QC, THAT'S WHERE!
QC, THAT'S WHERE!
QC, That's Where we're building bridges of connectivity and giving back
Have you ever wondered what it feels like to truly belong? Ashley Gore, the VP of Marketing and PR for the Quad Cities Jaycees, joins us to unravel the tapestry of community engagement and how it's not just about the events, but the connections that blossom from them. From teaching to telecommuting, Ashley's journey to find her tribe in her 30s is a tale that resonates with anyone seeking a deeper sense of community. Her insights into the Quad Cities' open-armed approach to newcomers and the Jaycees' ethos of service paint a picture of a place where young professionals can grow and thrive.
Navigating the networking landscape can be daunting, but the Jaycees are experts at creating spaces of connection. We get an insider's look at their standout occasions like the Wedding Expo and the Wine and Chocolate Experience, which are more than just signature gatherings; they're lifelines to local nonprofits supported by the Jaycees' fundraising efforts. Ashley shares how these events are woven into the fabric of the local community, offering both social engagement and the chance to give back.
Embarking on a personal tour of the Quad Cities with someone who's rediscovered her roots, we learn about the magnetic appeal of the area's amenities, like the QC Coffee Trail – a testament to the local culture's richness. Our conversation with Ashley also reveals how the entrepreneurial spirit thrives here, with teaching skills translating into new ventures in the digital world. Looking ahead, we discuss innovative marketing strategies for community events and the importance of recognizing local leaders at the Jaycees Awards Banquet, closing with an invitation to celebrate the remarkable individuals who shape the heart of the Midwest.
QC, That's Where is a podcast powered by Visit Quad Cities. Through the people, partnerships, and personalities woven throughout the Quad Cities region, you'll meet real Quad Citizens and hear the untold stories of the region.
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I think the biggest thing to know is the Quad Cities is full of groups and events that are so welcoming to get out and meet people. I even, almost every week, I get on Facebook and just click on events or go to the Visit Quad Cities website and look at what events are coming up and just to see what is going on that weekend, and it's always full. There's so many different types of opportunities and so, whether it's going to an event or finding, if you want, something more formal to actually get to know people, finding a club like the Jaycees, for example, if that aligns with you, and just getting out and meeting people, there are so many different organizations that do that.
Speaker 2:Where do you find a family of communities connected by the storied Mississippi River, where young explorers and dreamers, investors and entrepreneurs thrive? Where do you find a family of communities connected by the storied Mississippi River where young explorers and dreamers, investors and entrepreneurs thrive? Where can you connect with real people living and creating in a place that's as genuine?
Speaker 3:as it is quirky. Qc. That's where, Welcome to QC. That's where I'm your host, Katrina, and today I'm so excited to be talking to Ashley Gore, the VP of Marketing and PR for JCs of the Quad Cities. Hey Ashley, Hi Katrina, Thanks so much for having me.
Speaker 3:Thank you for agreeing to be on the podcast. I'm excited to talk to you and we were talking a little bit before and just appreciated that you are open to talking about kind of your entrepreneurship experience and the whole like kit and caboodle of how you got to where you are today. So I want to just kind of give you the floor to start like walk us through what you do with Jaycees, how you got involved. Yeah, go ahead and just start there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so I have been a member of the Jaycees for just over a year now, so I am pretty new to the Jaycees of the Quad Cities sphere, and what made me want to join is I work from home, so I work from home.
Speaker 1:I used to work in person, I was a teacher in the Quad Cities, and so it was a big shift for me and I was looking for that community piece. I was looking to form a network, make friends, to be honest, because, being a 30-year-old, it's hard to make friends outside of work, you know and so I tried out a couple different clubs and meetups in the Quad Cities and was trying to find something that clicked with my values and the type of people I wanted to surround myself with. And beginning of February in 2023, I visited a meeting for the JC's at our hall in Davenport and they all kind of aligned. I met some incredible people that really valued service and getting involved in the Quad Cities, like I wanted to do as well, as they had a community speaker from Big Brothers, big Sisters and I'm also a big with Big Brothers, big Sisters so that was a cool full circle moment, like okay, this could be it. And they also had a tater tot buffet for our next little tater tot day.
