A bunch of Route 66 business owners or advocates of that historic highway gathered this week at the Oklahoma History Center in Oklahoma City for the first Route 66 Convention in that state.
The event was shepherded by Lt. Gov. Matt Pinnell, who also runs the state’s tourism department and has made boosting visitorship in the Sooner State a high priority.
Here’s a local TV station’s report about the convention. I asked Rhys Martin, president of the Oklahoma Route 66 Association, to clarify what the convention was meant to do. He replied:
[T]he main purpose of the meeting was to get everyone together in the same room, identify our Route 66 assets that are working well and the ones that need a little love. We also discussed barriers to growth and tossed around ideas of how to better work together to create a cohesive experience throughout the state.
As you might imagine, signage came up a lot.
ODOT was there, too, and we had a great discussion about partnering closely on projects and signage
The next step is that the Lt Gov’s office will be assembling all of our talking points and discussion into a document for all of us as a ‘road map,’ so to speak, for the future.
I was really pleased with how much organic conversation was happening between communities. […] Quite a few legislators in the audience, too; I think we had over 150 people in the room.
Martin said no firm plans have been made for another convention in 2020, but it either will be an annual meeting or regional meetings. He added it will be a subject for discussion when the Oklahoma Route 66 Centennial Commission meets in early 2020.
(Image of an Oklahoma Route 66 sign in Chandler, Oklahoma, by scott.tanis via Flickr)