Survey asks how community events affect Brookings residents

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BROOKINGS – Events, such as the Brookings Summer Arts Festival, the Fourth of July celebration and Hobo Day, attract visitors to the Brookings community – that’s the goal.

Vendors and hotels reap financial benefits and the events themselves enrich the lives of all residents, but more people can also mean more traffic and more trash, according to South Dakota State University assistant professor Xu Li of the Department of Consumer Sciences.

“There are both positive and negative aspects to these events,” said Li, noting other research studies. She and assistant professor Hung-Lung (Stella) Liu of the Department of Health and Nutritional Sciences want to know how Brookings residents perceive these events as affecting the community as a whole and their own personal lives, economically, socially and environmentally.

To find out, the SDSU researchers are asking adults who have lived in Brookings at least 12 months to fill out a short online survey available at https://be2019.questionpro.com/ by Sept. 15. Those who finish the survey can enter a drawing to win one of four $100 Amazon gift certificates. The survey will take about 15 minutes to complete.

The research project is funded by the SDSU College of Education and Human Sciences. Undergraduate students from hospitality management and sports and recreation management are also working on the project.

“The survey results will help guide future event planning,” Li said. The researchers will share their results with local event planners and organizers as well as city officials.