Speaker 1:I'm like, okay, these are some people I can vibe with, just love what we do in the community. And so I joined that meeting and I've been involved for the past year. I was elected our vice president of PR and marketing this past November and started last month in January, and just yeah, excited to be involved. I've loved all the people and experiences I've had with it so far and excited to make us a little more known for people who might not know a lot about us. Besides, we're an organization in the Quad Cities.
Speaker 3:Yeah. So you hit on a point I wanted to like kind of dive deeper into. So I mean, everybody's heard of the Jaycees. You guys are very visible as far as, like your brand and the fact that it's a you know, a nonprofit. I know that it's a kind of a networking collection of young adults. So, like, what are some of the big events or big pieces that JC's provides for the Quad Cities?
Speaker 1:So the JC's? So, first of all, we are a group of 21 to 40 year olds in the Quad Cities and the surrounding area. So even if you live outside of the Quad Cities, I live in Geneseo, for example. That is A-OK, and our biggest thing is growing personally and professionally while giving back to the community, and so any event that we have any of the proceeds goes directly back into the community. So organizations can fill out donation requests on our website to get funding, to get volunteers. They contact us through our social media or our website as well. But we have some big events throughout the year that make those funds possible, Our biggest of which is our wedding expo. That just happened this last January and we just got the final numbers in and it was our biggest yet Financially, for attendees, for vendors. We were sold out with 122 vendors. We had over 1,300 people come, and so that is a big source of funding for us and all of that money goes directly back into the community.
Speaker 1:We have smaller events throughout the year as well. We have if you've been here a while, we were the brains and the manpower behind Brew Ha Ha, we did Barbecue C for a couple of years those who know us from way back. We did a haunted house. That has been a while, but we still get people asking us about our haunted house that we did Bring it back. Yeah, I know. And so we have smaller events throughout the year that are really focused on individual development and just being social with other young adults and networking as well. But our flagship is the Wedding Expo and we have a new one coming up in November that is called the Wine and Chocolate Experience.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, yeah, we're really excited about that. One and all of the funds will go directly back into the community towards nonprofits that need it most.
Speaker 3:Okay, perfect. So the one coming up in November, brand new. I'm sure a lot of your, you know, organization and marketing efforts are kind of going toward getting that off the ground. So, like you know, what does that look like for you as far as planning something like that?
Speaker 1:Yeah, so I actually am not on the committee for that, and that's the beautiful thing about the GCCs is anytime we have an initiative like this. So the Wedding Expo, the Wine and Chocolate Experience there's a committee, so anybody who wants to be involved in the planning of it can help. On the marketing side, I am helping. I'm currently getting it on our website. I they are doing their. The committee is running their own socials right now so you can follow them on Facebook at the Wine and Chocolate Experience, but I'll help amplify it on the General JC's pages as well. But it's a lot of work.
Speaker 1:So currently, right now, what we did is we actually had a mini shark tank of sorts.
Speaker 1:We wanted a new fundraising event but didn't know what to do, and so the board put it out to members hey, submit your ideas, submit your proposals, and we're going to vote on the one we like the best to actually go forward with.
Speaker 1:And so the wine and chocolate experience is the event that the board felt was filling a gap that we had in the Quad Cities and would be a really great event, and we love doing events, too, that help local businesses and local vendors, and so any vendor. Right now, they're currently sourcing vendors. So the event is on November 9th and it's going to be held at the Golden Leaf Banquet Center in Davenport. And if you go on our website, if you have any sort of tie in your business to wine or chocolate even if it's not like traditional, like little chocolates, but if you sell chocolate ice cream, if you do something very unique with chocolate or wine, definitely check it out, and people can come on that day and have all they can eat or drink or whatever of wine and chocolate. And so, yeah, there's a lot of work that goes into it. Yeah, we're really excited for it.
