BY KATLAN THOMERSON
Glasgow News 1
The Glasgow-Barren County Tourist and Convention Commission members met on Tuesday, April 9 for their regularly scheduled meeting at 1 p.m. in the conference room inside of the tourism building on the square.
All members were present, except for Tina Wood who’s the Director of Administrative Services. Commissioner Melissa Gibson attended the meeting virtually.
Once the meeting was called to order by Chairman Byran Sorrell, Executive Director Maclean Lessenberry began taking minutes.
For the first item on the agenda, the commissioners approved minutes from last month’s meeting on March 12.
A motion was made by Ale Gomez and seconded by Sarah Young to approve a statement of financial position and reconciliation report for periods ending March 31, 2024.
The commissioners did not have information for the tourism dollars collected by the City of Glasgow, so they didn’t vote on this item.
During old business, Lessenberry gave an explanation of what their previously approved $500 sponsorship for BRAWA’s Derby Dog Festival is being used for.
“What we’re doing is building onto our lodging page. For the time that company updating the website would have spent on it, we’re paying that part because it makes sense to add something that we can keep on there. So, we’re adding to our site what’s pet friendly and what isn’t. We’re putting the $500 into advertising for the event. The ads will run for the next two weeks on social media and possible on Google,” Lessenberry said.
The commissioners reviewed a follow up report from the Far Off Broadways Player’s most recent play, “The Hallelujah Girls.”
“I was really impressed with the out-of-town geographical data,” Lessenberry said.
During new business, the commissioners reviewed a sponsorship request from the board of the Southern Kentucky Highland Games for $5,000. After much discussion, a motion was made by Gomez to provide half of the requested amount for the upcoming Highland Games event that was scheduled for June 1, 2024 but has since been pushed back to 2025.
After approving the sponsorship, Lessenberry gave an update on recent happenings with the Southern Kentucky Film Commission.
“A movie will begin filming in roughly two weeks and will solely be filmed in Barren County,” Lessenberry said. “We’re about to begin updating our brand. We have a logo, but we’ve never really had a full brand.”
During the Executive Director’s Report, Lessenberry provided an overview of what has happened and what’s anticipated to happen in Barren County over the next few months. The Lodge at Mammoth Cave recently had a ribbon cutting, the Sloan’s Pond Crossing Trail reopened, Caveland Marketing Association is hosting a training event for front line workers on April 25, and the tourism commission is partnering with CMA to host an event to collaborate with influencers, according to Lessenberry.
“We’re focusing on influencers that are within driving distance. Nashville, Louisville, and a couple from Indianapolis. We’ll see how it goes and we might make it bigger in the future,” Lessenberry said.
Currently the commission’s next meeting is scheduled for May 14.
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