4.5 - "Well you've changed since college, so have we"

Transcript

Welcome to Coffee Talk Episode five, six, six, five.

I don't know. It's labeled 5. It is five. Our guests today are Abigail, Noel, Noel, Noel,

PR and communications manager and Morgan Key Business Development Manager for Destination Bryan.

Abigail shares the stories of Bryan and its businesses and attractions to the media through press releases, interviews and website social media content.

Morgan has a background in the hospitality industry and a drive to help showcase the local Bryan community

she connects hotels to a wide array of groups to host their meetings and events in the Bryan community, as well as developing unique experience

packages and offerings to create memorable experiences. Welcome. So I pulled that off the website.

Yeah, I was like, You read our descriptions perfectly. Now let's get into the real stuff. Yeah.

What do you actually do? I'll let you kick it off Abigail. Yeah. So it's PR and comms. Basically.

I tell the world what destination Bryan and Bryan, Texas, is all about. And so mainly a lot of that is through e-newsletters, press releases.

I talk to the media all the time, and then I also host travel writers that come into Bryan. So again, working with publications - those travel writers work for like

not just regional but state and national publications like Texas Monthly, Travel and Leisure, and National Geographic and all those.

So I host them here and show them all the things about Bryan. So they write articles about us. So yeah, a lot with the media.

Is that in a nutshell is what I do. We should partner with them.

Yeah. What? What? Yes, yes. Yeah. Yeah. You should partner with them. Yes.

But I was thinking like the marketing internship. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. We have a marketing intern and she's very interested in a lot of things.

And unfortunately, a lot of the beginning is very social media heavy. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

But that was a good idea. Yeah, yeah. And the microphone. Yeah, you should get on that. I'll just add it to your list

I'll just add it to your list Mm no Jamie's the marketing I'll add it to Jamie's never ending list then.

Yes. Yeah. All right. That's exciting. Yes. So as a business development manager, you know, traditionally it's,

you know, I'm our sales department. That's what I am. I wear all the hats, but my background is in convention sales.

And so whenever I moved over to Destination Bryan, I'm now doing conventions and sports sales. So yay sports! Getting to learn all the things.

But something that I want to really point out is how DMOs and business

development and how we're shifting the way things have always been done. So historically, it was, you know, here's a lead.

We send it over to our hoteliers. Can we source it? Can we place it? What we're looking to really pioneer as Destination

Bryan is doing more of conference development. So creating and owning our own events you know with Texas A&M being here Bryan College Station.

We have so much talent. We have so many influential people. We have a number one institution How do we curate these

conferences and these events where everyone else is traveling to? Why are we not hosting those here?

So putting the right people and brains together to really curate and own our own homegrown conferences.

And so that's how my position is shifting in that sense, but still, of course, helping place and source some of those leads, but more so

enhancing our hotel sale staff. How can I be an extension of them? What type of resources can I provide them?

So that way they are not only growing and evolving in their position. But we're all still working smarter, not harder.

I can see why you're in sales I can see why you two hit it off.

What? I'm just saying you can talk to a wall. Yeah, that's why sales are good.

Yeah, yeah. I don't do the sales. There's a lot of times where I like will start talking like, can you tell I work in sales?

And so if you guys are looking at doing some in-house events, conferences, what kind of conferences are you looking to do?

Yeah, so still in the very early stages. But like I said, you know, really how are we going to utilize

low-hanging fruit, if you will? The university. You know, we Texas A&M is a university that not only is

really impactful in the state of Texas, but nationwide, international. So why not showcase what we're doing

well, here and let other smaller universities come in and learn from what we're doing and bring like-minded people together.

So kind of like a college hometown you know, SEC schools, whatever that is, it's still in the very beginning stages.

But that's something that we're looking to curate. I always emphasize and lean back into South by, you know, it's

this event that started as something so small and has grown over the years. And it's they have different tracks.

They have different independent events going on. And so I really look up to that festival as an inspiration into what we can create.

As you know, something here in Bryan College Station with that inspiration.

Got it. It's all about how you interpret it. Yeah. Yeah. Now it just clicks what you were talking about. IAVM. That's how slow I am today. Yeah.

Yeah, I know You're pretty. I'm tired. Where's that other cup of coffee? Yeah, really. I only had one.

No, we, um, so the I'm going to get it wrong. I always get wrong because they change it. The International Assembly of Venue Management? Managers?

Yeah. What is it now? It used to be management now managers? I don't even remember. So I'm not a part of that, but I know some of my former colleagues

who have now moved over to the athletics part of A&M, they're looking to get involved with that

and so looking so maybe that can help make that connection. So we have in 2024 is there a there biannual conference

or the - what the is the name of that dang thing? You can talk. It's fine. It's the Region Six Biannual Conference.

There you go. Yeah. So we're trying to pitch it to be hosted here. Let me help.

Yeah. So yeah, I was just thinking about that. So that's what TJ was referring to. However I can help. Clearly my brain is not functioning today.

Yeah. Jamie got me. Well I know, but yes, that's why I like these podcasts because my brain gets moving eventually.

I mean, at the end of the day, what we're kind of getting at is, you know, I want us to be number one, I want people to think of Texas A&M, Bryan

and College Station, top of mind for a premiere location to host their event or bring their group, whether it's

a stopping point or starting point, an anchor point, whatever it is. I mean, we've got some really good stuff here.

We've got great people. Why are we not showing it off? Why are we not hosting everything here? Let's be number one, because we are number one and showcase that

I'm confident y'all have a lot of great venues. I mean, obviously we have great hotels.

But yeah, there's also great venues not associated with hotels. I mean, I know there's Legends? Legends Event Center,

And they're already planning, hosting all sorts of events there. Yeah.

