah, to kind of like learn more about each. So. Okay.

Howard Fox [00:28:30 - 00:28:39]

That's nice. I like the way, I like that you're integrating the maps into the, into your, your, your page, the digital asset.

Katie Tranel [00:28:39 - 00:28:43]

Yeah. It helps with the planning, I think, just so you can see what's close to what.

Howard Fox [00:28:44 - 00:28:51]

Oh, here's Devil's Staircase. Can't go leave without seeing. Oh, look at that. Yeah. Okay. That's a wow.

Katie Tranel [00:28:52 - 00:28:58]

Yeah. Those are the stairs leading up to the hike. And I, I really love going there this time of year with the fall color.

Howard Fox [00:28:58 - 00:29:00]

Yeah. I can imagine.

Katie Tranel [00:29:00 - 00:29:02]

But yeah, it's pretty cool.

Howard Fox [00:29:02 - 00:29:10]

Very good. Very good. And you've got the biking. Now, on the pre-tour, was it an e-bike or just a regular bike?

Katie Tranel [00:29:11 - 00:29:12]

But we just did a regular bike.

Howard Fox [00:29:12 - 00:29:13]

Okay.

Katie Tranel [00:29:13 - 00:29:13]

Yeah.

Howard Fox [00:29:13 - 00:29:34]

I got spoiled by doing the e-bike, by the way. I'm getting a little older and I need a little— I spend too much time sitting at a desk doing my coaching or my podcasting. Again, I'm trying to get the outdoor and the outdoor adventure series though. But the e-biking I thought was fun. Light hiking. That's good. Okay. Very nice.

Katie Tranel [00:29:35 - 00:29:36]

Yeah. Very cool.

Howard Fox [00:29:37 - 00:29:51]

All right. And so we also have information, again, the things to do, recreation, got biking, birding, golfing, of course, parks and trails. I imagine there's a disc golf, couple disc golf courses around.

Katie Tranel [00:29:51 - 00:29:52]

That was—

Howard Fox [00:29:52 - 00:29:57]

that I never knew was a thing until I started to do the podcast. Yeah.

Katie Tranel [00:29:57 - 00:30:03]

Yeah. I think that's under additional recreation, but yeah, we've got a great disc golf course in Riverside Park.

Howard Fox [00:30:03 - 00:30:04]

Okay.

Katie Tranel [00:30:04 - 00:30:05]

It's very—

Howard Fox [00:30:05 - 00:30:08]

there's your itinerary. Oh, we got food here. Look at that Thai food.

Katie Tranel [00:30:09 - 00:30:12]

Speaking of, I got to show you the under food and drink.

Howard Fox [00:30:12 - 00:30:13]

Okay.

Katie Tranel [00:30:13 - 00:30:22]

We have the top one. We have an entire like uniquely local one where it lists all of the locally owned restaurants in town.

Howard Fox [00:30:22 - 00:30:23]

So nice.

Katie Tranel [00:30:24 - 00:30:31]

Yeah. I really, really love that. And then we have the same thing for shopping too. So you can find local shops and boutiques.

Howard Fox [00:30:31 - 00:30:39]

Okay. Now, which one of these little dots is your favorite here while we're here? Ooh, that's a good one. I don't wanna burn any bridges, but just saying.

Katie Tranel [00:30:40 - 00:30:46]

Oh, I have so many favorites, but I, I would have to shout out, it's called Genisa Wine Bar.

Howard Fox [00:30:47 - 00:30:47]

Okay.

Katie Tranel [00:30:47 - 00:31:22]

Um, it's right downtown and along the river, and it's even got one of our Art Infusion murals on the side of the building. Yeah, it's like a wine bar and they do brick oven pizzas and these great cocktails and desserts. And they have a stunning outdoor patio that looks, overlooks like the Rock River and there are string lights up and they do live music in the summer and it's just a magical place. But yeah, I, yeah, we, we have a new Indian restaurant called Swad that I really love.

