Tourism booster gets tough questions: Where is Montana?
By Jim Schaefer
For The Gazette

             Part of my job as executive director of Custer Country Inc., the tourism bureau of southeastern Montana, is to invite folks to visit southeastern Montana. Recently, I attended the St. Louis Travel Show. When registering for the show in December, I thought I'd show up, shake some hands, hand out our 2008 Custer Country Vacation Guide and tell folks about all the interesting things to do in our region.

             However, two weeks before the show, when I called organizers to confirm some information, Julie, the woman I was talking to said, "I see that you are going to do a seminar on Montana for us." I figured I could probably put together a PowerPoint presentation. But then came the bombshell. "Have you decided what costume you're going to wear during the show?"

             "Costume," I said, "what costume?"

             "Well," she said, "We really encourage all of our vendors to wear something that represents where you're from. Maybe you could dress up as Custer?"

              I know lots of Custer buffs and I am sure none of them would think that I was doing Custer's memory any good by trying to impersonate him. When I told Julie that, I also reminded her that St. Louis has some things in common with Custer Country, one of them being Capt. William Clark. "Maybe you could dress up as Sacajawea," she said.

             "I'm afraid that dress doesn't fit anymore," I responded.

             "Well, then, maybe you could dress up as a cowboy?"

             "Do I have to wear a costume?" I asked.

             Julie replied, "Well, you're going to feel a bit out of place if you don't." Then, I remembered that I have a leather Western jacket and a Stetson a friend bought for me. I remembered that Gov. Brian Schweitzer has adopted the string tie as one of his and the state's trademarks.

             I hung up and called Sarah Elliott, Schweitzer's communications director, and left her a voice mail asking to borrow one of Schweitzer's signature ties. Sarah returned my voice mail. "Hi, Jim, this is Sarah Elliot from the governor's office. I got your message and the governor is sending you one of his ties."

             The next day, a package arrived. Inside was a beautiful black leather, braided tie with silver accents on the ends, and a silver slide that has the governor's name and the phrase "It's a new day" engraved on it. I bought some cowboy boots, a new pair of jeans, a vest and a new Western shirt. Off I went to St. Louis, to make my pitch to the people of Missouri.

             My presentation is called "Montana, more than glaciers and geysers," referring to the fact that I understand that our two national parks are important tourist draws, but that I also think visitors are sometimes missing some good times and fabulous scenery by not spending more time in Custer Country.

             I set up my booth in the St. Charles Convention Center. Attendance the first day was phenomenal, and I ran out of most of my literature, leaving me to scramble the next day. Sunday, however, presented me with bigger fish to fry because that was when I had to give my PowerPoint, which not only contained flashy graphics but music. I had downloaded 14 songs about Montana, which I edited and put into the slide show.

             Mine was the first seminar of the day, so at about 11:30 a.m., I went to the assigned meeting room to make sure everything would run smoothly. Unfortunately, the computer that I slipped my flash drive into had an old version of PowerPoint, which prevented me from playing my slide show on it. I was suddenly glad I had dragged my laptop through two airports. I went back to my booth to retrieve it, and connected all the necessary cables to the video projector that was provided. When I finally got a picture on the screen, a gray stripe covered about a third of the picture on the screen. I pushed buttons, turned things on and off, swore under my breath and made no progress in removing the stripe.

             I called for a technician, who was about 18, and showed him the problem. He pushed buttons, turned things on and off, swore under his breath and said, "I don't know what the matter is. It worked yesterday."

             By this time, my audience was filling the room. The words "fill up" aren't exactly accurate. It wasn't a huge room, but an even smaller room could have held the nine people who showed up. At first I tried ignoring the problem with the projector but then I realized the volume on my computer wouldn't go loud enough to be heard and there were no external speakers connected to it. I decided to make it a more intimate affair and I said, "Why don't you all gather around my computer and I'll give you a close up look at Montana?"

             The audience moved to within viewing distance of my 15-inch screen and listened attentively, except for one guy in the back who told me later that he had misread the schedule and was waiting for the next seminar. I got through my PowerPoint and the rest of the show went without problems.

             And in case you wonder what sort of questions people ask me at these events, here are my two favorites: "Montana ... is that, like, in the West?" And, "What state borders Montana on the north?" I hope he went home and researched our newest state, "Alberta."

Jim Schaefer is Executive Director of Custer Country, Inc.

Published on Sunday, March 16, 2008.