BuckeyeLine

Full Speed Ahead!

Happy February from the Ohio Tourism Division! Can you believe it? We are already into the second month of the year, and things just keep getting more exciting here at the Division. Regardless of whether or not the groundhog saw his shadow, the spring/summer travel season is just around the corner for those of us in the Tourism Industry. As promised last month, we are geared up and ready to go!

In addition to the co-operative opportunities that we presented to the Industry last fall, our team has come up with a terrific plan to enhance the kick-off of our big spring/summer marketing push to drive visitors to Ohio! I am delighted to announce a new series of Town Hall meetings starting later this month that will provide you with several important opportunities and updates including:

• A current status update on the Tourism Division and its future;
• A presentation of NEW Ohio Tourism Month marketing and partnership opportunities;
• An overview of the NEW enhancements to DiscoverOhio.com, including the Buckeye Database submission process, and MyOhio;
• The rollout of a NEW partnership that will make it easy and affordable for your business/organization to begin engaging in mobile marketing; and
• Opportunities to ask questions, interact and engage with Ohio Tourism Division leadership and team members.

We are planning for a total of seven Town Hall meetings between Feb. 22 and mid-March. Please read the article in this issue of BuckeyeLine for the dates and locations nearest your place of business. This is a great opportunity to connect with your peers before our busiest leisure travel season begins.

On a sad note, I must share with you the news that our very own Assistant Director, Alicia Reece, will be leaving the Ohio Tourism Division to pursue the next chapter in her career of public service. During the past two and a half years, Alicia has proven herself an invaluable part of the Tourism Division and our Industry. She played important roles in the development and execution of our last two marketing campaigns, as well as the expansion of our multicultural marketing initiatives. Her warm personality, partnership skills and relentless drive to help us meet our goals and objectives will be missed. The good news is that we will always have her as an advocate and friend of this $39 billion Industry, and we thank her for all she has done to help us do an even better job of telling the world about Ohio. Alicia’s last day at the Division will be Friday, Feb. 12, 2010.

Moving forward, the Ohio Tourism Roundtable Leadership continues to make progress on your behalf regarding the future of marketing Ohio. Keep your eyes open for updates in the coming weeks regarding their work on a private/public model and ongoing dialogue with the administration and other key stakeholders. I am looking forward to a terrific month and to seeing all of you on the road in your own backyards!

Safe Travels,

Amir

Feb./March Town Halls to Provide New Marketing Opportunities, Important Updates

The Division is holding seven town hall meetings throughout the state to discuss important Division news, announcements and opportunities. The town hall meetings are must-attend events for Industry partners looking for new partnership and marketing opportunities and to engage one-on-one with the Tourism Division leadership and team members. Industry partners also are strongly encouraged to attend a town hall meeting to receive the most up-to-date information on the Division and its future.

Following are dates and locations for the town hall meetings. Please RSVP to Joy Doty (by dates indicated below) at joy.doty@development.ohio.gov and remember to indicate which session you plan to attend. We hope to see you at one of these events!

Central Ohio--Dublin
Monday, Feb. 22
1:00 – 4:00 p.m.
The Conference Center at OCLC
6565 Kilgour Place
Dublin, OH 43017
RSVP: Wednesday, Feb. 17

Western Ohio--Lima
Wednesday, Feb. 24
1:00 – 4:00 p.m.
City Club
144 S. Main St., 3rd Floor
Lima, OH 45801
RSVP: Friday, Feb. 19

Southwest Ohio--Mason
Monday, March 1
1:00 – 4:00 p.m.
Great Wolf Lodge
2501 Great Wolf Drive
Mason, OH 45040
RSVP: Tuesday, Feb. 23

Southeast Ohio--Cambridge
Wednesday, March 3
9:00 a.m. – Noon
Cambridge/Guernsey County Visitors and Convention Bureau
627 Wheeling Ave.
Cambridge, OH 43725
RSVP: Friday, Feb. 26