Speaker 3:That's awesome. So one thing that you kind of hit on that JC's has provided you personally and others obviously as well, is just that opportunity to network but also meet people, maybe make friends. You know, I mean, it is hard as an adult when you're not in school anymore and maybe you don't have a traditional nine to five office job. A lot of people work remote anymore and it's just like where does the socialization come from? So it's super cool that you were able to get plugged in in that way and I think JC's is a great example of that. There are other organizations and clubs and meetups that the Quad Cities offers and I think that's one really great staple piece of the Quad Cities that no matter what your interest, what your goal is to get out of something, there's something for you. There's a way you can come here fresh as an adult and still make friends.
Speaker 1:Yes, there, absolutely is. And with the GCs, we have a mix of, like, native locals and we have people who are coming to our meetings and we're like, oh, how'd you find us? Well, I found you online. I just moved here, I'm looking to make friends. I work remote, absolutely Like let's chat, and I completely agree. There's so many incredible organizations where you can network and it's all about finding one that fits what you want, the type of people you want to be around, your values, and I'm super happy to have found that in the GCs.
Speaker 3:Yeah, let's talk about your origin story. So you're not a QC native. You come from Galesburg. Talk about your move from Galesburg to QC. How long did you live in Galesburg? Let's dive in.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so originally I'm from a really small town near Galesburg called Rio. If anybody out there has heard of it, shout out to you because it's a town of 200 people. My neighbor growing up was a cornfield and so I lived in that area through high school. I went to Rova High School and I ended up going to Augustana. So I was an elementary education major at Augie, fell in love with the Quad Cities. So I mean, growing up I had always been to the Quad Cities, like we'd come here to go shopping or there are more restaurants up here than there were in the Galesburg area. But being at Augie is when I really got to experience the Quad Cities for like all that it had to offer and I knew that it was somewhere that I kind of wanted to end up in the future. Like I was open, but I got my first job out of college near Galesburg in Knoxville, so I moved back home, eventually got an apartment in Galesburg, lived there for five years and ended up. I feel like this is such a common story anymore. Thankfully I met my now husband on Bumble and he lived up in Rock Island and so I was like okay, so maybe this is a little push to get me back to the Quad Cities, because I think that was a big piece that I was fearful of is I wanted to end up back in the Quad Cities. It wasn't just him, I tell everybody that but I was afraid of just like moving by myself and not having a network around me anymore, like Augie, like college is like built-in friends, like right across the hall from you, you know. And so that was the push I needed to get back in the Quad Cities. But I moved back in 2020.
Speaker 1:I moved to the Quad Cities and taught as a teacher in one of the schools here for a couple years and continued to want a remote company now and also run my own business. But I'm working in the Quad Cities. So right now I'm in my home office in Geneseo, but you can find me at least once a week working from a coffee shop in the Quad Cities. And the wonderful thing about the JCs, too, is we have quite a few members who do work remote, so we have a little co-working group that we do. So, like I plan on tomorrow going to work from a coffee shop and I'm going to write in the group. Hey, anybody want to join me? At one, I'm going to go to this coffee shop, or if anybody wants to work together.
Speaker 3:So oh, that's so great. Yeah, that's how I ended up back here.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I mean, that's awesome. And so, like you know, not only are you able to work remote and work on your business and, you know, do your role at JC's, but, like there's places where you can easily go and just enjoy each other's company. I love the fact that we have so many coffee shops. You mentioned coffee shops in the Quad Cities. We've got dozens and it's like to kind of bring in one of our products that we're super proud of the QC Coffee Trail, one of our products that we're super proud of the QC Coffee Trail.
