There have been a lot of changes in the ten years that I’ve worked here at the visitor center.
Visitors used to commented, “Ooooh, you have one of those new flat screen computers – how cool.” I don’t hear that anymore…now it’s, “Do you have Wifi?”
The term MVB (Meeting and Visitor’s Bureau) had not yet been coined. Publicizing visitor centers as a venue for meetings had not yet become vogue. After this, it seems, came the term CVB (Convention & Visitor’s Bureau).
We had no Walking Tour map. Actually, there may not have even been a walking tour – the historical sites around town marked with a number designating their place on the tour.
There was no online calendar of events. We only had the events listed on a handout. I don’t think we even used the term “hard copy” yet. It seems hard to believe that there was no central location where you could see a list of Los Alamos events. In fact, when you mentioned the term “going online” people probably still thought you were referring to a fishing line.
Statistics tabulating was not done as much back then. This tool is employed much more today. This is most obvious in our periodic reports to Los Alamos County. Suffice it to say that it takes much longer now to complete the report. They only used to be generated 4 times a year. Now I generate them every month.
We didn’t start a concerted effort volunteer program until probably 2004 or 2005. There were just the 4 or 5 regular people who came in at lunchtime to relieve the receptionist at the front desk. Now we have 18 such volunteers.
There were no pretty flowers in the front of the visitor center. That’s definitely a nice change. Our curb appeal is much more attractive now.
Our beautiful and user-friendly website www.visit. losalamos.com has been created. Before that, the only way to access the chamber of commerce and visitor center was to call us on the phone! This really seems hard to believe.
We live in such an innovative community, the Meeting and Visitor’s Bureau has to follow suit. Be sure to contact us and take advantage of our services.