Yeah. I have an email out to their GM and apparently something happened and they were going to come on and yes. So we actually do have a

I say we in my mind we're all partners. There is a GM in place that should be onboarded by the end of this month.

But we have been actively selling that facility for a long time in conjunction with their, their national sales team.

And so we see ourselves in it as an extension of their efforts. And so I've already got groups

that are here in our community that are looking to grow or they're looking for kind of a new, you know, scenic area.

So they are looking to now be place. I actually had a call yesterday. They're like, hey, we want to be in Legends next year.

And I was like, on it, I've got you down and he said, I've also got a few more events. And so it's Legends. We're super excited for that.

And just the Travis Bryan Midtown Park in general, there's a lot of nontraditional facilities out there.

Just to kind of piggyback off of what you were saying as facilities in town, you know, you've got your traditional ones,

you've got your hotel meeting space, you've got your conference centers. But something that I really like to do is showcase and let's get creative.

So how can we incorporate the new Travis Bryan fields?

How do you incorporate that into your event? You wouldn't think that a baseball field plays into that.

So it's okay. You have your meeting at the Stella. You want that traditional conference setup, you need the AV.

Awesome. So now we can get a shuttle and take everyone over to Travis Fields

and you can have food trucks, you can have some vendors and you can have a fun kickball game and do some team-building retreat and just have fun and relax.

And it's not your typical social. And so that's what we are very successful and take pride in as the Destination

Bryan team is coming up with those outside of the box unique experiences that make it memorable so people remember Bryan

and then the meeting planner looks good and they get good surveys and they boost their attendance. Everyone wins. Yes. You just break it down. So simple.

Yes. X, Y, Z, there you go. Yeah the planning's not hard. And there's the formula for an excellent event. Yeah.

I think I'm actually teaching a course on it now. Okay. I think I'm a guest lecturer. Yeah.

Is this class number one? Yeah, it is. Yeah. Event planning 101. With Mo. I mean you've got RPTS.

It's. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm just saying. Yeah, we've tried.

Yeah. RPTS is a tough one to get into. We have connections. Yeah, well, we do too.

It's just a matter of getting them to respond to anything. It's hard, we're all busy. I know.

I told Jamie some day we just need to go over there. Just walk right down the road. Have equipment, will travel. I mean. Yes.

Hi. Just show up. Yeah. That's my strategy, at least. Yeah, not opposed. I mean, just bring treats.

Everyone loves treats. This is true. Yeah, I'd bring my snack basket from the office. Yeah.

You're the crazy lady who goes into the movie with the big backpack full of snacks and crap. Okay, but it's never noisy snacks

It's never noisy snacks. I've been told in our office that I think I'm kind of a weasel

because I weasel my way into situations. I was like, Where are we going with this? Yeah, yeah.

But I'm like, Hey, I see an opportunity. I'm going to take it. Yeah. So no risk, no reward.

Exactly right. Okay, Abigail, what's your favorite part of your job?

I think surprising people that don't know anything about Bryan or have preconceived notions about Bryan College Station.

I get to talk to a lot of people, especially travel writers, and then I do a lot of trade shows just telling people about Bryan

I was just at the Texas Travel Expo last week. Basically, I talked to and it was like 50 of the

they call them travel counselors that work at the state visitor centers like at the state borders and stuff. And so everyone just knows, especially Texans know

this area is just the university. And so it's fun for me to then either I'm hosting them or I'm just talking about

Bryan and Bryan College Station as a whole and they're like, oh, I had no idea. Especially old Ags.

It's really fun. It's like specifically Bryan you know that people that graduate in the eighties and nineties or early 2000s

when Bryan was a little more of a ghost town and now it's like completely 180'd. And so they were like, Wait a second, there's not all that in Bryan Texas.

I'm like, Oh, let me tell you Tell them what we always like, our like tagline that we say about downtown and Bryan and stuff.

Oh, yeah. So it's like, well, you've changed since college, right? Well so have we.

Yeah, the only thing that old Ags knew was how to get to Sikorski's and how to get home. Right? That's the only thing. I don't even know what that is.

It was like the beer place that all the old Ags hang out at. Like all the Corps guys, all everybody. It's not there anymore but whatever.

And the same with travel writers. I talk to travel writers from all over the nation that don't really know Texas at all in general.

And then they're like, Bryan? Where's Bryan? You know, other than like, Houston, Dallas, or Austin. They've never heard of any city in Texas.

And so then bringing them here and having them explore everything we have to offer, and they're like, Oh, this is not, you know, just college students everywhere.

It's actually got a lot of culture and arts and charm and then the historic element and everything in between.

And also this huge modern twist that we have going on. I think a lot of that contributes to A&M, you know, and all the pioneering

that the university does in every way, shape and form. And the city leaders, both for Bryan and College Station, have taken that too,

you know, with the bio corridor, out by the health science center, everything of that nature. So it's really fun to surprise people.

I think that's my favorite part of the job. Uncut Gems, you know? Yeah,

no, but I think to kind of piggyback off of what you're saying is that's something that we really do we're excited about is to reintroduce Bryan

Bryan has its own identity, and for so long, it's kind of been, you know, it is to two cities, one community.

But Bryan really does have its own personality and it deserves to have its stories told.

And that's what destination Bryan is doing. We're sitting through. We're digging through the papers and the pictures

and having these conversations and we're wanting to showcase. And that's exactly what we're doing. And we look forward to doing it for a really long time.

Yeah, exactly. I have to ask the question. Ask the question. Yes. So why did the two separate?

Yeah, if you can talk about it. Sure. Politicians. Yeah. At the end of the day.

Yeah. So summer of 2020. If life wasn't crazy enough for the whole world. What was going on?

