Discovering the Fox Cities: Outdoor Fun, Festivals, and Local Flavor

SPEAKER_01 0:12

Recording now. All right. Trubotusky. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 0:19

True but he like an elephant husky.

SPEAKER_01 0:21

True but watching the least thing. Alright.

SPEAKER_03 0:33

Polish name.

SPEAKER_01 0:34

There you go. Love it.

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Okay.

SPEAKER_01 0:39

Three, two, one. Hello everyone, this is Howard Fox, and welcome back for another episode of the Outdoor Adventure Series. Today's episode was facilitated by Travel Wisconsin, who, along with Destination Madison, are hosts of 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 Fox Cities are the perfect destination for family vacations, couples getaways, outdoor adventures, meetings, conferences, and conventions. Kathy Trebotuski is our guest today. Kathy is the Marketing Communications Director for Fox Cities Convention and Visitors Bureau, the sales and marketing team that attracts leisure, meetings, and conventions, and sports tournament visitors to the Fox City. I think we've aligned this perfectly, Kathy. Welcome to the podcast.

SPEAKER_03 1:40

Thank you. I'm so excited to be a part of this today.

SPEAKER_01 1:43

Fantastic. Now, growing up in Michigan, I used to, when I would, when I would people want to know where I lived, I always hold my hand up and say, I'm down here because I grew up in a Detroit suburbs. Do you all do anything like that in Wisconsin?

SPEAKER_03 1:58

We do the exact same thing. Yes. We use our we use our hand and and uh we point right at that little crook between the beaten the the thumb and the first finger there. Uh yeah, same same exact thing. The other usually reference we make is we're about 30 minutes south of Green Bay because everybody seems to know and love the Green Bay Packers.

SPEAKER_01 2:19

Of course. I uh well I grew up in Detroit, so it's against the law. It's on the back of my birth certificate, and you must root for a Detroit team.

SPEAKER_03 2:29

That's right.

SPEAKER_01 2:30

No matter what. And living in Chicago, that was, trust me, that was hard as well. But I'm so glad you're here with us today because one, I'm excited, uh, because I I love interviewing uh destinations and CVBs, and I love the fact that you're also going to be participating at the annual conference in Madison later next month. So that is fantastic. You will you be there?

SPEAKER_03 2:54

I will be there. I'm very excited. I have never done a speed connection table before, which is where we get to meet all the fine folks who do all the uh writing and content. And uh I'm I'm so happy to be a part of it and have a new experience and meet some great people.

SPEAKER_01 3:11

Excellent. It's a little like speed dating. And that's a great reminder. Today, I need to go out to our website and register for the uh for for the speed event, and because it it's fun to talk to other destinations and uh providers about because we all all the journalists we come from different spaces, and so it's it's an exciting time, and we are an exciting group to be with, so you're gonna have a good time down there.

SPEAKER_03 3:37

I I'm getting the feel for that already. It's gonna be great. It's gonna it's coming up quickly now. We're almost almost August, so yeah, it's right around the corner.

SPEAKER_01 3:45

It is really hard to believe, but it's like, okay, do I have all the clothes I need? Because I have no idea what's gonna happen. There could be a snowstorm in August, if all I know, but uh usually pretty safe in August.

SPEAKER_03 3:55

You hit October, it might be a little more iffy, but about August are usually pretty safe.

unknown 4:01

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 4:02

So tell us about the Fox Cities Convention and Visitor Bureau and and what what you're all doing, and how are who are you attracting up in this area? And and what's the I mean, we talked about it in the intro, but it's it's a big deal to have a convention and visitor bureau. And you you are up in Wisconsin and the northern parts, and you want to attract people there. So tell us a little bit about this organization.

SPEAKER_03 4:27

That's right. So we are separate from a chamber of commerce. We are a freestanding organization, we are the convention and visitors bureau. So, as you mentioned, we attract the leisure traveler, the sports tournament traveler, and the meetings and convention groups. And we do have a beautiful downtown uh area, our largest city, which is Appleton. About 77,000 uh in the city of Appleton, um, all tooled with the 19 communities that we do represent. Well, maybe just shy of 240,000 for population altogether. But yes, we we try to attract those various types of visitors. We have something for everyone, which is which is fantastic. I don't think every destination can say that. And probably one of our most exciting endeavors over the last few new few years now, especially, is we have just a absolutely stunning sports complex. It was completed in 2019. It's a hundred and sixty-four thousand square foot facility, has a field house that can fold a thousand, it has a NHL size hockey rink, and then it has a seasonal arena that can do either um the the volleyball, basketball type sports, or it can also be a skating rink. So uh we are a big, big destination for sports uh tournament travelers.

