Dynamic Decisions Podcast

Kelsi Jackson, executive director of the Jackson County Tourist Development Council in Northwest Florida, built her county's entire visitor strategy around a decades-old customer service story about an extra pickle. 

She explains how that mindset turned skeptical gas station clerks and restaurant workers into genuine tourism ambassadors, and what it takes to grow a rural visitor economy without a big budget.

• The origin of "Give Them the Pickle" and why Kelsi built a whole ambassador training program around it
• How a four to five month training series turned some of the county's loudest online skeptics into its biggest cheerleaders
• Why Kelsi's team chases cave divers and hunters who stay a week or more over day-trippers who don't spend much
• How a public-private partnership at Jackson Blue Springs tripled foot traffic without costing the county in operations

By the end, you'll understand why "just give them the pickle" has become the whole philosophy behind Jackson County tourism.