Yeah, some small thing called a pandemic, but yes. Minor, but yes.

So the City of College Station decided to pull. There was a joint tourism organization called Experience BCS.

City of College Station decided to pull their funding from that organization that was completely fine. And they wanted to take tourism under the Economic Development Department.

So that kind of left Bryan a little bit caught off guard. And so they created Destination Bryan. There was the Downtown

Bryan Association which I worked for previously. So I've been plugged in with downtown Bryan for many years now. And so basically downtown Bryan and Destination Bryan kind of merged,

became one as Destination Bryan and yeah, we kind of hit the ground running July of 2020

from Ground Zero, no website, no nothing. And so since July of 2020 we've created everything about Destination Bryan

And what's really exciting is especially since I was like focused on Bryan with my previous role.

And that was just downtown specifically, but Bryan's never had its own tourism voice really in the history of the community.

I mean, yes, the city has done a great job at promoting their aspects of Bryan more from a governmental side, you know, there's only so much they can do.

Then downtown was promoted, but kind of the rest of Bryan kind of got a little lost in between everybody promoting all the other things

and so we've seen just a huge uptick. And not only like our hotel numbers, but our sales tax

sales tax numbers and everything in between and just anecdotal feedback from our business owners. I mean, the past year specifically, like I would say 12 months,

you know, has been a huge growth in the traffic in Bryan and so it's been really exciting to see.

Yeah, yeah. You know, especially especially for our small business owners because so many of the businesses in Bryan are locally owned and operated

and they've been in the same family with multiple generations. So I know 2020 and 2021 was really hard for them,

every small business owner in the whole world. But it's been really exciting to see that growth you know, just like First Friday

last week was insane, like in the best way possible, like the most. I've been helping with First Fridays

for five years now and it's definitely the largest First Friday I've ever seen. So it's been really exciting to see that opportunity and that growth for Bryan.

Shoutout to Chris Ortegon and our events department. The the events team definitely

kicked this one out of the park, so it's been really fun to see those opportunities come for really everybody.

in Bryan. And I was actually with Experience Bryan College Station during the split.

So previously I was on the hotel side and then I moved over to the CVB side, which is where I really found my calling.

I love hotels, always have a soft spot in my heart. I've started out at the front desk and worked all the way up to sales,

but being able to really have a planner or someone come in and say, Here

are your options now let's really curate a custom experience for you. And I'm not, you know, stuck in just here's my meeting space at a hotel.

And so that's what I really like. And then whenever the separation happened,

I like I said, saw an opportunity and so the City of Bryan asked John Friebele, our executive director, to head up Destination Bryan

And as soon as he made his announcement, I literally slid into his text messages and I said, hey, whatever opportunity you've got, I like, I'm all in.

Let's do this. And so he asked me to come with him and brought over our marketing manager as well. And it's been - I have not looked back.

It has been the best thing that has happened. That's awesome. Yeah. Yeah. Sounds like College Station has not got a lot of people left.

They've got - yeah. No, they've got they have some really good people still in place there that are truly passionate. Like a skeleton crew.

Yeah, they're going through some growth, some changes Absolutely. I just think it's sad. I mean, even for myself, I don't even know how long I've been here now,

You don't have to age it Yeah, I don't either. You're right. I probably age myself enough times on this, but yeah,

when I first moved here, I only knew College Station as Texas A&M. Like, there's never been anything outside of that.

And obviously, the longer that I'm here, of course I know that that's not true, but. Right. You know, it's been really nice to see Bryan grow.

We used to go down there a lot to have dinner. I preferred it because it wasn't with all the college kids. There was a lot of nicer things to do, it was quiet.

You can walk family around, that kind of stuff. So, yeah, I definitely even though I live in College Station

prefer Bryan more. Yeah, I live in College Station as well. And with the university, just to kind of talk more on that is the university

I mean, we exist because the university is here. And so that's something that I don't want people to forget.

But we now incorporate that mindset and know that Bryan complements, they complement each other.

And so we should be very proud of the university being here and you know, with RELLIS outside

in Bryan, you know, Texas A&M is all over this community. It's not just in College Station, you know, the Health Science Center, RELLIS

And so it's just really exciting. And I want people to really recognize that as well.

Like people, if you're here and you're in it all the time, you can get jaded. But let's one thing that we try to do is shift that focus is really,

really understand the impact and how the university and all these family weekends and things like that that's coming up.

They really do impact our quality of life. Without that tourism and that cycle,

we would not be able to have the quality of life, events and you know, capital investments and things like that that come in.

So let's embrace it. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I also prefer Bryan, but I live in Bryan

I don't even live in the county, but I'm pro Bryan Where do you live? North Zulch. Oh, okay.

Yeah, yeah. Land is way cheaper that way.

I feel like your house is like, eclectic and, like, super fun. No, it's not. It's not. Oh, my gosh.

Only because - she has a husband. I have a husband. Yeah, same. I have, like, my little space that I get.

And it's mostly her office. Yeah. Yeah, it's my office. But we do have we have a lot of antique and local art.

Hanging in the house like your mother-in-law, her pictures are hanging in the house So you're going to art fair this weekend, right?

No. Because they're running events this weekend. Well, my events not this weekend, but - that's on Saturday, right?

I'm supposed to go because my child has art he's trying to sell. I'm hearing a lot of excuses. I have fence to build for our cows.

They have a farm. Yeah. But I've always preferred

downtown Bryan because of the art and the eclecticness. And it was like low key.

And, I mean, yeah. I forgot that was this weekend. Just going

and, like, seeing everything and how much it's grown. Like, it's really nice. And then a part of me is also like, remember the old days?

