I recently had the opportunity to spend a full day with a variety of community leaders – members of the Visit Eau Claire board of directors, to which I was recently added, along with other key constituents. It was a strategic planning session about what our community needs to do to stay competitive in the tourism industry. Of course many aspects of that were discussed, but one major component was the possible creation of a “signature event” for our community – the type of multi-day festival that would speak uniquely to our local culture and natural surroundings. It would be an event of quality and character that locals could be proud of and that those from outside our community would be drawn to (and maybe spend a few days here). Of course, building something really great takes a lot of time, effort, and money, but we’re off to a good start with a $150,000 grant that was recently awarded to the Chippewa Valley Museum and Visit Eau Claire to work on – in part – a signature event. The general sentiment is that such an event should be based mostly in downtown Eau Claire, and that it should incorporate our rivers and waterways to a significant degree. And believe me, there’s no shortage of ideas on what could be done. It’s likely a lot of local organizations and volunteers will play a role and take on various pieces as the concept gets fleshed out – so if you’re interested there will be a chance to participate. But right now, if you have any specific ideas feel free to drop me an email at nick@volumeone.org and I’ll be sure to get them in the mix. Who knows, perhaps in a couple years we’ll be launching something really great that will last for decades to come.