Kristin Strack and Kerry Shannon Blinn check in guests with a smile! The Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism unveiled its new website, adirondacksusa.com, at a successful Business After Hours event earlier this month. More than 80 area businesspeople, elected officials and other interested individuals attended the event, hosted at our headquarters and catered by Centerplate. ROOST employees Jasen Lawrence, who is coding the new site, and Shaun Ondak, who is shooting photos for it, treated attendees to a demonstration of the 360-degree-photo tour of the Adirondacks now available on adirondacksusa.com. Want to see your business on the site? Go to our sales page! Photo courtesy of Pete DeMola, Denton Publications Our conference sales team, Mary Jane Lawrence, Ashley Andrews and Scott Gardner, gave tours of the Conference Center at Lake Placid (and made sure to tell everyone that locals who refer a conference to them can get a reward for it!). Mary Jane Lawrence shows guests the State Room in the Conference Center. CEO Jim McKenna explained to the crowd what each department in the office is responsible for and what we do here at ROOST. As usual, he noted that our emphasis is on creating sustainable communities throughout our Adirondack regions through encouraging tourism in the right way. When Jim speaks, people listen. The communications staff hosted two reporters, who learned about the new website alongside the crowd and got a chance to learn more about it from Jasen and Shaun. Their photo made the front page of the Valley News. The Lake Placid News also ran coverage. Kim Rielly tells reporter Pete DeMola everything he needs to know. Take a tour of adirondacksusa.com today! We're adding new spins regularly, so keep checking back and follow us on Facebook and Twitter to see the newest ones!

ROOST-aggregated roundup of some recent travel trend articles Planning for the Holiday Shopping Season Via thinkwithgoogle.com: Holiday Season is almost here: 5 Shopping trends marketers should watch “Foot traffic to stores may have declined, but the value of those in-store visits is on the rise, and many shoppers are turning to smartphones while shopping. Providing detailed information through mobile can help them figure out what to buy (and what else they may need).” READ THE ARTICLE Tipping Fatigue? NationalPost.com: Interesting article about staff appreciation. What do you think? READ THE ARTICLE 6 emerging travel industry marketing trends From peer-to-peer business, aging demographics, experimentalism and personalization, this article from the UK Marketing Week website provides trends that can affect tourism businesses here. READ THE ARTICLE

CONTACT: Mike Fritts 518-478-3579 TUPPER LAKE — On Saturday, Oct. 11, the streets of Tupper Lake will become undead as the first ever Zombie Walk converges on the town to collect food for the Tupper Lake Community Food Pantry. The first ever Tupper Lake Zombie Walk is a day-long event that will cater to the young and old. The fun gets underway at 3 p.m. as Park Street is transformed into an apocalyptic warzone. Like something out of “The Walking Dead,” scores of zombies will trudge from business to business. But instead of collecting brains, they will collect non-perishable food items for the local food pantry. “Zombies are really big now,” said town Youth Activities Director Mike Fritts. “This isn’t going to be anything too horrifying as we want as many kids as possible to participate. It’s just planned as a fun, family day that explores and recreates a popular genre while donating to a worthy cause.” Anyone who wants to participate can come dressed as a zombie and converge on Park Street, collecting food from each business along the street and placing it a centralized location. The street littered with zombies will surely be a sight to see, so those who want to watch are welcome - but be sure to keep a safe distance from the zombies! The activities on Park Street will culminate with participants lining up and parading down the road. At 4:30 p.m., the massive horde will converge onto the Municipal Park for nighttime festivities. The Maze of the Undead will thrill and spook those innocent citizens brave enough to weave in and out of this elaborate setup trying to find the way to the exit before walkers find the way to their brains. Live music will also be featured, with local band The Jones Boys and Nineball, a crowd-pleasing band from Utica, entertaining the living and undead alike. In between acts, there will be contests with prizes including Best Zombie Costume, Best Zombie Growl and Best Zombie Walk. Also at the park, a target range will be set up for any survivalists who want to prevent zombie attacks. Head there to practice with paintball guns and take aim at some zombie targets. Those who would prefer to become a zombie can head over to one of the event’s makeup artists, who will assist in turning living people into the undead. To keep up your strength, vendors will be selling burgers, hot dogs and other food - just don’t feed the zombies! All events and activities are free, however organizers ask that attendees bring non-perishable food items, which will be donated to the local food pantry, to the festivities at the park. For more information, contact Mike Fritts at 478-3579 or Scott Gravlin at 354-0463.

ROOST in the news Oct. 1, 2014: Metro News Canada, "Virtual Guide to the Adirondack Park" Metro News Canada gives an overview of ROOST's new adirondacksusa.com website. READ THE ARTICLE

There may be no better time than now to start or grow your business in the North Country. The North Country Chamber of Commerce has partnered with the Adirondack Economic Development Corp. (AEDC) and the Town of Plattsburgh’s Local Development Corp. to provide comprehensive entrepreneurship training and technical assistance – as well as direct access to commercial loans – to those who want to do more than just dream of being their own boss someday. AEDC will be holding its 60-hour Entrepreneurship Assistance Program (EAP) Small Business Institute in Plattsburgh beginning Wednesday, Oct. 15. This comprehensive hands-on training is specifically designed for new and existing business owners to learn what it takes to give their business ideas the best chance to succeed. Topics to be covered in this program include: Planning and researching your business idea; Marketing analysis, strategies and implementation; Financial record-keeping; Understanding and using cash flow projections; Financing your business; Negotiating with partners, clients and customers, and more. The cost of instruction is covered by the EAP network. Participants will be asked to pay $149 to cover the costs of books and materials, but will receive a $50 refund if they attend 90% of the classes (14 of 16), complete 10 hours of free one-on-one technical assistance and turn in a completed business plan by the end of the program. Classes are tentatively slated for 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. on Wednesday evenings at the Plattsburgh-North Country Chamber of Commerce office, 7061 Route 9. To sign up, or for more information, contact Jim Murphy at (518) 891-5523, ext. 101, or via email at: jmurphy@aedconline.com