Transcript: Leena Riggs: [00:00:01] They used the marvel storytelling to help us understand variance basically right within marketing. We're all talking about the same thing. When we're, as destination marketers targeting someone, we will be mindful about what the hotel marketers are doing because they're basically a variant of ourselves. Adam Stoker: [00:00:20] Hello everyone. Welcome to an in-person version of the Destination Marketing Podcast. We are here in Las Vegas at eTourism Summit. As many of you know, I'm your host Adam Stoker. I own an advertising agency called Relic. We help destinations all over the world get the right message to the right people at the right time. I've got a great guest here at the eTourism Summit to kick off our lineup here. Her name is Leena Riggs. Leena, welcome to the show. Leena Riggs: [00:00:46] Thank you, Adam. I’m happy to be here. Adam Stoker: [00:00:48] We're excited to have you and we've got, so you're from Rancho Cordova California. Correct? Leena Riggs: [00:00:52] Yes. Adam Stoker: [00:00:53] And your role? Leena Riggs: [00:00:54] Director of Marketing and Partnerships. Adam Stoker: [00:00:56] Director of Marketing and Partnerships. Okay. We're going to talk a little bit about the show and what's going on here. I guess first of all I want to ask you our icebreaker questions, your dream destination. Leena, if you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be? Leena Riggs: [00:01:09] My dream destination is a little personal. It's the Azores, specifically the Island of Faial that's where my grandparents are from. I've yet to go there. Everything that I've seen about it is just beautiful and I'm just dying to go. Adam Stoker: [00:01:25] Okay, forgive my ignorance. Leena Riggs: [00:01:26] Yeah. Adam Stoker: [00:01:27] Where are the Azores? Leena Riggs: [00:01:28] In the middle of the Atlantic. There are Galapagos sets of islands. Adam Stoker: [00:01:32] Okay. Leena Riggs: [00:01:33] Right. Did I use that correctly? Adam Stoker: [00:01:35] I think so. Leena Riggs: [00:01:37] I think so. I think I did. I hope I did. My family is from there. Adam Stoker: [00:01:39] Let’s roll it. Leena Riggs: [00:01:41] Edit it out if I used it wrong. Adam Stoker: [00:01:43] Okay. Leena Riggs: [00:01:44] But they're owned by Portugal. Adam Stoker: [00:01:45] Okay. Leena Riggs: [00:01:46] There are nine islands and Faial is the island that my grandparents are from. They were basically environmental refugees in the late ‘50s coming into the US because of all the volcanic activity on the islands. Adam Stoker: [00:02:01] Oh interesting. Okay. You talked about wanting to go back there because your grandparents are from there. Leena Riggs: [00:02:08] And it's beautiful. Adam Stoker: [00:02:10] Okay. There are two draws, right. Leena Riggs: [00:02:11] Right. Adam Stoker: [00:02:12] I've actually seen this trend lately of genealogical travel being more and more of a thing. I think it's interesting that you mentioned that your grandparents being from there is what pulls you. Do you feel just this internal draw to go see where your family came from? Leena Riggs: [00:02:27] Yeah, definitely. I mean when I look at Instagram or even their destination website. I see the colors used. I see the patterns and the tiles and the textures. It makes me think about my grandparents’ home and what they would keep in their kitchen because Portuguese people always keep roosters in their homes. Adam Stoker: [00:02:46] Okay. Leena Riggs: [00:02:47] It's just a thing. I'm not sure why. Adam Stoker: [00:02:49] You didn't carry that tradition on? Leena Riggs: [00:02:51] I do have a rooster in my home. Adam Stoker: [00:02:52] You do? Leena Riggs: [00:02:53] I do. Adam Stoker: [00:02:54] Okay. Leena Riggs: [00:02:55] I do. Yeah but I'm just dying to go. I was supposed to go last year and then COVID. Adam Stoker: [00:03:01] Yes. Leena Riggs: [00:03:02] I was supposed to spend my 30th birthday there but you know. Adam Stoker: [00:03:05] I'm so sorry. Leena Riggs: [00:03:06] I know. I'll get there eventually. It'll be okay. Adam Stoker: [00:03:08] Do you think you'll get there in the next couple of years? Leena Riggs: [00:03:10] I think so. That's the plan. The family's got it on the to-do list. My parents are trying to coordinate and get into it, my cousin still has a home there so that makes it a little bit easier. Adam Stoker: [00:03:20] Yeah, got