Speaker 3:Yes, yeah, that free sign-up opportunity. We just we put it out there almost two years ago now and it was basically just an opportunity for people to explore places that they hadn't been to yet and to really showcase the fact that, you know, the Quad Cities is a place where everybody can. There's room for everybody. There might be dozens of coffee shops, but it doesn't mean that like there's not room enough in town because they're all frequented, they're all loved. You know, one vibe is different from the next and I just love how welcoming that they all are. You can go and you can take a group in and, you know, sit and enjoy each other's company for a handful of hours without feeling like, oh, I've overstayed my welcome, you know.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, and I love what you said about like they each have their own vibe too, because I mix it up where I go and it depends on how I'm feeling that day. It depends on, like to be honest, like if I feel like I really need to focus in and like I'm like low energy, I'll go to one of the like brightly lit ones I'll go to you know what I mean. And if I'm working with other people, I'll go to one that's more set up for that. But sometimes I just need to zone in. For me, I love to go to smaller ones, and just there's so much out there.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so talk about what you're doing. You're not a teacher anymore, but you're still in the education field, so can you kind of elaborate on that Cause I think that's a very cool segment of the education industry.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so I left teaching in 2022, that June and at first I feel like a lot of teachers feel like they either one can't do anything but teach and that's very false or two, if you get out of teaching, you have to go work for like a K-12 curriculum company or something. But there's so much out there that your skills can transfer to, and so I actually ended up at a company. It's called SPI Media. Spi stands for Smart Passive Income. We have podcasts, blogs, courses and communities for digital entrepreneurs, and so my job is I oversee our learning community that has all of our courses in it, and I also get to help create new courses, create curriculum pathways with our courses and lead cohorts, and it is super fun and it uses all of those skills that I learned as a teacher and just brings them to a new space.
Speaker 1:And I get to work from home. I get to stay in the Quad Cities. Because of that, too, I did not want to leave the Quad Cities and, yeah, I really love it and I also a lot of that background too. I've run my own business it's called Learning with Miss LeGrow, so LeGrow was my maiden name and teachers if there's any teachers listening will know the Marketplace. Teachers Pay Teachers. That's how I got started. So I create digital downloads and resources for upper elementary teachers, and so Monday through Thursday I really focus on my main job with SPI, and then on Fridays I really hone in to my own business.
Speaker 3:Thank you for sharing that into my own business. Thank you for sharing that. I have teacher friends who I know have probably, you know, utilized some of the like services that you, you know the, the handouts, or just you know, curriculum building that you, your type of company, provides so super important. Thank you for sharing that. And I I wanted to have you on because you are a really great example of like, you know, an innovative. You can kind of make your career what you want. You don't have to have that cookie cutter like, oh, I grew up here so I must stay here and live here. Like you chose to come here, you saw something bright in the Quad Cities and you chose to make it your home. Do you have any advice for, say, a you know a transplant situation, whether you know someone came and you know saw something um bright from a visit, or if they've heard good things and they just want to come check it out? Do you have any advice for kind of overcoming that fear of I don't know what, I don't know?
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 1:So I think the biggest thing to know is the Quad Cities is full of groups and events that are so welcoming to get out and meet people.
Speaker 1:I even, almost every week, I get on Facebook and just click on events or go to the Visit Quad Cities website and look at what events are coming up and just to see what is going on that weekend, and it's always full. There's so many different types of opportunities and so, whether it's going to an event or finding, if you want, something more like formal to actually get to know people, like finding a club like the JC's, for example, if that aligns with you, and just getting out and meeting people, there's so many different organizations that do that. A lot of our members, as well as JCs, are involved in more than just the JCs and they're involved in so many different organizations that help them make friends and network when they're not from here. I have a friend on our board shout out to Shannon if Shannon listens to this but Shannon is from Huntsville, alabama, and works at the Arsenal, and so she got involved with the JCs to meet people and she's now also really involved with the group the Quad City Girls who Walk. I think is what it's called.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I have heard of that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. And so there's something for everybody and you can find organizations, meetups, whatever it might be, that align with your interests and values.
