Creating Spaces for Connection

In this episode of It’s In The Details, host Gayle Hellemn welcomes Sue Vanatta — longtime Wilson County Commissioner and former President of the Lebanon Wilson County Chamber of Commerce — for an inspiring conversation about leadership, service, and the power of connection. Sue takes us behind the scenes of what it took to bring the Farm Bureau Expo Center to life, from community collaboration and leadership challenges to the excitement of seeing the first events fill the space. 

Whether you’re an event professional, community leader, or simply love hearing real stories about people who make things happen, this episode reminds us that every great event — and every great community — begins with someone willing to put in the work, pay attention to the details, and believe in what’s possible.

Transcript

Unknown: 0:00

Kinsey, welcome to it's in the details, a podcast where we take a sneak peek behind the curtains, where we dive into what it takes to truly create a remarkable event. So whether you are an event professional, a community leader, or just simply curious what goes on behind the scenes, this is your all access pass to the details that make the magic happen. Today, we have Sue Vinata with us, and she has a wealth of experience and different kinds of events and how and why they came together. She has been a county commissioner. She has also been the president of the Lebanon Wilson County Chamber, and we are excited to explore her experiences with you. Welcome Sue. Good morning. Thank you for having me. Absolutely my pleasure. Absolutely my pleasure. Will you tell us a little bit about your background and kind of how you kind of came into doing events or participating in events for the purpose that they served, for whatever role you were playing at the time. Sure. Well, I moved here in 1973 and my husband and I at that time started an insurance agency, and I went to the chamber because I had done some homework on the chamber, and I knew I needed to get involved in the Chamber of Commerce for our business to grow. And I did. And after serving and in the chamber for several years, I was invited to serve on the board of directors. I did that for a few years, and then I was hired to be the president CEO. I did that for 23 years, and it was wonderful. I met so many wonderful people, and I saw a lot of changes in Lebanon, Mount Juliet, Watertown, Wilson County. I saw a lot of things that we can make happen as a county that we did not have we're so centrally located in a miles drive about 60% of the population in the United States. So working with the chamber, I had the opportunity to get to know a lot of business people, a lot of individuals, a lot of elected officials. And it was really an eye opening to see what all we had here in Wilson County, and also the opportunity to bring other things into Wilson County. So what was that period of time between being on the board and being the chamber president that gave you that insight? I served on the board for approximately two and a half years, there was a person that was serving as president CEO, and he decided to leave, and one of the board members in that chair of the board contacted me and said, Would you fill in until we can find someone? I never was hired. I just started and became the president CEO. It was, it was, and it really was a wonderful part of my life, like I said, meeting so many people, from elected officials to race car drivers to individuals working that own their own business, and I was able to work with a lot of people to make a lot of things happen here in Wilson County. That is very cool. So you you actually produced events, but you probably participated in different events as well. I did one of the major events that happened while I was president, CEO of the chamber the first few years, was a gentleman that was the state representative here in Lebanon, Wilson County, came to me one day and he said, Sue at our agricultural center, we have the opportunity to bring a lot of camping groups here. Okay, I didn't know anything about camping. I didn't like camping, but I listened to him, and he and I and another lady, we went to Illinois to the tractor Association, and we recruited that association to come to Wilson County. And then the next year we went to forgot exactly where we went to, but it was another state. And we recruited the family campers and hikers, and they all came to the Ag Center, and I wish, well, there's still pictures floating around. There were people camping in tents, in trailers, in the back of a pickup truck and a big RV, and that really started the knowledge of what can happen here in Wilson County on these grounds. So when you talk about these grounds, you're talking about the James E Ward, egg, ground sea. Ward, AG, yes, which is, you know, that's, it has a plethora of buildings behind the expo, which we are actually at the expo, recording the podcast, so, which is at the front of the grounds? So, so that kind of that was before the expo, that was before the. Expo. I retired from the chamber after 23 years, and I ran for county commission, and I was successful in becoming a county commissioner. Well during that period of time, the transition from me being with the chamber to being a county commissioner and going out and talking to people when