Territory Highlight: Rural Roundup in Elko
The 27th annual Rural Roundup was held in Elko at the end of April. More than 200 tourism volunteers and professionals attended the conference to hear the latest trends on a number of topics including photography, videography, social media, marketing strategies, welcome signage, mobile apps and more. The Cowboy-Up Film Festival featured 90-second destination promotional videos. We had a total of 13 video submissions, and seven videos were featured at the film festival. The grand winner for the People’s Choice Award was Lake Tahoe South. The VolunTourism Awards dinner is an opportunity to honor those who go above and beyond to help improve visitation in their areas. A member from each territory was recognized for their contribution to promoting their region, and two statewide awards were given to recognize Excellence in Grants and Statewide Excellence in Tourism. The winners were: Yvonne Stuart (Cowboy Country), Billie Jean Guererro (Indian Territory), Julie Banbury (Las Vegas Territory), Ray Fox (Nevada Silver Trails), Cindy Beutel (Pony Express Territory) and Bill Henderson (Reno-Tahoe Territory). Travel Nevada honored longtime tourism veteran Larry Friedman with the first-ever Larry J. Friedman Industry Partner of the Year award. The award was presented to Sue Barton, chair of Reno-Tahoe Territory and deputy director of the Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority. We would like to thank the city Elko for their hospitality, acute attention to detail, and its continuous support. Next year’s Rural Roundup will be held in Tonopah, April 11-13, 2018. 
Photo: Larry J. Friedman Award – Sue Barton