Speaker 3:When I first moved here. I've lived here since 2012. I was a transplant, grew up in Michigan, came here as like a young adult, like exactly like we've been discussing, and you know, kind of when you come in cold, like I knew I had relatives here but I didn't have necessarily like a friend base for a while and it is it is hard. You kind of come in cold and you kind of have to get your feet wet and figure out where your niche is. So using resources like the visitquetzcitiescom events calendar is super helpful and like I kind of got plugged in with some people through just like club sand volleyball. It was just one thing that I enjoyed doing and kind of wanted to pick up. And so from there, once you kind of get plugged into one thing, then it starts to branch out like a tree. You talk to people, you learn about X, y and Z that you didn't know, and I have to say this because it's just true. Like our two destination centers Visit Quad Cities in Davenport and Moline.
Speaker 3:I can't stress enough If somebody's new here and they just want a head start and they want some guidance, like people are more than welcome to come in here and just grab one of us on staff there's 12 people on staff Like one of us would be more than happy to come out and chat with you and and lead you in the right direction, cause there's a lot of like recreation, you know stuff, but there's there's so much more. You know there's um, you know there's. There's study groups, there's history there. You know you don't have to just come in and go. What can I do? That's fun here this weekend. It's like no, we can get you plugged into like a long-term um, stuff that you want to, you want to do in the QC, yeah.
Speaker 1:Or it's like what is fun for you, like what do you want to be involved with? I think it's one great thing about the Quad Cities is, I feel like there's such a big variety of events and clubs and organizations and initiatives that go on that there's it just more so than anywhere else. Like I even briefly considered living like my, my husband and I, we love to go to Mercado one fifth like in the summer, and so they're just that's one example of like things to experience and there's something for everybody.
Speaker 3:Yeah, mercado is such a great example because it's not a one-off, it's an ongoing. You can count on it every single weekend the entire summer, and then they kind of end their season with that big Dia de los Muertos parade, new as of a couple of years ago, and it's it's just building and building. One thing that I was like absolutely blown away by when I learned of it was tug fest, with the tug of war across the Mississippi river, Like what?
Speaker 1:Yeah, that I have not been to that, but that's something that I've I learned about actually this last year and I'm like I should probably check that out, Like people get crazy over it.
Speaker 3:Yeah, they do, they work so hard, they, they, they gather teams, they practice, they meet up, they prepare and yeah, it's, it's quite a show and it's I love to talk about it because it's so interesting and people hear, like you know what a I don't know the stats the there's a certain poundage that the rope is and it's you know X, y, z long and it's just like absolutely mind blowing. So the stuff like that that's so unique here, you know, we just love to tout and like our new I-74 pedestrian walkway where you can stand on that really thick glass Oculus, just there's a lot of cool like opportunities to get out and explore while you're trying to figure out what you want to do here. So I kind of want to funnel it back to talk about, like JC's events.
Speaker 3:You mentioned that your wedding expo in January was the biggest one on record. So I mean there's no right or wrong answer, but like, from your perspective in marketing, like, where do you go from here? You know, I mean there's no right or wrong answer, but like from your perspective in marketing, like where do you go from here? You know, I mean obviously you want it to be bigger and better every year. What's your vision, maybe in the next one, two, three, four years of it.
Speaker 1:So thankfully, because marketing is also a lot and we have such a big membership at the Jaycees too. So we're over 60 members and so we're the largest Jaycees chapter in Iowa and we have chairs of the Jaycees wedding expo that help really drive that vision. But I think one thing like we experienced this year is we're just constantly trying to figure out ways to innovate, and so while our attendees were up a little bit, our vendors were sold out. That technically wasn't that different than the year before, but we looked at ways to maximize our profits, because number one they go back into the community too, and so that's a huge driving factor is we want to make as much as we can because we're going to put it back into the community.
