Ginna Foster Cannon, PhD, is the Director of Cultural and Heritage Tourism for the Rutherford County Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB), the tourism arm of the Chamber of Commerce. She splits her time between nurturing and promoting the “Richness of Rutherford,” the elements that contribute the county’s unique sense of place. The Richness of Rutherford includes the area’s natural beauty, rich history, artistic community, friendly people, shop & eat local, and Middle Tennessee State University. Ginna’s work with the Rutherford Arts Alliance focuses on nurturing creativity, establishing creative placemaking, advocating for the Arts and identifying where there are gaps in creative offerings. This fits hand in glove with her work at the CVB promoting the Richness of Rutherford and showcasing unique, authentic experiences. Creative communities are vibrant and offer a variety of things to do and see. They are great places to live and great places to visit. Arts and tourism together drive economic impact within our community. Ginna Foster Cannon joined the Convention & Visitors Bureau staff in 2018. Most recently, she was a post-doctorate fellow at the Center for Historic Preservation at Middle Tennessee State University. While working on her dissertation, “An Exploration of Tennessee’s Historic Hotels as Cultural Heritage Tourism Assets,” she gained hands-on tourism experience as the professional resident at the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development and Main Street experience with Historic Lebanon. Prior to MTSU, she worked in the publishing industry, as project manager in business development for McGraw-Hill, and as president and founder of Swift Book Promotion, LLC. In addition to her doctor of philosophy from MTSU, she earned a bachelor of arts from Harvard College, master of business administration from Columbia Business School and master of liberal arts and sciences from Vanderbilt University.