Howard Fox [00:31:23 - 00:31:39]

Okay. Now I do notice there's a, there's a highlight that's always near and dear to my heart. I love, well, farmers markets, but, and I love coffee. So you got some coffee shops. All right.

Katie Tranel [00:31:39 - 00:31:47]

And we both, yes, we have some really great coffee shops and I have to mention some great coffee vendors at the farmer's market. Really great. Okay.

Howard Fox [00:31:47 - 00:31:51]

See, I didn't see any when I was in Madison. See, another reason for me to come back.

Katie Tranel [00:31:52 - 00:31:52]

All right.

Howard Fox [00:31:52 - 00:31:52]

I love it.

Katie Tranel [00:31:53 - 00:32:30]

Absolutely. Yes. We have so many, so many popular ones. For, for like brick and mortar ones, I definitely have to shout out Mocha Moment. That one is, it's amazing. I'm wondering, yeah, wondering if we have any photos in their listing, but yeah, they are, they're like right smack dab in the middle of Janesville, but it's like kind of tucked back off this like major road and it feels like you're in this cabin in the middle of nowhere. They've got this, like, I love going in the fall and winter because they have the, their fireplace is always on. Their coffee is amazing.

Katie Tranel [00:32:31 - 00:32:33]

I think they like roast and grind their own beans.

Howard Fox [00:32:34 - 00:32:50]

Oh man. You're, you're speaking now. You're really speaking my language. I roast my own coffee and it's just like, I, I, I'm very picky about certain things that I consume. Coffee's one of those. And I like Good, nice fresh roasted coffee.

Katie Tranel [00:32:51 - 00:33:10]

Yes. And they make all their bakery items like from scratch in this like tiny, like, I mean, I think you can see it in that photo. It's in this like tiny little kitchen and they, and they make it all. Yeah. A very, they have a year-round, I think it's year-round maple latte. That is a campus.

Howard Fox [00:33:11 - 00:33:38]

It's good to be young. You can consume those things. Me, can't, can't watch that sugar as I get older. But very good. Well, definitely some great itineraries, including some good food, good things to do around attractions, art history museums, tours. I love it. So this is very good. So thank you so much for taking us on this little tour and we're going to provide, this is why we love to do the, the video of this episode.

Howard Fox [00:33:38 - 00:33:53]

It'll be up on not only on our show notes, but on our YouTube channel as well. Just curious before we head back for just you and I chatting, where would I find the recordings that your executive would be producing?

Katie Tranel [00:33:54 - 00:34:14]

So those are right in the center. They're called Out and About. I think that, hmm, or maybe it's not. If you want to scroll down to the bottom and go to YouTube. Yeah, we do have an I believe have them embedded somewhere on our website, but yeah, YouTube is probably quickest if you want to head there.

Howard Fox [00:34:14 - 00:34:19]

Okay. So we're going to provide all the backlinks in our show notes to these. Okay.

Katie Tranel [00:34:20 - 00:34:33]

And I also will point out too, under the about, I guess you can kind of see it on that homepage too, but we have a blog as well. There's a lot of great written content too, like fall color. Yeah, you can.

Howard Fox [00:34:35 - 00:34:35]

Okay.

Katie Tranel [00:34:35 - 00:34:38]

French knots. Yeah. So I like that stuff too.

Howard Fox [00:34:40 - 00:34:53]

And see, let's do the 5, 5 places to experience fall colors in Janesville. All right. Ice Age Trail. Very— look at that. Oi. Rock River Heritage County Park.

Katie Tranel [00:34:54 - 00:34:56]

That's our newest county park.

Howard Fox [00:34:57 - 00:35:08]

Nice. Okay. I love it. Yeah. It looks like there's some good accessibility. aspects to the, to the park itself. Absolutely.