When no one knew it? Growth is always good. Yeah, yeah. I live a little farmer's markets and stuff that goes on down there and the fairs.

And that's the beauty of this community, is you have two different experiences that you can really get.

You know, if you're looking for that small town slow pace, family owned, you know, deep in cultural and heritage, you go to Bryan

but then if you go to College Station, you've got those those little bit main focus corporate franchise things.

So whatever you're looking for, you got it here. Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's a lot to offer. A ton.

Alright I have to know. What is y'all's favorite event that y'all do? Yeah, that's like the question.

I get that question all the time. Well, now I don't feel so special.

No it's great because it's nice coming from, like, another professional and not a college student writing a paper and they call me,

you know, when their paper's due in 12 hours and going they haven't researched us at all, Not that that's based on actual experience.

Yeah, that's totally fine. I mean, you got to learn. We can actually appreciate the, the work that goes into an event.

Yeah, right. Absolutely. Yeah. I'll take it. And yeah, I think First Friday for me, like I said, I've been helping

with all the downtown events for five years now when I was with DBA a lot more hands on with the events now we have a whole

events team, which is fantastic and they do a great job. But First Friday I've seen it grow, so when I first started in 2017 First Friday

didn't have any street closures and now we close down nearly three blocks.

We have to because of the amount of people down there The amount of vendors and artists and musicians and everything we have

and so even just like the logistical growth of it has been really fascinating and the trials and errors and heartaches and headaches and joys that come with that

and running an event and merchants, we love our merchants, but it's a range of personalities and so, you know, catering to all of them in ways that support their business.

Though my favorite thing about First Friday is it's literally like people, like everyone in the community knows about First Friday,

but it's like these family and friends don't talk about that they're all going, but then they all show up there and run into each other

and they're like, Well, I didn't know you were coming. Well I didn't know you were coming. And it's like this natural like gathering place that's really exciting.

And that's just downtown in general, but especially on First Friday, because everyone's going to see something. Just something in the air.

Yeah, there's a vibe, there's a buzz happening, but that's like, I can't tell you how many times - it's even happened to me.

Like, I run into my own parents down there, like I'm working here. Like, like why didn't you tell me you were coming? You don't even live in this town.

I mean, they do now, which is great. But yes, it's like happened. It's been really fun. And so it's cool to see those unique experiences happen.

And you just, like, it's like it never fails time and time again. Or is it people discovering something new about downtown?

You know, they might have lived here for multiple years that are like, Well I didn't know you can find that kind of pizza at RX or Mr.

G's or whatever. I'm just like, haven't you lived here for a while? But then I forget, like, not everyone is plugged in with,

you know, Bryan, like what we do on our side of the tourism world. Like, we have to know what's going on at all these businesses, because we promote them all the time.

So it's really fun to see them like surprise stumble upon their family or friends or something new that they've never realized

that's in downtown. So it's First Friday for sure. For me. Yeah, you know, First Friday.

I think that's a great one. And some of the things, like you said, that people don't know about it and they go to it for the first time.

And so as a salesperson and how I've learned how to evolve that and we have such a great team within Destination

Bryan who makes all of my crazy ideas a reality. I actually worked with a group and they wanted to typically

they have something on campus for like a, you know, first night kickoff event and with the pandemic, they weren't able to do that

just with all of the policies in place. And so we went back to the drawing board. What are we going to do for these students?

You know, this is something that this is their vacation. This is something that they look forward to every year.

And so we they we deserve to give them that. And so we took the concept of First Friday

and we created a custom kickoff event for that group for 4H Roundup.

And it was something that it was a little bit different. It was new. There was some like, oh, I'm not too sure about this,

but it was it was so successful and it was on a Tuesday evening. So it also impacted all of our business owners in downtown.

You know the next week, I went to go have lunch and the restaurant owner said

it was amazing for us on a Tuesday evening we never see that sort of traffic. And so what I love about all of our events

is how we take that traditional concept and we adjust it a little bit and curate a custom experience for our group.

So really we have this master plan and we're not really having to work much harder. We've got the basics but we're still able to provide an impact

and create an experience that everyone's going to remember and not only impact and create an experience for the attendees, but also our local businesses as well.

Yeah, for sure. I miss that. I'm tired of academics. Hey, I'm looking for an intern

It's a paid internship. Yeah. Could you imagine me doing an internship?

No. Yeah, Coffee? What's that? I ain't getting you coffee.

There's a Keurig over there. While you're at it, bring me one too.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. No. Sorry, we've kind of jumped all over our list here.

We've gone through most of them So do you have - I'm not going to ask no

Can you tell us Are you going rogue? I broke. No. Oh rogue, sorry I can't hear. Turn my pack on?

Can you tell us a little bit of the facilities you have to offer when booking special events outside of hotels?

Absolutely. I'm glad you, because I've seen some. Yeah. So some of your basic ones that are, you know, they're not a hotel, but

they're still when they come top of mind, you've got the Brazos County Expo, you've got the Brazos Center, you've got Legends that's coming on board.

But one thing I really want to point out is that - really I almost said it. I almost said it and you gave me the corner eye. Say it.

So we accidentally tagged the wrong tag on the Brazos Center.

Oh, gosh. And we definitely got a hate email. Oh, no. Oh, no. It was it from the center? From the expo?

It was from the center. Yes. Oh, no. It's ok. So my brain always says the Brazos Valley Expo Center.

That's not right. That's not right. That's two different places. We definitely got corrected. Yeah. Well, they put you in your place. They did.

They did. In black and white A massive paragraph. Yes, ok sorry, go ahead.

So, yes, you've got the Brazos County expo and you've got the Brazos Center. So those are your traditional first top of mind

Yeah, that's a venue space. But the unique ones You know, starting in downtown, you've got the Grand Stafford Theater.

