Bringing international delegations & business to KC

IN FEBRUARY AFTER THE CHIEFS WON THE SUPER BOWL? ALL OF CHIEFS KINGDOM WAS IN KANSAS CITY AND COME TO FIND OUT WE WEREN’T THE ONLY ONES. A DELEGATION FROM SENEGAL WAS ALSO IN TOWN. PART OF A TRIP ORGANIZED BY GLOBAL TIES KC, A GROUP THAT CONNECTS INTERNATIONAL LEADERS TO OUR LOCAL COMMUNITY. I ASKED PRESIDENT AND CEO COURTNEY BROOKS ABOUT HER ROLE IN SELLING KANSAS CITY, ALONG WITH OUR TWO STATES. SO FOR US, RECRUITMENT IS A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT. WE HAVE OVER 400 VISITORS FROM OVER 100 COUNTRIES THAT COME INTO KANSAS CITY EVERY YEAR. AND IT IS NOT THE INTERNATIONAL VISITORS WHO ARE SAYING, I WANT TO GO TO KANSAS CITY. IT’S THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE AND OUR PARTNERS IN WASHINGTON, D.C., WHO ARE CHOOSING WHERE IN THE UNITED STATES DIFFERENT GROUPS ARE GOING. SO FOR US, IT’S REALLY A MATTER OF SELLING KANSAS CITY TO THE REST OF THE UNITED STATES. WE ARE NOT JUST FLYOVER TERRITORY. WE’RE NOT JUST A SMALL KIND OF BLIP AND TINY CITY IN THE MIDDLE OF THE COUNTRY AND REALLY SELLING EVERYTHING THAT WE ARE AND HAVE HERE. AND THEN WHEN OUR INTERNATIONAL VISITORS COME IN, THEY’RE A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT IN THAT THEY’RE NOT TOURISTS. THEY’RE FOLKS WHO ARE HERE HAND-PICKED FREQUENTLY BY THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE WHO ARE COMING IN TO MEET WITH THEIR BUSINESS COUNTERPARTS AND PROFESSIONALS IN THE KANSAS CITY AREA AND SEEING A LITTLE BIT MORE BEYOND BEYOND THE TYPICAL TOURIST SITES, ORIGINAL. WHAT IS THE PERCEPTION, GENERALLY SPEAKING, FROM FROM PEOPLE THAT YOU TALK TO AND THEN HOW DOES IT CHANGE ONCE THEY’VE ACTUALLY COME HERE? SO IT’S CHANGED A LITTLE BIT THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS. RIGHT NOW, WE’RE INTO FOOTBALL AND NOT JUST BASEBALL, BUT FOR A LONG TIME IT WAS BARBECUE BASEBALL AND JAZZ MUSIC IS ALL ANYONE SEEMED TO KNOW ABOUT THE KANSAS CITY AREA. AND SO REALLY, WHEN THEY COME IN, IT’S UNDERSTANDING THAT WE OBVIOUSLY WERE SO MUCH MORE THAN THAT, BUT MORE THAN ANYTHING, JUST THE SIZE OF THE CITY. SO IT’S SOMETHING THAT COMES UP OVER AND OVER AGAIN. KANSAS CITY IS BIGGER THAN LINCOLN. WE ARE BIGGER THAN BURLINGTON, VERMONT. AND SOME OF THE COMPARISONS THAT ARE MADE OF WHAT EXPECTATIONS ARE HERE VERSUS WHAT IT IS AND WHAT PEOPLE ARE ABLE TO EXPERIENCE WHEN THEY’RE IN TOWN. ARE THEY BLOWN AWAY, TOO, WHEN THEY WHEN THEY GET HERE? ABSOLUTELY. THE COMMENT THAT WE HEAR OVER AND OVER AGAIN IS IT’S NOT WHAT I EXPECTED. I THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO SEE COWS AND OH, MY GOD, THERE’S A CITY. FIRST OFF. BUT MORE THAN ANYTHING, THE HOSPITAL AND THE PEOPLE AND WHO OUR CITIZENS ARE. KANSAS CITY IS ONE OF THE MOST WELCOMING COMMUNITIES THAT I HAVE EXPERIENCED IN THE UNITED STATES. AND WE HEAR OVER AND OVER AGAIN VISITORS WHO GO TO NEW YORK, THEY GO TO LA, AND THEN THEY COME TO KANSAS CITY, NOT BECAUSE IT’S WHERE THEY PICKED OR WOULD THEY WOULD HAVE EVER COME TO OUTSIDE OF THIS, BUT THEY SAY THIS THIS IS THE UNITED STATES. THIS IS WHAT AMERICA IS. AND TO BE ABLE TO HAVE DINNERS WITH LOCAL FAMILIES AND TO BE RECEIVED BY OUR COMMUNITIES AND THE WAY THEY ARE IS IS A LIFE CHANGING EXPERIENCE. WE TALK ABOUT HAVING A DIVERSE KC AND THERE’S AN EFFORT THAT YOU HAVE RIGHT NOW IS A DIVERSE CAKEWALK. CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THAT? YEAH. SO THAT WAS ONE OF THE FUN THINGS THAT CAME OUT OF THIS QUIET PERIOD. I SAY QUIET. WE HAD JUST AS MANY PROGRAMS. THEY WERE JUST ALL VIRTUAL THROUGHOUT THE PANDEMIC. IS THIS WEEKLY PROGRAM THAT BROUGHT TOGETHER VOICES ACROSS THE COMMUNITY LOOKING AT THE DIVERSITY THAT IS KANSAS CITY THAT ROLLED INTO A WEBSITE DIVERSE BECAUSE WE CREATED IT A GLOBAL KC IS A TOOL THAT IS FOR THE COMMUNITY AT LARGE AND ARE STILL ADDING DIFFERENT PAGES OF DIFFERENT COUNTRIES. BUT UNDERSTANDING JUST THE BREADTH AND DEPTH OF THE DIVERSITY IN KANSAS CITY. HOW MANY DIASPORA COMMUNITIES THERE ARE, WHERE THE INTERNATIONAL RESTAURANTS ARE, HOW MANY LANGUAGE GROUPS THERE ARE, AND TRYING TO CREATE MORE OF THAT, THAT ONE STOP KIND OF PLACE TO LEARN ABOUT SOME OF THOSE OPPORTUNITIES TO HAVE AN INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE. I THINK THAT’S ACROSS THE BOARD. WHAT WE DO AT GLOBAL TIMES. KC THAT’S SO FUN. IT’S NOT JUST GETTING ON AN AIRPLANE TO GO SOMEWHERE ELSE THROUGH INTERNATIONAL TOURISM. THERE ARE SO MANY PEOPLE WHO ARE COMING INTO KANSAS CITY THAT BRING THESE UNIQUE CULTURAL PERSPECTIVES AND THE CHANCE TO MEET PEOPLE FROM AROUND THE WORLD AND HAVE THOSE INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCES. RIGHT? RIGHT FROM HERE IN YOUR OWN BACKYARD TO LEARN ABOUT GLOBAL TIES A