Director builds bureau from ground up

Diane Medler spent her early childhood in Butte but moved around and eventually lived and worked in California, Washington, Colorado and even out on the East Coast.

“I moved around a lot growing up and have done a fair amount of travel, and I think that kind of gives you an insight of how each area has its own special charm,” she said.

That insight comes in handy for Medler.

She has been the director of the Kalispell Convention and Visitors Bureau since its creation in August 2010.

After years of living and working in big cities, Medler always wanted to get back to Montana. She finally returned about 17 years ago, moving from Seattle to Bigfork.

TODAY SHE WORKS to sell Kalispell to tourists, trying to keep “heads in beds” at local hotels and help promote many of those same special charms that first attracted her and her husband to the Flathead Valley.

She still remembers when they were visiting the area and eating at the Echo Lake Cafe in Bigfork about 19 years ago and noticed how everyone left keys in their unlocked cars outside.

At the time, Medler and her husband were looking for some place more rural to raise their two children.

“We said to each other: ‘This place has water,’ because we’re sailors. ‘And mountains and skiing. It’s obviously safe. The people are friendly.’ So we bought some property and in a couple years we moved out and built our house.”

Medler, who has a music degree from University of the Pacific in California, spent her first years in the Flathead working as marketing and advertising manager for Coldwell Banker Wachholz and Co.

She said she applied for her job as director of the Kalispell Convention and Visitors Bureau as a challenge.

“I thought it sounded fun,” Medler said. “It was a new organization, so it was a chance to take something from ground zero and build it up.”

The bureau has grown over the last two years and continues to grow.

Group sales manager Rob Brisendine was hired last summer and helps the bureau attract events and meetings and conventions.

Vonnie Day helps staff the bureau’s visitor center at Depot Park.

A lifelong Kalispell resident, Day works to connect people who walk through the door with local events, attractions and activities that interest them.

“THE THREE OF US make a great team and work well together,” Medler said.

Seeing the value of having a robust marketing and promotion effort for Kalispell, the Tourism Business Improvement District board approved an increase in the local bed tax from $1.25 to $2 a night. The increase took effect in July. 

It should raise more money to help the Kalispell Convention and Visitors Bureau, a branch of the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce, compete with larger Montana markets such as Billings and Bozeman.

“They see the potential of where we’ve taken it,” Medler said of the Tourism Business Improvement District board, made up of hotel owners and managers.

Hotel occupancy rates average about 90 percent in Kalispell in July and August, the peak summer months.

That rate is lower in spring and fall and drops off dramatically in the winter. It's something the bureau is trying to improve through advertising and marketing and the creation of new events.

THE UPCOMING Montana Dragon Boat Festival promises to bring a fun and colorful new event on Flathead Lake this September and help bring more people to Kalispell.

The World Class Bucking Horse Association will hold its world finals competition in October at Majestic Valley Arena.

And a Spartan Race, an extreme obstacle course race, is scheduled and being organized for next May.

All are events the bureau helped bring to the area. They also are events local residents can enjoy, and that’s the type of event the bureau likes best of all.

“It’s something the local community can have fun with, so they don’t have to travel for a signature sporting event. They can stay here. And people can come enjoy our area and boost our economy,” Medler said.

"We want to promote Kalispell and our area for just the way it is," she said. "We're not trying to change it. We're trying to bring people here who will respect and appreciate what we have."

Medler said she and her team aim to continue to build on Kalispell’s natural tourism potential in years to come. 

That will mean continued marketing and promotion of the area’s existing “special charms” and the creation of new events for shoulder season months such as January, February and March.

“We need to just keep filling in the months and get the occupancy up,” Medler said of the task ahead.

“Year one got us to a certain point. Year two has gotten us quite a bit further. And we certainly have plans for years three and four.”

Reporter Tom Lotshaw may be reached at 758-4483 or by email at tlotshaw@dailyinterlake.com.