Destination Roadmapping

Vicky Soderberg
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  • PLACES & TRAVEL

A 10-minute spark of inspiration with a side of tough love—helping small towns create big impact through tourism, events, and unforgettable visitor experiences.

  1. Your Tourism "What If" Plan

    5D AGO

    Your Tourism "What If" Plan

    Send a text Tourism seasons rarely unfold exactly the way we expect. Gas prices shift, travel habits change, weather refuses to cooperate, and sometimes a random 12-second video sends visitors somewhere you never saw coming. In this episode of Destination Roadmapping, we revisit the idea from Episode 20, the “What If” plan for events and apply it to an entire tourism season. Because just like events, destinations need to be ready for the unexpected. We’ll explore several forces that could shape the 2026 tourism season, including travel price fatigue, shrinking travel radiuses, the “cute downtown” plateau, and the rapidly changing ways visitors discover places. But we’ll also play a little devil’s advocate. What if tourism planning can’t predict the biggest disruptions?  What if travelers simply take fewer trips?  What if the real answer isn’t more strategy, but better fundamentals? Instead of trying to control every possible variable, the communities that succeed are usually the ones that build destinations flexible enough to adapt when things change. Because tourism seasons, like the wind, don’t always blow the way we expect. The goal isn’t predicting the weather. It’s building a destination that sails well no matter which direction the wind comes from. If you care about creating experiences that make visitors stay longer, spend more, and come back again, this episode will give you a fresh way to think about uncertainty in tourism. Small towns don’t win by predicting everything. They win by being ready for anything. Thanks for listening! Look for new episodes each Sunday wherever you get your podcasts, and in the meantime... Connect with Vicky on LinkedIn

    12 min
  2. Is Your Event Planned for Your Staff or Your Guests?

    MAR 8

    Is Your Event Planned for Your Staff or Your Guests?

    Send a text Most small-town events are incredibly organized. But they’re organized for the committee, not the crowd. If your layout makes sense to the board but confuses first-timers  If vendors are placed based on history instead of flow  If guests need a volunteer just to figure out where to start You may have designed an insider event. In this episode, we break down: The difference between Planner Brain and Guest BrainHow proximity bias quietly sabotages experienceWhy “fairness” often kills flowThe hidden economic costA simple walk-through audit you can use immediatelyBecause guests don’t care how hard you worked. They care how it felt. If you want people to stay longer, spend more, and be happy to drive two hours to come back again, this episode is your reset. Thanks for listening! Look for new episodes each Sunday wherever you get your podcasts, and in the meantime... Connect with Vicky on LinkedIn

    12 min
  3. The 24-hour Visitor Test

    MAR 1

    The 24-hour Visitor Test

    Send a text If someone pulled into your town at 3:00 p.m. on a Friday, no wedding, no meeting, no relatives to visit, would they stay 24 hours? Or would they quietly keep driving? In this episode, we’re walking through a simple but revealing diagnostic: the 24-Hour Visitor Test. Because there’s a difference between attracting visitors and structuring your community to hold them overnight and that difference is where the real economic impact lives. We’ll unpack: • The arrival friction that silently shortens stays  • Why “having one thing” isn’t enough  • The Saturday afternoon stall most towns miss  • How Sunday morning either extends the visit or ends it  • Why this is a sequencing issue, not a marketing issue This isn’t necessarily about adding more attractions. It’s about tightening continuity from Friday afternoon through Sunday morning so visitors naturally linger longer, spend more, and build connection. If you’ve ever wondered why your town gets traffic but not overnight momentum, this episode will give you perspective and a practical way to test it yourself. Run the test. Map the gaps. Build the sequence. Because the goal isn’t more visitors. It’s visitors who don’t want to leave. Thanks for listening! Look for new episodes each Sunday wherever you get your podcasts, and in the meantime... Connect with Vicky on LinkedIn

    12 min
  4. Do Your Meetings Go in Circles? Let's fix that!

    FEB 22

    Do Your Meetings Go in Circles? Let's fix that!

    Send a text Ever leave a meeting uncertain if anything actually got decided? You’re not alone. In small towns, meetings are where vision, risk, nostalgia, and practicality all collide, and without clear purpose and defined roles, they spin. Same conversation. Different month. In this episode, we break down:  • Why looping meetings are actually unclear expectations  • How role confusion quietly fuels conflict  • The one shared agreement that can shift everything  • A simple 3-step reset you can use at your very next meeting If your board meetings feel repetitive, your committees feel stuck, or your staff feels drained, this episode will help you move from circular conversations to clear decisions. Because meetings shouldn’t just take time, they should create traction. Thanks for listening! Look for new episodes each Sunday wherever you get your podcasts, and in the meantime... Connect with Vicky on LinkedIn