Speaker 1:And so one thing we did differently this year is we offered a VIP package, and so instead of just your standard $10 ticket where you can come in for half a day, newly or nearly weds is what we refer to our bride and grooms, nearly weds can come in and they could have paid $40 for a VIP experience which includes two tickets, it's all day. There's special offers and freebies from vendors that regular attendees don't get. They got like a swag bag of like a cute VIP toe, that kind of thing, and so just thinking of ways to really up the experience for people in ways that aren't going to break their bank either and that it's really worth it for them. Like some of the, some of the vendor, like coupons and stuff they got were wild. I'm a newlywed myself and just I wish I would have known about it when I got married, or it was there when I got married.
Speaker 1:But yeah, we're always just trying to think of, you know, new things to include. I know this one thing we're doing for this next year is we have more intricate selection of booths for vendors, and so they can choose. Are they on a corner? Do they have a double booth in the middle? And so that's another way for us to maximize too, because we can charge a little more for those like really nice spots that vendors want to. So there's a couple things.
Speaker 3:Do you ever find people that aren't nearly weds, that just kind of come because they think it's a fun experience and they want to just see what's new?
Speaker 1:So this was my first year with the Wedding Expo since I am a new member of the Jaycees and number one. It was wild how big it was, like we had people waiting in a wraparound line before it opened, and so I ran into a lot of people. There was always either like a bride or groom, but there were a lot of people who were there with them. I actually ran it and I will leave them nameless. I ran into a friend and I saw her and I said you're not engaged and she's like, but maybe in the future I will be, you know. And so we have people that are not nearly weds that come, whether it's preparing or just supporting a friend, or bridesmaids or groomsmen or other people in the wedding industry. Come and get ideas and maybe see how vendors to work with too. So there's, anybody is welcome, and that's also why we got away from the name Bridal Expo. Oh yeah To Wedding Expo. So it's, yes, it's an expo all about weddings. It's not just for brides.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that makes a ton of sense. Very cool. And coming up in November, the JC's Awards Banquet. Ok, so in prepping for that, what are you asking of the community?
Speaker 1:So in April, on April 25th is our JC's Awards Banquet.
Speaker 3:I'm sorry, I said November and I did not mean that there's something else in November.
Speaker 1:Totally fine, there is.
Speaker 1:But, yes, we have the JC's Awards Banquet at the end of April and what's really cool and I am on a mission as the VP of Marketing to make this more well-known because I feel in the past it has not been super well-known some of these awards.
Speaker 1:So we are looking for nominations from the community and they can nominate on our website at jcsqcorg, and there's also information on our Facebook page or Instagram as well, linkedin wherever you are on the internet and you can nominate for four different community awards. So we are looking for young leaders, so under the age of 40, and young community leader, young educator, young city servant and young religious leader, and so if you know someone that stands out in one of those areas, you can nominate them. It's super quick and easy. We just ask for like a paragraph of why they're deserving of this and then our committee selects people blindly and they're honored at the banquet with both. They get their name on our plaque center hall, they get their own award and there's also a one hundred and fifty dollar award that goes to them to put back into their cause. So, for example, if you nominate a young educator, that money can go back into their classroom or really elevate their teaching experiences.
Speaker 3:So walk me through the nomination process. It's a form or like a kind of a Q&A, like you know. Answer.
Speaker 1:It is super open-ended, so you just say who you're nominating, which award it's for and why they deserve to be highlighted as a young leader in our community, like what makes them stand out.
Speaker 3:Okay, and what's our deadline for these nominations?
Speaker 1:April 1st is the deadline for the nominations and then within about a week or so we'll nominate both you and the person that, or we'll contact you and the person you nominated if they were selected, and then they get two free tickets to the awards banquet, which comes with food and drink, at our hall at the end of April.
Speaker 3:Awesome. So April 1st 2024, just in case you are a future person and you are listening to this podcast, in 2027, April 1st 2024. So please take a look at those categories If you know a great leader in your life. Cool that you guys are doing this. I'm super excited for you guys. I'm hoping that it kicks up great interest and then let's scoot ahead to November, because I'm practically already at the end of the year.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so what is what's on your docket for November? I know you've got a lot of work and you know we kind of already touched on what this is going to entail, but is there anything that you want the community to know right now? Kind of looking ahead, yes so there's a couple of things.