Northeast Ohio--Akron
Friday, March 5
1:00 – 4:00 p.m.
Akron/Summit Convention and Visitors Bureau
77 E. Mill St.
Akron, OH 44308
RSVP: Monday, March 1

Northwest Ohio--Port Clinton
Monday, March 8
1:00 – 4:00 p.m.
Ottawa County Convention and Visitors Bureau
770 S.E. Catawba Road
Port Clinton, OH 43452
RSVP: Wednesday, March 3

Southern Ohio--Chillicothe
Thursday, March 11
9:00 a.m. – Noon
The Pump House Center for the Arts
Enderlin Circle in Yoctangee Park
P.O. Box 1613
N. Mulberry St.
Chillicothe, OH 45601
RSVP: Monday, March 8

Co-Op Advertising Deadlines Fast Approaching

The Division has once again invested in a robust co-op advertising plan encompassing print, radio and online media. We know that we are most successful when we’re working together in partnership. Deadlines for several co-op opportunities are coming up in February and March, including AAA Motorist – Northeast Ohio and Pittsburgh (Thursday, Feb. 4), the regional newspaper insert through Madden Media (Friday, Feb. 19), Scholastic Parent and Child (Monday, March 8) and Crossings (Wednesday, March 31).

For more information on these and other co-op opportunities, please visit http://Industry.discoverohio.com/media/537/355.pdf or contact Joe Vargo at joe.vargo@development.ohio.gov or (614) 644-0786.

2009 Economic Impact Study Order Deadline Feb. 26

Time to your order your 2009 study is quickly running out. The last day to order a 2009 county level economic impact study is Friday, Feb. 26. The economic impact study assesses the economic impact of tourism for each county. In your report, you will receive the dollar amount of visitor spending, the number of jobs supported by tourism and the amount of taxes generated in your area, as well as other vital information. The reports are expected to be delivered in early May 2010. For additional information and a price quote, please contact Eric Herzog at eric.herzog@development.ohio.gov or (614) 466-0338.

Ohio Tourism Month Special Announcement Forthcoming

Please watch for a Special BuckeyeLine this month detailing Ohio Tourism Month marketing participation opportunities along with information on Multicultural Tourism Day. The Division is in the final stages of developing an Ohio Tourism Month strategy that will take us on the road, utilize social media and promote Ohio tourism packages and travel incentives in Ohio and surrounding states.

2010 S/S Ohio Calendar of Events Now Available

The new 2010 Spring/Summer Ohio Calendar of Events are in and making us all eager for spring, and bulk quantities of the calendar are available.

Initial bulk orders will be limited to one box (100 quantity) of calendars through mid-March to allow us sufficient time to fulfill a majority of consumer requests before resuming fulfillment of bulk orders.

Bulk quantities of the free 2010 Spring/Summer Ohio Calendar of Events can be ordered online. 

2010-11 F/W Calendar of Events Deadline April 16

To have your Ohio event considered for inclusion in the printed 2010-11 Fall/Winter Ohio Calendar of Events (50,000 quantity printed), please submit/update your information in the DiscoverOhio.com/Buckeye database by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, April 16.

If your database entry is current, there is no need to re-submit. Please review your entries to ensure dates, times, phone numbers, etc. are current and accurate. The calendar will cover events that take place between September 2010, and February 2011. Due to space limitations, not all events submitted and approved will appear in the printed calendar, however, all approved events will be available on DiscoverOhio.com.

If you’re interested in advertising opportunities in the calendar, please contact your advertising representative or Jillian LaManna, Great Lakes Publishing Advertising Coordinator, at jlamanna@ohiomagazine.com or (216) 377-3655.

