Summit Schedule

Wednesday, May 20 – Arrival & Community Kickoff

12:00–4:00 PM - Keweenaw Land Trust Volunteer Project (optional)
4:00–6:00 PM - Travel / Hotel Check-In
6:00–8:00 PM - Early Registration & Welcome Reception – Small Craft (welcome remarks + networking)

Thursday, May 21 – Education & Leadership

Located in the McArdle Theatre, 2nd Floor of Walker Building on Michigan Technological University Campus at 1400 Townsend Drive, Houghton, MI 49931

8:00–10:00 AM - Setup, Registration, Coffee Networking
10:00–11:00 AM - Keynote: Give 'Em What They Want
- Presenter: Matt Schneider (Leave No Trace)
- Description: Most people want to be more sustainable, but they don't know how. Visitors to the outdoors - locals and newcomers alike - are your greatest asset for protecting forests, waters, trails, and other wild spaces. With clear, community-wide messaging and education, land managers, destination marketers, and local stakeholders can build a coalition of people who are informed and inspired to care for their environment - protecting the natural resources that drive tourism and strengthening local economies.
11:00–12:00 PM - Keweenaw Heartlands Panel Discussion
- Panel Facilitator: Julia Peterson (The Nature Conservancy)
12:00–1:00 PM - Lunch + Structured Networking
1:00–2:00 PM - Session: Community Engaged Network Building for Tourism Destinations
- Presenters: Jessie Hook (Taos Destination Stewardship Network) and Dylan Cox (Taos County Lodging Tax Coordinator)
2:00–2:30 PM - Session: A Roadmap for Sustainable Tourism Development: How Strategically Placed Spaces Reduce Community Strain
- Presenter: Jeremy Johnson (Kona Hills Campground)
- Description: This presentation explores how purpose-built visitor spaces such as strategically located campgrounds, trailheads, and public amenities can convert visitors into low-impact users and high-value economic impacts. Examples will include how campgrounds can function as demand buffers during peak events, and how adding new public access points such as additional trailheads or beach access can relieve strain on existing popular areas by spreading users more evenly across the landscape. Additionally, we will look at how the increase of these public spaces designed for tourists can drive huge benefits for locals through economic development, revenue generation for infrastructure, and additional access to recreational opportunities.
2:30–3:30 PM - Your Destination, Our Home: Fostering Partnership & Stewardship Through Respect Marquette County
- Presenter: Anna Solberg (Travel Marquette)
- Description: Following the surge in visitation during the COVID-19 pandemic, Marquette County faced growing tension between residents and visitors. In response, Travel Marquette brought together a countywide coalition to launch Respect Marquette County, an initiative designed to inspire both residents and visitors to care for and protect the region’s cultural and natural assets. Join this session to learn more about the coalition’s development and discover practical insights you can apply in your own destination.
3:30 PM–4:30 PM - Session: Michigan First Impressions Team (FIT)
- Presenters: Dr. Dan Cole + Will Cronin (MSU Extension)
- Description: First Impressions Tourism (FIT) uses structured, first-time visitor assessments and facilitated public forums to catalyze local place action, strengthening collaboration, surfacing assets, and converting insight into strategy. The Rural Tourism Assessment (RTA) scales this approach regionally, aligning multiple municipalities through shared data and phased planning. This session explores how visitor perspective, facilitation, and evaluation tools drive measurable rural outcomes including infrastructure investment, entrepreneurship, and cross-sector coordination.
4:30 PM–5:30 PM - Leave No Trace Communications Workshop
- Workshop Leader: Matt Schneider
- Description: An interactive session for tourism professionals, land managers, and partners focused on applying Leave No Trace principles in real destination settings. This workshop will guide participants on identifying existing and emerging impacts to natural and cultural resources, and begin to outline a plan to address them through community engagement and visitor education. Participants will leave with:
  - Simple ways to measure success beyond awareness
  - Examples of behavior-change campaigns
  - Tools for partner activation and coalition-building
  - Messaging frameworks that work with visitors and locals

Friday, May 22

Morning Sessions

Located in the Alternative Technology Development Center

9:30–12:00 PM - MSU Michigan Tourism Training & Engagement (MITTEN) Workshop
- Description: A 2.5-hour, interactive program co-sponsored by Michigan State University Extension & TICOM. This training equips frontline workers with the skills, knowledge, and confidence to provide excellent customer service, share local information, and understand the vital role tourism plays in Michigan’s economy.

Field Immersion (The Heartlands)

1:00–4:00 PM - Tour the Keweenaw Heartlands (The Nature Conservancy)

Optional Evening

6:00–7:00 PM - Adventure Mine Group Bike Ride: Grab your headlamp and ride through a former copper mine! Located at the Adventure Mine in Greenland, MI, this ride is epic and part of the Ride the Keweenaw series hosted by the Copper Harbor Trails Club and the SöKē Trails Club.
7:00–8:00 PM - DNR Bat Tour

Saturday, May 23 – Closing

Located in the McArdle Theatre, 2nd Floor of Walker Building on Michigan Technological University Campus at 1400 Townsend Drive, Houghton, MI 49931

9:00–10:00 AM - Coffee & Networking
10:00–11:00 AM - Keynote: Deborah Heather (Visit Isle of Man)
11:00 AM–12:00 PM - Closing Remarks & Farewell

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Conference Keynotes