I was running for that office, I had people say, you know, we need a larger building at the Ag Center to host different events. There was ladies that wanted to do a big quilt show. There was just different opportunities. So I asked the mayor to appoint a committee, and he did, and I was chair of that committee, and we started meeting and talking about, how can we put together a business plan for an expo center? And we did, and we are so blessed to have this the night that it was voted in. We had have it passed by the county commission. There was some people that were skeptical about the expo and I understand that there was a lot of money involved in the process, exactly. And I spoke that night, and I just told them about how we had arrived to this position of getting this expo center, and why we needed this expo center. And thankfully, it passed. The vote was in favor of building the Expo Center, and I had several people come up to me afterward and said, if you hadn't spoke, this would not have passed. And I'm so proud of that, because what it has done for this county, and it is a county Expo Center, and it's owned by the citizens of Wilson County, the taxpayers of Wilson County, and the job that you do with your team here is just unbelievable. Well, thank you for that. We are very proud of what we do here. We proud of it, and we see all different kinds of events, and there are for all different reasons. I mean, all different reasons, but our major goal is always and always will be. As long as Sendhil and I are here, will always be. You know, we will do everything we can within our power to make sure that an event has every opportunity to be successful. We don't, we don't control everything, but what's within our power, we'll make sure that you at least have that advantage as you're going into your event to host it. So we are very proud of that, and I'm very, I personally am very grateful that that it all came together, because what a great opportunity. But I will be honest, I mean, it took, it probably took me, I've been in the job for five years, and it took me, oh, I don't know, probably at least a good year and a half to totally understand the capacity of what we could do. I know, when I walked in for an interview, I just thought, oh, there's so much potential here. This is amazing. And I didn't know exactly where that was going to go yet, but it was, it was exciting to see the potential and then to try to capitalize on that and build on that. Has been a wonderful journey to go through. It has this ups and it has us down. So there's no question. But I mean, it's been a wonderful journey. So I'll always remember the day that we did the grand opening. It was so exciting to see the faces of people like what. Some were very doubtful. Why are you doing this? It's going to cost the county money. Others were very excited. Several people were saying, Oh, we can bring this group here. You have the opportunity to do this, do this, and it is just come such a long way. And when it first opened as a commissioner, I felt one of my opportunities to was to go out and talk to the people when they came here. Maybe not opportunity, but my mission, I guess, and I would go and talk to some of the people that came to the first conventions here and ask them, Are you pleased with our facility? And no one said no. And that is so truthful to this day, to this day. I hope you know I know. I know, because you probably don't know. I come out here sometimes and I talk to the people just see how it's going on, and I never have anyone say, oh, it's horrible. We don't we didn't have a good time. They are so complimentary. And the only thing that they ever tell me that it's negative, it's you need it larger. And I agree with them. I get that too. I get that too. And, you know, it's kind of interesting, because yesterday, I I did not sit at my desk until 3pm okay, I can believe that. And that may sound like, Well, gee, you know, what was she doing? How come she wasn't doing her job? Well, I was doing my job because the event planner, the two key people, asked to sit down with me to talk. And I sat and I visited with them, not about contracts, not about do's and don'ts of having alcohol service, not about any. Anything related specifically to what was happening on the grounds and in the expo right now, but just to visit with them and just to understand them, which led to being introduced to multiple people that are attending their event. And this is a very high profile event, so, you know, I mean, this is people are here. Have paid a lot of money, you know. So they are, they're looking for an experience. And so, like I said, you know, I say all the time, actually is that, you know, it's in the details. It's about everything you do, you know. And I spent time with them, and those people, one couple in particular, said, Thank you for taking the time to just sit and have a conversation. And it wasn't about the expo, it was just about them. They just wanted to be seen and heard and have their experience mean something, and that's the best part of my job, is getting to explore those opportunities with people that are here, you know, and they were like, it just, it's, everybody is friendly, and you guys really work hard, and the food is great. I can't take credit for the food, but, but still, you know, and