 From meetings, to free food, to an evening on Main Street that was so vibrant and had the mayor dancing, the Kentucky travel industry's Spring Travel Forum had plenty of events on its agenda that showcased Pikeville's attractions and history. This is the first time that the three-day conference has been held east of Louisville and the city of Pikeville has worked for two years to get the conference to the growing mountain city. We're following back-to-back with SOAR and this conference of course is our Spring Forum for 2015. We have educational sessions that go along with our certification and our goal here is to highlight Pikeville, Pike County while they're here. As Miss Judy Patton, our chair lady would say, we're not done yet, we have more to do. Tourism representatives and workers from all around the state took part in the conference and were able to see what Pikeville Tourism offers as they were granted access to the Hatfield and McCoy tours, the new zip line, and other local attractions. Yesterday evening they were treated to a private 50s themed block party at the Billy Johnson stage outside of the East Kentucky Expo Center supplied with free horse carriage rides and other entertainment. I think it's awesome. I had no idea anything like this had been in Pikeville. I've never been to Pikeville, so I'm really impressed by the downtown. I mean it's beautiful, there's people walking around, people on bikes, music. I mean it's so lively here, I had no idea. The conference also provides an economic boost to the city. Oh my goodness, you can talk about conferences and conventions and motor coaches, but when you have a conference come into your area and can spend $10,000 to $15,000 a day in your area on lodging and meals and preparations for those, you've done something right. These people leave Eastern Kentucky talking about Eastern Kentucky and our region and no amount of money can buy that marketing. Pikeville's charm rubbed off on some of the tourism visitors during their time here. I just took a carriage ride actually with the dream stable folks and they took us around downtown and it's so charming here, I love it. Reporting for EKB Evening News at 6, I'm Courtney Levering.