Marketing / Communications
Tools
Authentic Experiences: Create an Authentic Byway Dining Experience
Research the Real
List the restaurants along your byway corridor. Brainstorm other facets related to restaurants and dining experiences that might add to the restaurant/dining story:
- Farms where food is locally cultivated
- Industry that provided building materials or labor to create the dining locations
Make initial contact to those restaurants, inquiring about your interest in uncovering potential authentic experiences. You could specifically discuss:
- Your interest in uncovering stories and information that may enhance visitor experiences
- Their knowledge of any stories, history or activities that relate to your byway’s story
- Cuisine on the menu that is related to the history or culture of your area
- Local factory or agricultural workers that once used the location as a place of gathering
- Menu items created locally now or in the past
- Stories of famous visitors or historical events that relate to your intrinsic qualities in and around the restaurant
- Any historic components of the building architecture
- Their willingness to participate in enhanceing those stories (remember, eventually this could lead to added visitors for them)
Ultimately, create an Authentic Experience Stakeholder list that meshes with your byway inventory.
Document the Sources
This is a difficult, but often overlooked, part of research - especially from a historical standpoint. From this list of potential locations, you’ll need to do some verification.
As you begin gathering this information, you must address an important issue before you go too far. Are these potential locations already identified as part of your corridor management plan’s inventory of intrinsic qualities? If they are, then you have a head start. Keep moving closer. If they are not, should they be? You need to address this. Remember: if you are thinking about future projects or grants, you will need to justify that these potential resources are part of your CMP, related to your intrinsic qualities and improve visitor experiences.
Next, verify stories, folklore, menu items or other things relating to your intrinsic qualities. This can be a time-intensive process. Consider enlisting the help of schools, universities, libraries, National Park Service personnel and others.
There might be some things you cannot verify. If they are meaningful and important, you don’t necessarily have to exclude them. You do, however, have an ethical responsibility to let your visitors know that the information could not be substantiated.
You might discover that there are conflicting stories. You might also find that some stories are difficult to tell because they may cause discomfort or hardship to some people. You must address this.
Tell the Story
Now the fun begins, and you can start planning how you will convey your story to the visitor. In interpretation, we call this the interpretive media that you will use to tell the story.
In the case of dining and restaurants, begin with the options available at the actual dining locations:
- Participatory food preparation activities
- Onsite dances or dramatic re-enactments with a dining experience
- Scheduled storytelling events with a dining experience
- Arranged tours of a site with a dining experience (with audio-interpretation)
- Artifact displays with interpretation
- Interpretive menus
- Interpretive panels
Remember: with an increase in authenticity comes an increase in risk. In the instance of food preparation, for example, you must consider potential health risks associated with this activity and/or health department requirements in your State.
Potenial off-site opportunities include:
- Participatory activities at farms or industrial locations that conclude with a related dining experience
- Coordinated agricultural/industrial tours teamed with dining experiences
- Interpretive displays off-site at related locations to help tell the “dining story”
Other mediums can also help convey authentic messages:
- Promotional materials
- Websites
Deliver on the Promise
Identify your byway’s CXO (Chief Experience Officer). In organizations with limited resources, such as volunteer organizations, the CXO may want to consider partnering with stakeholder organizations to complete some of these tasks:
- Create a portfolio of authentic experiences in other facets of your corridor (e.g., shopping, architectural, agricultural)
- Ensure that messages and experiences are in line with your byway’s mission and vision
- Ensure ongoing communication with your authentic experience sites, locations and stakeholders
- Determine how you will evaluate the effectiveness of your experiences
Reap the Benefits
- Determine if your efforts are enhancing or deteriorating the resources that make up your intrinsic qualities
- Through your evaluation, determine if your efforts are positively impacting the restaurants
- Enjoy and embrace the experiences you’ve created
- Profess these experiences to your stakeholders