I absolutely love what that facility can transform into.

You've got Downtown 202. Again, these are blank canvas facilities that can be created

into whatever experience you're looking to do. You can bring in your rounds and your banquet chairs, but you can also bring in some soft seating, bring in some

you know, couches and and linens and stuff. And it really is whatever you want it to be.

And it's at a good price point. So Downtown 202 is in the marketplace? It's right next door.

It's right next door to the marketplace. Yeah. Same ownership. Yeah. Of both businesses. So which part was Madden's? It was in

Madden's shared on 27th Street in the space within the Old Bryan Marketplace.

Yeah. It was inside the Marketplace. Yeah, so Madden's was owned by Chef Tai and his group.

And so yeah, they closed down, I guess the end of 2020. Time just doesn't exist anymore. I know these past couple years have merged together.

But, but yes, the owners of old Bryan are looking for a new restaurant

to go in there. They want to refill it with a restaurant because it was super successful. Know anyone? Plenty of chefs.

Yeah. For their concept. Yeah of course Ice House

on Main is also a really great facility but even too I think something that gets overlooked is

over in Lake Walk the pavilion that's a great outdoor venue that again can be transformed into whatever you're looking for

are you looking for you bring in some people in who are from Texas and you want to do a barbecue cookout let's do it.

You can throw up some live music. You can bring in some barbecue and you've got this atmosphere

that now was just a green space. You know, the tower I've I want to do

just like a small client event up there so bad. And again, that's what I love doing.

I love creating these unique experiences that are far fetched and crazy. Cocktail hour at high heights. Yes.

Yes. Limit the drinks. There's parameters. How would you get them down? They have to repel off the side? Parachutes

You grab a drink, then you get your workout in. Come on, it's all about how you spin it lady. That sounds terrible.

I don't know. I would like to see you sell that one. Yeah, all right. Put someone in front of me, I'll do it.

We're not about that yoga at the beginning of webinars, we're not we're not here for that life. No, no HIIT classes, nothing. You can save it.

Oh no don't sign me up for that either. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So what else? Because I saw there is, is it 1818?

I keep looking at it. That's in Bryan? Yeah. It's kind of like out. Yeah.

Out by RELLIS. Oh, okay. Yeah, yeah. The one. Yeah, yeah. There's a lot of smaller I'd call them probably

a little more people would categorize them more like wedding venue styles. But of course those buildings don't have to be used for weddings they can be used for banquets, for an organization

or a party in general or a meeting space and everything. Yeah, there's like the Brownstone Reserve

kind of on the east side of Bryan off of 2038

Like there, there's so many of those little unique places and then a lot of people forget a lot of our restaurants in Bryan actually have space as well.

That you don't just have to have necessarily like a banquet per se, in them you can have like a lunch meeting in them.

We had a team retreat upstairs of Caffe Capri. Yeah, I was actually about to ask that because I always knew they had this space,

but I've never known anyone to do anything up there. Yeah, they do rehearsal dinners over there all the time actually.

But yeah, we've had, we've pitched that to have like different lunch meetings and stuff and it works out great, especially for like under 50 people is a perfect spot.

The name is slipping my mind. I had some other- The Cotton Exchange. Yeah, the Cotton Exchange in downtown and there's a new space

in downtown, the reserve at Cottonwood Creek is really cool. Yeah, there's just a lot of everything in between.

Does Kyle House have a meeting space? They have a room. Yeah. It's not your traditional meeting space, but we've also utilized their

they have a little side room, and we've used that for a staff retreat as well. Yeah. Yeah, it's great.

And the coffee is like, amazing. We're gonna have to do a tour, because I don't realize how much is down there. I think I know some people that could hook you up with it,

so I'll be sure and make that connection. Yeah, we need to. We'll start in the morning and then we'll wrap up with like a happy hour.

I mean, you have to try everything. Well yeah. You have to know what you're promoting. Right? We can end it at Vino.

Yeah. Oh, have you had a chance to check out Vino Boheme? No, we were going to go to the Insite magazine, Oh, well you should've, we could have met then.

Well, it had been rescheduled. That was aggressive. Yeah,

It was rescheduled because of the tornadoes. Yeah. Oh, yeah. We had planned to go. We couldn't go to the reschedule time. Yeah, yeah.

But yeah, she was, I was, She was like I'm in my big old truck nobody's going to hit me. Oh, okay. Well, when you want to go, let me know.

And I've got your drink. Yeah. Okay. First, third or fifth weekends of every month. My kid goes to his dad's.

You just give me your calendar. We'll figure it out. I've been wanting to go. Did they, did they renovate the inside of it at all? A little bit.

They rebranded. Yeah. Right, right. So it's very eclectic yeah. It's very bohemian.

Yeah, exactly. Bohemian. Yes. It's owned by Kristy Petty, who owns the Village Cafe.

So yeah, the food is directly from the Village which is awesome. I love the Village. The TBA sandwich.

Yeah. Their honey lavender latté. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. That's amazing. Yeah, it really is.

Yeah. They didn't do a lot of, like, major remodel per se, like there's still the main bar, but yeah, definitely more cosmetic.

But, like, I hosted a presentation to Mays Marketing graduate class in there because it was a lunch thing, too.

So then Bill just like box-lunched it over. Yeah, it was really cool, something different.

And I actually used the wine bar as my anchor point for a sip and shop event that I hosted for the Aggie Mom Federation.

So while they were here for their federation meeting back in January,

Yeah, I put together- Amanda on our events team, she and I worked together and we did a sip and shop event for them.

So we provided transportation from campus, from the MSC, and we transported them to downtown.

