last month I gave a tour of various industrial and historic sites in the
 Youngstown, Ohio area in conjunction with a Society for Industrial Archeology
 symposium.  We had three van loads of people and just basically drove down
 public highways and stopped at various sites of steel mills and I gave a brief
 explanation of what happened at these various locations. I tried to give an
 overview of the extent of the industrial activity in Youngstown by showing
 historic photos of these sites and telling antecdotes about some interesting
 events that happened there.

It seems that this tour was well liked by all participants, and many people
 came away from it with a much better understanding of the steel mills that
 once lined the Mahoning Valley for ten miles.  I started thinking about
 offering this tour on a regular basis, perhaps a couple days a week or by
 appointment, and adding stops at a couple local museums and other historic
 sites, and making a half day "Exploring Youngstown's Heritage" tour.

I would like to know if this sort of thing is done in other areas, and how
 successful they have been.  How are those tour programs set up and run, what
 do they charge, how are they advertised etc. What liabilities are we exposing
 ourselves to by driving a dozen or so people around in a van all over town.

Could anyone help me out?

Rick Rowlands
JBFPA, Inc.
Youngstown, OH