Katie Tranel [00:35:08 - 00:35:36]

Yeah. This one's Palmer Park specifically, and it's the home of Camden Playground, which was actually, when it was first built, like, I think like 30 years ago, it was like one of the first and largest accessible playgrounds in the world. So it really like kind of like wrote the book for a lot of playgrounds that came after. But the playground itself is wheelchair accessible. There's a wheelchair accessible merry-go-round and swings. Which is really fun.

Howard Fox [00:35:37 - 00:35:42]

Okay. Very nice. Yeah. Got a question. Is there rock climbing in your area?

Katie Tranel [00:35:43 - 00:35:49]

That's a good question. I personally have not heard or seen of anyone rock climbing.

Howard Fox [00:35:49 - 00:36:18]

Yeah. I remember when I was, when I first moved to Chicago, a friend of mine, he and I drove up, I'm pretty sure it was into Wisconsin and there was some rock climbing. And the only reason I'm asking this, Wonderful picture, but I'm seeing the rock face here. It's like, there's like these little climbing paths literally up the sides of the hill. Maybe there's another area in Wisconsin that I know is a couple hour drive, but okay. That's very cool.

Katie Tranel [00:36:18 - 00:36:24]

Yeah. I know, like, yeah, yeah. There are definitely other spots in Wisconsin for rock climbing for sure. So.

Howard Fox [00:36:24 - 00:36:38]

All right. Excellent. Well, let's go back. Just you and I. Thank you for taking us on this tour. I'm going to stop sharing. We are back. And so I am curious, since you have, how long have you been in your role? Just curious.

Katie Tranel [00:36:39 - 00:36:41]

Yeah, I just celebrated 4 years.

Howard Fox [00:36:41 - 00:36:47]

4 years. What's been your, what I would call your aha moment? Like, wow, I get to do this.

Katie Tranel [00:36:48 - 00:37:07]

Oh my gosh. I, I would say that managing like our, our social media channels, I kind of get like instant feedback from people who are like, who have visited Janesville for the first time or are planning to visit Janesville for the first time because of a post of ours that they've seen.

Howard Fox [00:37:07 - 00:37:08]

Mm-hmm.

Katie Tranel [00:37:08 - 00:37:43]

So I think that like the aha moments for me are like when I like post a video on TikTok of a local restaurant or a locally owned shop and people are like, like tagging other people and like, we need to go here, we need to check it out. Like, this is so cool. I had no idea this existed. Those are like my very frequent aha moments. Like the work that we're doing has like actual impact and like we're helping create memories for people who come to our area and, and hopefully like future plans to come back too. So.

Howard Fox [00:37:44 - 00:37:44]

I love it.

Katie Tranel [00:37:45 - 00:37:45]

I love it.

Howard Fox [00:37:46 - 00:37:59]

And what would you want to leave in terms of an insight? Could be a favorite book, a quote, or a reason like, here's why you need to consider Janesville?

Katie Tranel [00:38:01 - 00:38:46]

Hmm. Ooh, that's a good question. I would say like, I think our community just has so much to offer and I kind of going back to like the social media side of things, I like, I love people's surprise. And like when visiting Janesville for the first time, 'cause I think like the best way to describe Janesville is like unexpected. Like as a, a mid-sized city in Wisconsin, our outdoor recreation and all of our parks and trail system is just, it's incredible. So yeah, I would say, yeah, just like planning a weekend to come and explore everything that the community has to offer.

Howard Fox [00:38:46 - 00:38:46]

No, no, no.

Katie Tranel [00:38:47 - 00:38:47]

Very. It's, yeah.

Howard Fox [00:38:48 - 00:39:12]

So it seems to me that Janesville is very much a, a long, is it kind of like a long weekend destination? So if you're within that geographic area where you're attracting from, it's definitely a perfect getaway. And especially because you are an all-season destination. Like, I can, I can't, I kick myself in the butt because I needed to get out of my house.