a place to stay. Leena Riggs: [00:03:22] Yeah. The car is already there. I mean it's a small island. You're not in the car for very long but you can island hop and go see and do other things. Adam Stoker: [00:03:31] My next question was whom you're taking with you but it sounds like it's a joint family trip. Leena Riggs: [00:03:35] I think it's a joint family trip. Yeah, I think it's my parents, my sister, and her boyfriend and if I can sneak in my dogs I will, but I doubt it. Adam Stoker: [00:03:44] Yeah, that's when it's like I've got four emotional support animals. Leena Riggs: [00:03:47] Yeah. Adam Stoker: [00:03:48] Right. Well, let's talk about your favorite trip you've ever been on. I appreciate you letting us know kind of about your family. Leena Riggs: [00:03:55] Yeah. Adam Stoker: [00:03:56] They are from the Azores. Actually, I was unfamiliar with it so I have to go look it up and learn more but let's talk about a trip you've been on. What's your favorite trip you've ever been on? Leena Riggs: [00:04:04] My favorite trip I've ever been on was when I studied abroad in Italy. I spent a month in Florence. Adam Stoker: [00:04:10] Okay. Leena Riggs: [00:04:11] It was through San Francisco State University. It was a Renaissance art, music and architecture of course because I was a history undergrad until I realized I did not want to be a teacher. It was just a fabulous time. I mean throw in a 19-year-old in the middle of Florence for a month. Adam Stoker: [00:04:31] For those of us -- Leena Riggs: [00:04:32] Taking up all the time. Adam Stoker: [00:04:33] -- that haven't done a lot of research on Florence. I've actually had several people say Florence, Italy on this show. Leena Riggs: [00:04:38] It is such a great place. Adam Stoker: [00:04:39] What is it about it that makes it so magical? Leena Riggs: [00:04:41] I think for Americans it's really comfortable because there is an American University there. There are a lot of tour groups that take place. The Duomo is absolutely beautiful right in the middle of Tuscany, right? There are a lot of day trips that you can do. You can go out to Pisa, although I think that's a little bit overrated. I much prefer to go out to the beach. You can go up to Venice really easily. The food's great. The people are great. It's just really, really sweet and magical, especially if you like art. Adam Stoker: [00:05:13] Yeah. Leena Riggs: [00:05:14] Right? The David, all the Medici art and their palaces and gardens that you can still go walk through, the birthplace of the Renaissance, which was by the way, only like a 40-year period. A lot of people think the Renaissance was this big massive thing like the dark ages. It only took place for about 40 to 50 years, primarily funded by the Medici family in Florence. Adam Stoker: [00:05:37] I can see in your face that you're passionate about like Florence left an imprint -- Leena Riggs: [00:05:40] Yes it did. Adam Stoker: [00:05:41] On you for sure. Leena Riggs: [00:05:42] Yeah, it did. Adam Stoker: [00:05:44] Very cool. All right, well okay, let's talk about a destination that's a little closer to where we are today. Leena Riggs: [00:05:49] Right. Adam Stoker: [00:05:50] Even though it's still a fair distance from us today. It's closer than Florence. Leena Riggs: [00:05:53] I think an hour flight. Adam Stoker: [00:05:55] An hour flight. Yeah, that's right. Once you start talking flights, it's not that far. Tell me about Rancho Cordova as a destination and a little bit about your role there. Leena Riggs: [00:06:04] Yeah. Rancho Cordova is a suburb right next to Sacramento. We are about 70… I've been saying 72,000. I just looked at an article today. Our mayor actually updated it. We're now 75,000 people strong. Adam Stoker: [00:06:17] Nice. Congratulations. Leena Riggs: [00:06:18] Yes. We're getting up there. We are a business suburb and primarily have been a business hub. We are the second largest business center in Sacramento County. We're just east of Sacramento, on the way up to Tahoe, before Folsom. Folsom being Folsom prison, right? Johnny Cash in All That jazz. In Rancho Cordova, we’ve got 17 hotels. The American River is our natural northern border, which is really nice. There's a great 32-mile paved parkway along that river and that stretches from the lakes up in Lake Natoma and then all the way down into East Sacramento. It's a great access point