SPEAKER_01 5:56

Okay. So the sports tournaments, so these are you know the high schools, the junior colleges, the universities are just exactly okay, your your your club, your club sports, and those fill the facility every single weekend.

SPEAKER_03 6:11

They also have camps all throughout the summer, and then the local club advice school teams do often have their practices at this facility as well. So we are super proud. It's uh called the Community First Champion Center, and it's really been a very strong economic driver for our region.

SPEAKER_01 6:30

Excellent. But and I I have become aware as I have been producing the the outdoor adventure series and work working with the DMOs and convention and visitor bureau that tourism and these types of experiences are are extremely essential for the economy because as other facets of our economy go up and down, tourism and bringing people in to experience or take part in an event is a huge economic driver.

SPEAKER_03 7:04

Absolutely. And and to have a unique offering where people can't find in every location, it's really been been fantastic for us. But I as good as sports does for our area, you know, I have to say the leisure traveler, we do run a front-facing visitor center, and they'll we'll have visitors stop in from really across the country. And they're just they're blown away by what we have to offer here. They're they're often stopping by because they're maybe traveling to another destination, maybe somewhat larger destination, maybe a better known destination. And the comments that I get that wow, we didn't know you had all of this here. This this is this is really cool. We want to stay a couple extra days. That absolutely makes our day. And we really do. We really are a destination that checks all the boxes.

SPEAKER_01 8:01

Excellent. Now, I would imagine that you're attracting visitors perhaps for the the sporting events from a certain, I don't know, geographic area. Here is Appleton and the in the Fox Cities communities and one, two, three, four, five, six circles. It's our circle. You're bringing people in. Yes. But the the visitors, the casual visitors, is that within that same circle? Or I I I know you mentioned in in the show notes, uh, and I caught it as we were preparing. There's there's a there's a small regional airport in Appleton. Green Bay is up the road apiece, and then farther down south is Milwaukee. But right. Are you truly bringing people in from all over?

SPEAKER_03 8:49

We truly are bringing people in from all over. I I think our largest numbers would definitely be that five to six hour drive market, the visitors from Milwaukee, Madison, Chicago, uh, the Upper Peninsula, Minneapolis, uh, Dubuque, Iowa. But you would be surprised the number of people we get from down south, specifically Texas uh and Florida, that come in the summer to escape their heat. So we're here and we're sweating and it's because it's 80 degrees, and they're here in jeans and long shirts and maybe a light jacket because it feels cool to them to cold front 105 or 100 110 degrees that they're feeling in in the area that they're coming from. So they they love it here. They they I I it surprises me every year, and it shouldn't. I've been here five years now, and every year we'll have groups of people coming through, specifically from Texas, that gets too hot by us. We we come up north in the summer, so we can get some cooler temperature, actually be able to get outside and do some activities.

SPEAKER_01 9:55

That you know, it I have some friends that come, they live in in Phoenix, and that's exactly what they do. They come up actually to the southern part of Wisconsin, and I should know it because I interviewed that DMO uh as well. But I I you're making me think now as I prepare for my clothing for the trip, I probably do need to bring my fleece with me just in case.

SPEAKER_03 10:17

You know, the good rule of thumb for Wisconsin is layering. So have have something, you know, have your t-shirt on, but have a button down or have a flannel or have a some type of lightweight jacket just in case. Because this morning when I was coming into work, it was 68 degrees. Now we'll we'll probably hit, you know, uh probably low to mid 80s today. But the mornings and the evenings can be cool, so you you do have to prepare for that.

SPEAKER_01 10:46

I love that. When I was chatting with uh the uh uh again, it's early in the morning. I haven't had enough coffee, but I was chatting with Wigwam socks the other day, and the alpacas and the wool socks and the hats, and I'm thinking I love wool. And so it's just like the weather you just described in the morning, you know, when it gets 60 degrees, I it's like, I mean, you know, just give me my wool sweater and I got my cup of coffee sitting outside. So because we are the uh members where I'm part of this this event with the the conference uh the outdoor writers association of America, I know you've you're gonna be participating in the the the the the the speed networking, but what other activities are being planned for our members and maybe perhaps expand you have a lot of outdoor nature and opportunities around. You've got this beautiful lake right in town, uh and the ri and the river. But what are what are some of the what are you planning for our members? And then also Gannett extend beyond that to the offerings of why people are coming into to the to the area.

