Our Story

It began with a spark that soon burst into a flame that shot into the sky above Dahlonega. The story of the beginning of our partnership was nothing short of a four-alarm fire. . .

Laurie and Kathy met on a press tour to Metro Atlanta several years ago. Each had a business: Laurie had her own company, providing destination marketing and PR to clients all over Georgia, then her home state. Kathy was working as a freelance travel writer and penning books. Both loved the travel and tourism industry and knew that it was changing - and each wanted to combine ideas for a new way of doing business in one of the most exciting industries there is.

Several months later the two met again, this time for a press tour in Dahlonega, Georgia. Laurie had worked with Hal Williams, then director of the Dahlonega Convention & Visitors Bureau. Kathy and Hal were meeting for the first time. The mountain scenery was inspirational, the air scented with the promise of Something Big About To Happen. And it did - right at the bottom of a mountain road - when Laurie's car engine caught fire . . . at a gas station . . . with no working fire extinguisher.

Passersby stopped. Good Samaritans offered words of comfort. The fire department came howling through the streets. From his office a few blocks away, Hal heard the siren. "Nah . . . it couldn't be," he thought. But it was. Flames were shooting into the air. As Laurie and Kathy watched from a distance, Hal arrived at the scene.

And a partnership was born.

I guess you could say we're glad that fire wasn't extinguished. Our partnership has been burning with creative ideas ever since.

And it has engulfed other partners along the way. Georgia Turner is one. Laurie and Georgia knew each other casually and were brought together by Hal while he was in Dahlonega: Laurie for PR, Georgia for press tours. Kathy and Georgia knew each other - Kathy had traveled with the Georgia Turner Group for years - and it was on a GTG trip that she and Laurie met.

Laurie worked with Molly Gilbert at the State of Georgia and now Molly puts her experience as marketing and advertising manager for the State's tourism division to work for us as a consultant in evaluation and design of marketing materials. Mary Ann Anderson, travel writer and syndicated columnist, had crossed paths with Laurie and Hal - Georgia, too - and met Kathy at Georgia Travel Media Marketplace several years ago and now puts pen to paper for assignments for LRC. And last but not least, Carol Williams brings her heritage tourism experience to the team, joining Hal in historic and cultural tourism consulting work.

We call this flame synergy and know our team, from offices stretching from Kentucky to Florida to Georgia to Tennessee, blazes all the brighter because of it. Each partner brings a unique set of skills to the team and, when combined, fires up a new approach and a creative, customized public relations program for our clients.