for us. We are just, like I said, primarily business, a lot of government now as far as what we're doing in our hotels but very diverse community with 75,000 people over 80 languages are spoken within city limits. Adam Stoker: [00:07:15] Wow. Leena Riggs: [00:07:16] Yeah, very strong, diverse culture We are the 28th most diverse city in America. Adam Stoker: [00:07:22] That's awesome. Leena Riggs: [00:07:23] Yeah. Adam Stoker: [00:07:24] Well, I bet that provides a lot of unique experiences within the bounds of the city. Leena Riggs: [00:07:28] It does. It really changes who's there and who's offering the welcoming message because it is so multicultural and that means a lot of small mom-and-pop businesses and foodies and places to eat that are very culturally specific. A lot of small festivals and a lot of pride just within the city. We are Rancho Cordova. We are different than Folsom. We are different than Sacramento. We are different than Elk Grove. We like it that way. Adam Stoker: [00:08:00] Okay. Leena Riggs: [00:08:01] Yeah. Adam Stoker: [00:08:02] I like it. Okay. Good stuff. Leena Riggs: [00:08:03] Yeah. Adam Stoker: [00:08:04] Let's talk a little bit then about, well I guess first let's back up and talk about what you're hoping to get out of eTourism Summit. It's a unique conference. It happens every year. In a lot of cases, it's where some of the digital innovation in the industry happens. What are you hoping to get out of it? Leena Riggs: [00:08:21] This is my first ever eTourism. Adam Stoker: [00:08:23] Oh good. Leena Riggs: [00:08:24] Yeah. What I'm hoping for is a lot of education. Right? We've been getting a steady drip of content and education throughout the past year but it's nice to get that education in a networking setting and from what I can tell so far it's really advanced. Adam Stoker: [00:08:41] Yeah. We were laughing because one of the case studies and by the way, not every case study goes this deep. I don't want Will to be mad at me about saying this but we got up there and there was someone actually showing how to code on stage. Leena Riggs: [00:08:55] Right. Adam Stoker: [00:08:56] Now, I don't think it gets much more tactical than teaching how to code. Leena Riggs: [00:09:00] Straight down too and this is what the JSON will look like in your spreadsheet and I'm just going, my head hurts. I need this slide deck and I need like three hours to consume it and then another five hours two weeks later to revisit it. Adam Stoker: [00:09:14] But I will say, I think that for maybe the developers -- Leena Riggs: [00:09:19] Yeah. Adam Stoker: [00:09:20] -- and people that are over tech for a destination or the people who really fit that audience, I'm positive they found that incredibly valued. Leena Riggs: [00:09:26] Yes. Well and even the higher-level pieces of that presentation, you know the basics of what a URL is. Right? Adam Stoker: [00:09:34] Yeah. Leena Riggs: [00:09:35] From a marketing standpoint as I'm talking to an agency that's super helpful so that I can reach down and chat with them. They don't have to explain it to me like I'm a kindergartener. We can all kind of meet in the middle. It's not that it's invaluable, it's incredibly valuable. Adam Stoker: [00:09:52] Right. Leena Riggs: [00:09:53] It's very difficult to consume. Adam Stoker: [00:09:56] Well what's been your favorite case study so far that you've seen? Leena Riggs: [00:09:59] I really liked the Loki presentation. I'm just going to call it The Loki. Adam Stoker: [00:10:05] The low-key presentation. Leena Riggs: [00:10:06] Yeah. It was basically harnessing like your glorious purpose as destination marketers and realigning that to the other variants of who were also marketing around. the hotel marketers and everybody else who is also basically sending out the same message and kind of using that Marvel Loki. Have you watched the show Loki? Adam Stoker: [00:10:30] Oh Loki? Leena Riggs: [00:10:31] Loki. Adam Stoker: [00:10:32] Not low key. Leena Riggs: [00:10:33] Not low key. L-O-K-I. Adam Stoker: [00:10:34] That’s awesome. Okay. Just for everybody listening- Leena Riggs: [00:10:37] Loki, God of Mischief. Adam Stoker: [00:10:38] It wasn't a really chill low-key presentation. This was Loki. God of Mischief. Leena Riggs: [00:10:43] Yes, Loki God of Mischief. They used Marvel storytelling to help us understand variants basically within marketing and we're