2022 Rural Fellows—SBC Visitors Bureau

Ben Atali Benimania, Ashtyn Humphreys Author

08/08/2022 Added

9 Plays

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Student and Community Fellows talk about the community development projects they worked on with the Scotts Bluff County Area Visitors Bureau during Summer 2022.

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[00:00:00.240](together) Welcome to Scotts Bluff County.
[00:00:03.402](gentle country music)
[00:00:04.235]Hi, my name is Murengezi Atali Benimana.
[00:00:06.946]I'm a student fellow here in Scotts Bluff County,
[00:00:09.720]and I'm from Kigali, Rwanda.
[00:00:12.157]I'm Ashtyn Humphreys,
[00:00:13.404]a student fellow for Scotts Bluff County Visitor's Bureau,
[00:00:16.110]and I'm from Wymore Nebraska.
[00:00:18.690]This summer, Ben and I were working
[00:00:20.070]with Scotts Bluff County Visitor's Bureau.
[00:00:21.713]Over the course of our 10 weeks,
[00:00:23.670]we got the opportunity to work
[00:00:25.590]with different entities throughout the county.
[00:00:27.740]The first few weeks we spent getting to
[00:00:30.030]know our community leaders
[00:00:31.950]and learning the projects that we would be working on.
[00:00:34.377]Then we kicked off our projects
[00:00:36.240]and started off by going to Scotts Bluff National Monument,
[00:00:38.742]where we did surveys for three weeks
[00:00:40.709]to the visitors that came to the county
[00:00:44.490]and came to the monument.
[00:00:46.050]Through this,
[00:00:46.883]we found what the tourism committee was looking for
[00:00:50.790]by seeing what their target market was
[00:00:53.430]so they could plan for marketing in the future.
[00:00:55.470]So we found out where people were from,
[00:00:58.350]and kind of if they still pick up print,
[00:00:59.730]and what they were using to find out about the area.
[00:01:03.210]The next few weeks,
[00:01:04.080]we came to the Legacy of the Plains Museum,
[00:01:06.164]where we had the opportunity to do more surveys,
[00:01:08.970]but kind of like feedback surveys
[00:01:11.190]to help improve the, the museum in the future.
[00:01:14.400]Here at the museum, we also worked helped in the gift shop,
[00:01:18.900]helped event plan, and social, work on social media.
[00:01:22.530]We helped with the Oregon Trail Days luncheon
[00:01:24.390]that they hosted,
[00:01:25.223]and have been working on getting stuff ready
[00:01:27.210]for the Oregon Trail Wagon Train.
[00:01:29.490]The last few weeks,
[00:01:30.330]we'll spend out at the Scotts Bluff county fairground,
[00:01:32.081]hoping to get ready for the fair
[00:01:34.320]and seeing what everything goes,
[00:01:35.878]what it takes for everything that goes into the fair
[00:01:38.626]that from start to finish.
[00:01:42.060]So we can see all the pieces that go into that
[00:01:43.395]and get to experience another big event
[00:01:45.210]while we're out in Scotts Bluff County this summer.
[00:01:47.777]With tourism being a major economic driver here
[00:01:50.755]in Scotts Bluff County,
[00:01:52.648]the impact that both Ben and Ashtyn made
[00:01:56.827]is very very big.
[00:01:59.400]Determining what our target market is,
[00:02:01.860]who's coming to visit.
[00:02:03.270]How do they find out about us?
[00:02:04.995]Will be able to allow the tourism committee
[00:02:07.404]to be able to set our marketing priorities of,
[00:02:10.440]do we go digital?
[00:02:11.280]Do we go print?
[00:02:12.660]Do we do a mixture of both?
[00:02:14.243]To be able to reach these families, retirees and visitors,
[00:02:19.299]to be able to come and have them stay here in our area.
[00:02:23.460]It's a huge economic impact for the museum itself.
[00:02:26.220]It just, again,
[00:02:27.990]whatever we can do
[00:02:29.766]to get more people to come through our doors
[00:02:31.740]is a major impact for us.
[00:02:33.660]Especially since we are not funded by taxpayer funds.
[00:02:36.982]And their impact will allow us
[00:02:39.540]to be able to market directly to the people
[00:02:41.790]that are coming here.
[00:02:43.200]And hopefully they'll come here.
[00:02:45.270]See what a great place it is.
[00:02:46.500]And then stay for a night or two.
[00:02:49.800]If you remember,
[00:02:50.870]Ben and Ashtyn worked on a marketing survey
[00:02:55.350]and the entire point of that survey
[00:02:58.653]was to confirm the age of our target market
[00:03:02.505]and also whether or not print materials
[00:03:07.320]were still needed in our industry
[00:03:10.710]in order to promote Scotts Bluff County.
[00:03:14.490]It was determined that we were correct all along
[00:03:18.360]and that it is in fact the 60 to 70 year olds
[00:03:21.960]who primarily visit our area