New York Media Mission Rich with Opportunities

Ohio stormed the Big Apple media scene this year with representatives from six Tourism Industry partners including: Jennifer Burns, Warren County CVB; Lexi Robinson-Hotchkiss, Positively Cleveland; Scott Peacock, Experience Columbus; Susan Fryer, Greater Licking County CVB, Christy Eckstein, Ohio Grape Growers Council; Mary Szymkowiak, Dublin CVB; Ann Marcum, Fahlgren Mortine PR; and Tamara Brown, Ohio Tourism Division. Many thanks to this group for their outstanding promotion of the entire state!

This year, in addition to the travel-specific and women’s service publications we have targeted in the past, we added meetings with a couple of male-focused publications, in-flight magazines and a publication aimed at the very high-end traveler. We learned a lot about these “new” publications and became acquainted with some new contacts at publications we know and love. Our appointment schedule included: MyMidwest (in-flight magazine of Midwest Airlines), GO (in-flight magazine of Air Tran Airlines), Parents magazine, Budget Travel, Country Living, Maxim, Family Circle, Elite Traveler, American Baby, Field & Stream, Working Mother and Fodors.com.

It was encouraging to hear that the in-flight publications have some upcoming Ohio stories in their editorial calendars, and there were only a couple of contacts that were not at all familiar with the Buckeye State, so perhaps we’re making progress. We’ll be reaching out to partners for additional information and images as we follow up on our media contacts’ interests.

The accompanying picture is from our national media splash on The Today Show! It was worth braving the cold temperature and snow to shake Al Roker’s hand and get our O-H-I-O signage in front of a national audience. Al is just like some of the other media representatives we met on this mission – a person may move out of Ohio, but they are still Buckeyes at heart!

(Pictured from left to right: Jennifer Burns, Warren County CVB; Scott Peacock, Experience Columbus; Tammy Brown, Ohio Tourism Division; Christy Eckstein, Ohio Grape Industries Council; Ann Marcum, Fahlren Mortine Public Relations; Susan Fryer, Greater Licking County CVB; Lexi Robinson-Hotchkiss, Positively Cleveland)

DiscoverOhio.com Buckeye Database

On Jan. 7, the Division launched Phase I of our Web site User Enhancements project designed to provide database users with a better online experience. As some of you are aware, we have experienced some minor challenges with the Buckeye Database during this initial launch, and we thank you for your patience while we iron out any remaining issues. The following improvements will make it easier for Industry members to manage your listings.

After listening to user feedback on the Buckeye Database, we made several enhancements to this section of the Industry site to provide you with a streamlined process for entering and editing events and attraction information. These changes include:
• Manage Groups: Many of our partners have several staff members assigned to handle their listings. Our improved Manage Groups feature allows the person who creates and updates their entity’s listing to generate sub-accounts for others in their organization to also manage that information.
• Import/Export: Some Industry members enter information on numerous listings that can be used in places other than the DiscoverOhio.com/Buckeye Database. With the new Import/Export feature, users can export their listings, edit them outside the DiscoverOhio.com/Buckeye database and upload the information in a batch process.
• Auto Search Feature: This new feature alerts you if another attraction or event with the same name is already listed in the system, and will help reduce the number of duplicate listings on DiscoverOhio.com.

We also consolidated the majority of the required listing information into one tab on the submission form with expandable/collapsible boxes. These additional changes include:
• Streamlined hours of operation entry
• GPS location
• Improved text editor for descriptions
• Improved submission process
• Implementation of a terms of service agreement

We invite you to check out a video review of the enhanced submission form that includes tips on how to use the new tools. The video is available at http://Industry.discoverohio.com/media/5/335.swf.

The Division is excited to continue to roll out the new enhancements to both the consumer and Industry Web sites. We strive to offer you the best possible experience in managing your listings, while providing consumers with a visually attractive experience as they search for their next great Ohio getaway. If you have any questions or concerns regarding your experience with the enhanced Web site, please contact Eric Herzog at eric.herzog@development.ohio.gov or Roger Barker at roger.barker@development.ohio.gov.

