Six Takeaways on how to Digitally Promote Your City During a Trade Show

by on May 9, 2012 in Best Practices, Digital Marketing, Economic Development, Events

Earlier this week, I wrote a blog about how two cities leveraged trade shows online to generate awareness and conversation about their community.

If you’re currently in the planning stage of how to market your organization at an upcoming trade show (that’s you folks going to BIO!), I hope you take some inspiration from what these cities did.

To help with your planning, here are just a few key takeaways to consider:

  1. Do the Research: Is the audience headed to the show active on social mediums? If yes, which one? Is there a LinkedIn Group for the conference? Is there a conference hashtag on Twitter you can use to monitor the conversation? For reference, BIO’s hashtag is #bio2012.
  2. Determine Goal: Do you want to increase followers, schedule additional meetings or dinners, increase awareness of your region? Having a goal will focus your efforts.
  3. Develop a Plan: Pretty simple, but this is critical. The plan should include the tactics needed to help you reach your goal.
  4. Schedule Tweets: We use Hootsuite to schedule tweets. It’s extremely useful in advance of the show so you can still work the show floor. Monitor the conversation throughout the day during the show to see if there’s an opportunity for engagement.
  5. Have Fun: Trade shows are about relationship building and social media is another tool you can use to develop those relationships, especially if you bring out your awesome personality.
  6. Measure and Report Back your Success: The most important takeaway! Did you get an increase in engagement, schedule meetings, did people sign up for your promotion? What behavior did your marketing help influence? That’s what you’ll want to measure and report back to your stakeholders.
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Top Five Delegate Boosting Tips for Destinations

by on February 22, 2012 in Best Practices, Events, Marketing, MICE

Last  week, I attended the Dallas Heli-Expo to delegate boost for the upcoming Helicopter Expo taking place in Dubai in November.  I’ll admit that I’m not an expert on the benefits of fixed wing vs. flex wing aircraft and lack extensive technical knowledge about aviation industry. Yet I found success in delegate boosting from the tradeshow floor by deploying five simple tactics.

  • Tip 1: Make Eye Contact and Smile

Such simple advice and yet, it makes all the difference in the world. Research estimates that body language, including facial expressions, account for 55% of all communication.  You are much more likely to have people approach you when your body language is inviting them to do so.  With the advent of the smartphone, there’s always the temptation to check email while standing at a booth but doing so sends the wrong message.  Delegate boosting is about creating awareness and that starts with you!

  • Tip 2: Ask Questions

Engaging prospects once they reach your booth is paramount.  A majority of people are turned off by a “hard sell”, but simple questions such as, “have you heard about our convention,” or “have you been to our destination,” engages prospects.  If they have, this is an excellent opportunity to further discuss.  If they haven’t, you are likely to hear “I’ve always wanted to go,” and this is an even better opportunity for you to peak their interest.

  • Tip 3:  Have A Good Story To Tell

Hello elevator pitch! Of course you tailor it to the person you are talking to and their interest level, but this is your best chance to sell based on what they have revealed in the conversation.

  • Tip 4: Stop In and Say “Hello”

Doing “booth drops” with remaining collateral you can raise awareness and engage prospects you have not connected with previously.  I suggest doing this on the last day of a tradeshow, when traffic is dissipating.  Just walk up to say, “Hope you had a great show! Just wanted to tell you about the upcoming event that we are hosting…”

  • Tip 5: Don’t Be A Stranger

This seems like a no-brainer, but many people lose business because they neglect to follow-up on all sales leads.

These simple, yet effective tips can make all the difference in the world.  If you have other tips that are worth recommending, comment on our blog and let us know!

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Virginia Really is for Lovers

by on February 14, 2012 in Digital, Events, Marketing, Public Relations, Social Networks, Tourism

What’s love got to do, got to do with it?

For the Virginia Tourism Corporation, love has a lot to do with it. The iconic and enduring “Virginia is for Lovers” campaign, originally launched in 1969,  is reaching new heights and sharing the love in unexpected places across the state.