[00:03:24.840]and bring with them their grandkids.
[00:03:27.570]And that is how we are seeing more families
[00:03:30.330]being involved in the teaching of heritage history
[00:03:34.316]and their interest in Western Nebraska.
[00:03:37.563]And we also determined that print materials
[00:03:41.092]are a necessity.
[00:03:43.142]And the reason this is so important to us is,
[00:03:46.170]because last year I spent $11,000 on print materials.
[00:03:52.110]And this year I needed to budget $31,000
[00:03:58.380]in order to print all of the marketing materials
[00:04:02.010]I need for the next year.
[00:04:04.998]And if we were to find out
[00:04:07.849]that people are not picking up print materials,
[00:04:10.110]then there would've been no need for me
[00:04:12.929]to spend an additional $20,000
[00:04:15.180]on publications, maps and also call to action brochures
[00:04:22.680]to catch the interest of travelers.
[00:04:26.820]It was also determined
[00:04:29.025]that the internet was extremely important in them
[00:04:33.360]to make a marketing decision.
[00:04:35.580]So my marketing team will also talk about
[00:04:39.900]our relationship with Molly marketing
[00:04:42.780]and determine if our summer marketing campaigns
[00:04:48.450]that we have been running on Facebook
[00:04:50.400]will still be necessary in order to promote our area.
[00:04:55.200]Most people never really realize how much
[00:04:56.882]rural communities influence
[00:04:58.403]most of our daily lives here in the US.
[00:05:00.905]And I'm counting the industry of tourism
[00:05:04.650]because the rural communities need income coming in.
[00:05:09.270]And what better way than using the tourism industry.
[00:05:13.560]Here in our, the gospel of our project
[00:05:16.440]was supposed to be surveying for better target marketing,
[00:05:20.704]and also being able to make up whether
[00:05:25.054]people still pick up print material
[00:05:27.300]and know the age range.
[00:05:29.470]The work that these interns did here
[00:05:31.710]at Scotts Bluff National Monument,
[00:05:33.480]part of our Gering Scotts Bluff community,
[00:05:36.390]is very valuable to us.
[00:05:38.009]They in their surveys, you know,
[00:05:41.160]found out why visitors stopped here
[00:05:43.260]at Scotts Bluff National Monument,
[00:05:44.670]why they came to the area.
[00:05:45.919]This is gonna help us
[00:05:47.460]as our tourism department works together
[00:05:51.270]and comes up with new plans, new media posts,
[00:05:56.400]those kinds of things
[00:05:57.233]to get people to come to Western Nebraska.
[00:05:59.670]So we're very grateful that they spent the time here
[00:06:02.130]and we've enjoyed having them here.
[00:06:05.550]You know what?
[00:06:06.383]I had never heard of it.
[00:06:07.320]So it, I was, I was ecstatic to be involved in it.
[00:06:12.900]And it was basically through the tourism board
[00:06:15.930]that I was able to be involved.
[00:06:18.512]So, you know, the two individuals
[00:06:22.410]have spent a little bit of time with me,
[00:06:24.180]a good full probably seven, eight to 10 days.
[00:06:28.680]And then they've bounced around
[00:06:29.790]between Brenda at the Tourism Center,
[00:06:33.843]the museum with Dave
[00:06:36.180]and Dan out at the National Monument.
[00:06:38.730]So I'm real anxious to get 'em back here,
[00:06:42.180]but you know, just us as a group,
[00:06:43.856]us as a whole, us directors,
[00:06:46.583]we just felt that their knowledge
[00:06:50.550]and what they brought to us
[00:06:52.217]and even the program brought to us
[00:06:54.886]and being able to kind of communicate
[00:06:58.281]and you know, show, showcase our community
[00:07:01.758]to a younger generation that aren't from here.
[00:07:08.670]We feel that's an accomplishment in itself for us.
[00:07:11.459]But I just have enjoyed Ashtyn and Ben thoroughly.
[00:07:16.718]I know they're going to do wonderful things in life.
[00:07:20.146]It'd be great if they came back to
[00:07:23.166]to Scotts Bluff Nebraska to do it someday too.
[00:07:26.580]But they have shared things with us.
[00:07:30.570]They've taught me things.
[00:07:32.491]They've shared things from their homes,
[00:07:34.937]their hometowns, and, you know,
[00:07:37.997]you go away and you think,
[00:07:39.750]oh, I could incorporate something like that.
[00:07:41.850]So just a lot of communication
[00:07:43.699]and networking with them,
[00:07:46.110]but two wonderful individuals.
[00:07:48.630]And it was an honor to have them here in our community.
[00:07:52.052](gentle country music)

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2022 Rural Fellows—SBC Visitors Bureau

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