SPEAKER_03 11:58

Sure, absolutely. So we're hosting a what they call a pre-fam tour. So we have four individuals that are coming to our area prior to the conference, and we're actually doing this in collaboration with Discover Oshkosh, which is the DMO just to our south. So those four members uh who have signed up, they are going to spend a day and night in Oshkosh and a day and night in the Fox Cities right before the conference. And I know in Oshkosh, they will be doing, I believe, some fishing. And they are also going to go on a tiki boat ride in the evening, which is uh, I'm really jealous. I want to be part of. And then uh gonna have some uh have a great meal, I believe, at one of the supper clubs in that area. And then when they come see us, uh they're gonna have kind of their choice. We're gonna either present to them, they can do some kayaking on the Fox River, or if they'd like, we can set them up with a catamaran sale and for a beautiful sunset tour in the evening. They will also enjoy a great meal and then uh a really nice breakfast the next morning. So yeah, uh, we'll I think we'll also try to get them out to High Cliff State Park that is the uh borders the largest inland lake in Westatten, that's Lake Winnebago. And there are beautiful hiking trails, uh, all limestone um bluffs as part of the um like a Niagara Escarpment that runs all the way to New York. Okay. And uh great observation tower. You can catch catch a sunrise or a sunset. If you have they not that they will, but if you have dogs, it's a great place to take your dogs walking. Uh, you see dogs everywhere there, it's really fantastic. And if you happen to own a force, you can actually bring your horses in and trail ride. They have uh horseback riding trails. Also popular with bikers, with runners. There's some really good hills, as you can imagine. So you can really get a workout fishing. Fishing is also an option there. They have a little beach, but it's a really special place. There's also camping. If you uh ever into uh coming to the area you want to do some camping, it's a great spot for camping. So that for our region, that High Cliff State Park just is really a gem. It's really a standout. But but to be honest, we have three fantastic nature centers. They all offer something a little bit different. They also all host events as well all year round. But one of the fun ones uh I know that Built Nature Preserve is doing is uh mosquitoes and mojitos. So that's a little a little fun thing they do, as well as ales on the trails. So there are definitely some some fun events that some of our nature centers uh work around. But I would I was thinking of this the other day, and I I actually lost count. In in the Fox Cities area, which is which is 19 communities, we have close to 60 parks. So if you want to get outside and enjoy enjoy nature, enjoy a nice walk, um, play some uh frisbee uh golf, disc golf, there are ample opportunities here uh between the nature centers, the parks. We have a lot of riverfront trails. So you can see some um just up close personal viewing of wildlife. We have pelicans and eagles, and uh during the migration series season, we have uh wild ducks and and geese and all all those creatures as well. So lots of opportunity to get up close and personal with wildlife.

SPEAKER_01 15:40

Sounds good. Just curious, what is your preferred uh outdoor activity?

SPEAKER_03 15:45

I like biking. Yeah, like bike biking and walking are probably my two preferred. My husband is really into biking. He does mountain biking, he does road biking, he does all the biking. And we love to go to uh the Wywash Trail, which runs 20 miles, and he can go as fast as he wants, and it's a straight shot, and I can go as slow as I want, and uh eventually we'll we'll he'll circle back or we'll catch up and meet up together. And you know that that's a it's a nice relaxing way to get out and and use the trails and experience nature, whatever speed you like to go, just really quiet, really tranquil, lots of farm fields, little little wooded areas you go through, a couple of marshes you cross over. And uh there is a brewery at the end of the trail if you get far enough. So yeah, but I I do enjoy biking, and that's something that we enjoy to do, enjoy doing together.

SPEAKER_01 16:44

Excellent. As you have been describing the the region and the the offerings and also part of the programming that's going to be available to our members, it's dawning on me that this area of Wisconsin is truly a four-season destination. You have a little bit of everything.

SPEAKER_03 17:03

It is it it absolutely is. So you you know, we you have your bikers and walkers and runners and you know your fishermen doing all those activities that you love to do in summer, but then you know, winter comes along and we have snowmobiling, we have snowshoeing, cross-country skiing is very popular here. A lot of our nature centers uh offer rentals for cross-country skiing and for snowshoeing. And ice fishing, ice fishing is huge as well. Not my particular sport that I would like to partake in. I I I like the warmer weather activities, but ice fist fishing is huge here for sure.