Two new initiatives were launched in June 2011 to show “love is at the heart of every Virginia vacation”:

LOVE artwork in cork at Veritas Vineyards

 

  • The VTC is encouraging local tourism partners to creatively spell out the word “love” to align with the VTC campaign and garner social media playback. Local destinations have already fallen in love with the opportunity: Primland Resort spelled LOVE with almost 2,000 golf balls, Veritas Vineyards tasting room utilized hundreds of wine bottle corks and The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts brought their new mummy exhibit to life by creating LOVE with people dressed as mummies.

 

LOVE comes to Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden

  • The VTC has also created oversized LOVE artwork letters (16 feet wide by 7 feet high) that local tourism-related destinations can rent to launch special exhibits, new attractions and large-scale events. Available on a first-come, first-serve basis, for just $500, attractions can literally show the LOVE for three to seven days.

The state branding effort that has transcended through the ages is bolstering these initiatives through social media by promoting destination displays with Facebook and Twitter using the hashtag #LOVEVA.

 

 

“The LOVE artwork has helped Virginia tap into the power of social media and share our key message that ‘Love is at the heart of every Virginia vacation’ to potential travelers throughout the world,” says Tamra Talmadge-Anderson, Director of Public Relations for the Virginia Tourism Corporation.

“Our goal is to remind people that Virginia is for Lovers is all about love – pure and simple.  The artwork has become a tourist attraction in itself and has been shared thousands of times on Facebook and Twitter.”

It seems like St. Valentine could learn a thing or two from the VTC. How are you going to spread the love in your destination this year?

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Industry Experts Focus on International Meetings Market at DCI’s Trends in Travel Discussion

by on May 18, 2011 in Events

The International Meetings market was the subject of a roundtable discussion held on May 10th, 2011 as part of DCI’s Trends in Travel series.  This one-hour discussion identified the latest trends among corporate and association planners pertaining to both incentives and meetings.

Panel getting introduced by Karyl Leigh Barnes of DCI.

 

Guest speakers for the event included (seen above):

  • Vince Alonzo, Editor in Chief, Successful Meetings and Incentive Magazine
  • Fred Diniz, Managing Director, Global Events Consultants
  • Brian Riggs, Manager, Business Development & Outreach,
    Association Headquarters

These experts shared their viewpoints about effective strategies for securing a share of the international meetings market with audience members from worldwide National Tourism Offices and CVBs, responding to questions about changes in buying patterns, corporate budget demands, and associations’ outlook on international travel in 2011 and beyond.

Attendees of the event.

 

“These speakers gave me a new perspective on the changing marketplace and how I could use that to my advantage,” said Veronique Boyens of Brussels Convention Bureau.

DCI hosts the Trends in Travel series on a quarterly basis with this being the first to focus on international meetings.  Karyl Leigh Barnes, Managing Partner of DCI’s Tourism Practice commented on the new development,

“DCI’s acquisition of Mondotels, the industry leader in meetings and incentive sales as well as marketing, completes our full-service offering of public relations and marketing for leisure, travel trade and now meetings/incentives.  This session gave destination marketers access to the most up-to-date information for attracting new business.”

Upcoming events in DCI’s Trends in Travel series will include a session for tourism offices to interview industry experts about leisure travel trends, and a workshop on effective methods for communicating to travelers.

Programs are hosted at DCI’s headquarters at 215 Park Avenue South in New York City and are webcast globally.

For more information or to attend a future discussion, contact DCI at tourism@aboutdci.com

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International Meetings Market Demystified: May 10th Summit Meeting on Trends

by on April 28, 2011 in Events

Tweet What is the current state of international meetings and the outlook for 2012? DCI’s Trends in Travel series will examine this topic with 3 guest speakers in a one-hour roundtable discussion on Tuesday May 10th at 3:30pm Eastern Time. International Tourism Offices and CVBs are invited to attend the summit where our experts will [...]

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