that that I really enjoy that aspect of it. So I'm glad that you do that, because I want everybody to do that. I tell people all the time, This building belongs to the county, right? You know, I don't care whether you're in Watertown or you're in Mount Juliet or you're in Lebanon, this building is yours, and I want you to come and enjoy it, and that's why we try to have a variety of events. But I'm amazed sometimes at how many people that live here in Wilson County have never been here. I will tell you that, and you and Zindel and your team here, you all do a wonderful job of showcasing it and getting the word out. But I think one reason is because it is here and people take it for granted. It's just, oh well, we have an expo center. Big deal, you know, until they walk in, that's what I was going to say, until they walk in and they go, Wow. My gosh, we have an expo center. And it's just it has done so much for Wilson County. It's changed so many avenues. It's changed. We now have a venue that people are proud of, and I just cannot believe how far it's come from the day we opened it, I thought, well, this is going to be great. We're going to lease it every, every now and then, you know, trying to lease it as often as we can, but now it's leased all the time, and you and your team do a fantastic job. Thank you. Thank you for that. So you came into events, you participated in events. You produced events. What's one detail that you think makes the biggest impact anytime you're planning an event? Is it the money? Is it the volunteers? I mean, what? What is it that you think is the most important thing every time you kind of approached, okay, we've got to do this, whether it was the parade at the chamber or whatever else you did. Well, a lot of that depends on, I think, the event, because what I see almost every event, there's something different. You think they're all alike, but they're not. There's something different and different. People see different things. But I see a building that is needed desperately. We got it. We use it. We make people happy. People enjoy it coming only mistake we make. We didn't make it large enough. So I like to see it made larger. There's not anyone that that I've ever heard say, Oh, we've got that expert center, and it doesn't do anything for this county. I've never heard and I see a lot of people as we do, talk to a lot of people, and I'm surprised sometimes that some of the citizens that live in this county have never been out here. Yeah, tell them you don't know what you're missing. Go out there and just walk through it and see. Because in your mind, you may be thinking, Oh, I'd like to have this event, or I'd like to have this big party, or I'd like to have an anniversary party. We have the South Hall, which is smaller, we have the large size side that's large. So we have the capability of having events for several different numbers, from 100 on up to several 1000. True. I mean, technically we could have six events at one time. Technically, we've never done that. We've never done that yet, but technically we could. Zenville and I were talking about that the other day, and it was like, I think, I think four. He thinks three is the most that we've had. But I'd have to go back and look at the calendar and try to figure that out, but, but intentionally, we tried to diversify the events. And so I'm telling I'm excited about next year, because next year boring. Things, a whole list of events that we've never had before that is exciting. That is exciting because that's just kind of a renewable energy, if you will, that people will have different opportunities. And you know, just a quick tidbit that the Expo Center does about 10% of local events. If you look at all of our events, about 10% is local, and about 45 is across the state, and another 45 is across the nation. I don't ever see those numbers really changing a whole lot because the local events are usually the much smaller events so frequent they can generate there may be a bigger number of events, but they generate less income overall, because the bigger events may be less frequent in terms of how often they come back, but there's more of them, so they tend to generate more revenue. It doesn't make one more important than the other, by any means, but, but that's it's as interesting mix, and there's always a reason, whether it's a local based event or something that comes from out of the area, is always important in how we do that to make sure that people do have a reason to come out here besides the fair. I mean, we all know the fair takes part of the building, or takes the building during the month of August, but you do have, you know, 11 months out of the year that you can come out here for something else so well, I think one plus that we have for this facility is free parking. Yeah, free parking is a great thing. Think that's been the plus for a lot of people coming out of Nashville, having hosting their events here, because it is free parking. Well, we don't have enough parking. Sometimes, sometimes that's true. I will tell you, though, from talking to event planners that I talked to, if they're ham hawing about, you know, well, you know, it's not, it's outside of Nashville or, you know, so the geographic location they, they'll try to play that card, or, you know that? Well, yeah, okay, we're