SPEAKER_00 17:45

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 17:46

Yeah, I I only learned how to fish literally a couple of years ago. We had a uh uh a smaller conference in in Tennessee and I went fly fishing for the first time, which was great. But I don't think I'm ready to sit outside in the middle of a lake in the middle of February hoping that I'm gonna catch a fish and thinking about staying warm and like, what was I doing? What was I thinking here?

SPEAKER_03 18:12

Right. I I think I think people either love it or they really don't want to do it. There's really not a in-between there. But if you are into it, it's a it's a big thing here.

SPEAKER_01 18:23

Excellent. How is the the conservation and stewardship con uh conversations these days? Because so much is going on around us in nature and the affecting the national parks, even perhaps the state parks. But how is communities like in the Fox Cities communities, how are they stepping in to ensure that we are protecting our protecting and good stewards of this nature, the trails, the the lakes, the rivers?

SPEAKER_03 18:59

Sure, absolutely. So we are very fortunate to have an organization called Greenways Fox Cities, and they really are are pushing that stewardship and uh that conservation. And part of thing that they do that's really kind of neat is just getting the trail system front of mind. So they started something last year called uh 31 trails. So if you go out and you go to all 31 trails, they actually uh you can win prizes, you can get uh earn prizes. So just even pushing that out there to keep our trail system front of mind and to make people aware of how many opportunities we do have to get outside and to appreciate that. I know that's fantastic. I know our uh our uh environmental center in Kokona, one of our communities, Towson Islands Environmental Center, they do um Eagle Days every January. That's a really special event. Uh, there are live eagle presentations where um they'll have uh people come in and have the live birds and you can actually learn all about them. They have arts and crafts projects, but because the water is open and flowing there, that's where the eagles come to nest and to do their hunting in in that January, February timeframe when they can get their food anywhere else. So that that's a that's a huge effort to really get people involved and aware of how special the area is and and to preserve you know that piece of nature.

SPEAKER_01 20:40

Excellent, excellent. I would love if you would uh be so kind as to take us on a little tour of your website. And while we're there, uh get your driving, I'm gonna navigate. But while we're touring the website, I'm also curious about what are some of the newer types of travel that you're seeing. What because we've again you've got the sports, you you've got the the outdoor activities, the state parks, you've got the Lake Winnebago, the river. But what are some of the newer trends that you're seeing? And also I'm gonna be very interested in where can I get a good cup of coffee? Because I'm a coffee fanatic. But if you're okay, I'm gonna take us to the site. Hopefully, the barracole of technology will be in our favor today. And let me just put it there. Okay, if everything worked well, Kathy, you should be seeing your website.

SPEAKER_03 21:40

I see it, I sure do.

SPEAKER_01 21:42

Excellent.

SPEAKER_03 21:42

But I think I think people are really looking to have experiences and create memories. And one thing that's a huge driver has has been for a few years now, but continues to even even be more so. our our festivals and i have to say that fox cities does festivals like like no one else we love our festivals and with 19 communities it it seems like almost every community has their own unique little festival and and i shouldn't even say little anymore because for example uh as of today kicking off today running through sunday is our mile up music festival okay it's now in its 13th year and and this one this one is um really quite extraordinary it actually was even featured in Rolling Stone magazine a couple of years ago so this is all original music so we have it 200 artists coming in they play over 700 sets of live music across almost 40 venues in downtown Appleton and this is this is the kicker it's no cover charge it's completely free admission festival so people can come in for the day for the weekend they can see 200 bands if you could choose to see 200 bands and it's completely free of charge.

SPEAKER_01 23:08

That's fantastic I love that and and I actually so spending a good part of my life in Chicago I lived on Michigan Avenue uh Stones Throw from Soldier Field and every year as long as I can remember we had this event called Lollapalooza yes which and it's the southern part of Grand Park or mill in Millennium Park. And I thought I don't want to be around thousands of people in this constrained little I don't know what you how many square miles it was but what you just described spread out. Yes I could deal with that because I I could move around and not feel like I have to be like that. And that's exciting.