all talking about the same thing. When we're as destination marketers targeting someone, we need to be mindful about what the hotel marketers are doing because they are basically a variant of ourselves. Adam Stoker: [00:11:03] Yes. Leena Riggs: [00:11:04] I thought that was a very clever way of getting that point across because all of us, I think at this point have seen Loki on Disney Plus. I feel bad for shamelessly plugging Disney Plus. I'm not getting paid, not at all. Adam Stoker: [00:11:18] Should you want to talk about the parks too? Should we? Leena Riggs: [00:11:20] I can. I used to work in the parks. Adam Stoker: [00:11:22] Oh man, Okay. There's another episode for another day right there. Colby and I, we're going on a whole tangent here. Leena Riggs: [00:11:29] Yeah. Adam Stoker: [00:11:30] Colby, my business partner and I, went actually did Disney's Leadership Institute Training and it was just fantastic. Leena Riggs: [00:11:35] Nice. Adam Stoker: [00:11:36] Like I said, another episode for another --. Leena Riggs: [00:11:39] We can do it. Disney deep dive anytime you want. Adam Stoker: [00:11:41] Let's do it. Yeah, Colby loves Disney. He'll be excited about that. Let's talk about you and your destination. Leena Riggs: [00:11:48] Yeah. Adam Stoker: [00:11:49] What's something unique that you're doing that you feel like other destinations could benefit from? Leena Riggs: [00:11:54] Something that we're doing that's a little unique. I think we could be doing it better or at least more formally is starting to participate more in a charitable way within our destination. I see some of this. Santa Monica has Santa Monica Cares. Other destinations have 501(c)(3) that are operating through. We are in the process of developing a 501(c)(3) but with fire season every year we're running into this, not necessarily need, but a want to engage with those evacuees in a meaningful way and accept donations and then being able to turn them back around and get them into the hotels. It's a service to the hotels because we are providing that enhanced welcome to folks who are going through a hard time. It's just also a way to directly connect to the community to our visitors who are here due to unfortunate circumstances. Adam Stoker: [00:12:50] Yeah. I love that you brought this up as something you're doing that other destinations can learn from. We've been doing this podcast now for two and a half years. I've had a couple of hundred, well I can think 150 something guests on at this point. Nobody has brought up what you brought up and that's interacting in the community and engaging with the community through charitable action. I know, yes, Santa Monica has their program. Leena Riggs: [00:13:14] Yeah. Adam Stoker: [00:13:15] I know there are programs out there, but I've never heard anybody lead with it. In an age, if you follow Destinations International and they're pushing the idea of you need to become a community-shared value. Right? Leena Riggs: [00:13:27] Tourism Lexicon. Adam Stoker: [00:13:28] The Tourism Lexicon. Leena Riggs: [00:13:29] You say it three times in a row, Jack Johnson appears. Adam Stoker: [00:13:34] Oh, that's fantastic. I might recycle that one. That's really good. Yeah, they've done this push towards a community shared value. Leena Riggs: [00:13:43] Yeah. Adam Stoker: [00:13:44] What better way for stakeholder engagement and becoming that value than to charitably contribute to the community? Leena Riggs: [00:13:51] Right. We know that it starts with the visitors and with that service to the hotels and the guests who are seeing their TV ad-funded. That's our first path in but especially through 501(c)(3) that can open us up to sponsoring hospitality scholarships at the local college and that's big dreams. Right? I have this wish list. I will get there. We have been a two-person team. We are now a four-person team that happened five days ago. Adam Stoker: [00:14:18] Congrats, another congrats. Leena Riggs: [00:14:20] Yeah. Adam Stoker: [00:14:21] Was it the population jump that got you two more? Please. Leena Riggs: [00:14:26] We found more people. That Help Wanted sign really worked. No. We are moving offices. Now we have an office manager and we're also grown up. I have a full-time coordinator now, which is insane. Adam Stoker: [00:14:39] Oh, that’s great. Leena Riggs: [00:14:40] Then we're going to bring on four interns