Ohio Gears up for Heartland

Ninety-nine Ohio group tour exhibitors are getting ready for the 25th Annual Heartland Travel Showcase, Feb. 19 – 21, at the Greater Columbus Convention Center. Nearly 700 attendees from Ohio, Michigan, Ontario, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia, New York, Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and Pennsylvania are expected to attend. Ohio will have the largest delegation present—kudos to Experience Columbus for hosting this year’s event! Additional Ohio highlights include FAM tours sponsored by Lake Erie Shores and Islands, Licking County, Columbus and Holmes County. For more information on Heartland Travel Showcase, visit www.ohiotravel.org/heartland.html.

E-mail Marketing Best Practices

Marketing via e-mail is an effective way of communicating what your business has to offer, but how do you know if you’re putting your best effort forward when utilizing this strategy? Following are several best practices to keep in mind when using e-mail marketing.

1. “From” Line: The “From” line is most likely the first thing your recipient sees in your communications effort, Brand it! Not only is this a great branding opportunity, but also the place where you identify your company or organization. E-mails from unknown people and/or company departments likely end up in the deleted items folder.

2. Subject Line: This information is likely the only other information to appear in the inbox and the key to getting your e-mail read. Assuming you made it past the “From” line filter, the subject line will get fewer than a second’s worth of attention, so make it count. The subject line is key to getting your e-mail opened and having your recipient actually read it. 

3. When to Send: The best days for open rates seem to be the middle of the week (Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays), however, you should always test your e-mails. Last-minute specials for a weekend getaway may prove to sell better if sent on a Thursday or Friday.

4. Providing a “Forward to a Friend” Link: Your subscribers have indicated an interest in what you have to offer. It’s likely they have friends who also may be interested. Providing a FTAF link is a good way to build your subscriber list, but it also offers more. Using this option from your e-mail service provider allows you to see who is forwarding, how often and the resulting actions. If you’re sending HTML formatted e-mail, it also will render better than just forwarding from the e-mail client.

5. Request an add to Safe Senders’ List: Want to make sure your recipients receive your e-mail? Ask them to “white list” your address. A simple way to do this is to include a message, such as the following, to your e-mail: “To ensure you receive your e-mail from (your company name) add (your e-mail address) to your list of trusted senders.” This simple, yet effective, practice is a great way to improve your e-mail deliverability.

Where in the World

Feb. 4: Amir at Clinton County CVB Open House
Feb. 19 – 21: Amir and Jessie attend Heartland Travel Showcase in Columbus
Feb. 22: Amir, Eric, Roger, Joe and Tammy at Town Hall Meeting in Dublin at OCLC Conference Center
Feb. 24: Amir, Eric, Roger, Joe and Tammy at Town Hall Meeting in western Ohio at the City Club in Lima
Feb. 25: Amir at Hocking Hills Tourism Association Annual Meeting

A New Year of Opportunities!

Happy New Year from the Ohio Tourism Division! It seems that late December and early January weather is working hard to ensure the success of our skiing, sledding and other winter outdoor adventure sectors so far, while chilly temperatures also make indoor water parks and other indoor attractions very tempting. I always look forward to the start of a new calendar year, as it truly is a fresh opportunity for us to reach new heights. Our team has returned from the holidays after reconnecting with friends and loved ones, and is full of energy and positive attitudes as we begin the new year!

Before we get too far ahead into 2010, I do want to briefly touch on the Division’s successes in 2009. Despite the recession’s toll on the economy, state budget and our Industry, your Ohio Tourism Division delivered a year of growth in key measures of its marketing successes. While we are still awaiting and compiling some data from the fourth quarter and year-end, I can safely tell you that our advertising efforts reached new heights in campaign efficiency and effectiveness, our media relations efforts yielded strong results and our online presence and utilization grew significantly.

In terms of partnerships, 2009 saw record levels of Industry engagement and leverage in terms of both cooperative marketing commitments and Division program utilization. While budget realities did dictate cuts to certain program elements, we successfully preserved and invested in those items with the highest proven returns, and even managed to roll out several new programs to benefit Ohio’s Tourism Industry.