SPEAKER_03 23:56

I mean it's for me it's comfortable they call it one great mile of music because it literally spans a mile but what what makes it unique is they will have stages set up in a parking lot they'll have it on the city bus they'll have a band on the city bus that you can ride the bus around and listen to the band. Street corners uh it could be a coffee shop it could be a hotel lobby it could be a bar it could be a restaurant we have Lawrence University here Lawrence University Memorial Chapel have the concert our outdoor uh parks have the concert so it it's it's not your always your typical venue that you're expecting to see you know to hear music in so that makes it uh that makes it unique as well and the other part I love about this festival and what everyone else loves about it as well what is done for the artist when they come here. There there is an artist lounge where they have hot meals available to them all day long. There are services they can get free haircuts they can meet with a dentist a dentist will look at their teeth they can get fitted for um for uh kind of uh specialized hearing pieces to protect their hearing they can meet with a lawyer to go over contracts they can get massages it is absolutely incredible the amount of free services that the community steps forward and is providing to these artists and that's why they absolutely love to come here this is these these bands they travel all over the country sure and the it's it's it's gotten out Fox City's Appleton Milo Music Festival you come to this festival you are taken care of and it's one of their favorite festivals to come to out of all that they play at so that it's heartwarming for us to hear that.

SPEAKER_01 25:54

Now is you your yourself and the the team that supports the the CVB both the staff and the volunteers it do they have their preferences like I'm going here I'm going there all is that already on the your your notebook and where you're going to be so it's it's really nice Milo Music has an app and you customize it so you can build your own schedule and it lists all the artists all the venues the days the time and even links to their Spotify accounts so you can hear little snippets of their music but it's everything from you know rock country rap indie folk i every genre is is represented there they're um some years I I'm like what kind of music is that I've never even heard of that type of music before so it it's uh you know really expansive in what they're offering but there are definitely um you can't you can't beat a concert in Jones Park it's just just a gorgeous setting it just it's us it's almost it's the park's almost like in a bowl it's hard to explain but there's it's down in a valley and and and there's cliffs on each side and it's right off of downtown uh downtown Appleton off of college avenue Jones Park is a really fun one it's a really fun one to experience but to jump on the city bus yeah you have a a couple two or three piece bands on the city bus and take a little bus ride around and to even say that you've done that is this kind of kind of fun. That's pretty cool. That's pretty cool. I love it. So I was just starting to navigate you got things to do original experiences food and drink that's always good for me gotta watch what I eat though. Why don't you click why don't you click on food and drink okay so I don't want to put you on the spot but if you had visitors coming in and and maybe family friends and where are you going to take them for breakfast?

SPEAKER_03 27:53

Oh for breakfast so probably my two favorite spots uh one is weather vane that's in the community of Manache. I think they serve 8000 people a year. Oh wow yeah they're like a little mom and pop shop and just fantastic breakfast the other one would probably be sap and they're um just really a really modern kind of elevated take on breakfast that one you can actually make make reservations at which is fantastic because they are often you you you get there sunday morning and you're gonna wait for a while because they are that popular.

SPEAKER_01 28:30

But yeah love goes to for breakfast we have a lot of really great coffee shops speaking my language a coca is fantastic copper rock coffee uh wallace the globe i mean shilates i mean i could go on and on and on and on there are just uh so many fantastic there's shilates right there yeah shilotes very good very good well yeah we we actually got um a james beard finalist and restaurant just uh just this year so our our food scene is is really it's really quite elevated you you know you if you want like i said a mom and pop style diner you can get that or if you want something a little more fancy we have that as well i love it and one thing i've that i have noticed as in recording the podcast episodes where wherever the demo cvb is or even the chamber is there's a lot of great mom and pop locally owned restaurants i mean chains are great they're there for a reason uh but that the uniqueness and the regionality of these mom and pop restaurants are pretty pretty spectacular and it's not lost on me that looks like that's a piece of fish yep even did it uh yeah and it's like the Wisconsin fish fry remember that do you all have the fish fry too where you got we sure we sure do that uh yeah friday fish fry in it it's a staple you you don't do anything else on Fridays but go for fish fry that's just that's just what you do it's it's just the culture so I love a lot of great options for that I love scuba's poor house for a good fish fry mark's east side is also a good uh good option okay yeah yeah scuba's is neat they you always get your you know usually your rye your your fish you get your rye bread you get some coleslaw yeah and uh scuba's is neat because they do theirs with sweet sweet peppers and more of a vinegar base okay versus a coleslaw base for their or versus a mayonnaise base for the coleslaw so that one's uh that one's kind of fun a little a little something different excellent and i do that's not lost by me you can great place to watch the packers play watch the packers that's right so kind of a a fun fact is the visiting um nfl team for uh for game days they stay in appleton oh really they do not stay in green bay so and and uh we do we do fill up uh we do fill up for game days our hotels fill up and we do offer a lot of shuttles to uh bars or restaurants or hotels there are a lot of shuttles that go uh go up to the game which is kind of a kind of fun experience you can you can stay a little bit further out and not be necessarily in all the chaos and but have a quick little easy shuttle ride in and out and yeah very nice very nice so where where else should we go on the site let's see here you want to go back to the home page oh let's go to the events page okay events pages our most um our most visited oh and the one thing we really didn't uh touch on at all is the uh arts and culture scene that we have here okay so well we've we talked about the outdoors we we have a hundred miles of trails we have 60 plus parks we have three you know major nature centers and the high cliff state park we talked about but our arts and culture scene and that that's really going back to how our destination checks all the boxes we have a performing arts center it is one of the first in the state to get new Broadway releases because we have one of the largest number of ticket holders in the entire state okay so we get the Broadway releases generally we get them first so we have the beautiful performing arts center we have a symphony orchestra we have Lawrence University which I mentioned and they are a big music school so they have a full offering of uh of concerts that they put on all year round okay we also have world class museums we have the uh beautifully redone reopened in a new space trout museum of art to a contemporary art facility we have history museum at the castle uh which has a permanent uh Harry Houdini uh exhibit because Harry Houdini claims this as his uh childhood home Appleton okay we have the Hearthstone Historic House Museum and they are have uh the first house to be powered by hydroelectricity using the Thomas Edison system okay Bersherm Museum of Glass which is a uh has the largest paperwork glass paperweight collection in the world the Grino Mansion which was called the mansion in the woods uh that was all back in the day when um the French explorers came here and set up fur trading a trading post on the Fox River back in the 17th century and the Grignle mansion the mansion in the woods was built to attract the Grinio bride to come and live in the woods of Wisconsin so lots of really great history and museums.