through the Federal Work-Study program for the fall. We will be eight people within the next month or so. Adam Stoker: [00:14:47] It's got to be great to get that extra bandwidth in the door. Leena Riggs: [00:14:49] It's so great. I'm getting so many gray hairs, but that's what hair dyes are for. Adam Stoker: [00:14:53] Yeah, that's exactly right. Well, I appreciate you sharing this. If other destinations are listening and want to get involved in a charitable way in their community, but don't necessarily know how what's step one? Leena Riggs: [00:15:08] I think it's acknowledging that you're not in it alone. There are other people out there that want to help your city probably has grants and funding that you can apply for to help get your dream realized. There are other charitable organizations that already exist that would probably want to- Adam Stoker: [00:15:26] Would you recommend starting with a partnership as opposed to doing it on your own or what do you think? Leena Riggs: [00:15:30] I think until you have your own 501(c)(3). Yeah, that's how we've been doing it. We've been working with the chamber really closely because they already had a 501(c)(3). We wanted to make sure that we could acknowledge donation receipts and all the tax-deductible things that's why some people donate and make that process as formal as we can. Take one step at a time and that's with charity. Right? That's with nonprofits. That's even as a 501(c)(6) for destination marketing, it's not all solved overnight. We can't expect it to. One step at a time prioritizing your goals. For us, that priority was the fire evacuees and getting them hygiene kits with socks and toothbrush and toothpaste because when you're running out of the door because national guards are banging it down saying you've got to leave now, you might not grab your toothbrush. Right? Adam Stoker: [00:16:23] I've got to imagine it would be so hard to know what to grab. Leena Riggs: [00:16:24] Right. Adam Stoker: [00:16:25] It's almost like you want to make a list now, but once again, another podcast for another day. Leena Riggs: [00:16:29] That’s for another time, right? But then they bring their animals with them. I can confidently say that within the month of August we fed about 100 animals within our hotels -- Adam Stoker: [00:16:39] Wow. Leena Riggs: [00:16:40] With donations from our communities. My car still smells like dog food, which my dogs love. They're so excited to get in the car now. Yeah, it just starts with the first step and prioritizing where that makes sense for you and your team and your bandwidth. Adam Stoker: [00:16:55] Awesome. I know you just talked about, hey, it's not all going to happen overnight but I am. I'm going to look ahead. Leena Riggs: [00:17:00] Yeah. Adam Stoker: [00:17:01] Okay. What’s the best-case scenario if you're to continue on the path that you're going for charitable community involvement? What's the end goal? What's going to be the results of all this work that you're doing? Leena Riggs: [00:17:13] Yeah. I think the end goal is to move, kind of going back to what you're saying about the community-shared value, the move All Of Us programming is fully under the (c)(3). If you are (c)(6) or whatever it is, however, your structure is handling the marketing and the destination development, your community partnership programs, your CTA programs, your sponsorship programs, or any sponsorship that you're doing for parkway cleanups or welcome signs through the schools that you want to bring in for a certain event. Right? Maybe you're sponsoring a kid to go through college or to hospitality summer camp or you're sponsoring a restaurant to get that Disney Institute Training right. Right? Those kinds of grants and programs and engagements back into the community that would be the bigger view and then being able to fundraise for it. Adam Stoker: [00:18:09] Right. Leena Riggs: [00:18:10] Because it all can't come from your tea bitter or your hot tax. Having that structure in place for us is the goal to also then be able to make sure that these programs and initiatives are sustainable. Adam Stoker: [00:18:20] I love it. Okay. All right. If you were to give one piece of advice to the destinations that are listening, what would you say? Leena Riggs: [00:18:27] Only one? Adam Stoker: [00:18:29] One. Leena Riggs: [00:18:30] I'm a talker. Adam Stoker: [00:18:31] I know. We