outside of Nashville. Let me show you the pluses of that. But you throw in their free parking, and I said, and if you're gonna, if you want to compare apples to apples, you know, you can have an event in downtown Nashville. No question, there's a lot of wonderful things to do, and I would highly suggest going to visit downtown Nashville, but your parking is going to cost you somewhere between $25 a day and $35 a day or more. That's true depending on where you are, and I'm like, so take all of your attendees and add that as a perk, it makes a difference that gets their attention. So free parking is a thing. And well, also I think having the Expo Center here has brought a lot of other businesses to the downtown Lebanon area, the Mount Juliet area, even Watertown area. I look. In fact, I drove through downtown as I was coming out here this morning, and I looked, there's two new restaurants. I didn't know. And it seemed like every day. And when I first started with the chamber, everything on the Square was antique story, and we were known as the antique City of the South. I did not know that. That's interesting. And people came from everywhere, I mean everywhere, to the antiques. And we'd have limos pull up, and country music stars would get out and go into the antique shops and to see it, go from the antique City of the South to no antiques. And now there's boutiques, there's restaurants, there's so many new things to do, more people. Exactly, exactly brings more people. People that were living here didn't think about the antiques, because they had antiques. But now, with all the restaurants and everything, all the new people stay home. They, you know, they come and eat here in Lebanon, people east of us, especially they come to Lebanon, Tennessee, and not have to go all the way into Nashville or south of us, or south of us. That's true. I guess North too. Yeah. I mean, and I could say that, like with mistletoe merchants, if you look at their demographic breakdown of their attendees, they're pulling, believe it or not, all the way from New York, Kimberly area, okay, Southern New York area to the coastline to Alabama, and all the way from Texas. We have vendors alone that come in for different shows that come in from there's a huge segment that come from Texas to come here. And when you think about that, and you talk about events, and you look at revenue potential, right? It isn't just about the money that they rent the building for. It's about other things, things that are important, which I'm sure from the chamber perspective, you capitalize. Time, oh, yeah, used in your dialog and talking to people exactly, well, it helps our sales tax. Helps our hotel, motel tax. It's food tax. I mean, it's so beneficial for almost every business here. We've had people camping here that would their camper tire went up. Where did they go? By the tire here in Lebanon, Wilson County. So we have pretty much everything to offer here, and I think people are realizing that now. So even locals are staying local instead of going out of the county. Because of the Expo Center, the new businesses coming in, it's opened the eyes of a lot of people that live here in the county. And as it should, as it should, for sure, because that revenue so from from your perspective, when you served as the president of the chamber, and your look, I'm looking for your view, not my view. So your view as a as a President of the Chamber, when you served in that capacity. You saw these events. You saw events come in. How did you how did you value those events in terms of what it did for our area? Well, we started a program through the chamber without at that time, we had a lot of camping groups that came out to the agricultural center, so we started a program, and we asked two or three of the camping, large camping groups if they would go to the bank and get $2 bills and use the $2 bills to pay for everything they bought. That's brilliant. And we talked about and we tracked it. We did week, and we had a barrel or box at the different businesses so they would drop their $2 bills in there. And the businesses allowed us to count those $2 bills, so group of us sat upstairs in the chamber boardroom and counted those. And it was amazing to see how much was spent here in Wilson County from two or three different camping groups. And though it got to be a contest, what business takes in the most$2 bills? It was Walmart. Go figure. Kinsey has everything that you never needed. One of the local grocery stores was second. Well, there you go. Oh yeah, that was a great way for us to track. Are we doing the right thing? Then we had the rodeo that came in. We did a contest with a lot of the businesses. We bought the boards. We bought the equipment for them to make it's gonna sound funny to make a cow. To make a cow, wooden cow. They decorated it. They painted it to promote their business. But the idea was, then we brought them all out here, and we displayed them on the ground so people could see how the businesses here in Wilson County and Lebanon were involved in bringing the rodeo here. Where are there pictures of that? Because I've never heard of that. I have some. I will show you. That is fascinating. It was fascinating. It was really fascinating. Probably, I'm going to say there was 30 wooden cows here in the