To build better lives in better places—the purpose of all this work—it is usually best to start by understanding what is distinctive about the place you want to improve. And those are the things you and others in your community love and cherish. To keep what you care most about, you have to preserve and enhance the Character of Place.
The concept of Character of Place can be slippery. What is it? How can you understand it? Does it really matter? And how can you make it useful? This is our basic workshop in getting at the personality of a place. Character of place is real and definable, it is an essential starting point for community improvement and promotion, and it can be understood and used effectively. We will take you through the process and provide the tools and insights you need to explore the spirit of place around you.
Have you been thinking it might be time for a local pride campaign? The right way to begin is by understanding what makes your place special and attractive. We can tailor exploring character of place to make it part of a community-wide process and to build a solid foundation for civic pride and community improvement.
Are you thinking about rebranding your community to frame its image for the outside world? A successful place brand is a matter of identity, not image. It has to be real. And what you build on should be a position, not just a slogan and logo. Before you sit down with an agency to put together a brand concept, put the foundation in place by understanding what is distinctive about your community, and then build on that. Again, we can tailor our workshop on character of place to make it flow naturally into branding.
Do you want to build economic development around the assets of your place? The most important asset may be the place itself, and the qualities that make you love living there. Understanding a place is the starting point for smart economic development that enhances quality of life.
Are you interested in the economic benefits of tourism, but worried about how it will affect quality of life? Building tourism around the authentic experience of your place can have a lot of benefits. Again, it begins with understanding the place, but there is a lot of special understanding of how place-based tourism works that can make it more likely you will succeed.
For any subject on this website we can do an hour long talk, with a powerpoint presentation if appropriate. For many of the subjects we can create workshops that will teach both the ideas and practical skills to implement them. In addition to our speaking and workshops, we offer project-based consulting or ongoing consulting services.
Here are some brief descriptions of our offerings, and links to brochures you can read, download, and print. Surprisingly affordable, contact us for prices.
PLACES CONSULTING
Gary Esolen gesolen@travelplace.com 504.495.9730 Gary’s Bio
Valeri LeBlanc vleblanc@travelplace.com 504.458.1809 Valeri’s Bio