And we had, I think like ten retailers from downtown and they all had a different theme.

So it was like drinking around the world. And so one was Paris, one was Transylvania.

Like, it was all, it was just really fun experience. And I used, I worked with Kristy and I had Vino Boheme as my anchor point.

So where they could get their information, they could, you know, show us their IDs and all that stuff and really incorporate. And then so that way,

although Kristy's not a retailer, she was still getting exposure and people were like, oh my gosh, I didn't know this was here.

And they stuck around, had another drink. It was amazing. Yeah, we're in the wrong side of the business.

Probably yeah. About that internship. Yeah. The last sip and shop I went to was one with beer.

Cheers to Craft Beer in downtown Bryan, in summer? Yeah, yeah. And that one's coming back this summer.

June 11th is when that one's gonna happen. I almost did that one. I went with Amber. Yeah, of course you did.

Yeah. Tons of craft beer. We should get a whole busload of us and go, yeah, yeah. So how did y'all get into the event industry?

That's a long story. Yeah, that's like an evil cackle. I know. I'm going to tell. That's a loaded question for Morgan.

It was really exciting. Mine was. Mine was I literally just fell into it.

Yeah, I. I graduated from A&M in 2012 with a marketing degree, and I worked in the senior care industry

doing social media and marketing for Alzheimer's facilities. Not the greatest industry, but I learned a lot.

That's how I got to work from home for four years. So there was a perk to it and then I was ready for something new.

And stumbled upon the job in downtown Bryan. The Downtown Bryan Association.

And it was marketing. So I yeah. So I went in as marketing. I basically became a part time events coordinator

because we were such a small staff. It was all hands on deck for everything. You wore all the hats. I did everything.

And so yeah, it just kind of really honestly just honestly stumbled into it. Yeah. But yes, as I do for most things in life, I stumble into it.

So I was at A&M and working on my degree in G Stud like I don't know what I'm going to do.

Someone's like, Oh, I'm doing RPTS. I was like, What is that? And they told me and I was like, Cool, that sounds like a great degree

to get me through. And so I did it and I was sitting in class and someone goes, Yeah, there's this new hotel opening up.

I'm going to apply for front desk. And at the time I was actually working at Easterwood in the cafe, so

I was making that pot of coffee for that first flight out, wouldn't see anyone. So I had to be there at 5:30, wouldn't see anyone again till about 9:00.

So I drank lots of coffee, watched a lot of Netflix. That sounds alright.

So I did that for about two years and then I interviewed and I got the job at the Hilton Garden Inn

here in town across University and started at the front desk, had interest to do the events manager job.

And so our events manager actually went out on maternity leave. So I was interim. I was like I got this, I got the textbooks.

I know what I'm doing. Um no. I did not. I got the textbooks.

The textbooks don't teach you what's really supposed to happen in real life. So I literally learned trial and error

I got set straight several times, but I absolutely loved it. I get a high off of making people happy and doing all these things.

So started there, worked my way up to catering sales manager at the hotel as well.

And so that was really cool. And then I took a break from the hotel world for a little bit.

My husband and I moved to Lincoln, Nebraska, for about six months in the winter, so definitely don't encourage anyone to do that.

Lincoln was amazing though. We came back, he went back to the university. And so I learned about the Texas A&M Hotel and Conference Center opening up.

So I was actually a part of that opening team and I was doing sales for them.

And so I found my way there, was back in the hotels. Again. I wasn't- I loved it, but I wasn't feeling truly fulfilled.

And so the opportunity presented itself with Experience Bryan College Station. Jumped on the opportunity, and like I said, I haven't looked back

since because I really get to showcase the entire community and what we have to offer.

Question. When you were at the Hotel and Conference Center did you do any of the preliminary tours before it was finished?

Oh yeah. I was giving hard hat tours before there were even walls. I knew I recognized her from somewhere. My hair was probably different. Yes, it changes.

It'll probably be different the next time you see me. Yeah it changes about every three to four months. My mom goes, do you change your hair with your mood? I was like, probably, yeah.

Cheaper than therapy. It is. Yeah.

You might still have to do that but still. Yeah, she's the same way every time she changes her hair, we have to update our website picture. They joke about that in the office.

They're like Morgan we cannot change your headshot every time. Why not? We have a photographer on staff. I just tell them to quit. Yeah, yeah. I'm on number

5, 6, 9? What was it, a couple like? Like, honestly, maybe three months ago, I had platinum blond hair.

Yeah. And it was long. Yes. Yeah. So it was really long brown I feel like when we first met you. Probably yeah.

Because when you walked in, I was like, I recognize her face but now that makes a lot more sense. Yes. Yeah. So I was giving hard hat tours. Yeah.

We were pre-officed in Kyle Field and so people were like, how do you know what you're doing? And I'm like, Oh, you know, and I'm like, I have no idea

This is going to be a guest room, and it's like the kitchen. And I'm like, That's fine. But they don't know. Yeah, yeah, exactly.

Come back and see it when it's finished. Yeah, yeah. That all you got to do. Get them back for something. Exactly.

That's funny. Small world. Yeah. Keeps getting smaller and smaller. You see, one day you'll be like me.

No, I don't wanna be. Just know everybody. No, I'm good. I like my bubble, my little small bubble. Well, because I talk to walls and just about anything.

I know a lot of people. I used to do that. Her and I met several times before she

Before we actually realized. Before I actually realized I shouldn't have hired you. Yes. And she's regretted it every day since.

Yeah, pretty sure it's the same thought process in our office is like, what are we going to do with you?

I was like, I don't know, keep me around. Yeah. Yeah. At least for entertainment value. Exactly.