Lebanon area, all decorated, different, decorated, different to promote. They promoted their business by the cow, and then we gave a prize. We let the people vote that were involved in the rodeo, and we gave a prize. I can't remember now what it was, but we gave a prize for the winning cow, just little things like that back then. Oh, I mean, so you guys bought the wood, you bought the wood and you gave away, basically, these kits, I guess, yes, except they had to make the cow exactly, huh? Well, you know, the expo is going to be 10 years old next year. I know. I know. So we're going to have to do something big. I was like, Oh, yes, I don't know that. I want to do cows. But, you know, we could become some big and it's hard for me to believe that this expo is 10 years old. It just seems like yesterday we were discussing, well, can we do this? Can we do that? How large should we make it? Should we make different status rooms? And, you know, there was just so many decisions Well, you know, and, and I can say, from being in it day to day, there's things I would have done different, yes, but that's not a criticism that is that is just the opportunity to be part of it day to day, where you're you're actually using it, you're actually setting things up. You begin to see, and it's like, when you buy a house, you grow the house is perfect, and then you live in it, and then you're like, Well, I really need this cabinet to be six inches further this way. And I really need a closet over here. And I, you know, so you, once you experience it, you live in the moment, you begin to see things that you might have done different. So there are things that are that I would love to see different, but if you never anytime, i. Ever say that it's never a criticism because somebody did something wrong? Oh no. Well, it was, it was a new idea for Wilson, and we did travel to some other sites. We went mother states and looked at their facility, and in fact, I think we visited four states. And one day we were fortunate to have one of our local companies that had a private plane, and they took about eight or 10 of us, so we got some ideas from visiting, and I think that's one of the best thing that you can do. And you know, have you learned something where I go? I know you do, and I applaud you for that. You learn something new every time you go out of the county or out of state and visit a facility similar to yours. You come back and say, oh, and we can do that, yeah, and we can have that event here. So, yeah, I do that all the time. I'm very known for a record, okay, who's in charge here? Yes, exactly, that's what I did when I was with the chamber. Exactly, you've got to get to know the people, what they do, and if they would be interested in coming here. And if so, what, what do you need us to do to help you bring your business? So on that note, let me ask you this question. Um, so you did travel. You went to Pleasant Yes, and that was all in support of trying to learn and understand and and gain knowledge exactly in terms of a venue and what works and what doesn't work. So in my role, I spend time going to conferences to talk to event planners, corporate, religious, Smurf, whatever. But there, there are those. If you're not in the business, I can understand why. Some people might say, Well, isn't that a waste of money? I mean, if you don't come home with like, 20 bookings, I mean, what have you actually done? What would you say to that? I would say, we opened the doors for Wilson County. We met with people, we talked to people. They now know what we have to offer. They may not come this year or the next year, but in their mind, they still have that information that you gave them. They have the paperwork, the pamphlets that you presented to them. So who knows? You know two years from now, one of those companies that you meet this week may come, they may not come this year or next year. But so it's kind of like scattering seeds and planting a garden exactly. Okay, great example. Okay, so, and then I, I saw this play out in person. It was so cool. I love seeing things come together. I do too, and, and that's probably why, why you've, you've helped me so much in what I've done and what I've been able to accomplish. But so I go to this conference, and I've been to this conference for five years. The whole time I've been here, okay, and met people, established relationships with the planners of the event. It's an event planning conference. They rotate it around and go to different different cities. And I've these friendships and these relationships, you always wonder, kind of wonder, how strong that friendship really is. I mean, is it a friendship, or is it, you know, is it just business? So I'm I'm there, and I'm doing my thing like I normally do, and one of the event planner or one of the other venues comes from walking over to me and brings this event planner with her. Now you would think that normally they wouldn't do that because, like, they want the business, right? Well, she comes over. Now this is what five years of investment paid off. She comes over and says, Gail, a she knew my name. That was shocking to me. Okay, Gail, she is trying to plan a rodeo. I don't have, I don't have a venue that would accommodate that, but I'm in the same geographic sphere that you are. You are a perfect fit for