This month there is an incredible amount of activity in our offices including:
• Rollout of key user enhancements to DiscoverOhio.com;
• New key Industry user enhancements and options in the Buckeye Database submissions;
• The New York Media Mission to reach key national travel and lifestyle media outlets;
• Continued spring/summer co-op promotion development;
• Development of our new mobile marketing initiative (co-op details to come by spring);
• Increased social media marketing.

In terms of our future public/private funding model development, the Ohio Tourism Roundtable continues its collaborative process with the Strickland Administration and Ohio Department of Development leadership. The Roundtable is close to an official Industry recommendation of a model that seeks to establish a dedicated funding source at a level that can sustain a “best-in-class” state tourism effort in a public/private model that will yield a significant return on investment to all stakeholders. More information will be available from the Roundtable in the coming weeks as the model is refined by the Industry. Hundreds of hours have been invested thus far by your Industry leadership and they are to be commended for their hard work on such a large project under a short timeframe. Please continue to attend their meetings and engage in their communications to stay current with their progress on your behalf.

Bottom Line: There may be snow on the ground, and the year may be very young, but peak travel season is not far off; our deadlines to ensure continued successful statewide tourism marketing efforts are on the horizon, and we have a lot of work to do together as an Industry to make sure that 2010 will be remembered as the beginning of the greatest decade for Ohio’s Tourism Industry!

Safe Travels,

Amir

Deadlines for Co-Op Advertising Approaching

The Division has once again invested in a robust co-op advertising plan encompassing print, radio and online media. We know that we are most successful when we’re working together in partnership. Deadlines for several co-op opportunities are coming up later this month, including Country Living (Jan. 18), Reader’s Digest (Jan. 22), O, The Oprah Magazine (Jan. 26) and AAA Publications (Jan. 7 and Feb. 4 for various regional titles.)

For more information on these and other co-op opportunities, please visit http://industry.discoverohio.com/media/537/355.pdf or contact Joe Vargo at joe.vargo@development.ohio.gov or (614) 644-0786.

2010 Travel Publications Coming Mid-February!

The 2009 Ohio Travel Planner (400,000 qty.) and the 2009-10 Fall/Winter Ohio Calendar of Events (50,000 qty.) have all been distributed through bulk and consumer request networks. The Division is now referring anyone who requests a publication to the online versions available on DiscoverOhio.com or by clicking here. The 2010 Ohio Travel Planner and 2010 Spring/Summer Ohio Calendar will be available in mid-February 2010.

New OHS Partnerships, Leadership for 2010

It has been a challenging year for many of us in the tourism Industry, however, one of the biggest challenge/success stories of 2009 has to be the Ohio Historical Society. Faced with serious funding cutbacks, the society has successfully forged new relationships with local groups to manage the daily operations of 45 of the society’s 58 historic sites and museums. Not only has working with local community organizations kept these historic sites intact and open for visitors, but in many cases, local management has resulted in increased hours of operation for visitors. Please help us spread the word that these amazing sites are open for business and will continue to preserve our history and educate and delight visitors. For additional information about specific OHS historic sites or museums, please visit www.ohiohistory.org/places.

In addition to new business models and partnerships heading into 2010 (and its 125th anniversary), the Ohio Historical Society also has found the individual they feel is best suited to lead the organization through these challenging times and beyond. Please join us in welcoming Burt Logan, new executive director and CEO of the Ohio Historical Society. Logan comes to OHS after serving 14 years as president of the USS Constitution Museum in Boston. During his tenure at the USS Constitution Museum, he structured the museum’s $3-million budget to come from earned income and development efforts; he raised $15 million for capital and special projects; and he increased the museum’s net worth from $2.1 to $8.3 million. For these accomplishments, he garnered the National Award for Museum Service from the American Association of Museums Accreditation Commission.