That's what I tell my husband all the time. I'm like, Listen, I don't cook, but I'm fantastic at pouring the wine and keeping conversation going.

Whether you're listening to me or not, I'm gonna talk. This is true.

I feel like that should be a sitcom. I mean, yeah, I feel like I should have started my marriage off like that. Set the expectations way lower.

Follow me for more marriage advice. Geez, alright.

If someone was interested in going into the industry, what's the one piece of advice you would give them?

You wanna go? Embrace it and do it all. Do not think you're above any task or position whatsoever.

When I was at the Hilton Garden Inn, and I was, you know, selling these events and running the events, I was also in my heels, turning rooms, doing tables.

Great workout. Obviously, but also, you know, we would be there until 2 a.m.

trying to close out the bar, the cash tabs, get everything cleaned because we have an event the next day.

So I'm in my like business attire and I've got an apron on and I'm washing dishes so the rest of the banquet staff can get the room turned.

And because it's a one time one dream, I know that's such a cheesy cliché line, but I live and breathe it because if you don't know what

all the other departments have to go through, how do you expect to operate as a true team?

So even on the sales side, you know, I you booked this group and you promised them an early check in.

Well, you need to take into consideration how does that affect the rest of the hotel and the operations

and so if you need to get in there and you need to help turn that room, you better get your butt in there and do it. Don't think you can't help out housekeeping, pull those towels and gather

them and change sheets, put pillowcases in because it truly is one team, one dream. And if you're going to sell it, then you need to be able to execute it as well.

So I think we can stop there. I think she should do our customer service manual. We'll replace you for the video.

That's bullshit. I'm not so upbeat about it, but I have the same- Same thought process? Yes.

I mean, I've been in our kitchen doing the dishes and stuff, like we just did it last week. You make friends with the restaurant staff and then you get food.

Food. It's like, hey, come try this. You're like, absolutely. Yeah. Yeah, I am a taste tester.

Yeah. On the resume, I like to call myself quality control. Yeah. So with the sip and shop, I was quality control.

Oh, 100%. Someone had to be. Someone had to be. Again, we want to make sure we're giving out a good product. Yeah. Yeah.

That what I always tell the caterers when they bring in food, like, oh, I'm sorry I have to taste that. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Okay. I'm not as upbeat and you know.

You're still hooked on that. Yes, I am. I'm still hooked on it. We're moving forward. We're past, so I'm good, you know, I'm saying, like, I, I feel the same way.

I agree. I'm just not as cheery about it as you are. Or we can be yin and yang if you want. Yeah, I'm cool with that.

I just, you know, I have my moments. It's just been a long morning again. Where is her coffee?

Yeah, I don't know. I had one before I left the house. I didn't do me any good.

Yeah. Okay. Sorry. Drink more water. Um, yeah, I mean, that's definitely one of it.

You know, from the non kind of hotel, that sales background of events, it's like, don't be like, you got to pick up the trash

at the end of the day, you know, your events over, and you got to help do all the things

but other than just knowing how to do all aspects of the event and like, you know, appreciating all the different levels that take into it, I think it's just

you've got to go in with a very open mind and meeting people and learning from anybody and everybody.

I feel like I've learned more about events and how to market them or run them or coordinate them

even just from talking to the business owners in downtown during a downtown event because from their perspective, the event is a completely different

beast of an animal compared to what we're doing. And so it's like learning what that balance point between is,

especially doing like a public event in a public place with like actual businesses it's learning like what the attendees are expecting

versus how that's impacting the businesses in that area. That's a very fine line to walk

sometimes. You're never going to make everyone happy, so how do you make everyone just kind of mellow across the board. Yeah, it's just more like yeah

Can you get there? Can you get to like that 85% mark of yeah 85% of people are great, you know,

but no, it's really it's really just- it's realistic. Yes. You just got to live and learn, honestly, is a lot of it. Trial and error baby.

Not to- that's so funny I was not and did not study quote unquote events by any means.

I have a textbook you can look at if you want. It doesn't do you any good. I'm using it as like a prop to like raise a vase in my house.

Yeah, it's hilarious. That you say there's like a textbook on event writing. I'm like, I didn't realize it'd be actual textbooks. I feel like you just it's trial by fire.

You just kind of learn. Yeah, you just learn what it is and learn what works and what doesn't. But it depends on what you're looking for because most the books

you find or how to plan a wedding, it's like, Okay, exactly. The wedding industry is huge, but not all of us are interested. But my CMP study book.

That's what I'm saying. Okay so you have your CMP? Yes. So it's got like the one thing that I felt wasn't useful for me

was like trade shows. Yeah. But now we're kind of we're doing vendor showcases here.

So it's kind of come in handy for, you know, table spacing and what people are expecting and what the expectation is.

Table spacing. Yeah. I had a job one time where my boss literally came out with his ruler and was like, are they six feet apart?

I'm like, Okay, go back to your office. Yeah. You and your stupid handiwork. Yeah. Oh, I thought you're about to pull one out. She is. Oh okay.

She has a miniature one on her keys. She gave all of us one. Yes. I because I don't let them I make them learn how to eyeball it first.

It came in very helpful with COVID and making sure that seats were far enough apart. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely.

So it did come in handy. Yes. As long as someone's not having to, like, scoot like, excuse me, like through the chairs. Yeah, it's good for me.

Yeah, well, look, it just depends on if that's what the client wants, then it's all about what they want.

Exactly. And that is that's something that I, when I talk to someone, I'm like, listen, I want to understand the anatomy of your event.

What is something that has worked for you in the past? What didn't work for you? How do we avoid that?

What is something that is such a crazy idea that you don't even think is achievable? Maybe it is.

