What struck me most about Mike Stolte’s presentation weren’t the interesting statistics but what seemed to be the underlying message: if you build it, they will come.
Marketing where we live and what we’ve got hinges on a few key things, and maybe focusing on those things in themselves is more important than doing it so we can tell the world and capture tourism dollars.
Stolte’s presentation kept coming back to building the same things that create a thriving community. Friendly people who welcome newcomers and who work together to create more opportunities in the community, sharing information, getting new projects going: these are all things that build a place attractive to residents and visitors alike, and don’t need profit as a motivation to get started.
It’s easy to see how more collaboration among groups would cut down on redundant work that unnecessarily eats up time and resources, or different projects that might be at odds with each other.
Being able to put aside grievances is clearly necessary to have a community that works together, rather than against itself. Not everybody needs to be friends, but being able to at least remain neutral in order to work together on something larger than each person is vital to the success of any community.
Thinking about the recent show put on by the Luis Mario Ochoa, it’s easy to see more events taking place after six at night is great for a broader community that includes Nakusp. Folks from Edgewood to Silverton and beyond were all there enjoying the energy and warmth cooked up on stage and served to the audience. It was a great moment for people of the region to share a unique experience and mingle with others who loved the music and performance too. Even more than that, the audience was people who love the same mountains and lakes and sky, already sharing in that.
There are moments like that where the opportunity is present for people to begin building a vital community within and between towns in the region. Some opportunities are already being developed like the Burton Community Learning Centre and trails through Nakusp ACTS! and there are as many more as there is an ability to see them.
Who wouldn’t want to live in a town that has people working together to make amazing things happen? Who wouldn’t want to visit? If we focus on developing what we’ve got where we live, the people are bound to come, no question.
