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Mayor Helps to Bring Citywide Business
to Baltimore
On Monday, BACVA launched an
aggressive new sales campaign to raise Baltimore's profile leading up to the
convention industry's most prestigious tradeshow - the American Society of
Association Executives. The promotion includes a traveling Baltimore Bus
that made stops in Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia
earlier this week and is now on its way to Chicago - the host city for this year's
ASAE event August 11-14. For the first time, BACVA has formed a three-year
strategic partnership with ASAE to leverage its marketing resources and
generate greater awareness of Baltimore
with the association executives who work closely with ASAE and who decide
where to hold their conventions and meetings.
On Monday, the Baltimore Bus, which is wrapped with BACVA's logo and
tagline and promotes how easy it is to walk everywhere in Baltimore,
took Mayor Sheila Dixon and downtown hotel general managers to D.C. to kick
off the "Baltimore
on the Road" sales mission. The day included a special lunch prepared
by Baltimore
restaurateur Cindy Wolf for more than 40 meeting and convention customers.
After lunch the Mayor made sales calls with customers who are considering Baltimore for future meetings and, at the same time,
sales teams from BACVA and the hotels called on more than 150 additional
customers in the D.C. and Virginia
area. For more information on this sales mission and strategic partnership
with ASAE, click
here.
Click
here for photos from the event
Rite Aid Convention Good Medicine for Baltimore
The city is preparing to welcome Rite Aid's annual convention back to Baltimore August
14-22. More than 5,000 attendees are expected to attend this citywide
convention that is estimated to generate $5.2 million in direct spending.
Rite Aid's return to Baltimore was the
result of a joint sales mission in May 2005, when a group of hotel general
managers and sales staff from the Baltimore
Convention Center joined BACVA on
a sales trip to Camp Hill, Pa.,
to meet with Rite Aid executives about bringing their 2007 convention back
to Baltimore.
The Rite Aid Company has a long history with Baltimore — hosting its annual
meeting here from 1996-2001 and again in 2004. Additional efforts are under
way to bring the convention back to Baltimore
for future years.
Save the Date
for BACVA's Annual Meeting
This year's annual meeting will
be held on September 12 beginning at 4 p.m. at the Baltimore Convention
Center and feature guest speaker is Ross
Shafer, author of Nobody Moved Your Cheese! During this year's meeting
BACVA will distribute four different awards recognizing outstanding
contributions to the tourism industry including Customer of the Year,
Baltimore Sales person of the Year, and the Charlyene Grimes Customer
Service Award. We will also be honoring Governor William Donald Schafer
with a special award. A light reception will immediately follow.
Registration begins at 3:30 p.m.; and tickets are $35 for members and $300
for a table of 10, and $60 for non-members and $500 for a table of 10. To
R.S.V.P and purchase tickets, please email annualmtg@baltimore.org or call
410-659-7988.
Steve Miller Customer Event
On July 26, BACVA partnered with International Meeting Network Solutions to
host 25 convention customers and their guests for a musical evening with
the Steve Miller Band at Wolftrap. The concert provided the opportunity for
BACVA to network with and sell Baltimore
to convention customers including the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of
America, National Science Teachers Association, and the National Legal Aid
& Defender Association, to name just a few. Click
here for photos from the event.
Summer Marketing Campaign Results
Recognizing the impact of higher gas prices, BACVA leveraged its summer
savings coupon book to promote Baltimore as
an affordable summer getaway in a "Find more family fun in Baltimore"
campaign. BACVA targeted women with children, 35-54, with household incomes
of $60K + in the Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia area through a
combination of paid and in-kind radio spots; online marketing; and outdoor
ads on bus shelters, sides of buses, and interior subway signs all
directing traffic to Baltimore.org. This generated over 400,000 visits, 310,981
of them from unique users. The campaign also generated over 8.9 million
advertising impressions in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.
The coupon book, which offered more than $450 in savings, was downloaded
over 9,064 times marking a 40 percent increase over last summer.
BACVA Seeks Free Fall Savings
This October the city of Baltimore
will welcome back Free Fall Baltimore — a celebration of arts and
culture that features free programming at venues and organizations
throughout the city. To make Free Fall Baltimore more attractive to
out-of-town visitors, BACVA will once again create an arts and culture
insider's guide micro-site that not only features information on Free Fall
events, but includes downloadable coupons and hotel packages that entice a
visitor to extend his or her stay in Baltimore.
All BACVA member hotels are encouraged to submit discounted Free Fall
Baltimore hotel packages for inclusion on the site. This free marketing
opportunity could direct additional visitors to your properties in October.
Please submit all offers to Dionne Joyner, manager of advertising and
promotions, at djoyner@baltimore.org.
You may also contact her with questions at 410-659-7047.
Recent Customer Site Visits
- Property
Loss Research Bureau -
August 6, 2007. Meeting planners are looking at Baltimore for future meeting
opportunities.
In the Baltimore Convention
Center...
Rite Aid
Corporation
2007 Annual
Trade Show
August 14-22
Attendance: 5,000
Room Nights: 11,650
Estimated Direct Spending: $5.2 million
Meetings in Venues other than the Baltimore Convention Center (Booked by BACVA)
National
Supreme Council Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite Masons
2007 National
Supreme Council Convention
August 9-16
Attendance: 400
Room Nights: 1,600
Estimated Direct Spending: $414,400
African
American Credit Union Coalition
August 9-11
Attendance: 325
Room Nights: 460
Estimated Direct Spending: $336,700
National
Association of Elevator Safety Authorities International
NAESA
International Annual Workshop
August 10-16
Attendance: 200
Room Nights: 700
Estimated Direct Spending: $207,200
System
Safety Society
25th
International System Safety Society
August 11-19
Attendance: 275
Room Nights: 1,025
Estimated Direct Spending: $284,900
Association
for Professionals in Infection Control & Epidemiology
APIC EPI 101
& 102 2007
August 13-16
Attendance: 300
Room Nights: 655
Estimated Direct Spending: $310,800
National Center for Manufacturing Sciences
NCMS/AMT
Technical Conference
August 14-15
Attendance: 125
Room Nights: 150
Estimated Direct Spending: $129,500
Health
Communications, Inc.
Annual Alcohol
Responsibility Conference
August 21-25
Attendance: 1,000
Room Nights: 644
Estimated Direct Spending: $1 million
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