SPEAKER_03 33:55

Okay and the Trout museum for the entire year is free admission and Berkshamular muse museum museum of glass is also free admission so you can enjoy the arts and and uh enjoy it for free.

SPEAKER_01 34:09

You know what I love about what you're sharing is is there there's there's no loss for something to do and to get out and be around be around as many people as you want be cultured just get immersed in the in the art the music the you know the anything else that kind of strikes your fancy and then yeah you take advantage of the outdoor spaces when you want to and I did notice as I was going through some of the pages you have a lot of farmers markets which we do be seeing goat people besides coffee farmers markets are my my absolute favorite oh I love that we yes we actually have four farmers markets in the area so Nina and Appleton have theirs on Saturdays and Greenville and Kokana have theirs on Wednesday evenings.

SPEAKER_03 34:58

So lots of chances to get out and visit the farmers market. The Appleton one is one of the larger ones in the state that that's a really fun one besides all the the normal vendors that you would have the produce and the flowers and the arts arts and crafts they also do have live music they have food trucks and uh boy I think you could you could eat your way through that that uh farmers market for sure there there's no shortage of offerings. The other thing you might be surprised to learn is we were actually for many many years um first and foremost known as the shopping destination.

SPEAKER_00 35:38

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 35:38

And really that hasn't changed too much. We still have people who come in from two or three hours away to do their shopping here because they don't have a shopping mall. And ours is uh I believe the second largest second largest in the state so we have people from um Upper Michigan from the upper peninsula in Michigan driving down to buy their prom dresses to go to Costco you know to hit to hit the mall and and see the retailers in in person versus ordering online.

SPEAKER_01 36:11

So surprising fact with with all the online options now people do still like to touch things and see things and experience in person and and we're that a lot of people I love it I just moved from uh a renting some rooms at a house up in last north las vegas I now live in Boulder City and I'm looking for a it's a small one bedroom with half my own half my living room is is my coaching and podcasting setup and I need a small love seat with an ottoman I don't want to I don't need electric and massage things just give me a nice love seat and an ottoman but I don't want to buy it online I want to sit in it I want to sit in it if I can spend some time in this and read a book or watch uh watch a movie drink a beverage and entertain friends and but I want to sit in it I want to sit in it very good well there's our hand and our thumb right yeah that's all we talked about.

SPEAKER_03 37:13

Yeah now before we head back anything else you'd like to draw our attention to I would like to say that if you are interested in learning more about our location or you'd like to visit feel free to request our destination guide and it it's free we'll maybe mail you a copy we'll get it right out in the mail you have it within a week and uh yeah definitely um definitely request our destination guide we'd love to send you a copy.

