November 2008

Ready for Change

A letter from CenStates President
by Dan Erkkila

I got one prediction dead-on in my last message - our annual conference was an outstanding success! In late September we gathered at a great venue, the Hotel Aztar in Evansville Indiana, for a fantastic event. We were greeted by Marilee Fowler, Evansville CVB director, who introduced Indiana travel director Amy Vaughan for a broad view on what has been happening in Indiana and where marketing the state is headed into the future.  The educational programs were very informative and we even had a wonderful icebreaker along the Ohio River one evening with absolutely superb weather. It just could not have been any better. Thank you Marilee for being a wonderful host! I encourage you to visit our website (www.censtatesttra.org) for highlights and, while you're at it, take note that next year's conference date and location has been set. We will be in Louisville Kentucky, September 16-18, 2009, so mark your calendar now!  Read more from Dan.

CenStates Delegates "Played Their Cards Right"

From Conference Chair Patty Becraft

If you missed the 2008 CenStates TTRA Conference in Evansville, Indiana, you missed a great conference!   Attendees to the CenStates conference at the Casino Aztar Hotel in Evansville September 24-26  "Played Their Cards Right" in Indiana by attending wonderful sessions and networking with more than 70 delegates, speakers, and sponsors. Year after year, our attendees tell us that the CenStates conference is the most affordable and educational conference they attend.   We are indeed fortunate to have loyal and generous sponsors and repeat attendees.  

The post-conference survey tells the story; once again the conference scored very high with attendee satisfaction, primarily because CenStates offers delegates a very low-cost, high-content conference. Yes, it's a lot of numbers and statistics, but more than anything it is about demonstrating and proving accountability.  Now more than ever, we need to spend our money wisely, and research allows us to focus on what works and what doesn't.  By having this information, we can "Play Our Cards Right" and take a lot of the chance and pure luck out of playing the game!

And, the one attendee that proved she could "Play Her Cards Right" was Dee Ann McKinney who was the winner of Magellan GPS.  All attendees visited the vendor booths and "wheeled and dealed" to make the best possible card hand.  With the vendors' assistance, a total of four Royal Flush card hands were shown at the closing of the conference.  After drawing the highest card, Dee Ann came out on top.  Congratulations to Dee Ann!

So mark your calendars for 2009! Next year's conference will be held in Louisville, Kentucky September 16-18.  Hope to see you there!
 

Conference Presentations & Photos Available

CenStates' delegates absorbed a wealth of information from some wonderful speakers and topics. You may access the speakers' presentations and the conference photos here.

Plus, dozens of great photos tell the story of the wonderful time and informative speakers that attendees experienced at the CenStates conference.   Our most popular session was a focus group comprised of students that explained how they prefer to get information in this ever-evolving world of technology.  They told us and we listened!  CenStates created a Facebook account where all conference photos were posted.  If you don't have a Facebook account, it's very easy to create one!  See the photos on Facebook!
 

New CenStates Chapter Directors Elected

In the recent election, four new members of the chapter have been elected to the Board of Directors, beginning January 1, 2009.  They are:

Terry Berggren, Destination Marketing, Ruf Strategic Solutions
Bob Frohoff, VP, Media, MMG Worldwide
Christian Hornbaker, Director, Nebraska Division of Travel and      Tourism
Sarah Williams, Corporate Research Analyst, Herschend Family  Entertainment Properties

These new directors will join the following officers of the CenStates Chapter:
Chairman - Aileen Thorne, US International Media
President - Dan Erkkila, University of Minnesota
Vice President - Patty Becraft, Springfield, Missouri CVB
Treasurer - Lorinda Foster, Missouri Division of Tourism

Directors midway through their two-year terms are:
John Packer, TNS
Richard Smalley, Kansas Department of Commerce
Alisha Valentine, Strategic Marketing & Research, Inc.

Members are encouraged to share their thoughts and ideas for the CenStates Chapter with the officers and directors.
 

Thanks to Retiring Board Members

While we welcome four new people to the CenStates Board of Directors, we want to thank our departing Board members for their service and contributions to CenStates:  Jim Epperson, Executive Director, Harrison County CVB, Indiana, Mona Juett, former Research Manager of the Kentucky Department o f Tourism, Jerry Murphy, Owner, Gerard Murphy & Associates, Tim Binder former Marketing Research Analyst of the South Dakota Office of Tourism and LuAnn Reinders, Research & Welcome Center Manager of the Iowa Tourism Office.   

These Board members have contributed many volunteer hours, ideas and skills to hel make CenStates one of the strongest TTRA chapters in the country. Thank you!
 

Tourism Capital Development Case Study

By Marilee Fowler, Evansville CVB

In 1977 w hen the Evansville Convention and Visitors Bureau (ECVB) was established by special Indiana legislation, no one was thinking about tourism capital development.  But 31 years ago, the Evansville business leaders who took the lead to start a Bureau, wrote the legislation to do just that.  By Indiana law, the ECVB dedicates a portion of the innkeeper's tax for tourism capital development. Read what happened next.

 

Trending Water in CenStates

This quarterly column on tourism trends is coordinated by Dee Ann McKinney, Strategic Planning & Research Director for the Missouri Division of Tourism. This is just one way to see what's on your mind and the minds of those in our industry.

For this column, we have two key leaders in the fields of national tourism research and state tourism office management: David Sheatsley, Director, Marketing Research for the Travel Industry Association (TIA) and Christian Hornbaker, Tourism Director for Nebraska!

Read the Trends!

Have a trend you'd like to share with the CenStates world?  Contact Dee Ann at deeann.mckinney@ded.mo.gov  and tell her about it!
 

 Welcome New Executive Director

CenStates welcomes new Executive Director Cathi Tanner Wineland, who began her duties with the chapter last summer. Cathi is principal of CTW Communications, which provides association and event management services to various clients including the Association of Indiana Convention and Visitors Bureaus. Her previous experience includes public relations positions with the Indianapolis Convention & Visitors Association, an advertising agency, the local public transit corporation, and several other not-for-profit organizations. Cathi is an active volunteer with Meals on Wheels, Girls Scouts, her daughters' schools, and church. A native of Ohio, Cathi now lives in Indianapolis with her husband, Rob, and two teenage daughters. She is looking forward to working with the members of TTRA.