are going to keep you 60 seconds or less in there. Leena Riggs: [00:18:35] One piece of advice. I think most destinations know this, but maybe people who are new to the industry don't. We are all in this together. It's such a collaborative space. When you go to these conferences and you make those connections, don't redo the work. Don't reinvent the wheel. Reach out to somebody who's already done a program that you like and say, “Hey, can I, without plagiarizing player, is that from you?” They're probably going to say yes. They were only going to share the file and how they did it and how they got there. That way you're not alone. Adam Stoker: [00:19:09] That's one of the things I love about this industry is the culture of sharing. Leena Riggs: [00:19:12] Yes. Adam Stoker: [00:19:13] Yes, it's very rare that you have people trying to just keep everything close to the best. Leena Riggs: [00:19:17] Very rare. Adam Stoker: [00:19:18] Yeah. Leena Riggs: [00:19:19] I appreciate that membership summit at 3DI. It really taught me that lesson. Adam Stoker: [00:19:23] Yes. Leena Riggs: [00:19:24] That I came out of that conference changed. Adam Stoker: [00:19:27] I believe it. Leena Riggs: [00:19:28] Yeah. It was a good experience. Adam Stoker: [00:19:30] Well Leena, thank you so much for coming on. If people want to learn more about you or your destination, what's the best way to do so? Leena Riggs: [00:19:37] You can follow me on LinkedIn. I'm Leena Riggs situated in Sacramento, Rancho Cordova. Our website is visitranchocordova.com. You can find us on Instagram @visitranchocordovaca. We hope to see you out there or just come and visit. Come knock on city hall stores. We are there. Adam Stoker: [00:19:58] It sounds amazing. Leena Riggs: [00:19:59] Yeah. We'll hang out. Adam Stoker: [00:20:00] I would love to go. Let's do it. Leena Riggs: [00:20:01] We'll go inflate some swans and float down the river and then take a bike all the way back up. Yeah. Adam Stoker: [00:20:07] Sold. That sounds okay. Let's plan on it. Leena thank you so much for coming by and joining us. Leena Riggs: [00:20:13] Thanks for having me. Adam Stoker: [00:20:14] See you. Adam Stoker: [00:20:21] Okay everybody, a year and a half ago I had this vision of creating podcasts for destinations so that they could leverage this amazing medium that you're listening to me on now to really educate people about their destination. We had five pilot destinations that were ready to roll and then that was in early March of 2020. The pandemic hit and almost all of it fell apart but a couple of destinations. I'll lead with these two Beaufort, South Carolina and Laredo, Texas decided to move forward with their podcast even though the pandemic was happening. We've been working really hard over the last year and a half to figure out how to deliver an amazing turnkey podcast product for destinations. Well, I'm proud to say that after all of that work over the last year and a half, the snowball on this is now rolling. Even just in the last seven days, I've had three inbound inquiries of destinations that want to be involved in the Destination Marketing Podcast Network. That's right, it's not just a few podcasts now, it's a podcast network called the Destination Marketing Podcast Network where we have podcasts for DMOs, which are educational podcasts and we're creating one for every job title within the DMO. Then we have podcasts by DMOs and that's where destinations are leveraging this platform to be able to educate, to engage their stakeholders, and educate residents on what's happening in the destination. We are seeing this start to really catch fire. If you want to be a part of one of the fastest-growing trends in the tourism industry, make sure that you reach out to join the Destination Marketing Podcast Network. You can reach out to me directly at adam@relicagency.com. If you want to learn more, you can go to the T-H-E-D-M-P-N that stands for Destination Marketing Podcast Network thedmpn.com. You can learn about the current podcasts that are in the network. You want to keep checking back every week because we keep adding shows. If you're interested, make sure that you reach out. We would love to teach you and your destination how to join the network and create a podcast that can really do wonders for your destination. [End of transcript]
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