SPEAKER_01 37:39

Excellent well we'll do that we'll have all the backlinks especially the the the venues and the events that you had shared I'm gonna stop oh I um I know there was the the question I was going to ask about and we can go we can go back to just you and I chatting so I'm gonna stop sharing right now. Just the idea of the new trends that you're seeing of travelers I mean I I like there's a a small little town uh about two and a half hours north it used to be an hour and a half north now it's two and a half hours because I move an hour away but there's a ghost town and you're you have a road to Death Valley and to me I just like to get away and explore it's within a couple hours drive but and I'm gonna I know I'm gonna have fun for a day maybe two days what are the trends you're seeing for folks that are just coming into the community that they just want to get away and they want to come because they know there's so much to offer so what are those trends that you're seeing yes definitely an uptick in health and wellness and a quiet experience going back to nature going back to trails and they they really want to create memories and I know for example we have an organization or not an organization we have a place here called Givens Farm which is a beautiful Tuscan styled estate and they do really fun things like they'll do an outdoor uh sauna experience that you can that you can go and do or they'll have um a class where you can go into the woods and you can forage and you can grab you know gather mushrooms and and um other edible plants and they'll take you back and they'll they'll show you how to cook with them or how to how to make herbs or spices and uh they'll do things like cooking classes where you'll go in and you'll do handmade pasta and then you'll get to eat eat your creation.

SPEAKER_03 39:41

So really those experiences where you're immersed you're hands on you're maybe learning a new skill you you're maybe getting out in nature and like I said you're foraging and and and taking things back that you can you can use and and learning a new skill so I think that that quiet adventure that experience um the wellness trend for sure people people are really you know love the outdoor yoga in the park they they love uh ails on the trails like I'd mentioned earlier where you can get out and you can enjoy a a a beverage with friends but you're still outside and you're experienced experienced nature on a short little hike so that that for me I'm really seeing kind of that wellness wellness travel health conscious travel and and speaking of health conscious just having the the food and restaurant option of being able to have a healthy meal yes we all love our Friday fish fry not good for us to eat seven days out of the week but people like to come in and they like to have their protein shakes they like to have food that's healthy and natural and organic and and we do have those offerings here as well and I've seen actually quite a few of those pop up in the last couple of years and they've been wildly popular.

SPEAKER_01 40:58

Nice nice as you think back to your time with the CVB what's been your what I would call your aha moment like wow I get to do this.

SPEAKER_03 41:12

Sure. I think actually I can can reference back actually just to um to last week we uh we have a great working relationship with our airport our regional airport is uh Appleton International Airport ATW and last week we were able to host Jessica Cox from Arizona she is the first uh licensed pilot in the world to fly without her arms so she flies her airplane or flies a airplane with her feet oh so she is quite quite an incredible lady is a motivational speaker has a a foundation and she was in town uh last week for the um EAA Air Venture which is the largest airplane show in the world in Oshkosh just to the south of us they attract over 700 000 people that's why Oshkosh is so familiar to me it's where the the big air show right that's where the air show is and so Jessica was in town last week we were able to host her at the airport we put on a breakfast for her and it was a meet and greet for limit limitless withstonson which is a group a disability group that uh came in from all over the state just to meet Jessica and to hear her story and um you know we had adults we had children we I think we ended up having over 50 people who attended and got to meet Jessica and share their stories with her and she shared her story with them and able to host that breakfast and that for me was just it was it was just an incredible experience to meet somebody so inspirational but then also to be a very small part of being able to get this group together especially the the children with the disabilities and what they experience and and just to see their faces light up when they saw her and and know that they can do do all the things that they want to do too.

SPEAKER_01 43:19

Excellent excellent before we go uh one last uh feature I love to include in in our episodes is this insight to go and this is a could be a book a quote just an experience or an idea that you want to share with our listeners about why the Fox cities why why this area and what the what the impact is going to be sure you know I have to say I I love living here I love telling about I love telling people about the Fox cities and for me with if we can get you here you're gonna have a great time and

SPEAKER_03 44:00

If if you have a few moments to spare and can stop into our visitor center, our staff is always super excited to to interact with the visitors and tell them all the hot spots and and where they need to grab dinner on the on the riverfront or what museum they need to check out or or to hear about the cheese festival that's happening this weekend. So for me, if if if we can get you here, I guarantee you will love it. But please stop in and see us, or please reach out, call us, email us, get get in contact with us somehow, and and and we can we can share all the insider tips and tricks with you.

SPEAKER_01 44:37

I love it. One quick question, and I'm curious. You mentioned the the staff at the visitor center. This business, this work that you all do, I mean, you have paid staff, but I imagine you you have volunteers that are there for you. And even out in the community, I mean, I remember in Chicago, somebody standing on the corner looking at a map, and I would just instinctively maybe that's the wanting to help people part of me and the work I do, but you have the local brand ambassadors who are there. So you've got the volunteers, the brand ambassadors. I imagine they play a huge part in really sharing what Apple, what this area, Appleton, the Fox Cities communities have to offer.