Maybe we find a happy medium so that we we really are curating a custom

and unique experience for whatever the planner is. And again, it's to make them look good at the end of the day,

make sure their boss is happy, make sure their leadership is happy, increase and boost their attendance and grow year over year and so they can be profitable.

Yeah. And then we in turn get the sales tax and the hotel tax Synergy, full circle. Full circle, synergy.

100%. That's fabulous. We're going to have to have y'all back. Yeah. Yeah, that happens. She's going to have to host her own Ted Talk one day.

She- don't threaten her with a good time. I mean, All she needs is a cell phone and a YouTube channel. I have a better idea.

Maybe you two should do The Amazing Race. Oh, what is this? So we,

our staff keeps our staff and student workers keep saying that we're going to join The Amazing Race. Oh, apparently they're doing auditions.

Oh, yeah. Whatever. You'd leave me behind. I'd totally leave. My goal, I'm like, I want to host my own show.

I want to be Kelly Ripa and my husband's like, you are completely awkward on camera because he works in production also. I was like, so it's unfortunate that I don't, like, have a roommate,

my husband, who works in this that could help me out.

It's an ongoing battle. Well, you can show him this, and then you can tell him you're not awkward. Yeah. Yeah. He goes, if you were on, I just wouldn't watch it.

And I was like, thanks for the support, honey. Well, I mean, my husband doesn't watch this. Mine doesn't either.

They did in the beginning when it was really bad. Mine didn't. My husband's really like 80 at heart. And every time I'm on the noon show for KBTX he always watches it

because he's watching the weather. Yeah. Because he's really on the weather channel. At 6:00 though,

No, no shot. No. We watch the 6:00 news, the 10:00 for sure no. We're in bed.

We're asleep. Well, I mean, I'm in bed before 10:00 so. Yeah. It's reruns at that point, you're not missing anything.

If you've watched it all day then you don't have to watch at night too. Exactly. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Maybe lots of things happen here.

Yes. It's mainly the weather. That's what he watches. Yeah. Yeah. But still changes a lot. It does yeah.

Depends on who's giving the weather. Shell

Geez, KBTX. Yeah. Right. Well, yes.

Thank y'all so much. Oh, my God. That was the cutest thing I've ever heard.

I hate it. Thank you all for joining us. You're going to have to come back. We would love to.

Absolutely. We'll do a travel one for happy hour and hope that never happens again. Oh, my gosh. Yes, let's do that.

And you pick the place you want to showcase in downtown Bryan And we'll do it. We will do it. We'll do a progressive

Summer series. Yes, summer series. Listen, again.

Don't tempt me with a good time. I'm serious. Like, because we don't have a summer series. We weren't going to do one. Book it. Let's do it.

And also be expecting an email to be a part of our vendor showcase in August. Yes, absolutely. We'd love for y'all to have a booth. Yeah, we'll be there.

We're always in to tell more people about Bryan And anybody else you can think of that we haven't thought about.

Well, we're getting our list together. That's what I'm saying. Some of them are coming off the Destination Bryan website. Yeah, that's fine.

Hey, that meeting's page just launched, so take advantage of it. I worked hard with our marketing team to get that together.

Well, and that's something we've always talked about. There's nothing that has one location for people to find what they're looking for

when it comes to events. Unless it's theknot.com for wedding venues. So. Yeah, right. Which actually, we- I actually need

to get y'all's information so we can put it on our meetings page too. Okay I'm going to just take it then. We're prime location to

a hotel and an airport. So something that we did actually is we have a backdrop that we use

at trade shows and it has it's a map of Bryan College Station and don't steal our idea.

Okay. A million people are going to do that after the trade show I was at last week, it was like, where'd you get that? We have all these points of interest in the community downtown

Bryan. We've got RELLIS, we've got, you know, whatever, whatever it is. And we have the George Bush Library and everything, and it's a QR code.

And so it's our backdrop so people can scan it. So we're already doing y'all a favor. We have a QR code on our signage.

Look at that. QR codes. Who would've thought. The most epic comeback.

I was gonna say, because I was doing venue management training when that first started becoming a big thing.

And they talked they had an entire like two hour session on QR codes and I was like, what the hell? Yeah, yeah.

When would we ever use this? You had to download this special app. I was like, I am not downloading that app. That's dumb. Yeah, yeah.

And now, now I'm like, Wait, I just have to open my camera. Yeah. I still don't get it. What

but then my phone's like, my screen's big. And so, like, the thing is moving all the time, and somehow I think I just made myself sound silly, but

that's totally fine. No one else has that struggle? No, not really. My phone is still from like 2009

2012 so I'm still like, hanging on. You're on that iPhone 1?

No, no, its a Samsung. Oh, you have a BlackBerry. Got it.

They tried to make it come back. They tried. I would, I would use a BlackBerry. Me too. I love Blackberry. I would do it.

I had one for a hot second and I felt like- I was a freshman in college. Why do I need a BlackBerry?

But I felt real cool. Yeah, I loved BlackBerry. I don't know why I did either because I never did emails at the time.

But anyway, Those texts were like, well thought out and written. Yeah, they were. Yeah. The whole keyboard was right there.

Yeah, I loved it. And the sidekick. Oh, yeah. No. Yeah. Good times. Yeah.

Okay. Now that we've thrown back to the early 2000s look they brought up QR codes, not me.

We tree branch. That's the name of our show, Tree Branching. We're not changing the logo again.

I swear. I swear,

Well, we're going to end here. I'm not going to say it because I don't want to say, We're gonna tell bye

but we're probably going to keep talking. Yes, goodbye. So bye.

4.5 - "Well you've changed since college, so have we"

Morgan Key

Abigail Noel

Sarah Chrastecky

Tracy "TJ" Hefti

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