Rural Kansas Project links over 40 small communities

  The Kansas Sampler Foundation and the Kansas Department of Commerce Travel and Tourism Division joined with over 40 partners to tell us where to go, what there is to see, do and learn in rural Kansas. This is a first result of the "Rural Kansas: come and get it!" project -- to promote rural communities in the State.
  Towns are grouped by region or by theme, such as the Amazing 100 miles, the Wetlands and Wildlife National Scenic Byway, and the Freedom's Frontier National Heritage Area. In Freedom's Frontier, for example, where the bitter rivalry of the past between Kansans and Missourians is brought to light, seven communities are linked -- such as Lecompton, the political birthplace of the American Civil War, Piqua, Atchison, Fredonia, Garnet, Tonganoxie, and Yates Center.
  Tourists take the communities "as is" and start their journey by first getting off the main highways and slowing down. The Project is to entice tourists to explore, to feel good about spending money in small Kansan towns, and to interact with the locals.

Avoid the "Geography of Nowhere"

Lisa Brochu, author and tourism consultant, and keynote speaker at the recent Heartland Byways Conference in Kansas, encouraged communities located along scenic byways to be distinct and present their innate character, writes Dale Hogg of the Grand Bend Tribune. When a visitor wakes up in the morning they should know where they are. As Lisa Brochu states, avoid the geography of nowhere.

The Annual Heartland Byways Conference is designed for byway, tourism officials from 10-state region, including: Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Nebraska.
Link to: America`s Byways
...
Roger Brooks' Rule No. 16
Great Stories Make the Campfire Memorable: the rule of telling stories.
Your community has stories to tell. They are distinct. They bring people together. They attract visitors.
 from "The 25 Immutable Rules of Successful Tourism"
Tip 2 from Roger Brooks.