SPEAKER_03 45:22

They absolutely do. We love our volunteers. We have a really, really great group. They help us at uh registration tables at our conventions. So the, you know, the business travelers coming in, they're they're going to the registration table to get their badge and to check in. And you have this friendly welcome in your face that is going to answer all your questions and point you in the right direction and hand you your badge and get you signed in and get you all set up for your day or week or weekend, whatever you're in for. So they're invaluable. They also uh help us during EA, that is really one of our busiest weeks of year of the year because we do fill up our hotels and just such an influx. We're the closest airport for uh for the travelers coming in for the Air Venture show. So we do staff a visitor table in the baggage claim at the airport. We staff it uh Saturday Saturday through Thursday. And we have some late night shifts. So we're there sometimes until 11, 11:30 at night and back at at 8 a.m. in the morning. And I know personally when I was there uh the other weekend, I met a group of pilots from Korea that had had come in. They were so excited to be there. Their first time, they were first time traveling. And I know um we'll have large groups from France, from Brazil, from we have uh Australia, New Zealand, people from all over the world traveling for the sea meds. And we get to interact with them, our our volunteers get to interact with them, and it's really their highlight of of their volunteer efforts is is to work that table and and meet all of these national and international travels and travelers and welcome, welcome them to the Fox Cities.

SPEAKER_01 47:05

I love it. I love it. Kathy, in addition to the website, uh foxcities.org, which we will have up on our show notes, what other uh social sites should we include in our show notes?

SPEAKER_03 47:19

Sure, absolutely. So we have Facebook, we have Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, LinkedIn. So you can pretty much find us anywhere. Uh it's FoxCities W I.

SPEAKER_01 47:30

Okay, very good. Well, we will have all those links, uh, plus some of the businesses that you and the sites, the state park sites and the trails that you shared. And even perhaps even where you get that brew at the end of the trail. Yeah, we'll have those up in our show notes. Kathy, it's been a pleasure to have you on the outdoor adventure series podcast. I look forward to meeting you in Madison uh later in August. And I wish I could have taken the pre-the- the pre-tour, the fam tour. There's too many things and moving parts going on, but I know our members that are going to be joining uh you and the folks in uh the Fox Cities and in uh Oshkosh are gonna have a fantastic time, and I'll look forward to hearing all about it when I when I uh break bread with them. And but again, I'm looking forward to seeing you and and I'm sitting sit at your table. We can have some more uh conversation. But again, thank you for taking the time today. It was great.

SPEAKER_03 48:26

Oh, thank you so much for having me. Can't wait to see you in a couple of weeks, and it's gonna come up fast. So looking forward to it.

SPEAKER_01 48:32

Yes, it is. Thank you. Listen, stay in a line. We're gonna do a very quick close, and you and I can have a final chat, okay?

SPEAKER_03 48:38

Sounds good.

SPEAKER_01 48:39

All right, all right, folks. We have just been chatting with Kathy Trebotuski. She is the marketing communications director for Fox Cities Convention and Visitors Bureau. Very excited that they're gonna be at the OWAA's conference in Madison later in August. And whatever families are going on the tour up in the Fox Cities and Oshkosh area, you guys are gonna have a good time. But and to my other peers uh who are gonna be at the conference, you know, make sure you're taking part in our speed networking and have a great conversation uh with Kathy. Now we're gonna provide backlinks uh to the uh CVB's website, and we're also gonna provide uh links to the social sites and some of the businesses that were mentioned uh during our conversation today. As for us, you can find this episode up on our website, outdooradventureseries.com. We are also on LinkedIn and Facebook on our Outdoor Adventure Series pages. You can also find this on YouTube, and of course, you can listen to this podcast wherever you get your podcast from. And we love likes, comments, and sharing. And if you know a destination that needs to be uh given a good shout out on the Outdoor Adventure Series, please send us a message and we're happy to uh reach out to them. Thank you again to Travel Wisconsin and Destination Madison, who are collectively hosting the OWAA at our annual conference in Madison later in August. Uh, without their support and helping to facilitate these conversations, I think I'd be podcasting, but I wouldn't be having as much fun because I get to talk to folks like Kathy. Until next time, wherever you are, whatever you're doing, go out there and 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.