Gayle and I attended the TIAK conference last week in Lawrence.  TIAK stands for Travel Industry Association of Kansas and understandably most of the attendees were those who work in the tourism industry in Kansas, particularly Convention and Visitor Bureau employees and museum and attraction folks like us. The conference was held at the new Oread Hotel which is beautiful inside and out. It kind of reminded me of the salt mine because it is filled with limestone hallways. (Of course it's a lot brighter inside than the mine.) Last year at the conference, Gayle and I had an "Aha" moment at one of the workshops that inspired us to totally change our underground tour, so we went expecting to receive new insights and great ideas. I can honestly say that we weren't disappointed. Picture a huge chandelier in the underground event center!  Imagine actually talking to Ben Blanchard at the end of the narrows!  These are just two of many inspirations that may or may not occur because of this conference. One speaker that was particularly great was Aaron Davis, former member of the 1990 National Champion Nebraska Football team and now an inspirational speaker.

A huge highlight was when the Salt Museum and the Cosmosphere won the marketing award for the best co-op advertising campaign for the joint ticket in the $5,000 plus category.  Even better was when we then also won the overall Co-op marketing award for all categories. A recurring theme at the conference, voiced by Governor Brownback, Secretary of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism, Robin Jennison and many speakers was that collaboration, not competition is the wave of the future in marketing. One phrase that we heard over and over was "A high tide lifts all boats."  We are proud to be on the cutting edge of marketing in collaboration with another one of the 8 Wonders of Kansas,  the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center.