Speaker 1:So, first of all, if you are a small business owner, if you are a vendor that has anything to do with wine or chocolate and I know I'm really excited to see how creative and innovative people get go to our website at jcsqcorg, click on events and click on the wine and chocolate experience to learn more about how you can be a vendor at this event. And community members, hang tight, but mark your calendars. For November 9th at the Golden Leaf Banquet Center in Davenport, we will have a Facebook event coming this summer. There's already a Facebook page dedicated to the event, so if this sounds of interest, follow it. It's the wine and chocolate experience and you can follow along for ticket information.
Speaker 1:What exactly the day will include because that's the great thing too is this is a brand new event. It was created not only to help the community but really filling a gap in our community of like what could be successful, a successful event, like I know, for example, I love the wine walk in the village in the summer, but what could we do in November? Like what could we do when it's getting a little colder? And like there's still a way to celebrate local businesses that dabble in wine or chocolate. So definitely follow us and keep your eyes peeled.
Speaker 3:So what's the best social platform for, like somebody who wants to just follow what you guys are doing or get plugged in with you guys?
Speaker 1:So we are on Facebook, instagram and LinkedIn at JaceysQC. So J-A-Y-C-E-E-S-Q-C is our handle on Instagram or just search Jaceys of the Quad Cities on LinkedIn and Facebook. We make events on Facebook specifically for anything that we do. So we have general membership meetings that we post about that are the first Thursday of every month. So if anything I said has resonated with you, come check us out. There is no obligation to join either. Just check out a meeting, get some free drinks.
Speaker 1:We have a social happy half hour at 530 before the meetings where you can just get to know people, and once a quarter we also have membership events too, where you can. Our members will be there, but you can also just come hang out with us, meet some people. If it's right for you, you can join, but there's no obligation. Our next one is at the end of March. On March 29th, we're going to a Quad City Storm game and you can get tickets as a non-member for $15, which still comes with $10 towards food and drink, which is awesome and you can find more information about that both on our website and our Facebook page.
Speaker 3:So I will make sure to link all of your social and your website in the description of this podcast. So, whether you're watching it on YouTube or if you're listening to it on a podcast app, just check out that description for these links. So, ashley, thank you so much for everything that you've spelled out for us today. It was super cool to kind of you know, talk, the transplant, you know life with you and it sounds like you're making really the most of it and and making great strides in your career. So, very impressive resume. Thank you so much and I'm wishing you all the best in the upcoming events, cause it sounds like you're really you're really passionate about it and it's paying off. So, per tradition, on the end of this podcast, I love to have the guest fill in the blank QC that's where, and whatever comes to mind. There are no wrong answers. Qc that's where I love to walk my dog. Qc that's where I started my own business. So what is your? Qc? That's where.
Speaker 1:I would say QC, that's where I found myself. To be honest, like I know that's really deep, but it was a time of my life when I moved here and just all that the Quad Cities has to offer, like I found the GCs, I found new events, I made new friends and made connections and it's just where everything really started coming together for me with all the opportunities out there. So, yeah, that's where I found myself.
Speaker 3:I love that one. Thank you, thank you, thank you Seriously, and I love how different they are from person to person. Yeah, yes, it was a very deep, well-meaning QC. That's where. So thank you so much. Always check out visitquadcitiescom slash events, and there are over a thousand events in the year that the Quad Cities area hosts, so please enjoy, come visit, stay live, play with us. So, ashley, thank you again, we will see you next time.
Speaker 2:Thanks for listening to QC. That's when a podcast powered by Visit Quad Cities Text VISITQC to 38314 for insider events, activities and updates sent straight to your phone. That's V-I-S-I-T-Q-C, one word to 38314. Message and data rates may apply you.