her. Made the introduction. We made time. We didn't have a scheduled appointment with her. We made time for her. After we were done, at the end of the day, we sat and we visited with her, and I made a phone call back here and talked to the Ag grounds, put them in contact. And by the time I got home, they had a rodeo scheduled. It's called networking. I was like, That was beautiful. I mean, I could not have choreographed that better. And that's what a lot of people do not understand. They think, okay, Gail works at the Expo Center, and she just sits there and she answers the phone and she takes care of people. They come there. If you did not do that, we would not have all these companies coming here. You've got to spread the word. You've got to plant the seed, just like you said, and you and your team do a fantastic job of planting the seed. I've been with you on some of those conferences you have, and it's really an eye opener to see people come up and sit at your booth and. And I'll never forget the lady to share this story. I know what she's going to say one of Gail's displays, says, meet in the middle. Well, a lot of people don't really understand that. And this lady comes up and she said, Where is the middle? And Gail and I look at each other like, what? And she said, What? We have a city named middle and we both kind of laughed. I said, No, let me explain. Tennessee is made up of East Tennessee, Middle Tennessee and West Tennessee. So she's promoting meat in the middle of Tennessee. And the ladies, Oh, I get it, but little things like that that people do not understand. And not only do you promote the city and the county, you promote the history of Tennessee. And that brings a lot of people to this area too, people from north, people from the California area, they don't know anything about Tennessee. And when they come here, they say, you know, I may just move here. I love Tennessee. I love the people here. We're good old southern people. Yeah, they learn to, like sweet tea, they do. They do, yeah, that's, and that's, that was a fun story, because I will tell on myself. I was like, Wow, I've never heard it explained like that. I was just promoting because geographically, east to west, we're the middle right, but geographically, north to south Murfreesboro is the middle right, but we're close, but we're very close to that. We're very close to that. So that, but that, that is a good thing, and that actually kind of defines how I determine our marketing area, right? You know, how far will people travel? So I think that that's really well and our proximity to Nashville is a plus too. They can stay here. They can have their trade shows here. But if they want to go to the Grand Ole Opry, if they want to go downtown Second Avenue, it's not that far. Two hour drive up, depending on traffic most time 45 minutes to an hour? Yeah, it depends on the day and the traffic for sure. And that's what we tell them when they ask us, where are you? Because they will ask us, oh, yes, where are you in proximity to Nashville? And I was like, Well, okay, come out from the airport. You're at the interstate. You can go left, or you can go right. If you go left, you're going to go into Nashville, depending on the time of day. It'll probably take you longer to get into Nashville than it will to get to us. And they're like, wait what you know and but they don't, if they've ever traveled to Nashville, they would understand that. They would, you know, I mean, Nashville has just grown beyond my wildest imagination. I remember moving to Tennessee in 1997 and I felt like I was in the biggest city in the whole wide world at that point. And that's coming. That's coming from somebody who traveled all over the countries. I mean, I've been to multiple countries. I'd been lived in multiple countries, but I was just like, I'm in a metropolitan city. I was so excited. Man. It was like, it was my New York. And then I look at it now and I'm like, well, maybe it wasn't really New York, but, but that is one of the advantages when you talk about trying to sell a concept to an event planner, is you've got the best of both worlds. Yes, you know you can be in Wilson County, and you can experience and explore Wilson County. And if you really want to go to downtown Nashville, it's a different world. But you can go, you can go, and then you know what, you get to come back. And there's a lot of opportunity. There a lot of opportunity, and so I've really appreciated trying to develop and expand that awareness of what people have the opportunity to do here. Well, I appreciate you saying that and doing that, because a lot of people don't really understand that part of having the events here, they think, Oh, this company just comes down, or this event comes out there. They stay here at the Expo Center for two or three days, and they leave assuming, and that isn't true, no. And because, you know, I mean, obviously, if you want to look at, if you want to look at the pragmatic side of having an event, and yes, there's revenue that is important to us. We have to pay the bills. We have to pay the bills. That's right. So there's revenue that's important to us, but at the same time, you know, it's kind of like when, when we did the Preferred Provider Program, and I wanted to expand that, and some people told me, Oh, you need