Katie Tranel [00:39:12 - 00:39:36]

We'll have to plan another trip for you to come see. But yeah, I mean, like through my job and like doing the content creator and influencer program, like trying to plan a 2-day itinerary is hard. Like there's so much I wanna cram in. Even in this podcast interview, I still feel like I have so much that I wanna like share and talk about, but there's just not enough time in the day.

Howard Fox [00:39:36 - 00:39:38]

Well, that just means we have to do more. So.

Katie Tranel [00:39:38 - 00:39:39]

I agree.

Howard Fox [00:39:40 - 00:39:49]

I love it. I love it. Just as a reminder for our guests to this episode, where are the best places to learn about Janesville?

Katie Tranel [00:39:50 - 00:40:20]

Oh, I would say our social media channels. We are on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. Our website is obviously another great resource that we went through. And then our office is also open. We're located right downtown, so super easy to find and, and then get to exploring afterwards. But we love when people stop in, call, email us. We have a contact link on our website too, if anyone has any questions.

Howard Fox [00:40:21 - 00:40:48]

Excellent. Excellent. Katie, thank you so much for joining us today on the Outdoor Adventure Series. And it's a pleasure to see you in Madison, have a conversation, chat. And sounds like you had a great pre-tour. And I know I'm sure our members enjoyed it. And again, I will figure out a way to get, get some photos for our, not only for our banners, but our show notes. And then see if I can get some photos from them and we'll include those in our show notes.

Howard Fox [00:40:48 - 00:40:57]

But again, thank you for your, your time and helping to support our conference and again, helping to support this podcast by being our guest.

Katie Tranel [00:40:58 - 00:41:02]

Oh my gosh. I'm so happy to join you. And it was so great. So great chatting with you.

Howard Fox [00:41:03 - 00:41:07]

All right. Listen, stay on the line. We're going to do a quick close and you and I can have a final chat. Okay.

Katie Tranel [00:41:08 - 00:41:08]

Sounds great.

Howard Fox [00:41:09 - 00:42:14]

All right, folks, we have just been chatting with Katie Trammell. She is the PR expert, director of digital strategy, public relations for the Janesville Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. They were actively involved in the OWAA's recent annual conference. In Madison as we kick off our 100th anniversary. They hosted a pre-tour for us, and then really just having their presence really made this a very special event. And I'm very grateful to have been working with Destination Madison and Travel Wisconsin to get, you know, guests like Katie and representing this wonderful destination of Janesville, Wisconsin Here on the Outdoor Adventure Series podcast. I tell you, every episode that I have recorded with a Wisconsin destination is kind of making me add to my list of next places to live because I could see doing it. I got to think about winter, but I think I could live— I could definitely live in Janesville.

Howard Fox [00:42:14 - 00:43:13]

They've got some great outdoor activities, some great history and culture, great food. And actually, as Katie was sharing, some great Coffee, which, and farmers market, which is definitely one of my top 2 things that I look for when it comes to making a new location my destination. Now listen, we are going to provide all the backlinks that Katie shared and the website, the social sites up on our show notes. And we will definitely have this episode up very pretty quickly. So hopefully you'll start making your planning for visiting Janesville either this fall or coming into the winter and holiday season. And again, we'd like to thank Travel Wisconsin and Destination Madison for helping to facilitate these interviews. As for us, you can find this episode on our website, outdooradventureseries.com. We're also on Facebook and LinkedIn on our Outdoor Adventure Series pages.

Howard Fox [00:43:14 - 00:43:48]

The video of this episode will be up on our YouTube channel, Outdoor Adventure Series. And of course, if you're commuting from Iowa, Minnesota, Chicago, and you're in the car making the drive, this couple-hour drive, just listen to this episode wherever you get your podcasts from. We are everywhere. Okay, folks, wherever you are, whatever you're doing, go out there, have a fantastic day, and we look forward to having you join us on a future episode. Of the Outdoor Adventure Series podcast. Take care now.