Industry Preparing for NY Media Mission

There was much interest from the Ohio Travel Industry this year regarding the New York, NY, Media Mission. While every area of our great state has a story to tell, we were able to narrow the number of participants for this year’s mission to six including: Positively Cleveland, Experience Columbus, the Cincinnati Regional Tourism Network, Licking Co. CVB, Warren Co. CVB and the Ohio Grape Industries Committee.

This group will head to New York for desk-side meetings with national tourism publications, bloggers, travel Web site representatives, etc. on Jan. 26. As always on our media missions, we will endeavor to showcase all of Ohio with your assistance. If you have any major anniversaries/events, timely special packages, exhibits or attraction openings of national significance in 2010 or 2011, please forward your information to Tammy Brown (tamara.brown@development.ohio.gov) no later than Wednesday, Jan. 13 for consideration in the media mission press kits.

County Economic Impact Reports Still Available

There is still time for county visitors bureaus and chambers of commerce to purchase their respective county reports at a greatly-reduced rate from commissioning your own study. Reports are scheduled to be delivered in early May 2010. For additional information and a price quote, please contact Eric Herzog at eric.herzog@development.ohio.gov or (614) 466-0338.

Industry Member to Receive Gov.’s Award for Arts

Congratulations are in order for Donna Sue Groves, one of the original founders of the Adams County Quilt Barn Project. On April 21, 2010, Donna Sue will be awarded the Governor's Award for the Arts for her role in creating the project and for her leadership in the community, which is part of the Tourism Industry’s Appalachian region. The Tourism Division thanks you, Donna Sue, for your continued support of Ohio’s Appalachian region and the Ohio Tourism Industry!

Best Practices: How to Analyze Brand Exposure in Social Media, ragan.com

Analyzing your brand exposure in social media can be complicated. Blogs, Twitter and forums are just a few of the seemingly endless places online where a brand can be measured. Which ones matter? Which can be pushed off to the side? The key to success is to determine what you need to measure. You can't measure everything, so you've got to pick the best metrics (user comments, page views, etc.) for your goals. It can be a lot of work to decide which metrics to gather, but once you do, collecting the data becomes the easy part. Below are four steps and a few tips that will simplify the process and help you focus on what matters most:

List your goals. Make a list of general and specific goals that you have for your company or department. Start with general goals and work your way to specific ones. Try to be as precise as possible; it will be easier to pick metrics for more specific goals. For instance:
• Gain more exposure
• Get more Web site engagement
• Understand your consumer better

List your media and choose which to measure. Make a list of all the possible media (blogs, podcasts, forums, etc.) that could mention your attraction, destination, event, etc. It helps to make as big and wide a list as possible because it forces you to think of possibilities you might otherwise have overlooked. Search all the media on your list for mentions. Do this manually by going to YouTube, Google Blogs, Facebook, Twitter and others and using their advanced search page. To save time, you can do brand/name searches on sites such as www.socialmention.com, which will search your name in almost every media type. The risk is that sometimes these sites don't have accurate search functions, causing them to miss mentions that you might only find by doing manual searches through the sites themselves.

Now that you have a list of media and mentions, you can decide where to invest your measurement resources. In general, you want to measure the media with the most mentions. So, if you only have one YouTube video mentioning your brand in the past two years, you can safely decide not to track YouTube.

List metrics and choose the ones that best measure your goals. Once you've decided which media to track, make a list of the metrics for each medium. Cross-reference that list against your list of goals and decide the right metrics to use to measure each of them. The key to tracking your brand is aligning your goals with your metrics and making sure that what you are tracking is measurable.

Record results. Start tracking your metrics. Make sure that you are recording the results weekly or monthly. Put them into simple Excel charts that are easy to understand and report. Once you start making a few charts over a number of weeks or months, then you can start picking out trends and reporting on why things are the way they are. Don't be intimidated by the thought of all this work. Once the primary setup is finished, maintaining the research is easier. Being able to show with confidence how your brand is perceived makes the task of analyzing your brand’s social media exposure worth the trouble.