to stay with only Wilson County vendors. And I looked at them, and I was, I was genuinely perplexed. And why would I? Why would I want to do that? And they were like, well, because you have to promote local only. And I'm like, But you see, it's not just local people that are coming here. And if you want other businesses to want to come here, then why not give them a chance to explore and experience us, right? You know, in that capacity, and I'm so proud of the fact that our preferred provider program now embraces these companies that are want to come out, they're coming from Nashville to come out here to work events. That's awesome. And what does that do? It's just, I've seen the looks, the looks on their faces when they go you just had 6000 people come through this building, you know, and I tried to tell you that, you know, that's 6000 impressions while making money at an event, right? That's pretty good marketing dollars. That's great marketing dollars, you know, whatever it cost you and gas to come out here. It was well worth it. You didn't have to pay the park to come out here if you want to spend want to spend the night. We have several hotels here, so we really have a good package and activities. And then, don't forget, Fiddler's Grove, historic village. Oh yes. So I mean that vision, and I'm glad that it worked out the way it did, because sharing what we have is one of many avenues, but is one of the ways that we can grow very true. And I think that that's can be said for any any venue I agree, and any event planner and so forth that you know. And I love going to the different cities and exploring and learning. I think you were, you were with me when we went to Panama City, oh yes, and that wonderful venue that we saw, yes, and we both looked at each other and said, We need to have that right. I mean, those those ideas and those things that spark, and that's really, I think you would agree with me, that's the energy and the and the literal sparks of ideas that happen that help develop an area be what people would enjoy. So true when you were saying that my thought going through, I had the opportunity. I'd been with the Chamber maybe 1012, years, had the opportunity to serve as president of the Tennessee chamber. Oh, and my goal was to travel to as many chambers in the state of Tennessee that I could to share ideas. And it was perfect. I came back to our chamber with different some new ideas to start new programs, like the Tennessee Scholars Program, the teacher grant program, just things like that that other counties were doing. And then I was able to share some ideas with them on some things that we were doing that were not so it's the same thing with what you're doing. You're going to other cities, and you're sharing ideas, you're learning from them, and they're learning from you. You can sit here in this expo center all day, every day, and what does that do? It doesn't promote the center. It doesn't promote you or your team. But you've got to get out and tell the people who you are, what you are, what you're doing, why? My dad always told me, remember this if you've done, who, what, when, where and why, and then you go back to how you've completed your project. And I think about that a lot. That's very good advice. I passed that along to my children. I don't know if they listen all the time, but I do tell them, right? I would almost say that the Why would be the most important. I agree. I agree with that, yeah, because, you know, I could sit here and go, you know, the why for us is that, you know, we have to pay for the we have to make sure that we cover the cost for the building. We have to make sure that we cover the costs for for our salaries. We have to make sure that we cover the cost for our maintenance, your insurance and all of that. That's all part of our expenses, you know. And we have a little bit of a benefit in the fact that we're a municipally owned building in that, you know, I mean, it's not like the bottom is going to fall out if, if one month, 123, months, it doesn't work out quite that way, but the law of averages, it will usually come out in the positive. At least it's come out in the positive every year so far. Thanks and hard work for you and your team well, and it takes hard work to do that, right? But it's, it's always, it always goes back to the why. It isn't about, oh, you know, I don't, I don't lie awake at night going, oh yeah, we, we've got to. Make sure that we have this amount of money, because we, we, we've got to pay for the bills. And, you know, well, I don't function out of a place of fear in general. But it's that's not the why. That is a why. It is a why, but it is not the why. Agree, the why is we want to be a bountiful resource for the county that we live in and and that's really important. And you do a great job of telling who you are, what you do, where you're located now that I know where I'm at, yes, the why is the most important one? Why do you do this? Why does one event choose to come here over another event to come here? And that that opens doors like, Okay, this one decided to come but this, this one maybe didn't. I've got to find out why that did not so. So to that point, let me ask you this question, when you're choosing an event, would you? Would you say that there is trial and error involved in planning