    10 min
  5. When Your Event is Fading Away

    FEB 16

    When Your Event is Fading Away

    Send a text Not every struggling event crashes. Some just quietly fade away. Attendance dips slightly.  Sponsors still sign, but ask more questions.  Volunteers respond a little slower.  Energy feels softer. Nothing breaks badly enough to force a decision.  So it stays on the calendar. In this episode, we unpack the difference between a failing event and a fading one, and why fading is actually more dangerous. You’ll learn: The subtle warning signs your event is losing relevanceHow to tell if it needs refinement, reinvention, or retirementThe questions that reveal whether your event still has a clear jobWhy “tradition” is not the same thing as alignmentIf your event feels heavier than it used to, but you can’t quite identify why, this episode will help you diagnose what’s really happening. Because events don’t stay neutral.  They either build energy or they slowly deflate. Thanks for listening! Look for new episodes each Sunday wherever you get your podcasts, and in the meantime... Connect with Vicky on LinkedIn

    11 min
  6. Your Town Isn't Behind, It's Overwhelmed

    FEB 9

    Your Town Isn't Behind, It's Overwhelmed

    Send a text Your town isn’t falling behind.  It’s overwhelmed. In this episode, we unpack a truth most small-town leaders quietly carry but rarely say out loud: overwhelm is not a failure of effort, it’s a failure of clarity. When the same handful of people are carrying the operational load, the emotional load, and the political load all at once, it’s no wonder progress feels slippery. The problem isn’t that your town isn’t doing enough. It’s that it’s trying to do everything. We’ll talk about what overwhelm actually looks like on the inside, why small towns feel it faster than anywhere else, and the simple shift that creates relief without adding more work. If your meetings go in circles, your calendar feels full but unfocused, or “next year” has become a planning strategy, this episode will help you reset the frame and move forward with intention. Thanks for listening! Look for new episodes each Sunday wherever you get your podcasts, and in the meantime... Connect with Vicky on LinkedIn

    11 min

  7. FEB 1

    Who's Allowed to Fix This?

    Send a text When something goes sideways at an event (and it always will) why does everyone freeze? A line backs up. A performer is late. A guest asks a simple question. Staff look at volunteers. Volunteers look at staff. Someone says, “Let me check with…,” and five minutes later the problem is still standing there, arms crossed. In this episode, Vicky digs into the real reason staff and volunteers hesitate to solve problems in real time. It’s not apathy. It’s not lack of initiative. It’s a system that quietly trained them to wait. You’ll hear why hesitation is often a rational response to unclear authority, how micromanagement (even unintentional) conditions people to stop thinking, and why “just ask me” turns leaders into bottlenecks instead of builders. This conversation connects directly to Episode 15: The Micromanagement Mess and Episode 20: Your Event’s “What If?” Plan, showing how decision authority, when designed intentionally, keeps events moving without turning them into the Wild West. We’ll cover: The hidden fears that stop people from acting in the momentWhy praise for initiative often clashes with post-event criticismHow to define decision “boxes” so people know when to act and when to escalateWhy volunteers freeze faster—and how clarity fixes thatThe debrief question that builds confidence instead of hindsight fearWhen authority is clear, people step up. When it’s fuzzy, they freeze.  Confidence isn’t just a personality trait, it’s a design outcome. If you want events that feel calm instead of fragile, this episode is your blueprint. Thanks for listening! Look for new episodes each Sunday wherever you get your podcasts, and in the meantime... Connect with Vicky on LinkedIn

    11 min
  8. The Vendor Experience Impact

    JAN 26

    The Vendor Experience Impact

    Send a text Vendors make a decision about your event long before the last attendee leaves and it quietly determines your event’s quality, revenue, and reputation. In this episode, we unpack the vendor experience nobody talks about: load-in chaos, unclear communication, uneven enforcement, poor sales flow, and the tiny frictions that add up to “never again.” Vendors rarely complain. They just stop coming back. When they do, your event feels it. Thinner lineups, lower-quality offerings, and less energy on the ground. This is an extremely practical episode about how vendors actually evaluate events, what makes them return year after year, and how small, intentional improvements can dramatically upgrade your event without increasing your budget. If you want better vendors, stronger sales, and an event that levels up instead of coasting, this conversation matters. Thanks for listening! Look for new episodes each Sunday wherever you get your podcasts, and in the meantime... Connect with Vicky on LinkedIn

    11 min
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About

A 10-minute spark of inspiration with a side of tough love—helping small towns create big impact through tourism, events, and unforgettable visitor experiences.

Information

  • Creator
    Vicky Soderberg
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    35
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Destination Roadmapping
  • Show Website
    Destination Roadmapping