events, everything and everything? Okay, no event is perfect. I learned that the hard way through the chamber. But you know, you still learn from it. And if you have another event like that, you know, if it didn't work, then I'm going to try something out. If it did work, yay, I've got this down. So, yeah, yeah. I think it's important for people to also understand, you know, that's true on every level of everything, and in life, I can sit and I can visit with an event planner, and we can come up with I can go through the mechanics of what it is they're thinking and what they're dreaming, and I would be the last person to squelch somebody's dreams just because I just feel Like that's ethically wrong. Sometimes you're like and from my perspective, and I'm sure that you probably felt this way too, as you guys were planning events with the chamber, either chamber would be okay. They're on a little bit of shaky ground. Okay, you know, but so I do a little more hold, handing, a hand holding in those situations, because I know they're on shaky ground, but to see them manifest something that even comes close to their dreams is so rewarding. It is, and they're so excited, and they're like, I want to do this again next year, of course. Then I go, Well, yeah, we need to look at the calendar. But that is so important. It's very important because really, I mean, it's in the details. Really kind of just encompasses everything about everything about event planning, because it's about the people. It's about the people. I mean, it's about the people, it's for the people. It's produced by the people. There are dreams to be achieved and accomplished. Whether you're doing a fundraising thing or you're doing something that, you know, I've just always wanted to I just, love dogs, and I just want an AKC dog show, and that's what I want to do. And, okay, well, I, I don't personally, but you do, and you want to make it's about them. It's about them. Yes, they go back to us, doing whatever we can do to make sure that they they reach that dream, right? Get really close so that they want enough, so that they want to, okay, I didn't hit my goal, but I'm going to do it again next year, and they just keep working at it until they get that. And I will say, we have one. We so we have an AKC dog show. Not my cup of tea. That's okay. Doesn't matter. Doesn't have to be but they came. They've been here since the beginning of the building. You probably remember them. How they have just morphed into this almost perfectly executed event is amazing. But I honestly would attribute that success not to us, we're there to support them, but to them for do they have hiccups? Yes, they have hiccups, but it's how they approach them. Recognize them and approach them. They hit them head on. Yes, they don't try to sweep it under the rug. They don't try to, you know well that you know, well, that doesn't normally happen. They don't try to excuse it. They just like, Okay, that's a problem. Let's fix that. And they fix that, and they move forward so much so that they've become a gold standard you can't you call and want to have a dog show. Let me tell you the benchmarks that you need to hit to be able to do that. And it usually scares most people away. And that's not the intent. It's real. They don't realize it now, but they will that, that that benchmark, they could print that email and go wherever they wanted to go and have that and they'll find that to be a useful tool. So I've really given them an asset to be able to work with. You've worked with them exactly well. And you mentioned while ago the 10th anniversary of this building. But still, when I think about it, I think, 10 years, my gosh, I believe it. There's just so I'm sitting here thinking, Okay, now, what can we do for the 10th Anniversary this? We can do this, and we can do this, and we can showcase this. And how do we get all the people here in Wilson County, in Lebanon and Mount Juliet and Watertown. How do we get them here for an event to see their building? And I think that's one thing that we really need to focus on. It's their building. We need to have one heck of a birthday party. Yes, we do. I think pretty awesome. The county's turned 200 years old last year. We had a big celebration we got to have a big birthday party that, yeah, I totally agree. That works for me. All right, that's awesome. I appreciate that. Well, from on a personal note, let me thank you for all the support that you have given the expo and all the support you've given me. You've been a wealth of advice and a wealth of history for me, educating me from everything from the redefined or defined sections of the state that I didn't know were actually defined sections, which I thought was hysterical, everywhere I go with you, I learned something new, which I love, good, which I love so I just it is. I've appreciated and valued that entire that, and I look forward to that continuing. And thank you for being with me on this journey with the podcast. We're very excited about it and and just remember always that it goes back to the relationships and those experiences and the details that they involve. Well, thank you for asking me to do this. Congratulations on doing this, and good luck. I think it's a wonderful idea, and I'll be listening and more. I appreciate that. Thanks. All right. Bye.